Fort Loramie players hoist a Division VII regional championship trophy after defeating Jackson Center 3-0 on Saturday at Fairborn High School’s Skyhawk Arena. The program earned its first regional title and state berth since 2019. The team, which has eight seniors, has lost in regional finals each of the last three years. The squad will play in a regional semifinal against Strasburg-Franklin at 2 p.m. on Thursday at Wright State University’s Nutter Center.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
FAIRBORN — Fort Loramie’s eight seniors were a part of teams that lost in regional finals the last three years.
The Redskins have been aiming this year to leave no doubt about their ability. They took another step toward that by winning a Division VII regional championship on Saturday.
Fort Loramie beat Shelby County Athletic League rival Jackson Center 25-19, 25-16, 25-13 in a regional final at Fairborn High School’s Skyhawk Arena. The win earns the program its first state berth since advancing to the D-IV final in 2019.
“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication and practice,” Fort Loramie senior middle hitter Victoria Mescher said. “We’ve been so focused in practice, and we’ve always kept the big picture in mind ever since the first day that we started touching volleyballs back in July.
“We just knew the bigger plan that we wanted, and every day, we just worked towards that and really focused.”
Fort Loramie (26-1) steamrolled over most opponents in regular season and gained the confidence of voters in the Division VII state coaches association poll, earning the No. 1 spot all throughout the season.
The squad has been extremely consistent — and calm. Coach John Rodgers said players have kept their calm and not let miscues or errors snowball.
“I think we started that focus and intensity at the start of the year,” Fort Loramie senior setter Jenna Barhorst, who had 30 assists, said. “… We’ve been building on that, and it’s been paying off. We’re just continuing to do that every day in practice.
“… We have a lot of confidence in ourselves. We don’t (get fazed) when there’s a mistake. We knew we were going to win, and that’s the main thing, just having confidence in each other.”
Barhorst and Mescher, who were both first team all-SCAL selections, are both members of the squad’s large senior class. They, along with outside hitter Avery Brandewie, have been on varsity all four years. The rest of the squad’s seniors are multiple-year contributors.
It’s the first season the OHSAA has expanded postseason play from four to seven divisions for most team sports. Fort Loramie lost to St. Henry 3-0 in a D-IV regional final three years ago, 3-0 to New Bremen two years ago and 3-1 to New Bremen last year. (The Redskins beat both St. Henry and New Bremen in nonconference play this year in regular season.)
“It’s huge for the whole program,” Rodgers said of Saturday’s victory. “We’ve been so close so many times, and you can only take so many of those regional final losses to an eventual state champ.
“Winning is not easy. I’ve mentioned it before, it’s just so hard to push through those last couple points. I told the girls I think the two hardest points in volleyball are the point to get to the final four and the point to win the state title. I’m glad we were able to accomplish one of those today. I couldn’t be happier for my seniors, and everybody.”
The Redskins beat Jackson Center 3-0 in the squads’ SCAL matchups in regular season, including a 25-15, 25-21, 25-14 win on Oct. 3.
The teams traded points early in both of the first two sets, but after the score got into double digits, Fort Loramie went on runs to pull away. The team led 21-12 in the first set before the Tigers went on a run to cut the final gap to six points.
Fort Loramie dominated in the third to close it out and played its cleanest set of the day with few errors.
“Our ultimate focus throughout the whole game whenever they would go on a run was to respond,” Mescher said. “I think we always responded back to any of their runs. We knew they were going to have kills, we knew they were going to have good plays. We just had to bounce back and not get down on ourselves.”
Jackson Center senior McKinley Reichert, who was named SCAL player of the year, helped the Tigers stay in it in the first two sets. Rodgers said the Redskins adjusted to Jackson Center’s lineup and pulled away as the match progressed.
He credited Barhorst, who has over 2,800 career assists, for directing the effort.
“She knows the game so well,” Rodgers said. “She’s a coach on the floor. She just loves it. You can just look at her face, and you can tell she’s having so much fun. It’s just what she loves to do. Those kids are few and far between. There are a lot of great athletes, great players, but she’s something special.
“… But they will tell you it takes all of them. It takes a whole lot of people out there to make this happen, and all our seniors and (our players) contribute. It takes people in practice to push the starters. That’s what the tournament team is all about. The team on the bench is the team that’s making this team (on the court) great. So credit goes all the way down the line.”
Brandewie led the squad with 19 kills on Saturday while Deanna Rodeheffer had 10 and Mescher had seven. Rodeheffer had two aces. Katie Luthman had 16 digs, Brandewie had 12 and Barhorst had 11.
The Tigers, which tied for second place with Russia and Anna in SCAL standings, finish 19-8 overall. They will lose six seniors to graduation, including Reichert.
“The seniors are incredible,” Jackson Center coach Kim Metz said. “They fought through an awful lot. They’ve included each other in everything that they do. They just have laser focus. Today, they just had some hiccups.
“… They are an incredible bunch of kids, good student athletes. They’re just going to be incredible leaders.”
Metz credited the squad for giving a strong effort on Saturday, and through the season. The team lost five straight early in the season to fall to 1-5 but lost just three matches after Sept. 3.
“They have done everything that I’ve asked of them,” Metz said. “They’ve given everything. I know every coach loves their players as if they were their own kids. …You do become a family with them.
“… We’ve had just an incredible run. Kudos to every single one of them. They did all the little things that make the big things happen.
“I wish we would have had just a few more errors not come against us today and go against them, but Fort Loramie is good, and I wish them the best.”
The Redskins will face Strasburg-Franklin (20-6) in a D-VII state semifinal at 2 p.m. on Thursday at Wright State University’s Nutter Center. If victorious, Fort Loramie will face the winner of Norwalk St. Paul vs. Tiffin Calvert in a state final at 11 a.m. on Friday.
“There’s always nerves, no matter who we’re playing, because of the environment,” Rodgers said. “One of the things we stress is consistency over your emotion. This a sport of momentum, things go this way and that way. Those that control their emotions and just consistently play the game seem to come out on top.
“We’ve been stressing that since day one, knowing what this group is capable of and what we needed to do to prepare them emotionally as well as physically, to get them there. So I think we’re prepared.”
Mescher and Brandewie are both standout girls basketball players and helped that team win a D-IV state title in March.
“That was a great experience. Basketball was so much fun with all the girls, and we’re ready to take the volleyball team and work towards doing that again,” Mescher said.
Barhorst said working hard in practice will be key leading up to Thursday’s semifinal.
“We’ve just got to keep working hard and have confidence,” Barhorst said.
Reach Sidney Daily News editor Bryant Billing at 937-538-4822, or follow @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook or @TopBillingSport on X (Twitter).
