All MAC In Division VI…Versailles And Coldwater Survive Semi-Final Round, Meet For The Title

They got about it in different ways, but two MAC teams, Coldwater and Versailles, will meet Saturday at the Nutter Center to decide the OHSAA Division VI title in volleyball.

Springfield, OH – Coldwater’s Nikki Etzler and Versailles’ Liz McNeilan were beaming at the end of Friday’s Division VI semi-final action on the campus of Wittenberg University.

Yes, they both won their respective matches – Coldwater over Meadowbrook High School in five sets in the day’s first match…and Versailles swept past South Range, from Mahoning County, in the nightcap, needing just three sets.

But more, both Etzler and McNeilan take great pride in the competitive tradition of the Midwest Athletic Conference (the MAC), and especially in volleyball.  Both Coldwater and Versailles own OHSAA titles, and the two teams met previously in 2017 with Versailles winning that match for the Division V crown.  In 2024 Coldwater won its only title in volleyball, beating Marion Pleasant.

Saturday, at high noon, they meet again at the Nutter Center at Wright State with the opportunity to reprise history.

“It’s really special,”  said McNeilan following her team’s sweep of South Range Friday at the Bill Edwards Center at Wittenberg.  “The tradition is so special in our conference, but really it’s hard to limit it to the MAC because there’s so many good teams in Shelby County – Loramie and Russia – and I think a lot of people outside think of them as MAC teams, too.  It’s easy to believe because we play those teams so often and they’re really good.  Loramie is playing for the Division VI title later today.”

And Etzler has always credited the volleyball competition in the MAC for preparing her program for anyone, anytime, and any place.

“We’ve had the toughest schedule this year that I think we’ve ever had,”  she said after narrowly getting by and outstanding Meadowbrook team from Guernsey County, near Cambridge.  “Our schedule prepared for what we accomplished today.  I’m proud of our girls, and I’m proud to be a member of our league.”

Coldwater came out confidently in the first set against Meadowbrook, whose pedigree was deceiving, if not their record.  The Colts entered with a 25-1 record, having lost just three sets all season long.  Coldwater seemed unaffected, blowing through the first set, 25-15, spreading the offense around between Campbell Etzler, Harlow Heyne, Mara Riethman, and Paige Ontrop.

But Meadowbrook proved stubborn in the second set, adjusting its defense and feasting off its outside hitters, who peppered the Coldwater defense with laser-like shots from the net and the outside, while turning up the pressure with its own block.  The Colts squeezed by to take the second set, 28-26.

Coldwater needed the afore-mentioned preparation that Etzler spoke of, because in the third set Meadowbrook again came out with outside hitter Addison Schultice blasting away, who would eventually finish the day with a match-high 25 kills.  The Colts won it 25-19, to take a 2-1 match lead.

With their backs against the wall, Coldwater finally found some offensive momentum in the fourth set.  With the score tied at 9-9, the Cavaliers suddenly went on a 4-1 run to take a 13-10 lead.  A pair of hitting errors by Meadowbrook helped Coldwater extend its lead to 16-11….then 23-14.  It was the Coldwater’s best, and only, momentum since the first set.

But Meadowbrook was hardly finished, or discouraged.  The Colts came back to score six straight unanswered points, closing to 23-20, when Etzler called timeout to regroup.

“We talked about our offensive options in the huddle,”  she smiled, later.  “We were fine.”

And they proved they were fine with a pair of quick kills from Etzler and Harlow Heyne to take force the fifth set, 25-10.

Fifth sets are about as unpredictable as anything you can think of in a competitive sense.  For as much trouble as Coldwater had in closing out the win in the fourth, they came out in the deciding fifth and immediately took a 4-0 lead – a huge turn events in the match and to Meadowbrook’s psyche.  And again, thanks to the sharing of responsibility, the Cavaliers suddenly became that team that confidently brushed aside Meadowbrook in the first, winning eventually, in a span of ten minutes, 15-12.

“I’m very proud of the way we executed,”  said Nikki Etzler, afterwards.  “I think people take it for granted because of where we live, but getting here is really hard.  I’m proud of them for settling into playing like they did against a really great team.”

“I think we all knew that we could do this,”  added daughter, Campbell, of the late timeout huddle when the score was 23-20 in the fourth set.  “We all had smiles on our faces and we were just ready to come back out and put it away.  We all just needed to take a deep breath.”

In the second semi-final Versailles played as though they’d already taken that deep breath on the bus and on the way to Springfield.  Against a competitive and athletic South Range team from Canfield (Mahoning County), Kiley May came out blasting with 7 kills in the opening minutes on the way to a shocking 25-14 win.  It’s not supposed to be that easy in a state-semi final match.

And indeed South Range closed the gap in the second set, but they couldn’t close the gap on Kiley May, who added eight more kills to her total, helping the Tigers to a 25-21 win.  More importantly, Salimah Shardo contributed five kills of her own, and Hannah Luthman kicked in seven.  Even with the improved play from South Range, Versailles managed to keep pace, and the advantage.

Again in the third set South Range came out firing with more confidence and commitment to not go down in straight sets.  But May was too much, finishing with 20 kills for the match, and her confidence on the state’s biggest stage proved to be infectious to her teammates.

“If you know anything about me it’s that I’m a little emotional sometimes as a coach,”  Liz McNeilan said with a big smile.  “I love to celebrate the big points and let the girls feel the love that way.  And for the last two weeks they’ve been so locked in, freshmen to seniors and the girls on the bench.  And all the way to the they were so prepared and it was just one point at a time.  One point at a time and trust your training.  And they did just that.”

So it sets up the rematch of the 2023 Division V match, on Saturday at noon – Coldwater and Versailles representing the MAC for the spotlight in Division V volleyball.

“Everybody contributed today,”  added McNeilan, seeking Versailles’ fourth state title in volleyball on Saturday.  “The leadership in this program is a cultured thing, going back to all the girls who played before.  So I give credit to the athletes that have been part of that, who helped start this, because they’ve helped to influence these girls.”

Kiley May expects to have all the help she needs.

“The stands were full today and that’s all the confidence you need, to look up there and see all those people from the community.  We want to make them proud.”

No doubt, win or lose, they will.