ARCANUM – The No. 4 seed Ansonia Lady Tigers defeated a scrappy No. 5 seed Fairlawn Lady Jets squad 3–1 in the OHSAA Division VI District semifinals to punch their ticket to the district championship match.
“I keep telling my girls it’s who wants it more at this time in the season — and they really want it,” said Ansonia coach Lexi Custenborder. “They’re working so hard, giving all their effort, and I can’t ask for anything more as a coach.”
Ansonia jumped out to a quick 4–1 lead in the opening set before Fairlawn rallied with six unanswered points to go up 7–4. The Lady Tigers responded with five straight of their own to reclaim a 9–7 lead, with the teams battling to an 11–11 tie. Ansonia later led 23–19, but Fairlawn closed the set on a 6–0 run to steal a 25–23 win and an early 1–0 lead in the match.
“I was proud of my girls,” Custenborder said. “In the past, they might have crumbled after losing like that — but they responded. They came back stronger.”
The Lady Tigers started the second set with a 3–0 lead before the teams traded points to 5–5. Fairlawn then went on a 5–0 run to take a 10–5 advantage, but Ansonia answered with five straight points to tie it at 10. The back-and-forth continued with the score standing at 19–19, when the Lady Tigers surged ahead 22–19. Fairlawn fought back to tie it 23–23 and even had set point at 24–23, but Ansonia dug deep, scoring three straight to pull out a 26–24 win and even the match at 1–1.
The momentum carried into the third set, where Ansonia raced out to a 7–2 lead and extended it to 18–10. Despite a brief Fairlawn push to cut it to 20–14, the Lady Tigers closed out the set 25–18 to take a 2–1 match advantage.
Set four saw Ansonia open with a 12–6 lead before Fairlawn battled back with an 8–0 run to go up 14–12. The Lady Tigers regrouped and roared ahead with an 8–1 run of their own to seize a 20–15 advantage, finishing strong for a 25–17 victory and the 3–1 match win.
“That first set, we were kind of finding our groove,” said Custenborder. “But the rest of the way, they played with confidence, played smart, made the right choices, and kept their energy up. They were lifting each other up — and all of that contributed to a great outcome.”
The postgame locker room scene was one of pure celebration.
“There was a lot of screaming — my voice is gone,” Custenborder laughed. “They’re so excited. They haven’t been to a district since 1982, so this is huge for them. But I don’t want them to be content. They can keep going, and I hope we can continue to build on this.”
The Ansonia Lady Tigers will compete for a District Championship on Saturday, October 25, at Lakota East High School with a 10 a.m. start time.
