FOSTORIA – Tinora’s Zoe Roesti started the OHSAA Regional DIV VI Semifinals with two straight aces to give the Lady Rams a 2-0 lead in the initial set, maybe this was a sign of good times ahead.

Monroeville entered the Semifinalist game at 24-1, 7th in the final regular season State Poll, while the Lady Rams of Tinora were still undefeated at 25-0, 5th in the final coaches’ volleyball poll.

The Lady Rams would jump out to a 6-3 advantage early on before the Eagles tied the match at 6-6 before the Monroeville grabbed an 8-6 advantage. A Lady Rams kill by Tatum Creps tied the game at 10-10 before Tinora eventually grabbed a 17-12, the largest lead by either team early on before a Monroeville timeout.

After the timeout, Tinora increased its lead to 21-13, forcing the Eagles to take a second timeout. Monroeville then forced three straight Lady Ram errors, closing the gap to 21-16 and forcing Tinora’s coach Hagerty to take a Tinora timeout.

Another Tinora error closed the gap to 21-17. Tinora finally ended the Eagles’ run on a Tatum Creps kill down the line, followed by a Paige Gamby kill for a 23-17 Tinora lead. The Lady Rams took the first set on a Gamby service ace, 25-19, taking a 1-0 set advantage.

Avery Morris got set two underway with a kill to put Tinora up 1-0 before jumping to a 4-2 lead. Monroeville would rally to tie the set at 6-6 before two straight Tinora points pushed their lead to 8-6 on another Creps kill.

The Eagles again rallied as they did in the first set to take a 9-8 lead on a Tinora error. A long rally by the teams saw Tinora tie the set at 11-11. The second set went back and forth midway through before Tinora grabbed a 15-14 lead. Ella Schaublin gave the Lady Rams a 16-14 lead on a service ace, followed by a Gamby kill for a 17-14 lead. The Gamby kill led to a Monroeville timeout.

An Eagles attack error would give Tinora a 19-15 lead as the second set closed out; another Eagles error pushed the Lady Rams lead to 21-15 and led to another Eagles timeout. Tatum Creps’s service ace included the Tinora lead to 22-15, followed by a Kenzi Nagel block for a 23-15 advantage, Tinora with a four-point run after the Eagles timeout. The Lady Rams would close out the second set 25-17 on another Kenzi Nagel kill for a 2-0 Lady Rams advantage.

Set three started with Monroeville grabbing the early 2-0 lead before grabbing a 7-2 lead over Tinora on an Alexa Adams kill by the Eagles. A mishit long by Monroeville finally stopped the run, and Tinora trailed 7-3. Ady Adams’s kill pushed the Eagle’s lead to 11-4 over Tinora early in the third set, leading to a Tinora timeout by coach Hagerty. A service error by Monroeville finally broke the run; the Eagles led 12-5.

A Tinora kill by Kenzi Nagel cut the lead to 14-7 in the third set. However, More Tinora errors increased the Eagles’ lead to 17-7 before extending it to 21-11. The Eagles grabbed the third set 25-13 to pull within 2-1.

Tinora dropped just their eighth set of the season with the third set loss.

The fourth set started the way the first two did, with the Lady Rams taking a 1-0 lead before taking an early 3-1 advantage. Monroeville would even it at 3-3 with two straight points. Two straight Lady Rams points put them on top 5-3. As through the first three sets, Monroeville would not have led Tinora to get a big lead, tying the match at 6-6. Tatum Creps would get two straight aces again, give the Lady Rams a 9-6, and eventually take a 10-6 lead on a Kenzi Nagel lead. Monroeville immediately asked for a timeout after the four straight Tinora points.

Zoe Roesti’s ace pushed the lead to 12-7, followed by a Paige Gamby diving save, and Tinora led 13-7. The Lady Rams pushed their lead to 15-10 midway through the fourth set. Paige Sebrings’ dump point gave Tinora a 16-9 lead, followed by a Kallie Snyder block for a 17-9 lead. The Snyder point led to another Eagles timeout.

Sebrings’s ace out of the timeout gave the Lady Rams an 18-9 advantage. Adi Adams’s kill for the Eagles cut the Tinora lead to 18-12. The Lady Rams pushed their lead to 21-16 before a timeout.

The Lady Rams extended their lead to 24-16 before Zoe Roesti’s ace gave the Lady Rams the set, 25-16, and the match, 3-1.

Monroeville sees their season end at 24-2.
The Eagles’ three seniors, Grace Stieber, Taryn Tyler, and Cayli Kegarise, played in their final game.

The Lady Rams remain undefeated at 26-0. Tinora will play Saturday at 2 pm back in Fostoria for a right to go to the Final Four and an OHSAA State appearance.
Tinora will play the winner of game two Thursday night between New London and New Breman.

This is just the second appearance for the Tinora volleyball program in the Regional Finals.

The Higbea Embroidery Player of the Game went to Kenzi Nagel. Congratulations to Kenzi!!

Rams fans, get to Fostoria on Saturday afternoon and support the girls!!!

Tinora stats  – Zoe Roesti 10 digs, 13-14 serving, 3 aces, 14 assists; Ella Schaublin 14-15 serving, 2 aces, 13 assists; Avery Morris 3 kills, 16 digs, 18-18 serve receive; Kenzi Nagel 10 kills, 2 blocks; Paige Sebring 20 digs, 17-19 serving, 19-21 serve receive; Paige Gamby 10 kills, 11 digs, 13-14 serve receive; Sophia Stark 4 digs, 12-13 serve receive, Aleena Ankney 3 digs; Kallie Snyder 6 digs; Tatum Creps 10 kills, 8-12 serving, 3 aces, 6 blocks; Christina Meyer 2 blocks.