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Fort Recovery seniors Kayla Heitkamp (8), Karlie Niekamp (background), Nevaeh Lennartz (20) and Kennedy Muhlenkamp hold up the Division VI district championship.
VANDALIA - At the beginning of the 2024 volleyball season, Fort Recovery head coach Travis Guggenbiller and his squad listed three goals they sought to accomplish in the upcoming campaign: finish in the top four in the Midwest Athletic Conference, win 75% of their games, and make it to the regional tournament.
The Indians finished 9-13 overall and in eighth place in the MAC, but. With their sights set on reaching the regional tournament, the Indians did just that on Saturday after defeating Miami Valley Christian Academy in three sets, 25-15, 25-8, and 25-15 in the Division VI district final at the Student Activity Center at Vandalia-Butler High School.
The triumph punched Fort Recovery's ticket to the program's first regional tournament since 2020 and third since 1991. The Indians (12-13) face Anna on Thursday night in the second match of the regional semifinals around 7 p.m. at Northmont High School's Thunderdome. Coldwater faces Centerberg in the first semifinal at 5 p.m.
"I am very proud of these girls. It's been a roller coaster of a year, but our schedule prepares us for exactly this," said Guggenbiller. "The girls came out ready to play. It was very exciting and I couldn't be prouder of them."
Senior Kayla Heitkamp set the tone at the start of the opening set from behind the server's line by dishing the Indians up 5-2. The two teams battled back and forth, with the Indians maintaining a four-point cushion, when suddenly the fire alarms erupted throughout the facility, forcing an untimely evacuation of everyone inside. Following a short delay, the all-clear was given by officials and the contest resumed from where it left off.
Fort Recovery's Bridget Homan spikes the ball against Miami Valley Christian Academy on Saturday at Vandalia-Butler.
Sophomore Bridget Homan wasn't affected by the delay, serving up five straight points blended with a couple of aces and strong net play from Heitkamp, the Indians moved in front 16-8. Trailing 24-12 at the close of the set, the Lions rallied to pull to within nine points, but the damage had already been inflicted as a kill from sophomore Cameron Muhlenkamp gave her team the 25-15 victory in set number one.
"That evacuation break was definitely a strange moment. My biggest concern was them going outside and getting cold, but they went out and danced around with all of the students and came in warmed up and ready," Guggenbiller said with a chuckle. "They came back in and definitely set the tone to close that opening set."
Fort Recovery's Karlie Niekamp spikes the ball against Miami Valley Christian Academy.
Precision serving by Heitkamp and Muhlenkamp, mixed with strong front row play from senior Karlie Niekamp, powered the Indians in command 14-2 in set two and that is as close as MVCA would get, as Guggenbiller's girls dominated their way to a 25-8 triumph. Following two rather seamless games to start the set, the third round started off with a few more back-and-forth jabs. Firing up with six ties in the first half of the match, the Indians maintained their composure and never relinquished their lead as the battle was knotted 11-11. A couple of kills from Niekamp and Kennedy Muhlenkamp, as well as solid blocking up front, the Indians methodically pulled ahead 19-13. With a 20-14 advantage in tow, Homan lined up and served three straight points, two of which were aided by kills from Kennedy Muhlenkamp to move her team ahead 23-15 and eventually cruise to the ten-point victory.
"I think we proved a lot tonight. We didn't meet our first two goals of the season and there were moments this year where I wondered if the girls were second-guessing their abilities, but they found their momentum at the end of the season and here we are," Guggenbiller said. "MVCA is a young team and they were very scrappy and had some big hitters. They were also tall and got a lot of hands on the ball. I thought our middles did well and we didn't let them fluster us, which was a huge key tonight."
The Indians were led on the evening by Karlie Niekamp and Kennedy Muhlenkamp with 12 and eight kills respectively. Muhlenkamp added 21 digs and Kayla Heitkamp chipped in 21 assists in the victory.
