Anna ends FRHS postseason run in four sets in regional semifinal

CLAYTON, Ohio — The Indians haven’t met much resistance in the playoffs.

In the previous four matches, the opponents reached 20 points only once and did not claim a set.

Rockets offered a different kind of challenge.

With a faster offense than what the Tribe had seen up to that point in the postseason, the Rockets jumped out to an early lead.

By the time the Indians were caught, they were already two sets down and unable to complete the comeback.

The Fort Recovery High School volleyball team took the third set from the Anna Rockets but ultimately fell 25-19, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22 in the OHSAA Division VI Regional 24 semifinal hosted by Northmont Thursday.

With the win, Anna (17-7) faces No. 1 Coldwater on Saturday to battle for the regional title.

While the Rockets advanced, Fort Recovery’s season ended after its fourth regional appearance.

“The girls didn’t quit today,” FRHS coach Travis Guggenbiller said. “I love the energy they had. I’m proud of the fans and the student section we had today, they never shut up and believed in us the whole time. It’s disappointing, but I’m proud of these girls.”

Guggenbiller mentioned on Monday that Anna’s attacking speed could pose a challenge to his team. That proved true in the first set, as Rockets setter Izzy Jenkins looked for outside hitter Liz Staudter as early as possible to claim the first three of five straight points to start the match. After the 5-0 run, the Indians cut the deficit to three runs on two occasions (8-5, 12-9), but Staudter worked her way back into the outfield position to help Anna into a run of 5-0 to take. full control of the set.

Staudter gave Fort Recovery (13-14) trouble all night, finishing with 34 kills, just nine fewer than the Indians as a team. The senior had 10 kills in the first set, eight in the second, nine in the third and seven in the fourth.

Ava Reed and Ashley Gehret followed Staudter’s lead with nine and seven kills, respectively.

“Oh, it’s so fast,” Indians senior Kennedy Muhlenkamp said of Anna’s offense. After the first two sets, the rotation was changed to put her in the back row more often to try to slow down the Rockets. “It’s so hard to read that sometimes you just have to make a choice. Sometimes you’re wrong, most of the time you’re wrong, but you just have to make a choice anyway.”

Kennedy Muhlenkamp had a team-high 27 digs, followed by Kenna Dues with 19, Kayla Heitkamp with 14 and Bridget Homan with 11.

After going back and forth in the second set, Anna claimed 10 of the last 13 points to put the Indians’ backs against the wall.

Instead of backing down, Fort Recovery entered the third set with fervor, taking the first five points to jump out to an 8-2 lead. FRHS got points on a pair of Rocket errors, two Heitkamp aces, a block by Karlie Niekamp and Cameron Muhlenkamp and kills by both as well as Homan.

AHS fought back to take a 15-14 lead before a Staudter service error and a Homan run that included two kills and a block put the Indians back in front and in position to claim the set.

“So they responded well to our defense,” AHS coach Kelli Zumberger said. “Ultimately, they established a different offense and established different tempos. I think for us just trying to catch up made us struggle a little bit.”

The teams went back and forth in the final set trading small runs. After going up 13-12, FRHS committed four straight errors that gave the Rockets a lead they would not relinquish.

Cameron Muhlenkamp finished with a team-high 16 kills to fuel the Fort Recovery attack. Heitkamp added four kills, four aces and 34, while Homan had eight kills, two blocks and two aces to back the effort.

“It took us about three sets to get used to (Anna’s speed),” Guggenbiller said. “I wish we could have played the first two sets the way we played sets three and four. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t, but we learned and grew a lot today and I’m proud of them.”

Although the Indians won’t get a chance at a rematch with Midwest Athletic Conference foe Coldwater, they were able to hold their heads high knowing they are only the fourth volleyball team to represent Fort Recovery at the regional level.

“It was all just surreal,” Kennedy Muhlenkamp said. “The stands are so huge and our city – everyone is here. There was a huge student section and it was just amazing to play.”