The Highland High School girl’s varsity volleyball enters this season with a strong reputation and a strong record, coach Rob Terrill told the Mount Vernon News.
“We’ve won eight league championships in a row undefeated, and we’ve been to state for the last four years,” he said.
High is returning to the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference (MOAC) this season, which it left four years ago, Terrill said.
The team will have six returning players this year.
“We were in the state finals two years ago, and several of these players played in that game,” the coach said. “So they have played at a very high level.”
In the previous league, Knox Morrow Athletic Conference (KMAC), Highland was the only Division 2 school.
“The schools in the MLAC are a little bigger,” he said. “We’ll be in the middle of the pack as far as school size goes. Half the teams are Division 2, like us. We are hoping that helps us in the long run.”
In each of the four years since Highland switched to KMAC, Galion has been the MOAC conference winner, Terrill said.
That could help Highland, Terrill said.
“It’s refreshing to tell the girls that we’re not the returning champ,” he said. “Every match for us starts new for us. We want to make our mark in the league. So we start fresh.”
Other likely strong contenders in the league will be River Valley and Ontario, the coach said.
“Those are schools that continually have good volleyball teams,” he said. “We’re excited to go mix it up with them.”
The season started Aug. 21 against Big Walnut.
“We have a really strong fan base,” Terrill said. “I would say behind football and maybe boy’s basketball, we’re next.”
This year’s team does not have a lot of height, but it makes up for that, said Terrill.
“Jumping ability, athleticism are always important,” he said. “We base our program on ball control, being able to do what we need to do with the ball, keep constant pressure on the other team. We can counteract the height with those things.”
The volleyball program has led to college scholarships for some players, including Terrill’s daughter.
“In our state finals team two years ago, we got seven that have committed or are playing in college,” said Terrill, who recently retired as a school administrator but continues to coach. “Four years ago, we went to the state final, and eight or those girls ended up playing in college.”
At Utica High School, there are seven returning players on the girl’s varsity volleyball team, head coach Lisa Ritzer told the Mount Vernon News. That includes center Bella Ellis, who has committed to play college volleyball for Mount Vernon Nazarene University next year.
“I feel like we can be competitive,” she said. “We’re scrappy. We’re covering things well. Serving is probably our strength.”
The team’s most formidable opponent is Newark Catholic, Ritzer said.
“I feel like it’s always Newark Catholic,” she said. “They’re going to make a run for the league title again. That’s definitely who we need to go after.”
The team finished 4-17 last year.
“That is definitely not where we wanted to be,” Ritzer said.
The team opened its season Aug. 21 at Fredericktown.
