Lanicek notches 1,000th kill, Senecas secure 6th straight district title

FREMONT – Four years ago, Calvert's Caroline Lanicek was an important piece on a state championship team. Fast forward four years, the sensational senior hitter tallied her 1,000th career kill as her team claimed its sixth-straight district title – topping Lakota 25-13, 25-16, 25-10 at Fremont Ross Thursday."I've been blessed with some amazing teams since my freshmen year and I've been blessed with amazing setters ...really all the credit goes to my teammates," Lanicek said. "I wouldn't be able to do what I do without some amazing setters and passers, so I give all the credit to them."I think our team chemistry has been one of the best I've ever been a part of. I think that has to do with – when we were freshmen our senior and junior leadership was incredible and they wanted to give us what they experienced in 2018 (state title) – and our seniors this year our goal from Day 1 was to give back to the freshmen and underclassmen so they could experience what we have. That's definitely helped us mesh better and so quickly. It's never about one person, it's about all of us."Calvert (24-1) has dominated SBC River opponents since 2019, which was its last loss in the league. Facing Old Fort for a third time and then facing Lakota for a third time Thursday, the Senecas had the mindset that it was the first time they saw those teams. However they prepared, it worked. As a result, the Senecas will travel to Elida once again for a D-IV regional semifinal matchup with Ayersville at 6 p.m. Thursday.Lakota (20-6), who made its first district final appearance since 2010, started each set with a lead. But other than the second set, Calvert righted the ship rather quickly. After the Raiders grabbed a quick 2-1 advantage in the first set, Calvert made a run, leading 10-4. Lakota got back into it down 11-8 after a Riley King kill, but Calvert racked off point after point after that. Amidst the run, Lanicek had a block and then recorded her 1,000th kill to put the Senecas ahead 18-9."Caroline is very efficient. Just like with baseball you look at hitting percentage and in volleyball Caroline's hitting percentage is almost .500," Calvert coach Lori Rombach said. "She is in the top 10 in the state of Ohio for all divisions with her hitting percentage. That's extraordinary and amazing, so she doesn't get all of our sets, but she's efficient with the ball and historically doesn't commit a lot of errors and she terminates balls. "I'm so proud of her because I remember seeing her as a freshman and now I look out and see Bryn Meyer out there and I know Caroline is inspiring younger players and have them get an accolade like this ... it's pretty awesome to think about. That's a cool thing about our culture and our program is to give the younger girls something to strive for."Undoubtedly the seniors and upperclassmen carry the Senecas every night, but in a key point in Game 2, it was freshman Bryn Dircksen, who changed things for the Senecas. Lakota led early and then kept the lead up to 12-11. Then Dircksen started serving. After her fourth straight ace, Calvert recaptured all momentum and rolled from there.It was the freshmen like Bella Borgio, Meyer and Dircksen that gained some valuable experience and stepped up when the team needed it. "When you have the senior leadership we have on this team, it allows them to just settle in and they don't have to be extraordinary," Rombach said of her freshmen group. "They just have to do what they're good at. "Borgio did a great job of executing on the outside, Zoe did a great job, Dircksen did a good job and Kate Coleman did a great job off the bench in some serve receive. That's a great thing about our team is that we have girls that can step up and give us different looks and it makes our team strong."Since it was a 12-11 Lakota lead, that turned into an 8-0 scoring burst for Calvert, which essentially ended all hopes for the Raiders. With all the momentum after two sets, Calvert showed up in a big way in Set 3 with a 9-3 lead and then extended it to 21-8 later after four straight Olivia Miller aces with an impressive jump serve.Lakota pushed the Senecas in the second set and showed some flashes of the kind of program it is, but the Senecas were too much in the end. "That was our main goal tonight was to come out as a team and play hard," Raiders coach Maddison Baacke said. "We played them during the season and I think we've gotten better every time we've seen them, so we wanted to make them work and earn their points. I think we started with a lot of momentum and then it kind of shifted. They're a great team and they deserved to win because they played hard. It just came down to who was the best tonight. "We're really trying to grow from here and grow our program. We don't have a huge amount of depth on our bench or in our program, but we hope with this run that will change and hopefully get more kids interested. We're trying to build a winning culture here at Lakota."Lanicek led the Senecas with 10 kills and six blocks, while Camryn Shook and Borgio added six kills and three blocks apiece, Miller tallied her four aces and 29 assists, Dircksen had her four aces and 20 assists, Cecilia Palm made 22 digs and Claire Schoenberger finished with 21 digs."Lakota played tough tonight. They played scrappy on defense and never gave up," Rombach said. "I remember six years ago being here for the first time and it is exciting for your program. We even talked on the bus ride over here that we don't take for granted any win that we have and any opportunity to advance. It was a big win for us tonight and our program. "We have big goals and Elida is our next stop. Whoever we play, we'll be ready. I'm so excited and I can't wait to compete. I can't wait to see to see these girls rally around each other and play for each other. That's what we're starting to do. When you do that wonderful things happen."