Only two teams remain among the north central Ohio volleyball elite.
Buckeye Central (18-7) plays in a Division IV regional semifinal at Strongsville High School Thursday against Columbia Station Columbia (23-1) at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, undefeated Mohawk takes its 25-0 mark to Elida High School against Convoy Crestview (25-2) at 7:30 p.m. in another D-IV battle.
Let’s look at both teams and how they got here, as well as their opponents:
· Buckeye Central captured a district championship, defeating Monroeville 25-21, 25-22, 25-23. The Eagles had a stranglehold on that district for the past several years.
This time it was different.
“It’s been six years, but it feels longer than that,” Buckeye Central head coach Missy McDougal said. “We really felt like this was our year.”
Senior Mia McDougal has been brilliant all season, leading the team in kills with 295 and in blocks with 83.
“We were competitive with Monroeville for many, many years. This year we were able to bounce back and give it back to them. I’m so grateful to be out of districts, finally,” McDougal said.
After falling behind, the Buckettes didn’t panic.
“All season long we’ve had issues with getting ourselves in holes like that. But also, with that comes the experience of being able to dig ourselves out of it. So, it wasn’t new for us. We had the grit and we started to get some blocks,” she said.
“We had the mental toughness to push through. We need to be good with fundamentals and if we do that at regionals, I think we’ll be good.”
Maren McDougal paced Buckeye Central with 694 assists, a league high. She also added 255 kills. Kimmy Biglin added 150 kills and Adrienne Jury another 126.
BC finished third at 10-4 in a tough Northern 10 Athletic Conference, behind Mohawk (14-0) and Carey (12-2). The Lady Blue Devils fell to the Lady Warriors in the district final.
The Buckettes have won four straight since a 3-0 loss to Carey. Next up is Columbia, with just one loss on the season.
The Raiders topped Mogadore 25-16, 25-13, in the district semifinal contest, before taking out Elyria Open Door Christian in the finals, 25-12, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20.
That victory was the program’s first district crown. Open Door Christian came in undefeated.
Outside hitter Cameron Baker had 17 kills for the Raiders and Delaney Friscone and senior middle hitter Callie Demagall had 11 each. Senior Megan Simon set up the offense with 40 assists.
“I’m so proud of this team and the hard work they’ve put in,” Columbia coach Kelsey Geanuracos told The (Elyria) Chronicle-Telegram after the district championship.
“They have bought into each other and what this program is capable of. All 14 girls who were on this bench, our parents, our student section … the buy-in from everyone in our school has been unreal.
“If you ask any of them, they will tell you it’s been a four-year process. To see the entire program achieve this is really special,” Geanuracos said. “We knew we could do this. We learned each other’s styles playing next to each other and that’s how you win something like this, when you come and play for each other.”
The winner takes on McDonald or Canton Central Catholic, who play in the second game at Strongsville.
· For Mohawk, it’s been a dream season, as it rolled through the league unblemished.
Sophomore standout Biz Klopp’s 462 kills have paved the way for a powerful offense, along with Mia Miller (294 kills) and AJ Chevalier (163 kills).
Avery Hoover has recorded 40 aces and 108 kills. Miller and Klopp have led the way with blocks with 85 and 62, respectively.
The Lady Warriors swept 15 opponents this season. Only Carey and Buckeye Central (twice) pushed Mohawk to five sets.
They were tested by Carey last Thursday, but prevailed in four sets 25-19, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23.
That marked head coach Eric Hoover’s 400th career victory. Hoover was named Coach of the Year and Klopp Player of the Year in the N10.
After his team beat Buckeye Central, Hoover gave kudos to the conference.
“Anybody is capable of coming out and beating you on any night. We have very good teams and coaches in this league. This type of game prepares you for the tournament.”
Crestview topped Leipsic 25-12, 25-17, 25-21 to win its district title. The Lady Knights are the fifth-ranked team in the state and Mohawk is sixth.
Head coach Tammy Gregory also preached the importance of teamwork in volleyball.
“They’re (our girls) in this together, they know that it takes every single one of them to come out on top, and this is just exciting for them, you know, to get to the next level,” she told The Lima News.
“We talk a lot about that that big start getting that first game that jump start,” Gregory said. “You know, we want to be that first team to five, that first team in 10 and I think that we showed that we were aggressive and mixed it up, we were able to earn each point.”
Adely Figley had 10 kills and Mya Etzler 8 to lead the Lady Knights.
The winner plays either Ayersville (21-5) or third-ranked Tiffin Calvert (24-1). They square off in the first game at Elida.
· In a Division III district final game, Galion was eliminated last Wednesday by top-seed Huron to finish at 21-3.
The loss brought an end to the careers of four Lady Tigers in Hailey Young, Ashley Dyer, Jordan Roderick, and Cece Campbell.