Marietta's Anna Ritter, right, celebrates following a kill with teammates Reagan Karcher (10) and Adele McCombs (23) as Ava Prim (1) earned the assist to reach match point during the Tigers' sweep of Dover in a Division III district championship match Saturday afternoon at Logan's Jim Myers Gymnasium. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

LOGAN, Ohio — Ari Buckley (14), Anna Ritter (12) and Tori Dawson (11) each finished with double figure kill totals here Saturday afternoon inside Jim Myers Gymnasium as the Marietta High School volleyball program of head man Ron Kidder made school history after dispatching Dover 25-13, 25-20 and 25-18 to capture a Division III district championship for the second straight season.

The Tigers, who improved to 23-2 and now will face Bishop Watterson at 6 p.m. Thursday in Hebron at Lakewood High School in the Sweet 16, came out on fire against the Tornadoes of head coach Beth Mathews.

The combination of Ritter and Dawson at the net with Taylor Karcher, who had a match-high 41 assists, serving gave the orange and black a quick 5-0 lead in the opening set as Dover called timeout.

Once Ritter moved to the back row, Buckley joined Dawson in the front and continued to dominate as Dover called its second timeout trailing 13-3. Karcher’s kill put the Tigers ahead 20-8. It was 24-11 following a Ritter ace and a Buckley attack went unreturned to finish off set point.

“We were ready to play,” admitted Tiger libero Reagan Karcher, who finished with a quartet of digs.

Marietta's Ari Buckley finished with a match-high 14 kills to help the Tigers sweep Dover on Saturday during an Ohio Division III district championship match at Logan's Jim Myers Gymnasium. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“We were super excited that we won the last game, so we just really wanted to be back-to-back district champs so I think we just came to play today.”

Ritter, who had a match-high 21 digs, double-doubled along with Buckley and her 15 digs.

“It’s incredible,” admitted Ritter, who watched Emma Middleton put down eight kills with a baker’s dozen digs and Haley Wilkinson go for a trio of kills and 10 digs. “At practice the other night we were looking at the banners we got in the gym and the last district championship that was won before last year was 1975.

“It was a big accomplishment and we were really excited. I think we were just really pumped up. We knew it would take a lot because Dover is a very good team and we just knew we had to come out strong and be focused and I think that’s what we did the first set.”

The Tornadoes didn’t flinch after the opening set defeat and jumped out to a quick 4-0 cushion in set two with Lily Galbraith toeing the service line. Alli Hupp had an early kill as too did Hailey Kuecher, who registered a double block with setter Quincey Werntz.

Marietta head coach Ron Kidder, left, addresses his team during a timeout in Saturday’s district final match against Dover at Logan. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

An ace by Wilkinson started a four-point run to square it at seven. Although Wilkinson then had a service error to make it 8-7 Dover, Dawson powered a shot down the line for a kill to put the Tigers ahead for good. After Buckley put one to the floor, Dawson collected her second ace as the orange and black pushed ahead 18-11.

Despite a double block by Caroline Hanner, who had a team-high dozen kills, and Keucher on Dawson which made it 19-15, Dover could only close it to 23-20 after consecutive aces by Chera Schmidt. Ritter gave MHS a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-five match after she recorded the final two downed spikes.

“We were on,” said coach Kidder. “I said all season one of these days we’re going to come out and we’re all going to play. Today I told them after that first set that was the set right there. These girls have worked hard. Class, very classy and they just keep playing and keep fighting. They have goals. This is back-to-back district titles for them. These girls made history today. I’m so proud of them, so proud of the girls and my coaches.

“Dover’s got a nice team. It’s not going to get any easier, but we’ve had a tough schedule. The execution in the first set was very good. We executed and had three or four blocks in the first set and shut them down. We knew we had to serve well and we did. When you take them out of what they want to do and they can’t get that really good pass right off the bat it helps us. It just helps.”

Hanner’s kill opened the final set and the Tigers trailed 2-0 following an attack error with Meghan Ravine serving.

Marietta’s Haley Wilkinson bumps the ball during Saturday’s district final match against Dover at Logan. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Coach Mathews’ squad led 6-5 when Kuecher blocked a Taylor Karcher tip and had it tied for the final time at 11-all thanks to a Jenna Molk kill.

Marietta took the lead for good at 12-11 when Buckley’s spike wasn’t returned. The Tigers went ahead 20-14 when Dover had a bad serve-receive and Middleton mashed it to the hardwood.

“It’s really hard to judge those, but a lot of times if you just go up for it and swing fast it’s fun,” Middleton said. “They are the best kills in my opinion. They are so fun.”

Coach Kidder inserted Adele McCombs and Ava Prim into the lineup late. Ritter helped the Tigers reach match point with four straight kills, the final coming via a Prim assist.

Middleton was unable to serve out on match point when it went into the net, but a Dover attack error ended it.

“Today the ball just didn’t go our way. We didn’t play our best,” said coach Mathews, who was missing defensive specialist Isabelle Stoldt due to a wedding. “They played great. I’m not taking anything away from them.

“They played a great game. We had a great season. I told the girls we’ve really grown a lot. I’m proud of our season. I’m proud of our team. I thought we fought hard today.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com