Monroeville falls in state title match

FAIRBORN — As long as you go out and play your best, there's nothing more you can do. Monroeville coach Kendra Snook said her Eagles volleyball team did just that Saturday. But it wasn't enough. The No. 14-ranked Eagles struggled to string points together, falling to No. 1 New Bremen, 25-17, 25-23, 25-21, in the Division IV state championship match at the Ervin J. Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University. "You're only one of two teams playing," Snook said. "That's an awesome feeling. You want to play your best ball and we played our best ball. They're just a better team than us, and that's OK. "These kids have nothing to hang their heads on. I'm super proud." The Eagles were playing in their first state championship match after four previous losses in the state semifinals. Monroeville finished the season at 24-5. "I did think defensively we did dig a lot of balls of those big hitters and made them earn every point," Snook said. "That's what we talk about. They may get some points, but we're going to make them earn every single ball. I thought out kids did exactly that." New Bremen (28-1) proved worthy of the No. 1 ranking in the state. Even when the Cardinals got down in a set, the group collected themselves and often went on a rally that was only halted briefly by a Monroeville timeout. The Eagles scored the first three points of the match, but New Bremen got going and opened an 8-5 lead after a kill by Olivia Heitkamp and error by Monroeville. But the Eagles responded with the next five points — including a pair of aces by Madi Clark to force the Cardinals into a timeout. The teams went back and forth from there until New Bremen was able to seize a 15-12 lead on an ace by Amelia Dammeyer. The Cardinals pushed the margin to 18-13 after April Baker's ace. Monroeville had one last push in it. Ady Adams struck a kill before Maddie Daniel tallied a kill and block to bring the Eagles within 18-16. However, New Bremen finished the set strong. The Cardinals won seven out of the last eight points, which included kills from Rianna Paul, Megan Reinhart, and Heitkamp to take the first set. "I think every year we play Monroeville, it's always a battle," New Bremen coach Diana Kramer said. "Kendra always has those girls ready. It doesn't matter if they're a bunch of freshmen and sophomores." Set 2 had a similar flow to it with each team taking turns with the momentum. The Cardinals got off to a fast start with leads of 3-1 and 8-4 before Monroeville answered. A kill by Daniel and two more aces by Clark knotted the set at 8-all. From there, the Eagles played with the lead over the next several points. Kills by Taryn Tyler and Daniel opened a 12-9 advantage and Monroeville still had that margin of lead at 15-12. But the Cardinals could only be contained for so long. New Bremen ripped off a 6-1 run to jump ahead 18-16 and force the Eagles into a timeout. Monroeville answered with the next two points to tie at 18, only to see the Cardinals get a kill from Heitkamp and consecutive errors by the Eagles for a 21-18 advantage. Monroeville kept fighting and tied the set at 21, but didn't have enough. New Bremen finished just a bit stronger than the Eagles, getting kills from Mary Rindler and Paul to win the set and take a 2-0 lead. "I think it was a competitive match," Snook said. "Each of those sets could have went either way. Obviously, it was like the Newark Catholic match where it was tied late. Just the opposite happened." Sensing a third state championship in six years, the Cardinals almost led the entire way in the third set. Monroeville had small one-point leads early in Set 3, but after New Bremen won four points in a row to take a 7-4 edge, the Eagles never led again. Monroeville kept the set close through the first bunch of points, but the Cardinals won four straight points — including two more kills by Paul — to increase the advantage to 13-8. The Eagles were able to slice the margin to 15-13 after two aces by Clark and a kill by Daniel, but New Bremen got the lead back to 19-13 after Reinhart's kill. The Cardinals continued to pound away at the ball and took a 24-17 lead for a slew of match points. But to nobody's surprise, the Eagles made a run at the deficit. Similar to last year's state semifinal loss to St. Henry, Monroeville fended off set points to force its opponent into a timeout. This time it was four points, including a kill by Madison Reiber and two more by Daniel, to draw within 24-21. But after a timeout, Paul put the last of her nine kills away to give Kramer her fourth state title. "Knowing the last point of their careers is about to happen, or could happen, and what do we do? Go on a run and force New Bremen to call a timeout," Snook said. "(We) keep fighting because that's what Eagles do. That's what these kids continued to do throughout their entire career." Heitkamp tallied 19 kills while Rindler and Melina Schrader each had five kills. Schrader added 30 assists. "Diana has built that program into a tremendous, obviously powerhouse," Snook said. "She's a great coach. She and I are good friends. Before the match, we went and got our picture taken with all our own kids. I have a lot of respect for her. "She has a great coaching staff behind her and those kids are bigger than us and more experienced than us." Daniel finished with 15 kills and finished second in career kills at Monroeville behind Bre Kramer. "Maddie Daniel is the leader of that team," Kramer said. "She's a phenomenal athlete. We knew the ball was going to her and we still struggled with stopping her. Kudos to her." Lilly White tallied 20 digs. Clark served six aces and had 23 assists, finishing her season with 998 for Monroeville. "To take the No. 1 team in the state that's been ranked No. 1 pretty much all year and take them point for point — we might not have taken a set from them — but we made them compete every single ball," Snook said. "That's all you want to do." Daniel, White, Clark, and Brooke Schafer are Monroeville's four seniors that will graduate after a stellar career for the Eagles. "Every group is different," Snook said. "These kids are the exact same. They're going to be irreplaceable. You don't ever replace kids. It's a different team and dynamic."