BUCYRUS — Wins have been at a premium for the Bucyrus volleyball program over the past several years, though the young Lady Redmen have shown improvement over the course of the year.
Fostoria — also the Lady Redmen — was in a similar situation this year, having only one senior on the roster.
The two were paired in the opening round of the Division III sectional tournament — Bucyrus as the No. 12 seed and Fostoria as the No. 13 seed — each with one win on the season.
Fostoria was able to take advantage of a Bucyrus roster thinned by injuries to win the battle of the two otherwise evenly matched teams, 3-1, by scores of 25-19, 19-25, 25-19, 25-23. Fostoria advances to Wednesday’s sectional final at No. 1 seed Huron.
“It was really nice,” Fostoria coach Chelsea Garner said. “We haven’t had a sectional win in a while. To do it for our senior was really awesome.”
The senior, Jasmine Groves, certainly helped lead the way to victory, recording 18 receptions and 13 digs. Groves was also instrumental in hitting, especially at the net.
Bucyrus coach Kim Long thought about what might have been, missing starters Lily Neumann and Layla Ellis due to injuries.
“We didn’t have too many lineup options,” Long said. “We pulled up several of our jayvee girls and they stepped up and helped us out. I think we did the best we could.”
Neither coach adjusted their approach to the contest despite the missing players.
“To be honest, we really had to focus on ourselves,” Garner said. “We had a lot of serving errors throughout the match. We need to focus on ourselves, being disciplined with our passing, and just making sure we get our serves over — just playing clean volleyball on our side.”
“Our strategy has been we’ve got to attack first,” Long said. “We’ve got to come out strong and stay strong, keep our energy up. We kind of let our energy dip a little bit in key moments that gave them a little extra edge and pushed them over the top.”
Bucyrus (1-18) had only one lead, at 4-3, in the first set, though the locals were still as close as 13-14 midway through the set. Fostoria (2-21) scored six of the last nine points to win, 25-19.
In the second set, Bucyrus came out smoking, registering the first seven points. But Fostoria scored the next seven to tie it at 7-7. However, Bucyrus rallied from a 15-11 deficit to outscore the visitors, 14-4, the rest of the way to take the second set, 25-19.
The third set was tied at 17-17, but Fostoria closed it out on an 8-2 run to win the set by the score of the day, 25-19, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The fourth set was a donnybrook. Bucyrus led as late as 12-11 and there were nine ties, before Fostoria was able to slip out with a 25-23 win to take the match, 3-1.
Despite the struggle to win games, Long was optimistic. She has four juniors — Maddie Kimmel, Macey Williams, Cambria Wolff, and Kelcie Clayton — and five sophomores — Emma Tyrrell, Addison Ricker, Laila Perdue, Neumann, and Ellis — returning next season.
“I really think next year will be their year,” Long said. “They’ll have a lot of experience under their belts. We have no seniors, so everyone is back.”
“I think it was a good team effort,” Garner said. “Our senior, Jasmine Groves, has been really consistent throughout the entire year. She’s a great leader. She’s consistent out there hitting for us. She does a great job.”
Garner was reminded that her team now must take on top seeded Huron. But the coach thought it still better than ending the season on Monday.
“It is (better). We’re excited,” Garner said.
“I could not be more proud of them,” Long said of her charges. “They fought hard. We wanted it and just couldn’t clinch it at the last second.”