Crestview’s Cam Davidson (26) and Bella Ciapala (24) go for a block against Chippewa’s Bree Regan in Tuesday’s district semifinal match. (Morning Journal/Michael Burich)

COLUMBIANA — Crestview’s volleyball team entered Tuesday’s Div. V district semifinal with Doylestown Chippewa having won 12 straight district matches.

The Rebels left after a 25-17, 25-22, 18-25, 25-20 victory knowing that to continue this streak of making regional tournaments that they will have to be much better going forward.

Crestview, the No. 1 seed, had usually breezed through its district semifinal matches in year’s past but the Chipps, the 14th seed, made sure the home team worked for it. The Chipps (13-11) came from the Wayne County Athletic League where they finished sixth this season.

“I knew this was going to be a good match,” Crestview coach Alisha Auer said. “We watched them play and they’re in a really tough league and play a really tough schedule. We knew that the 14th seed meant nothing.”

Chippewa coach Kyle Metzger wasn’t afraid to take on the top seed. She said the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Division champs would be a mid-range team in the WCAL.

“Not taking away from them but the WCAL is amazing,” Metzger said.

At first it didn’t look like the Chipps would be much of a challenge as it fell behind 6-1 out of the gate, but that point forward the Chipps looked like the better team for large portions of the match.

After the Rebels won the first set, the Chipps looked comfortable and actually led 21-17 late in the second set when the Rebels decided to burn a timeout.

“The coach said we had been playing down and we needed to get back to playing with confidence,” libero Kerrigan Miller said. “We had a set under our belt and we had to play like we did.”

The Rebels scored eight of the next nine points to cool the Chipps off and take control of the match.

“The coach said to play mad and play like how we played at Canfield,” Valerie Boyd said. “She wanted us to stay strong, be positive and play with everything you had in that moment.”

Rebel senior superstar Lainy Auer, who is almost assuredly going to be a first-team All-Ohioan, was the Crestview spark plug as she had 33 kills, two blocks, two aces and 16 digs. Sophia Stewart backed her up with 41 assists and 16 digs. Miller was aggressive on serve with two kills and was vital in the defense with 29 digs. Boyd also played a key role in the serving and defensive games with two aces and 12 digs. Freshman Bella Ciapala contributed six kills.

Chippewa proved it could hang with the 21-3 Rebels in the third game as it used its strong defensive abilities to keep Crestview working for every point.

An 8-1 to start the fourth game put the Rebels in a good position to escape without having to go to a fifth game.

“I could have went five,” Auer said. “It depended on how we started the third, but we needed that second game. It was very important.”

The Rebels realize this season’s tournament run is going to be a lot different than in the past without current University of Pittsburgh freshman Abbey Emch leading the way.

“It’s tougher this year because I am playing more,” Miller said. “We don’t have Abbey like we did last year, so we have to fight a little more than we did before. It’s a good feeling to have to fight more but it’s definitely tougher than last year.”

To keep advancing, Auer knows that lower classman with play a big role.

“I have a lot of kids with similar abilities and it’s just looking for what we need in the moment,” Auer said.

Crestview will play No. 5 seed Chagrin Falls at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Streetsboro High School in the district final. Falls beat No. 12 seed Canton Central 21-25, 25-11, 25-20, 25-20 in the night’s second match.

“It’s just going to keep getting harder,” Auer said.

Match notes

• Seeding all of the region usually brings up questionable seeding placements, so it’s not out of the question that some teams might be a lot better than the seed number.

“The seeding is interesting in that we have state powerhouses ranked at No. 8,” Auer said referring to Mentor Lake Catholic.

• Metzger noted that Crestview was most vulnerable in tip coverage.

“Don’t take that as a dig though because they are awesome in other areas,” Metzger said.