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Fort Wayne Concordia repeats as winner of Lady Knight Pepsi Invitational October 8, 2004 By Jim Jicha Ask someone where Convoy Crestview High School is and you’ll likely get a shrug. They probably haven’t heard of Convoy, let alone know how to get there. Unless, of course, that someone is a volleyball fan, and then there’s a good chance they’ve been to the little farm community a mile south of US 30, and just east of the Indiana border. Each year Convoy Crestview hosts the Pepsi Invitational, one of the top small school tournaments in the state. This year’s edition featured ranked Division IV teams Sidney Lehman, Norwalk St. Paul and Frankfort Adena, plus perennial Indiana power Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran who was Class 3A state runner-up last season. Old Fort, Fort Recovery, Ottoville and host Crestview rounded out a field that could have held its own in a war, what with all the “forts”. With such a strong field there were some great matches, including a tense first round barnburner between Lehman and Adena. And there were many exciting players to watch, like Fort Recovery middle hitter Tiffany Gaerke who was the talk of the tournament. The tall sophomore has a huge vertical and she spent the day spraying spikes at opponents. “Awesome” was how one fan aptly described her, and the coaches must have concurred because she was voted the tournament MVP. Concordia took the trophy again, beating Lehman 25-20, 23-25, 15-5 in a repeat of last year’s final. Senior hitters Jessica Miller and Kelly Koontz provided the Cadets with consistency on offense and defense as they not only pounded spikes all day with a high degree of accuracy, but also did a great job of passing. The two were especially effective in the final defending against outside hitters Jessica Butt and Rochelle Watercutter. Miller, Koontz, Butt and Watercutter made the All-Tournament team. Concordia led all the way in game one after a brief 1-1 tie, rolling to a 14-6 margin on a five point run fueled by the net play of KC DeVries and Koontz’s serving. The teams then traded serves with the Cavaliers gaining a bit until Koontz ended it with two kills. Lehman led most of the next game but could never break away. They spurted to a 4-1 lead on three kills by Watercutter and a double block from Claire Frantz and Lauren Gleason. Concordia took what proved to be their only lead, 6-5, on kills by Miller and middle hitter Katherine Harkenrider. Watercutter tied it with a cross court tip, and two Cadet errors put Lehman up 9-7 as Gleason made some nice passes for Lehman. Concordia closed to 11-10 when a spike by Koontz was blocked out. Junior setter Jenny Keck, who did a great job all day, put on a contortion act to stay out of the net. Cadet errors contributed to a five point Lehman run, but Miller slammed two kills and Devries had a kill and block to cut the lead to 16-14. The teams traded points until Koontz scored twice to narrow it to 21-20. The Cavaliers went up 23-20 only to see Koontz tie it. First she spiked a kill off the net. Next she dug a blast from Butt and Lehman obliged with a miscue. She followed that with an ace on a short serve that dropped in a hole just over the net. Lehman prevailed, however, when a tip by Gleason was blocked out and a spike by Butt was dug under the net. Concordia took a 4-3 lead in the finale as Miller provided some heroics, spiking three kills, and thwarting Butt by saving a dig that came off the ceiling and rejecting her next spike. Lehman’s points came on two kills by Butt and one by Frantz. On the next volley Miller dug and rejected more Lehman missives, and Keck scored on a dump. This sent Miller to the serving line, moved Koontz to front row and ignited an 8-1 run. Koontz hit one that was blocked out, and Miller scored an ace when her apparently long serve hit a defender trying to get out of the way (to this observer the ball appeared to be dropping in). Koontz slammed another kill and, after a Cadet hit was long, spiked another point. Keck served an ace, Lehman blocked a hit by Koontz over but out, and when junior Ashley Inge blocked Lehman the score was 12-4. Another Cadet error made it 12-5, but a net serve and a kill from back court by Miller put Concordia on the verge and, following a lift, DeVries smashed one