St. Henry’s Lauren Thieman tips a point over Marion Local’s Rahel Kuether during Thursday’s Redskins’ 3-1 win. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Julie Wright and Sonny Fulks)
For two sets they couldn’t have played better…then St. Henry relied on its defense to get the momentum back in a four-set win Thursday over Marion Local.
St. Henry, OH – The smile on St. Henry coach’s face Tricia Rosenbeck was pretty much ear-to-ear…and said a lot about the way her team had played – pretty much perfect – in a four-set 25-11, 25-13, 21-25, 25-16 win over #2 Marion Local.
In a match that showcased area Thursday night volleyball, Rosenbeck’s #4-ranked Redskins had for the moment flipped the script, rankings-wise, making their own statement…that on a given night in Division VI MAC volleyball the rankings are as useless as the political polls.
“The girls came ready to play,” smiled Rosenbeck. “They had a point to prove and they came out and did that. In the first two sets we were in system, we passed terrific, we got our middles involved, opened things up for our outsides, and we played really, really well.
“We wanted to serve more aggressively, we’ve been talking about that, and tonight they took that to heart. We were aggressive, we got them out of system, and we limited [Grace] Moeller for the first two games. That was our goal.”
From the start St. Henry was on its game.
St. Henry’s Morgan Baumer lines up kill during Thursday’s 3-1 win over Marion Local.
Athletic, aggressive, and confident, they battled Marion back and forth to 11-11 before opening things up with a 7-0 run, which soon became 14-1 run and a 25-11 first set win.
In a game of momentum, they had it, and they kept it in the second set, bolting out to a 12-6 lead, and with precision-like execution of pass, set, and kill, they eventually extended that lead to 20-9 and left Marion Local little room for comeback. Karlee Buschur delivered a booming kill for the 25th point, and St. Henry was in full command of both momentum and the match…2-0.
Marion coach Katherine Dirksen would later talk about how proud she was of her team…and here’s what she meant.
The Flyers came out of the timeout huddle for the third set knowing that St. Henry was in full sweep mode. And the ‘Skins pushed things to a 14-11 lead and seemed to get that break in with a 4-1 run that stunned Marion and set them back on their heels. But from that 14-11 deficit the Flyers refused to lose…shot out to their 14-7 run, and for at least the moment seized momentum and the third set, 25-21. They had given themselves new life.
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“I was proud of them,” said Dirksen afterwards. “I saw some things there that we had been working on. Yeah, St. Henry got us tonight, but I saw some things that I wanted to see. They’re a really good team, but I’m proud of how we came back in the third set.”
Marion Local’s Avae Unrast came just short of saving this point during the final set.
“Really good teams” respond to challenge, and that’s exactly what St. Henry did at the start of the fourth set. They showed no anxiety over Marion’s stunning finish to the previous set, and quickly set about rebuilding their own confidence and momentum. Right out of the chute they jumped to a 9-3 lead, then 11-4, then 14-5, and withstood a quick 5-1 run from Marion that reeled the Redskins back to 15-10. But the first two sets had taken their toll, and St. Henry quickly dispatched the drama with defense and aggressive serving on offense for a convincing 25-16 win, and the match…and the match, 3-1.
“Our defense was great in the third and fourth sets,” added Rosenbeck. Rya (Buschur) was great. She never let anything touch the floor and the other girls caught her energy and drive and I saw a lot of girls pick up balls that I hadn’t seen us pick up this year. I loved the fire, I loved the drive, and we were ready to play tonight.”
Offensively, junior Karlee Buschur had a great night, and her coach was effusive with praise for her leadership.
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“It was great seeing her have a good night because she’s been off the last few games. We’ve been focusing on her this week because we need her to be really good…for us to be really good. And tonight she stepped up and played when we needed her to play.”
St. Henry improved to 13-3 overall, and 5-1 in the league…while Marion suffered its second league loss while impressive with a 14-2 mark, overall.
Marion’s Chloe Ronnebaum eyes a kill attempt during the Flyers’ third set comeback.
Marion senior Avae Unrast was asked about momentum from the third set carrying forward…and having enough left in the tank to come back and win the match.
“I think we might have been a little nervous the first two sets, and they hardly made any errors at all. I thought New Bremen gave some points here and there (their only other loss), and we still couldn’t pull it off. St. Henry had one long rally after another. They played well. And it was hard to put the ball down, ” she said. “But we had a lot of confidence in each other in that third set. I thought we played well as a team.”
Impressively, on a night where #4 beat #2, sitting right there on either side of Marion Local and St. Henry is #1 Coldwater and #3 New Bremen – four of the state’s top ten in Division VI, not twenty minutes removed from each other, and on a straight line west to east on route 119.
And ask them all – Coldwater, Marion Local, St. Henry and New Bremen – and they’ll tell you. They’re just as proud of the league…of MAC volleyball…of how it is.
#4 beats #2 and they both come out of it with something positive.
Not interested….in volleyball, anyway. Life in the mezzanine during Thursday’s volleyball action.
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