Marietta's Anna Ritter closes down the net on an attack by Sheridan's Ava Heller during the Tigers' 3-1 victory Tuesday night in an Ohio Division III Southeast District semifinal contest inside Logan's Jim Myers Gymnasium. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

LOGAN — Anna Ritter and Emma Middleton, who served consecutive aces to seal Marietta’s 25-22, 18-25, 25-21 and 25-20 victory here Tuesday night versus Sheridan inside Jim Myers Gymnasium in a Division III Southeast District semifinal, each posted double-doubles to help the sixth-ranked Tigers extend their season.

Ritter registered 14 kills and had 23 digs while Middleton had a dozen downed spikes and 27 digs as the orange and black of head coach Ron Kidder improved to 22-2 and will carry a five-match win streak into their 3 p.m. Saturday district title tilt back at Logan versus No. 13 Dover.

“We didn’t want any repeats,” admitted Ritter, who a year ago with her teammates defeated the Generals 3-2 after dropping the first two sets in the district semifinal. “We’ve been working on it a lot all season. We didn’t want any repeats, any letdowns. We were mostly focusing on serving and passing. We’ve been working on serving deep and really just all over the place.

“Tonight was mostly about serving, passing and defense. Honestly, I don’t think we were too surprised. We went into it with the mindset that if we lose a set we’re fine, we got four more to go. I think we’re really good at keeping our heads up, especially when that happens because we know that’s how the game works. You’re not going to win every set.”

Ritter, who added seven blocks, watched setter Taylor Karcher compile two kills, 15 digs and 42 assists. Tori Dawson finished with 10 kills, Ari Buckley (19 digs) had eight, Haley Wilkinson chipped in five downed spikes with 22 digs and joined Dawson and Middleton with a pair of aces.

Marietta libero Reagan Karcher digs the ball as teammate Emma Middleton looks on. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“It’s two really good programs,” said coach Kidder, whose squad halted Sheridan and head coach Mandy Fox’s 14-match win streak as the Generals finished at 20-4. “Two really good teams playing. I give a lot of credit to Sheridan. I’m not going to sugarcoat this any. I’ll tell you the truth. I didn’t want to play them.

“You don’t want to play them in the second round of the tournament. You don’t expect to see that quality of a team until you get to the first game in the regionals or something, not the first game in the districts. I knew they were good. They are so well coached and so disciplined. They are just a good team.”

Sheridan’s Dylan Fox put up a match-high 43 assists while Ava Heller, who had a match-high three aces, tied Ritter for match-high kills honors with 14.

Coach Fox’s team also received a dozen kills from Halle Warner, nine by Payton Powell, seven from Josie Ramey as well as six downed spikes apiece from Mauri O’Brien and the setter Fox.

“We always like playing at home, but I’m glad it wasn’t too far for either team,” said Taylor Karcher, whose twin sister and libero Reagan Karcher contributed seven digs. “We just wanted to stay focused. Our goal is to make it farther than we did last year, so Final Four. We knew Sheridan was going to give us a good game because of last year.

Marietta's Tori Dawson serves up an ace to tie the first set at five as teammate Anna Ritter looks on during Tuesday's Division III Southeast District semifinal versus Sheridan at Logan's Jim Myers Gymnasium. The Tigers won 3-1 to punch their ticket for Saturday's district championship match versus Dover back at Logan. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“We were just really excited going into it. We’re really focusing our energy and effort on passing and serving and just playing our game. (After the second set loss) we were still feeling pretty alright. I mean they are a really good team. We just wanted to make sure to be focused and get the next sets.”

The Tigers managed to open up a 13-8 cushion in set one after trailing 6-5 thanks in large part to Ritter’s play at the net.

Sheridan closed it to 24-22 on a Tiger attack error with libero Grace Stoltz at the service line, but Buckley’s kill finished things off.

Following four straight points from Middelton, the Tigers had set two even at 14. A Wilkinson kill via a Buckley assist tied it at 16, but the Generals scored nine of the final 11 points to make it a best-of-three affair. Powell’s kill from a Ramey assist was followed by another Powell downed spike via a Fox assist, which made it 18-16. Heller followed with all three of her aces and O’Brien’s kill capped set point.

Marietta got back on track in set three and never trailed. The No. 9 Generals closed it to 23-21 late thanks to a Heller kill, but Ritter and Wilkinson each put one to the floor for the 2-1 advantage.

Marietta High School head coach Ron Kidder discusses strategy during a timeout of Tuesday's Division III Southeast District semifinal versus Sheridan at Logan's Jim Myers Gymnasium. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Wilkinson’s ace put the Tigers ahead 6-5 early in set four, but it was 8-6 Sheridan after O’Brien and Warner registered a kill apiece.

Even at nine, the Tigers took the lead for good with Buckley serving thanks to consecutive SHS attack errors.

Middleton later served the top seed to a 17-12 advantage with an ace as the closest the No. 2 seed got the rest of the way was at 22-20 following a Heller kill.

Wilkinson’s bump set and assist to Ritter preceded Middleton’s pair of aces to end it.

Despite falling in the second set, Kidder was more than pleased with the effort.

Marietta's Ari Buckley spikes the ball during Tuesday's match against Sheridan. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“Like I told them. We haven’t lost very many sets this year,” said the coach. “It’s going to happen, but what happens when we lose a set and they responded. They came back, fought the next two, played hard and cut their mistakes down. It was one heckuva game. I’m so proud of our kids.

“All of our kids played really hard and they’ve been working hard. They got a lot of pressure on them every time they go out here, so proud of them and so proud of my coaching staff. They do a great job every day. We’re going to celebrate a little bit and then scout Dover. We know a little bit about them.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com