The commercial review

Anna ends FRHS postseason run in four sets in regional semifinal

CLAYTON, Ohio – The Indians haven’t faced much resistance during the playoffs.

In the previous four matches, the opponents reached 20 points only once and never claimed a single set.

The Rockets provided a different kind of challenge.

With a faster offense than what the Tribe had seen thus far in the postseason, the Rockets took an early lead.

By the time the Indians were caught, they were already two sets behind and could not complete the comeback.

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

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

While the Rockets advanced, Fort Recovery’s season came to an end after its fourth-ever regional appearance.

“The girls didn’t give up today,” FRHS coach Travis Guggenbiller said. “I like the energy they had. I’m proud of the fans and the student section we had today. They were never silent and believed in us all the time. It’s disappointing, but I’m proud of these girls.”

Guggenbiller said Monday that the speed of Anna’s offense could be a challenge for 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 closed the deficit to three points twice (8-5, 12-9), but Staudter worked his way back to the outside position to help Anna make another 5-0 run . full control over the set.

Staudter gave Fort Recovery (13-14) problems all night, finishing with 34 kills, just nine behind 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 foul. 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 difficult 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 keep making a choice.”

Kennedy Muhlenkamp recorded a team-high score of 27 points, 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 final 13 points and put the Indians’ backs against the wall.

Instead of folding, Fort Recovery entered the third set with gusto, taking the first five points and jumping 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 Homan.

AHS fought back to take a 15-14 lead before a service error by Staudter and a run by Homan with 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. “At the end of the day they were doing different attacks and different tempos. I think the fact that we were just trying to catch up, we struggled a little bit.

In the final set, the teams went back and forth, exchanging small runs. After leading 13-12, FRHS made four consecutive errors that gave the Rockets a lead they would not relinquish.

Cameron Muhlenkamp finished with a team-high 16 kills to power Fort Recovery’s offense. Heitkamp added four kills, four aces and 34, while Homan had eight kills, two blocks and two aces to support 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 a shame we didn’t do that, 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 could hold their heads high knowing they were 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 big and our city – everyone is here. There was a huge student section and it was just a blast to play.”