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The high school girls in Ohio have been playing for a
state championship in volleyball since 1975. (Some of
the boys around the state are just starting to
�discover� the sport, which is pretty true for the boys
around much of the rest of the country as well, with a
few notable exceptions like Illinois, California and
Hawai�i.) When the tournament first began the schools
were divided into three classes: AAA (the biggest
schools), AA, A. In 1990 this changed, with the schools
now divided into four Divisions, again based on
enrollment, with Division I being for the biggest
schools, then Divisions II, III and IV.
There are many great
stories across the whole spectrum of Ohio high school
girls state tournament volleyball, be it team success,
rivalries between two teams or great players and
coaches. But perhaps the most amazing thing about this
sport is the way that the girls of the Queen City have
become the �Kings� of Division I volleyball. We are
talking almost complete domination here, unlike anything
found in any other sport, boys or girls. From the time
that the state tournament began in 1975, thru 2005, only
four years have gone by in which a school from
Cincinnati did not advance to at least a semi-final
berth in the Class AAA/Division I tournament. In only
three other seasons did a Cincinnati school fail to make
it to the championship match, and in those 24
championships, the girls of the Queen City have reigned
as the kings of Ohio volleyball 17 times. And their
grip on the final four has only gotten stronger over the
last 11 seasons.
This amazing run of
success began with the very first tournament in 1975,
when a relatively unheralded team from Cincinnati�s
Seton High School (17-6) advanced to the Class AAA
finals, only to be sent packing by the undefeated state
champions from Stow-Munroe Falls (20-0). The Seton
Saints would not be back in the final four for a few
years, but when they did return they would take over the
world of big school volleyball for more than a
half-dozen years.
In both 1976 and 1978
Cincinnati area schools would be shutout from the final
four, but in 1977, and again from 1979 through 1982, the
Bobcats of Mother of Mercy High School would be the
foremost team in big school volleyball. In 1977, coach
Rose Bauer had the Bobcats hitting on all cylinders as
they completed an undefeated season, 27-0, by defeating
Whitehall-Yearling for the state title. In 1979 the
Bobcats were back in the title game, this time with Rose
Koch at the helm, but it would be Whitehall-Yearling
High School taking the championship rematch in straight
sets, 15-12, 15-11. The next season the Bobcats would
again make it to the championship round, and after
dropping the first set against Brecksville-Broadview
Heights, came back to win the next two for their second
state title. In 1981, Mother of Mercy lost out in the
semi-finals, but in 1982 the team was back in the state
finals. Here they defeated another state power of the
1980s, Canton McKinley, to win their third championship
of the last six years.
Except for a couple of
runner-up finishes in 1991 and 2004 the Bobcats run of
success had ended. Their mantel, however, would be
taken up, and carried to even greater heights, by the
Saints from Seton High School, coached by Mary Jett.
From 1983-1985 the Class
AAA state finals would feature the same two teams each
time, Seton High and Canton McKinley. The Bulldogs
would win the state championship in �83 in straight
sets, but in 1984 and 1985 they would have the
misfortune to go up against arguably the greatest
collection of volleyball players in state history, in
any class or division. The 1984 Saints (28-1), led by
All-State and All-Midwest player Barb Mannis, closed out
their season with a 19-match win streak, defeating the
Bulldogs for the state title in straight sets. In 1985
Seton was even better, winning all 30 matches, including
the state finals against McKinley, to run their win
streak to 49.
Unfortunately for the
opponents on their schedule, the Saints� winning ways
were not even half over. In 1986, Seton was again
undefeated, extending its win streak to 77 straight with
a 28-0 season, and winning its third consecutive
championship. In 1987 the Saints ran off 25 more wins
as they advanced to the final four for the fifth
consecutive season. But this time the Saints got
blind-sided, falling to the relatively unknown Raiders
of Reynoldsburg High School in the semi-finals. Canton
McKinley defeated the Raiders for the state title, but
one wonders if the Bulldogs would have preferred to take
their chances in trying to even some old scores with the
Saints. Be that as it may, Seton�s 102-game winning
streak is still the longest in state volleyball history.
Seton came right back in
1988 and 1989 to play for two more state championships.
In �88 they got some revenge of their own, handing
Reynoldsburg its only loss in 30 matches and giving
Seton its fourth state title in the last five seasons.
In 1989, Reynoldsburg (26-1) took the rubber match
between these two schools, defeating Seton (23-6) in
straight sets to win the Raiders� only state volleyball
championship.
In 1990, Class AAA became
the new Division I. The name may have changed, but the
city at the top did not, although the girls from
Cincinnati got off to something of a slow start in their
�new� division. The Cougars of Mt. Notre Dame (1990)
and the Bobcats from Mother of Mercy (1991) played in
the first two Division I state championship matches.
Mt. Notre Dame (25-1) saw its perfect season ruined by
Stow-Munroe Falls (25-5), while Mother of Mercy (22-5)
fell to Canton McKinley (23-4) in the Bulldogs� final
trip, thus far, to the state finals.
In both 1992 and 1994 none
of the Cincinnati powers advanced to the final four, but
in 1993 Ursuline Academy ended the Queen City�s
championship drought by winning that school�s second
championship, but only its first since the inaugural
tournament 18 years earlier. In 1995 the Lions would
again play for the state championship. It would be
something of an unusual match in that their opponent
would be Mt. Notre Dame, thus making it a state final in
which both schools were from the same city. Mt. Notre
Dame won its first state championship in straight sets,
but they were just getting started.