from right side that was blocked over but out to give Concordia their title. Norwalk St. Paul took third with a 25-21, 27-25 win over Fort Recovery. St. Paul took a 20-16 lead in game one on two errors by the Indians. But Fort Recovery came back with three points. A spike by sophomore Holley Stein was blocked into the pole by the Flyers, who were then caught in the net, and Stein and senior hitting stalwart Krystal Rammel teamed up on a block. St. Paul’s Leah Schaffer and Megan Centers traded kills with Rammel and Stein, making the score 22-21 St. Paul. Sophomore Kate Schafer put St. Paul up 24-21 with two solid smashes and Fort Recovery hit one out to end the game. The Indians led most of game two, going up 11-8 and 17-13 with Rammel and Gaerke leading the attack. Two kills by Kate Schafer cut the margin to 18-17 and, after alternating scores by Gaerke, Centers, Gaerke and Bethany Davis it was 20-19. Fort Recovery then scored three points on a well placed hit by Rammel over the entire St. Paul team, and blocks from sophomore Vicki Roessner and Rammel. But the Indians were undone by three miscues as St. Paul rallied to a 24-23 lead. Rammel tied it on a short set kill, and Leah Schaffer and Rammel traded kills leaving the score 25-25. The Indians then committed two more miscues which sealed their fate. Flyer setter Katie Playko did a nice job mixing up the offense. She also made the All-Tournament team. Old Fort took fifth with an exciting 25-27, 25-22, 15-7 win over Crestview which, unfortunately, transpired at the same time as the championship match. Frankfort Adena escaped with a 25-11, 23-25, 15-11 win over Ottoville for seventh. The Warriors scored their last three points in game one on kills by senior Katie Roush and sophomore setter Haley Halcomb. After tying the match by winning game two, Ottoville charged out to tiebreaker leads of 4-0 and 8-5 behind the hitting of Erika Kaufman and Megan Kleman. Adena tied it on an ace by Sara Smith and, after an errant hit, tied it again on a kill by Roush. Kaufman scored for Ottoville, but a service error resulted in another tie at 10-10. At this point junior Warrior hitter Amanda Atchison took over with a variety of offensive ploys. Her first was a well placed tip that Ottoville got tangled in the net. After a four hit call put her team up 12-10, Atchison found an open spot in Ottoville’s backcourt. Adena committed a service error, but Atchison came right back with cross court spike to push it to match point, and she and Smith teamed up on a block for the win. Fort Recovery gave Concordia fits in the semifinal before bowing 27-25, 25-21. The Indians took a 17-14 lead with Gaerke making some big blocks. Rammel and Gaerke kept up the attack as the teams traded points to make it 23-20. Concordia rallied for a tie on points from Miller and Koontz. But the Cadets hit the pole on the next volley, putting the Indians at game point. And when a Cadet overpass came Fort Recovery’s way it looked like the game was history, but over eagerness resulted in a timing error and a tie. Hackenrider then blocked Gaerke, but she came right back with a short set kill to tie it again. The Cadets scored the final points on a hit by Koontz and an ace by Rachel Behning. Concordia took commanding leads of 17-4 and 20-8 in game two behind the net play of Miller and Koontz. But errors by the Cadets and solid spiking and blocking by Gaerke narrowed the lead to 23-15. Audrey Katt spiked a back court kill for Concordia’s penultimate point, but the Indians weren’t about to quit. Roessner spiked a kill and blocked Koontz. The Cadets made two hitting errors and were in the net as Gaerke made some nice digs to keep volleys alive. Cadet fans were already nervous when Rammel blocked Koontz to make it 24-21. But on the ensuing volley, an unflappable Koontz smashed a cross court spike in the corner to kill the rally and end the match. Old Fort beat Ottoville in round two 25-18, 25-23. The Stockaders saw a 20-10 lead evaporate in the second game on several errors, kills by Amy Honigford and Kleman and an ace by Honigford. That made it 21-20 Old Fort and the teams went back and forth with sophomores Melissa Goodman and Amy Benz scoring for Old Fort, and Kleman blocking and spiking for Ottoville. A smash by middle hitter Kara Kohlenberg gave the Stockaders a 24-22 lead and, following