Ottawa-Glandorf Head Coach Maddie Hauenstein reacts during Thursday’s Division V Regional semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
ELIDA – With only two seniors on this year’s Ottawa-Glandorf volleyball roster, first-year O-G head coach Maddie Hauenstein knew this season might be a work in progress.
It seems like the Titans are progressing quite well.
After O-G lost the first set to Archbold in Thursday’s Division V Regional Semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse, the Titans responded with three straight wins to defeat Archbold in four sets – 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-18. With the victory, O-G (19-6) will face Willard for the regional title on Saturday at the Elida Fieldhouse at 2 p.m.
Willard defeated Madison-Plains in three sets in Thursday’s first regional semifinal at Elida.
In Thursday’s first set, the score was tied eight times before Archbold (21-5) finally came away with the hard-fought four-point victory. The second set was also knotted eight times before the Titans came away with the six-point win.
“I’m just really proud of them. I feel like that’s the sharpest that we’ve played,” Hauenstein said. “We started out a little shaky. Then, I feel like we sharpened it up. I’m just really proud of them.”
Hauenstein said her team really started to come together late in the season. The Titans won the Western Buckeye League with a 9-0 record.
“We have progressed. I feel like playing those tough teams -some of the MAC (Midwest Athletic Conference) schools at the beginning of the year – was really good for me as a first-year coach to see, and also for our younger girls to see, in order to close some of the gaps. We kind of saw what we needed to do to grow. We’re continuing to grow, which is kind of cool,” she said.
Junior Sienna Fry, this year’s WBL Player of the Year, led O-G on Thursday with 15 kills and three aces. Sophomore Ella White had nine kills. Sophomore Madison McKee recorded seven kills and five blocks. Junior Addy Bellman dished out 20 assists. Junior Carlie Crawfis had 29 digs, while junior Mya McGlaughlin had 22 digs for the Titans.
Senior standout Keely Culler led Archbold with 15 kills and five aces. Miley Gericke recorded 29 digs. Lexi Ripke added seven kills and four aces for Archbold.
Hauenstein said her team’s confidence continued to grow as the season progressed. She hopes their confidence continues to grow as O-G will vie for its first state berth when it faces Willard on Saturday.
“We’ve played with some of the top teams in the state (this season), and I think that knowing we’ve had some success against those teams is giving them that confidence they need,” she said.
Ottawa-Glandorf 3, Archbold 1
Kills: Archbold – Keely Culler 15; O-G – Sienna Fry 15
Digs: Archbold – Miley Gericke 29; O-G – Carlie Crawfis 29
Blocks: Archbold – Kennedy Hurst 3; O-G – Madison McKee 5
Aces: Archbold – Lexi Ripke 4; O-G – Sienna Fry 3
