The eighth-ranked Red Devils will play second-ranked Bloom-Carroll in the D-III state championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Wright State University.
Tippecanoe senior outside hitter Savannah Clawson had 16 kills and 14 digs, junior outside hitter Abby Mader had 11 kills and 11 digs, junior libero Faith Siefring had 20 digs and senior setter Brianna Morris added 32 assists for the Red Devils, who are seeking their first girls volleyball state championship in school history.
“It’s incredible just how my team came out and just worked for each other and just fought so hard,” Clawson said. “It’s just incredible to see the outcome and how all of our hard work up to this point just really showed today, and it was just so exciting.”
The Red Devils advanced to the state final for the second time in school history. They finished runner-up in 1992.
No. 1 Akron Hoban, which finished its season 22-6, was believed to be the favorite coming into the state semifinal.
“I feel like a lot of people doubt us just because we’re a smaller public school, so I feel it was really cool to just show them who (we) really are,” Clawson said.
The difference in the match, said Tippecanoe veteran coach Howard Garcia, was the Red Devils defense.
The Red Devils had just one receiving error, while the Knights had seven. Siefring and her teammates were able to shut down Hoban’s main hitters Samantha Dehrmann and Kathleen Jones early in the match, Garcia said, which forced them to change their tactics.
“The thing is that you’ve got liberos that are really flashy, that cover a lot of acreage, they can go after balls (far away),” Garcia said. “(Siefring) doesn’t need to do that because she is in the right spot at the right time, all the time, so it seems effortless out there.”
After winning the first set 25-19, the Red Devils trailed twice early in the second set. The score was tied at 19, but Tipp went on a 6-1 run to win the set 25-20.
Tippecanoe also had just one serving error the entire match.
“Volleyball is always a game of errors,” Garcia said. “We had very few. In that second set they had a little bit of fire, right? They had a little fire. But what happened? They had about three or four straight service errors, and they gave us a little bit more fire.”
With school canceled on Friday, the Red Devils community traveled to Springfield in full force. The student section wore all black and stretched all the way to the top of the bleachers at Pam Evans Smith Arena.
“I think it was just really cool to show how much they really supported us,” Clawson said, “and it was just cool to see everyone come. It was overwhelming, a little intimidating, for sure, but it was just cool to just see how much people really support us.
“I think (tomorrow) it’ll be even better.”
The Red Devils have lost just two sets the entire season on their way to the state championship game. They need to win three to claim their first state title in school history.
“You want to win the state championship, you got to stay perfect,” Garcia said.
The key will be remembering what got them there and not making the stage bigger than it is, he said.
“To me, it’s always another volleyball match,” Garcia said. “The only difference is that you’ve got an opponent in a slightly different jersey. Control your side and we’ll win like we did today.”
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