Tipp destroys top-ranked Knights, head to state finals

And then there was one. 

Only one team stood between the Tippecanoe volleyball team and a chance for an undefeated state championship season.

The #1 ranked Division Three team in Ohio, Akron Hoban, came into their game Friday morning with the mindset of advancing to the state finals. But Tippecanoe didn’t let the ranking or aura of the big game get to them.

Behind a dominant performance at Wittenberg University in front of what looked to be everyone in town, the Red Devils quieted their doubters with a dominant 25-19, 25-20, 25-15 victory over Hoban. They remained unbeaten and headed into the state championship game on Saturday night against the #2 ranked team in Ohio, Bloom Carroll.

“I noticed the kids were really composed with how many fans we had today,” said Tippecanoe coach Howard Garcia. “They went against the #1 ranked team in Ohio, and you don't know what to expect. We tried to make it simple, and they played very simple. We only had one service error all day, and stopped and contained Samantha Dehrmann, which was a big thing.”

Garcia said. “(Kathleen) Jones was absent in the game, with only a few kills the entire match.” 

Tipp dominated the front line, with an impressive 45 kills in just three games.  Led by all-Ohio Savannah Clawson with a game-high 16 kills and sophomore all-Ohioan Abbi Mader adding 11 to lead the Tipp attack. But it didn’t stop there. 

Courtney Post, a senior headed to Otterbein, contributed seven kills, and Lexi Luginbuhl, an often underrated player, added six kills as Tipp was in control most of the night.

Hoban’s all-Ohio hitter Samantha Dehrmann was also equally impressive, but her game was taken away in the third set when Tipp turned up the pressure and put the Knights away.

While they have not officially publicly announced the highest Ohio Player of the Year honors this year, Garcia shared the sentiments of everyone in the gym at Wittenberg.

“There was no question who the best player was on the court today,” he said, referencing Clawson. 

Another player he mentioned who often gets overlooked is Faith Siefring, who was instrumental in the team's win.

“Faith located her serve and made them work, she hit the spots,” Garcia said. “We constantly tried to attack #7 and #11, and it worked to put the pressure on them from the service line.”

“We had four hands-on every time they went up, and committed our middle blocker to where they were at.”

Tipp had 17 kills in the second set to really set the tempo, then outhit the Knights 14-9 in the third set when they put the match away.

Bri Morris was her usual steady self with 32 assists to control the tempo on her side. While Tipp only served seven aces on the day, Tipp’s serve receive was exceptional as Hoban only had one ace.

“We served-received a bit deeper than usual and shaded Faith more toward them,” Garcia said. “It came out perfectly.”

Also with another big game was Faith Siefring with 20 digs to add to her school record, while Clawson had 14 and Mader 11.