Cards volleyball wins regional title, headed back to states
The last time the New Bremen Cardinals volleyball team failed to make the state semifinals the current senior class with in 8th grade.
The opponents may have changed but the Cardinals threat has remained the same as New Bremen will once again play in a state semifinal next weekend after defeating Russia in the regional finals on Saturday in four sets, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19, 25-10.
“You go through sectionals, districts and the opponents always change. However, our system in how we prepare remains the same every single day,” said Cardinals coach Diana Kramer. “It’s so humbling when you’re in this position where you’ve had a lot of success in the past and people want to beat you so badly. People always give us their best game. It’s very humbling because everybody is out to give us their best shot and we just have to keep learning and finding a way to get better every single day.”
Riding high off its regional semifinal win against Fort Loramie, No. 11 Russia gave the Cardinals plenty to handle in the first set, going up as many as five with a 10-5 lead.
New Bremen hung in and scored the next three points.
It was back and forth from there with New Bremen playing from behind most of the set, eventually tying the set for the first time at 18 apiece.
The Cards won the next six of the next seven points to give them the first set win.
The second set was the one that New Bremen struggled with the most on Saturday, never quite getting in sync and losing the set by seven.
New Bremen’s first lead didn’t come until 11-10 in the third set during a 6-0 run for the Cardinals.
Russia kept it close and following a Raiders kill, they cut the lead to one at 16-15.
From there, it was back and forth but New Bremen scored five of the set’s last seven points and were one set away from getting back to state.
And that one set proved to be one of the Cardinals most dominant during their tournament run.
New Bremen went up 2-0, Russia tied it at 2-2 and then it was all Cardinals from there.
A Josie Reinhart kill made it 3-2 then Russia hit into the net on the next point.
A Kaylee Freund kill made it 5-2 then Russia was called for a double hit.
The Raiders appeared gassed and the Cardinals were still chugging along, knowing how close they were.
New Bremen went up by double digits at 14-4 and a Diana Heitkamp ace put the Cardinals up by 11 at 20-9 later on.
On match point, Freund spiked down a block and secured the regional championship for the Cardinals.
“It’s just everybody being all in,” Kramer said, which has been the motto for her team this season. “Everybody’s got to be all in from the person on the court, to the coaches, to the community, to the bench. If everybody does their job to the best of their ability, I’m confident moving forward.”
Freund led the Cardinals with a match-high 14 kills and four blocks.
“Kaylee is the best athlete on our team, everybody knows that. She just gets up and gets to be an athlete,” said Kramer. “She’s swinging away, she came up really big for us. She’s been coming up big for us since last year. She’s bought into the system, she knows what her role is and she’s an all-star in that role.”
Heitkamp led the Cardinals with 20 digs and five aces and Kramer gave credit to her and her leadership on the court.
“Diana’s the leader of our team. She sees everything out on the court,” she said. “She takes pride and ownership that she is the court mom, the court coach, and she loves that role. She’s a great person for that role.”
Elli Roetgerman added eight kills and Reinhart had seven kills.
Claire Pape led the way with 29 assists, three blocks, three kills and eight digs.
Kramer gave credit to Russia on a competitive match.
“Russia deserved to be here. They’re a very good team and they got a lot of young talent,” she said. “We came out and we were firing on all cylinders. It maybe took us awhile to get warmed up, but that’s because Russia is a really good team. Russia didn’t get here by fluke. They’re well coached and they have great players and great athletes.”
It was a huge weekend for the New Bremen community as the football team also secured a berth into the state semifinals on Friday night and Kramer said it’s an exciting time for the school and the town.
“It means so much for our community. Our community deserves this moment,” said Kramer. “The little kids in school are so excited. The adults are excited. The town will be decorated in crimson and gold all week. It’s just believing in yourselves. The kids in our high school are believing in themselves. Kids in our junior high and elementary are starting to believe in themselves. They know it’s possible with hard work and New Bremen deserves this moment.”