a net serve, Kohlenberg hit the match winner. Lehman defeated St. Paul in round two 25-19, 25-21. After the Flyers took a 3-2 lead in game one, Butt put her team up 5-3 on a tip and two jump serve aces, and the Cavaliers were never again headed. St. Paul kept it close, however, on solid net play from Leah Schaffer, Centers, Courtney Mockler and Bethany Davis. Lehman won the game on two kills by Watercutter. The Cavaliers never trailed in game two although there were ties early, the last at 8-8. Lehman went up 18-11 on some Flyer miscues and kills and aces from Butt and Watercutter. St. Paul crept back but never closer than three and Butt administered the coup de grace with a spike to an open back court. Crestview edged Adena in round two 25-23, 26-24. When I arrived at the second game Crestview led 17-16. The teams exchanged points with Atchison getting a kill and Sara Smith an ace for the Warriors, and Shea Dietrich two kills for Crestview. After an Adena hitting error the Warriors tied at 21-21 on a hit and block from Hirsch. Adena was in the net on the next play, but Roush tied it again with a cross court smash to the opposite corner. Ashley Holden spiked a short set from Alisha Etzler to put Crestview up, but Atchison responded with a block on Crestview All-Tournament team hitter Courtney Springer, and followed with a kill through a double block to give her team a 24-23 lead. That proved to be all for Adena, however. Megan Mosier tied it on a hit to a hole that was dug out of bounds. Jamie Perkins then served two aces. The first dropped on the back line and when the second was dug out of bounds the match was over. The first round match between Lehman and Adena was one of the best I’ve seen this year. The Cavaliers prevailed 25-18, 24-26, 15-13. Both teams are contenders to win their respective regionals, and a rematch at the Nutter Center is a tantalizing thought. These teams are loaded with underclassmen with each having only one senior starter. Adena starts three sophomores and a freshman, and both setters, Halcomb for Adena and Emilee Seger for Lehman, are sophomores. Lehman led 13-8 in game one when I arrived and, while they led all the way from there, Adena kept things interesting. Halcomb led a rally that made it 13-12, scoring on a tip, teaming with Atchison on a block of Butt, blocking Butt solo and tipping an overpass into an open space. Atchison’s net play kept Adena close until three kills by Watercutter gave the Cavaliers some breathing room at 20-15. After some back and forth Butt hit two kills giving Lehman the win. Game two was nip and tuck until a three point run on kills by Atchison and sophomore Samantha Shaffer put the Warriors up 13-9. Hirsch and Roush kept Lehman at bay as the score mounted to 19-16. At that point, Butt exploded with three blasts, and a kill by Frantz put the Cavaliers on top. The teams went back and forth with points coming on spikes from Atchinson and Butt, plus some errors. Lehman went up 24-23 on a hitting error but then served out of bounds. Adena won when Hirsch and Shaffer double blocked Watercutter, and Hirsch crushed a spike straight down. Lehman drew initial blood in the tiebreaker and took a 9-4 lead. But Adena roared back as freshman Casi Coy served two aces, Hirsch block Butt and a spike by Roush was blocked out of bounds. Lehman contributed a hitting error. The Cavaliers edged back in front 11-9 and the teams traded points until a cross court kill by Watercutter put Lehman on the cusp 14-12. But Atchison came up with a big kill through a double block and Hirsch followed with a kill after she and Shaffer rejected a Lehman missive. A Warrior error put Lehman on the verge again, but Hirsch blocked a tip to retie it. Unfortunately for the Warriors, they hit the next one and Butt took no prisoners as she drilled a defender with a hard smash that was dug out of bounds, ending the match. Also in first round action St. Paul defeated Crestview 25-15, 25-17. The Flyers led all the way except for initial 3-1 and 4-3 leads by Crestview in game one. Crestview was led by Ashley Holden, Springer and Dietrich. St. Paul’s Leah Schaffer scored kills for the final two points of the match. Fort Recovery defeated Old Fort 17-25, 25-13, 15-9 and Concordia knocked off Ottoville 25-12, 25-12. |
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