Margaretta sets up big week in SBC

CASTALIA — Margaretta handed Ottawa Hills its first Sandusky Bay Conference loss Saturday to set up a big week for the Polar Bears. The Bears knocked off OH 25-20, 13-25, 25-15, 25-20 to improve to 9-2 overall and 5-1 in the SBC. Sarah Kuns, in her ninth season as Margaretta's head coach, has a young team that has been building winning chemistry. "Everything has been team first," Kuns said. "They work hard; they're scrappy. We played good defense. They're putting in the time and it's something that as a coach I'm loving it." Freshman Mya Feltner had nine kills, 11 digs and three aces to help Margaretta beat the Green Bears (6-2, 5-1). It was Margaretta's fifth straight win. Claire Conner, a junior, and Renna Keller, a sophomore, each had eight kills. Conner had 14 digs and Keller finished with four aces. Sophomore setter Tessa Lane added seven kills, 14 assists and 21 digs and Adley Berg, another freshman, had five kills. Feltner, who turned 14 last week, leads Margaretta in kills and digs. With Berg, she has provided a youthful boost for the Bears. "They're not timid freshmen," Kuns said. "All 27 of the girls that I have in the program, there's not one of them that doesn't get along, which has made it a lot easier for the freshmen to transition in to the JV and varsity. "The varsity girls have just loved on them to the point where they're all basically best friends. You can see it on the court. There's not any negativity. We tend to dig ourselves in a hole, so digging out of it is a lot easier when you have six players out there who are working for each other." Conner, an outside hitter, is second in kills on the team and is one of several options the Bears have at the net. "She's stepped up huge this year," said Kuns of Conner. "She's like night and day from what I expected and how she started off as a freshman. "We're not just a two-hitter team anymore. We have options, which is finally where we've been needing to get to." There are only two seniors on the roster, including libero Ella Limberios. "On defense I have numbers in every position, so it's Heaven right now," Kuns said. Margaretta travels to Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic (4-4, 3-3) on Tuesday before a showdown at league-leading Gibsonburg (8-1, 6-0) on Thursday. Next Tuesday, the Bears will try to avenge their lone league loss when they host Danbury. "They're ready for it," Kuns said. "They were at biddy ball (Sunday) and they were all there talking about it. They know that Gibsonburg defeated Danbury in three (sets) and we lost to Danbury in five, so their drive and 'want to win' is more now than it was against Ottawa Hills." Kuns said moving to the new SBC this season has been a breath of fresh air for her team. "I didn't know how it was gonna go," she said. "Now that we're in it, minus the travel time, because we're not the centrally located team anymore, I don't dislike it. "I like that it is a more level playing field for us. We're not walking into Huron and immediately feeling defeated anymore. It's definitely a positive change. We're getting new competition. I really am excited seeing how this week is going to go."