Oct. 19 – Division 4 sectionals
Liberty Christian Academy 3, Danville 1
Danville (6-15, 2-10) traveled to Liberty Christian (11-11, 6-6) on Oct. 19, and while the Blue Devils made things interesting with a third set win, LCA was able to finish strong for a 3-1 win.
Danville lost the first two sets 25-15 and 25-21 but then came back in set three with a 25-20 win. The Eagles rebounded nicely with a dominant 25-14 win to close out the match and Danville’s season.
Leading the charge for Danville was Kenzie Neitzelt with eight kills, one ace, eight blocks, nine assists and 21 digs. Taryn Mickley posted four kills, one block, nine digs and six assists. Alayna Arnal had four kills, one ace and two digs. Kenzie Holt played well on defense with eight digs to go along with her two kills and one ace.
Fairfield Christian Academy 3, East Knox 0
East Knox (6-13, 2-8) traveled to Fairfield Christian Academy. (20-3, 12-2), and the Knights made quick work of the Bulldogs in a sweep.
The Knights won by set scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-8.
Ridgedale 3, Mount Gilead 0
It has been a tough season for the Mount Gilead (2-17, 0-10) volleyball team, and those struggles continued last week against Ridgedale (13-10, 5-2) as the Indians lost their 12th straight match to finish the season on Oct. 19.
Ridgedale won in three straight sets by scores of 25-20, 25-14 and 25-21.
Oct. 20 – Division 2 sectionals
Highland 3, Beechcroft 0
Highland (21-3 and 13-1) is atop the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference and No. 3 in the Division 2 rankings, and its dominance continued against Beechcroft (5-7, 5-5) with a three set victory on Oct. 20 at home, its fourth straight win.
Highland had no problem handling the Cougars, winning each set in convincing fashion by scores of 25-3 in the first two sets and then 25-5 in the third set.
The Fighting Scots dominated the serving with 30 aces, which put the team in the top 20 in the OHSSA history books for aces in a single match. The team also spread around the offense with 28 kills.
Kendal Kline and Larsen Terrill led the serving with seven aces each. MaKaylee Merckling and Kameron Stover had three aces apiece. Schott had four kills and four aces, and Mia Stanco had five kills to lead the offense.
Defensively, the team had 11 digs, led by Savanna Sanborn, who had four. Terrill added three digs and set the ball well with 14 assists. Kendal Kline had eight assists in the match.
Highland recently had its conference winning streak, going from 2012 to 2022, snapped. According to OHSSA record books, this is the third-longest streak behind Hubbard and Dublin Coffman’s streaks of 151 matches and 145 matches, respectively.
The Fighting Scots advanced to the District 2 semifinals on Thursday, Oct.27, against the London Red Raiders (22-2, 8-2) at Westerville Central High School at 6 p.m.
Oct. 22 – Division 3 sectionals
Northmor 3, Liberty Benton 1
Northmor (10-13, 6-6) took on Liberty Benton (21-4, 9-0) on Oct. 22 in the Division 3 sectional first round and came away with a four-set win to advance to the district semifinals against Pleasant.
The upset victory started off tight for Northmor with a 27-25 win in the first set. The Golden Knights then dropped set two 25-20 but bounced back with 25-21 and 25-20 wins to close out the match.
Next up is the semifinal against Pleasant (12-11, 7-7) at Mount Vernon Nazarene University for a 6 p.m. matchup Oct. 27..
Cardington-Lincoln 3, West Jefferson 0
Cardington-Lincoln (20-3, 12-0) has been dominant this season and the playoff match against West Jefferson (10-13, 4-6) continued that trend, as the Lady Pirates won their 13th straight match to advance to the semifinals.
The Pirates opened up with a crushing first set win by a score of 25-8. They kept the momentum in the second set with a 25-14 win and then a 25-12 win in the third set.
The Pirates had 47 kills as a team during the match and were led by Audrey Brininger, who had 19 kills, two aces, one block and 10 digs. Jadine Mills was a monster setting the ball with 41 assists. She also had six digs and five aces. Madison Linkous and Alexis Crone had six kills apiece. Linkous had three aces, a block and five digs, while Crone added two digs and three blocks. Cadie Long was the star on defense with 19 digs to go with her two aces.
On Oct. 27, the Pirates face Bishop Ready (5-18, 0-6) at 6 p.m. at Mount Nazarene University.
Centerburg 3, Columbus Tree of Life 0
Centerburg (17-5, 9-3) faced Columbus Tree of Life (13-10, 8-4) on Oct. 22 in a home tournament match, and it was all Trojans from the start in a three-set victory to advance to the semifinals.
Centerburg won by set scores of 25-18, 25-9 and 25-13. Leading the way was Gwyn Sands with 12 kills, two aces, two blocks and three digs. Clara Johnson and Kennedi Glenn did a great job setting the ball with 16 and 13 assists apiece, while Eva Joering added six assists of her own. Joering also had 12 digs and an ace. Amani Marshall had 10 kills and a dig. Stella Weisbrod posted eight kills, one block, 10 digs and an assist.
The Trojans move onto the next round against Worthington Christian (12-11, 7-5) on Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Mount Nazarene University.
Fredericktown 3, Columbus School for Girls 0
Fredericktown (18-6, 9-3) and Columbus School for Girls (5-12, 2-10) faced off in the sectional round of the playoffs, and the Freddies proved to have the upper hand from the start in a 3-0 win for the third straight win for the Freddies.
The Freddies won the first two sets by scores of 25-10 and then won set three 25-8 to complete the sweep to move onto the Division 3 semifinals.
The Freddies face Fairbanks (21-2, 15-1) in the semifinals at Mount Nazarene University starting at 6 p.m.
