WILLARD - Riding a 22-match win streak having dropped just four sets along the way to a Division III district semifinal against postseason rival Tiffin Columbian, the top-seeded Ashland Arrows had a rude awakening Monday evening at Willard High School.
Leading 9-2 in the opening set, the No. 4 Tornadoes proceeded to go on a 24-15 run capitalizing on 11 unforced errors from the Arrows to steal away the first 26-24 and take a shock 1-0 lead in the match.
"Every team is going to play for their life come tournament time," Ashland coach Jenise Vaughn said. "I was very impressed by Columbian, they have improved tremendously over the last few weeks. They were just battling, and we welcome that challenge.
"It's fun to play good teams, it's fun to have a little bit of pressure ... I'm incredibly proud of how our girls handled that pressure and came out fighting and even stronger in set two."
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Turns out it was just the spark the Arrows needed as they took the next three sets 25-17, 25-19, 25-16 in their second win over Columbian this season, but the first one in the tournament after the Tornadoes knocked them out of the district semifinal each of the past two years.
"Even though we did beat them, we knew we had to come in hungry and ready to win again," senior Rylan McFrederick said. "We had to kind of defend our 'title' against them, but we knew they'd come out fighting even harder. We worked hard in the gym knowing they were going to come back as hungry as we are.
"We had to focus on outworking them while keeping our composure, it was a huge team effort. We played really well toegther ... we just mesh really well and that helps our team chemistry."
It was the first time Ashland dropped an opening set since Sept. 24 at home against New Philadelphia — the only team in league play to take a set from the Arrows — and Vaughn was thrilled with how her girls handled it.
"The calm composure I saw out of my athletes is a reflection of our leadership on the court," she said. "We have returning letterwiners who haven't been to a district final before, and they're so hungry for it."
McFrederick is one of those hungry letterwinners. She finished with 11 kills and an ace with most of her work coming in the final two sets.
"We work really well with something to work against, so dropping a set to them made us want to prove ourselves even more than we can win and we are worthy of it," McFrederick said. "I try to stay calm under pressure. I know what my team needs and I try to provide everything I can.
"I just knew what I had to do to back my teammates up, and took it upon myself to know my role and execute that role ... just be there for my team."
After putting the opening set behind, the Arrows showed why they earned the No. 1 seed in the Willard District with their versatility on offense and relentless defensive efforts. Sophomore Makenna Oslie had 15 kills and seven aces, senior Sadie Walter six kills and four blocks, sophomore Kyla O'Brien six kills, six aces, two blocks, and junior setter Arienne Vaughn 40 assists, six kills, three blocks.
"It was 100% a team effort tonight," coach Vaughn said. "We've got five or six girls that can terminate on offense, and I thought Arienne did a really good job of spreading the ball. But also on defense, I'm happy with any combination of defenders we have in the back row. I thought Ally Welch played an amazing match in the back row, she doesn't always get a lot of credit but played a huge role for us. I could just say so many good things about every single one of our players, they all contributed to this win.
"It's been a long time since we've been back to the district final. It's a very hard challenge year in and year out, so I'm incredibly proud of this group. They're deserving of this."
Fourteen years to be exact. And this will be just the fourth time in program history that the Arrows will get a chance to compete for a district championship — they were previously swept in 2007, 2008, and 2012.
"This matches the furthest we've been in (over) a decade ... and that's saying something because we don't have the experience factor at this round of the tournament," coach Vaughn said. "I'm proud of our poise and our composure, it's going to take that again on Wednesday. It gets harder every match you go, but we're excited for the challenge and I hope to continue this as long as possible with these girls."
And the girls are hoping to keep this tournament run going for as long as they can, too. It means more opportunities to celebrate successes.
"Picking each other up is really big on this team, too," McFrederick said. "I think we do really well supporting each other whether we see someone is down or they're having a great game. We've celebrated each other's success a lot throughout the season."
Vaughn broke the career assists record a couple weeks ago and went over 2,000 for her career late in the fourth set Monday night, while Oslie recorded her 500th kill coincidentally on the same play.
"The record and milestones are never the goal," coach Vaughn said. "It is a result of teamwork and team effort putting things out there.
"My passers give me a great ball every time so I can run a great offense," her daughter echoed. "And my hitters, I cannot get an assist if they don't put the ball away. I have so much confidence in them ... that just makes it so much easier."
Ashland shifts its focus to an opponent it has never faced before in Lima Shawnee, a team that won the district last year over Lexington. The two will play for a spot in the regional tournament on Wednesday at 6 p.m. back at Willard High School.
"We've been working toward this for three years," Arienne Vaughn said. "We have a lot of seniors so we want to go as far as we possibly can for them. We have a lot of willpower and fire."
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ashland shakes off slow start against Columbian in district semifinal