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Fort Recovery's Brynn Willmann (9) and Hope Evers (10) go up to try and block the spike of Celina's Lilly Shreffler during Monday's non-conference volleyball match at Fort Site Fieldhouse.
FORT RECOVERY - Once things got rolling for Fort Recovery, the momentum turned into a steamroller.
The serving and serve receive picked up steam in the final two sets to allow the Indians to snap a two-match skid and sweep Celina 25-17, 25-9, 25-15 in a battle of Mercer County volleyball teams Monday night at Fort Site Fieldhouse. Fort Recovery moves to 7-4 with the win as Celina falls to 2-8.
"I thought it was a good game today," said Fort Recovery coach Travis Guggenbiller. "I thought the girls adjusted well and adapted."
The teams were tied four times from 1-all to 4-all in the first set before Cameron Muhlenkamp served up five straight points to make it 9-4 Fort Recovery before the Bulldogs could get the side-out. The Indians got at least two points per rotation on the next two rotations to build the lead. Celina was able to close the gap to 19-15 before Celina was called for a double-hit. Kayden Ranly and Muhlenkamp served up two points each to set up the set point on a Celina hitting error.
Fort Recovery's Kayla Gaerke goes to the floor to save the ball during Monday's match with Celina.
The momentum gained speed at the start of the second set as Ranly served up two aces as part of a five-point run to take a 7-1 lead. Later, Kayla Gaerke had three aces during an eight-point service run to give the Indians an 18-6 lead before Lilly Shreffler got a block to get the sideout. The Bulldogs managed just two more points before a in-the-net call on Celina ended the set.
"I thought that was the biggest difference from the first set to the next two sets was our service receive," said Guggenbiller. "I thought our server receive really just stepped up."
"I think it's the same old story, we're just our own worst enemy," said Celina coach Amy Sutter. "We can't sustain a lot of consistency, you know, when the back row plays or does something. Well, we don't finish at the net."
Kenna Dues took the opening service run for Fort Recovery in the third set and quickly put the Indians in front 5-0 as Brynn Willmann had two kills. Celina battled back as Ella Shelby recorded an ace during a run that trimmed the margin to 5-3. Celina tried to stay within a couple of points of Fort Recovery until Muhlenkamp stepped back and served up five straight points to push the Fort Recovery lead to 14-6. Celina was unable to get any closer than seven points the rest of the night as Willmann and Ranly each added two aces down the stretch and Alexis Grisez closed out the match with a stuff kill.
"We found the floor, so we know we can do it," said Sutter. "It's just being able to do it consistently for 25 points (and) the entire match without giving up or letting mistakes get in our way. You can't play perfect volleyball, but you can have perfect effort."
Fort Recovery's Kayden Ranly sets the ball to a teammate during Monday's non-conference volleyball match with Celina at Fort Site Fieldhouse.
Willmann and Grisez each had seven kills to lead the Indians. Gaerke had three aces to go with 20 digs. Ranly had five aces and 21 assists. Bridget Homan, playing her first match of the season after battling injury, had six kills.
Shreffler had eight kills for Celina. Hailey Hinton had nine digs and Kambry Yoder and Trish Stein each had six assists.
Fort Recovery is off until Thursday when the Indians travel to the Barn to face New Knoxville in Midwest Athletic Conference play. Celina continues its MAC circuit tonight at New Bremen before traveling to Lappin Gymnasium Thursday to face defending Western Buckeye League champ Shawnee.
