CLAYTON – The 2025 OHSAA Division VI District Champion Arcanum Lady Trojans put up a determined fight before falling to the Fort Recovery Lady Indians 3-1 in first-round regional volleyball action.
“I give my girls a lot of credit,” said Arcanum head coach Jacie Holman. “They have tall girls, and we still managed to do a lot of great things on offense. My offense did an exceptional job, and so did my defense.”
“Fort Recovery has something you can’t teach — and that’s height,” Holman added. “My hitters did everything they could to get around those blocks. We can make adjustments, but if they’re there, they’re just there.”
Arcanum opened strong, jumping out to a 5-2 lead before the Lady Indians reeled off nine straight points to go up 11-5. The Lady Trojans battled back to tie the score at 17-17 and again at 19-19 before Fort Recovery closed with a 6-1 run to take the opening set 25-20.
“We did exceptionally well,” Holman said. “Our goal was to jump out on them, and we did that in almost every set. Unfortunately, in that first set, we got stuck in a rotation where it killed us. Between missed serves and that one rotation, we gave them 11 points — and that’s huge at that point in the game. You can’t allow a team to have 11 unearned points.”
Arcanum rebounded in the second set, using four aces and just one service error to control play. The Lady Trojans built a 15-11 lead and held off a Fort Recovery rally to win 25-21 and even the match.
“We said between sets, ‘If we want this match, we’ve got to fix what we did,’” said Holman. “When we eliminate our own mistakes, we win — and that’s exactly what happened. We eliminated the serving errors, played our game, and did just fine.”
Set three saw Arcanum again start fast with a 4-1 lead, but Fort Recovery clawed back and eventually claimed the set 25-21 to move ahead 2-1.
The fourth and final set was a thriller. Tied at 19-19, both teams traded runs and battled through ties at 20-20, 22-22, 23-23, and 24-24 before the Lady Indians notched the final two points to win 26-24 and advance.
“We have never been to a regional game, and that’s the difference between us and Fort Recovery right now,” Holman reflected. “They’ve been in this scenario. They know how to be mentally tough — and that’s something we’ll work on going forward. These girls wanted this game so much, and I am so proud of them. We fought hard, and they responded to everything I gave them tonight.”
Five Arcanum seniors played their final match in orange and black: No. 7 Grace Psczulkoski, No. 10 Grace Fry, No. 11 Avery Leeper, No. 12 Kamryn Beisner, and No. 14 Caroline Long.
“These seniors — I am exceptionally proud of them,” Holman said. “They’ve been with me from the beginning and truly bought into every word I’ve told them. They each brought their own leadership this year — some led vocally, some by example, and others by being that shoulder to lean on. We had five strong senior leaders, and they’ll be greatly missed.”
