The Daily Standard
Story Archive
Fort Recovery's Alexis Grisez (26) tips the ball past Houston's Kenleigh Nation during Monday's match in Arcanum.
ARCANUM - After getting swept a season ago in the district final, one would think Houston would try to do anything to avoid Fort Recovery volleyball.
But the teams met again in Monday's D-VI district semifinal, and much like their 2025 meeting, the Indians battled through some early jitters and swept the Wildcats 25-10, 25-9, 25-8 in Arcanum.
The win sets up another district final berth for top-seeded Fort Recovery (15-9), who will take on the winner of tonight's match between Felicity-Franklin and St. Bernard Elmwood Place on Saturday at Trent Arena in Fairmont at noon.
Fort Recovery's Kenna Dues (6) passes the ball to a teammate.
The first set featured long rallies, but the Indians won most and had a 9-2 lead on a kill from Hope Evers and two aces from Cameron Muhlenkamp. The teams traded points to a 14-7 score, where another Muhlenkamp kill sparked a five-point run.
Another three-point run later in the set saw Kinlee Kremer get a termination block while Muhlenkamp's ace made it 22-8. The Indians took the set soon after on another block from Kremer.
"Our middles have been solid throughout the year and we're very fortunate," said Fort Recovery coach Travis Guggenbiller. "If you can have good middles, you're going to win a lot of games and we've been in games this year because when you have weapons in the front, it spreads the court out and makes it hard to defend, so we did a great job in that."
Houston (3-20) rallied from the opening set loss and battled to trail 7-5, where coach Guggenbiller called time. The words of wisdom worked like a charm for the purple and white, as their lead grew to 14-7 after a pair of errors.
"We were just not playing disciplined, either too eager or too flat," said Guggenbiller of the slow start to the second set. "I talked about playing our game at our level, I actually told them that they're going to change now, and that's what they did. They realized that we got to change what we're doing, play disciplined, and that's what showed to finish off that set and into the third."
From there, the Indians dominated play and allowed just two more points in the set, which ended on an eight-point run by Fort Recovery. Muhlenkamp had another ace while a pair of blocks - one from Evers and a combined effort from Alexis Grisez and Kremer - paved the way for the final push.
Fort Recovery's Cameron Muhlenkamp (8) lines up a spike attempt during Monday's Division VI district semifinal against Houston in Arcanum.
"Cameron had a good game today. Not only outside attacking, but she stayed poised, was aggressive on the service line and was able to put the ball away," said Guggenbiller.
A fast start helped Fort Recovery open the third set ahead 8-2, which featured two aces from Kayden Ranly. A kill from Evers forced a timeout from Houston at 13-5, but the Indians were already rolling.
An errant shot from the Wildcats gave Fort Recovery a 20-8 lead, where Chloe Brockman took the serve. A kill from Muhlenkamp and an ace pushed the team further ahead, while a team block from Grisez and Ranly made it 23-8. Muhlenkamp added the final kill soon after, and the win was sealed.
