Ottawa-Glandorf players react 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.
Shawnee falls to St. Ursula
NORWALK — On Thursday night in the Division III Regional Semifinal at Norwalk High School, Shawnee met its match.
The hard-hitting Indians ran into Toledo St. Ursula, a team that hits even harder and plays even bigger at the net, and after winning the first set 25-17, Shawnee dropped the next three 22-25, 20-25 and 25-20.
Shawnee looked dominant in the opening set with a lead that grew into double figures, but St. Ursuala figured something out in the late moments on a strong serving sequence from Emma Jones which seemed to right the ship.
From that point on, it was all downhill for the Arrows.
“They got in their system a lot more after the first set and they were able to get the ball to their big guns,” Shawnee coach Brooke Hutchins said of St. Ursula. “Tonight we weren’t super quick with our middles in terms of blocking, so their hitters were able to see the court well. I think we missed some opportunities but I think they’re an awesome team, very well-coached.”
St. Ursula flexed its muscles on the front line for the rest of the night, showcasing Jones on the right side, Molly Malone in the middle and Mia Hasty on the outside.
That trio, along with setter Ellie Panczyszyn, put together a number of clean scoring opportunities on offense, while getting some important block touches on Karleigh Hutchins and Gianna Upshaw, Shawnee’s top two hitters.
“It becomes a little bit frustrating when you’re used to putting the ball down and they’re slowing it down or picking it up,” Brooke Hutchins said. “Volleyball is a chess game. We make moves, they counter and we try to counter when they make moves. At the right times, they executed a little bit better than we did.”
Karleigh Hutchins finished the night with 27 kills and 22 digs. Gianna Upshaw added 10 kills and Sydney Burris contributed 44 assists.
After making a run to the Regional Semifinals in 2023, Shawnee’s postseason ends at the same point this year with a final record of 19-7.
“I think a lot of people underestimated us this season as a public school,” Hutchins said. “We lost some really nice seniors but we tried to focus more on our mindset, controlling things like our attitude and effort.
“I think we’re building a really cool culture in Shawnee volleyball. We have a lot of girls who play travel schedules and work nonstop in the offseason. I feel like what we’ve done is a testament to their commitment.”
VOLLEYBALL RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 31
D-VII Regional Semifinal at Lakota
New Knoxville 3, Hilltop 0
D-VII Regional Semifinal at Lakota
Tiffin Calvert 3, Leipsic 1
D-VI Regional Semifinal at Northmont
Coldwater 3, Centerburg 0
D-VI Regional Semifinal at Northmont
Anna 3, Fort Recovery 1
D-VI Regional Semifinal at Fostoria
New Bremen 3, New London 0
D-V Regional Semifinal at Elida
Ottawa-Glandorf 3, Archbold 1
D-V Regional Semifinal at Kettering
Versailles 3, Brookville 1
D-III Regional Semifinal at Norwalk
St. Ursula Academy 3, Shawnee 1
Today
D-VII Regional Final at Lakota
New Knoxville vs Tiffin Calvert, 2 p.m.
D-VI Regional Final at Northmont
Anna vs Coldwater, 2 p.m.
D-VI Regional Final at Fostoria
Tinora vs New Bremen, 2 p.m.
D-V Regional Final at Kettering
Versailles vs Bishop Fenwick, 2 p.m.
D-V Regional Final at Elida
Ottawa-Glandorf vs Willard, 2 p.m.
