New Knoxville heads to state
ELIDA — This is looking like destiny.
New Knoxville added to its collection of memories on Saturday, as they claimed the Region 14 volleyball championship with a 3-1 victory over defending state champion Calvert.
The Rangers, now 25-2 on the year, lost the first set 28-26. They then rallied from eight points down to win the second 25-23, took the third 25-23, then won the fourth 25-22.
They have now defeated the two schools who have won the last four Division IV state titles — beating fellow Midwest Athletic Conference member New Bremen (2017, 2019) in the district final, and taking down the Senecas (2018, 2020) on Saturday.
Assistant coach Jenny Fledderjohann said that the goal was “to just keep attacking, and keep them (Calvert) scrambling.” She praised the contributions made by all the players.
Head coach Meg Lageman said, “I am so incredibly proud of how tough they’ve been, mentally and physically.”
She added, “I’m happy to be moving on, I
don’t want to stop.”
New Knoxville heads to the state semifinals on Thursday at Wright State University. They will face Region 15 champion South Webster (25-1) at 6 p.m. in the second match.
The other semifinal will match Monroeville (24-4) against another MAC team, St. Henry (21-6). They will play at 4 p.m.
This will be the third trip to the state tournament for New Knoxville. In 2006, they were the Division IV runnerup,
defeating Toledo Christian in the semis, then losing to St. Paul from Norwalk in the final.
In 1989, they reached what was then the Class A semifinals, losing to Newark Catholic.
Calvert had the serve to open the match, and won the first point. The teams then went back and forth scoring off each other’s serve, before New Knoxville had a short 3-0 run with Haley Fledderjohann. Calvert answered to tie it at 6.
New Knoxville regained the lead, and stayed a point or two in front of Calvert until the Senecas called timeout, trailing 12-9.
Calvert had the momentum over the next stretch, outscoring New Knoxville 5-2, leaving it all even at 14.
A shot by Calvert landed wide, then Avery Henschen tapped a shot to the back edge, and New Knoxville added another point.
A 6-1 run by Calvert put them in front 2018 before the Rangers
scored three in a row. After a point by Calvert, New Knoxville got points 22-24, the last on a block, bringing up set point.
But Calvert scored three times for another tie, meaning one team would have to win by two points. There were ties at 25 and 26 (with 12 in all during the set). Calvert then got the final two points to win 28-26.
Calvert scored the first three points of the second set, but New Knoxville had a 6-1 run to please its fans and take a 6-4 lead.
The Senecas got the first sustained momentum of the match, outscoring New Knoxville 13-3. The Rangers called timeout partway through that stretch, but the Senecas kept going.
Calvert then led 179, and was eight points from taking a two-set lead. A service error by Calvert gave the ball back to New Knoxville. Avery Henschen served four points. The teams then traded points, three times, with hits by Carsyn Henschen and Fledderjohann scoring for New Knoxville.
With Carsyn Henschen hitting from the back line, the Rangers went on a 6-0 run to take a 23-20 lead. Calvert kept fighting, but NK closed it out off a Calvert serve to win 2523.
The beginning of the third set was back and forth, with a couple points per side at a time. Calvert hit one to the back corner, then added a couple more to go up 8-5.
New Knoxville responded by holding Calvert to just a few single points, while scoring in clumps of two or three
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