DISTRICT SEMIFINAL … Kaitlyn Burke makes a play for Edgerton in their district semifinal match with Edon at Archbold High School.
PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
ASSIST LEADER … Edon’s Genna Ripke (above) recorded a team-high 51 assists in a five-set loss to Edgerton in the district semifinals.
By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
ARCHBOLD (October 20, 2025) – To quote Yogi Berra, “It’s like déjà vu all over again”. That was the case Monday night at The Thunderdome in Archbold in the first Division VII district semifinal of the night.
In their sectional final on October 15, Edgerton stormed back after dropping the first two sets to take the final three for a five-set win at Stryker.
Five days later in a district semifinal against Route 49 rivals Edon, the Bulldog faithful were again on the edge of their seats as that scenario repeated itself.
The Bombers won the first two highly competitive sets, only to see the Bulldogs pull off the “reverse sweep” by taking the deciding set 15-13 to advance to the district finals.
The first set was close throughout as the top seeded Bombers overcome an early 4-1 Edgerton lead to eventually grab a 20-18 lead after several ties.
Edon stretched that lead to 23-18 after an ace from Madison Baker and back-to-back kills from Lucy Morris.
Edgerton fought back with a 4-0 run capped off by a pair of aces from Cara Schroeder to trim the deficit to 23-22.
Edon responded as Morris delivered another kill and Genna Ripke served up an ace to close out the first set for Edon.
Edon raced out to a 7-2 lead to start the second set before Edgerton rallied with a 6-1 run to tie the set 8-8.
The back and forth continued as Edon would build a 16-12 lead, but the Bulldogs came back with a four-point spurt led by two kills from senior Alivia Farnham to deadlock the score at 16.
Edgerton kept the pressure on as Farnham delivered two more kills, one of which was off the 2,000th career assist by Ava Swank, and after an Edon error the Bulldogs’ lead was 21-18.
Edon battled back with a 4-1 run to tie the score at 22-22 but Edgerton would get the next two points for a 24-22 advantage.
After an Edon timeout, the Bombers ended the set with four straight points, ending with a kill from Baker, to win the set 26-24 and take a 2-0 lead.
The Edgerton rally would begin with the largest run by either team as the Bulldogs broke a 5-5 tie with nine straight points to surge in front 14-5.
A 7-2 run by Edon closed the gap to 16-12 but that was as close as the Bombers would get in the third as Edgerton maintained a five to nine point lead the rest of the way and a kill by Farnham closed out a 25-18 win.
The Edgerton momentum carried over to fourth set as Farnham slammed four kills early to help the Bulldogs to a 9-4 lead and then a 5-0 run after an Edon timeout gave the Bulldogs a commanding 14-4 advantage.
Four kills by Adison Briner and three from Baker spearheaded an 11-2 surge by the Bombers to draw within 16-15.
A series of Edon errors followed and another kill from Farnham helped slow the Edon momentum as the Bulldogs built their lead to 21-17.
After another Edon timeout, Edgerton would score four of the set’s last five points including two kills from Farnham and an ace by libero Aubrey Patrick gave Edgerton the set 25-18 and sent the match to a fifth and deciding set.
Baker carried Edon to open the fifth with three kills to help the Bombers to a 5-2 lead before Edgerton answered with a 4-1 run to square things at 6-6.
Edon put together a 4-1 run for a 10-7 lead and after an Edgerton error for too many hits, the lead for Edon was 13-11.
Edgerton had one more rally in them as two kills by Farnham tied the score, a Patrick ace gave them the lead, and an Edon hitting error secured a 15-13 win for Edgerton.
Farnham finished the 64/64 hitting with 45 kills, Swank dealt 55 assists, and Patrick was 26/27 serving with four aces.
Genna Ripke had 51 assists to front Edon, Avery Aldrich recorded 25 digs, and Morris delivered 17 kills with seven blocks.
With the new format adopted by the NWDAB, which has the district semifinal winners crossing over to play the winner of a semifinal at another site, Edgerton will return to Archbold tonight to take on No. 3 seed Norwalk St. Paul (18-6) in the district finals.
Edgerton d. Edon, 22-25, 24-26, 25-18, 25-18, 15-13
Edgerton (14-10): Alivia Farnham – 14/14 serving, 64/64 hitting, 42 kills, 8 digs; Ava Giesige – 27/30 hitting, 18 kills, 8 digs; Ava Swank – 162/162 setting, 55 assists, 10/10 serving; Aubrey Patrick – 25/27 serving, 4 aces, 10 digs
Edon (16-7): Genna Ripke – 51 assists, 7 digs; Madison Baker – 6 aces, 21 kills, 8 digs; Avery Aldrich – 25 digs; Lucy Morris – 7 blocks, 17 kills