That 1995 season marked
the beginning of something else that is a bit unusual in
state tournament history. Ever since that year there
have been at least two Cincinnati schools in the
Division I final four each season. With a 50-50 chance
at a title, no wonder the city has won so many.
Seton High�s Saints would
win their fifth state title in 1996, and be the sole
Cincinnati school to make it as far as the semi-finals
in 1997. In 1998, coach Donna Mechley would start the
Cougars of Mt. Notre Dame on a roll that would take them
to three consecutive state championships, posting a
record of 78-8 from 1998 through 2000.
The 2001 volleyball season would see the start of
something quite out of the ordinary, if not altogether
unique, not just for girl�s Division I volleyball, but
for any sport. From that year, pretty much up to the
present day, if you did not go to a school run by the
Ursuline order of nuns, your chance of winning a state
Division I volleyball championship appeared to be quite
limited. In 2001, 2002 and 2003, Cincinnati�s St.
Ursula High School and Ursuline Academy played against
each other in the state championship finals each year.
St. Ursula�s Bulldogs won the title in 2001 and 2003,
while Ursuline Academy�s championship in 2002 was its
third overall.
However, these were not the only Ursuline schools to
make the final four those years. From 2001 thru 2005,
Toledo�s St. Ursula Academy also made it as far as the
semi-finals. In 2004 and 2005 the Arrows finally
advanced to the state title game, winning the school�s
first championship in 2004, but finishing second to
Seton High in 2005.
Cincinnati St. Ursula�s success in volleyball (a record
8 state titles) did not begin in 2001, however, for
before that the Bulldogs played in Division II. From
1993 to 1998 the Bulldogs ran off with a record six
consecutive state championships in that division, under
the direction of head coach Julie Thoman-Perry. When
the Bulldogs moved up to Division I, no one was happier
to see them move on than the Tallmadge Blue Devils. The
Blue Devils advanced to the Division II championship
game each year from 1994 to 1997, and each time they
were defeated by St. Ursula�s. Adding insult to injury,
in 1998 the Blue Devils were knocked out of the
championship race in the semi-finals, again by the St.
Ursula Bulldogs.
While the story of the success of Cincinnati�s Division
I volleyball teams is impressive, it is certainly not
the only story of volleyball success in Ohio. Some of
the best volleyball around the state is played at some
of Ohio�s smaller high schools, as we are about to see.
Adena High School in Frankfort, Ohio, has less than 300
students, only about 130 of who are girls, playing their
volleyball in Class A/Division III. A lack of numbers,
however, did not keep the Lady Warriors from having some
outstanding success in the earliest days of the
volleyball tournament, and even before that. In fact,
most of their success came just before the advent of the
state championships, but the Warriors were able to hold
on long enough to take home some of the early
championship hardware. From 1971 to 1977 the Adena
Warriors won 96 consecutive volleyball matches, the
second longest such streak in the state. Included in
that run were the undefeated seasons of 1975 (20-0) and
1976 (22-0), when the Warriors won the Class A state
championship under the direction of coach Marvin Seyfang,
thus far their only state titles.
Newark Catholic High School is probably more known for
its success on the gridiron, but the Green Wave
volleyball team takes a back seat to very few when it
comes to championship history. Newark Catholic is
another small school formerly from Class A/Division III,
now playing its volleyball in Division IV. With the
exception of just a few years, from 1979-1989 the Green
Wave was pretty much the team to beat in Class A,
but from 1979-1983 there was one team in particular that
battled them tooth and nail for the state title � the
Blue Streaks of Archbold High School.
In 1979 and 1980 Newark Catholic put together back to
back unbeaten seasons that totaled 61 consecutive
victories. In both of those years they played, and
defeated, Archbold in the championship match. (The Blue
Streaks had won the Class A championship in 1978.) In
1981 it was Archbold�s turn to go undefeated, 28-0,
winning another title and knocking off Newark Catholic
in a semi-final match. The two teams again locked horns
in the state finals in �82 and �83, with the Green Wave
of coach Bill Copperrider winning both times. In 1984
the Green Wave won a championship without defeating
Archbold, instead handing Dola Hardin Northern (29-1)
its only loss of the season in the finals.
From 1985-1987 the best that Newark Catholic could
manage was a semi-final appearance in 1987, but in both
1988 and 1989 the Green Wave was again back on top of
the Class A volleyball world, winning the state title
both years. Since 1989 the Green Wave has reached the
final four just five times, winning a record tying
eighth state championship in 2004.
Hopewell-Loudon is a big name for a little school from
Bascom, Ohio. There are barely 100 girls in this
Division IV school, but they play some big time
volleyball, as they proved from 1994 to 2001. In 1994
the Chieftains made their first trip to the final four,
dropping a semi-final match to eventual state champion
St. Henry High School. In 1995 coach Dave Reinhart and
his girls advanced to the championship game, where they
were again defeated by the team from St. Henry, which
completed its undefeated season, 29-0, by winning a
second consecutive state championship. For the third
straight year, in 1996 Hopewell-Loudon was again
eliminated by St. Henry, this time in the semi-finals.
However, this had just been the beginning for the
Chieftains, as they proved over the next five seasons.
From 1997-2001, coach Dave Reinhart�s team posted a
combined record of 141-4, including a winning streak of
74 in a row, in winning five consecutive Division IV
state championships. The Chieftains have not made it to
the final four since then, but they certainly have the
legacy on which to build another champion or two.
The St. Henry team that gave Hopewell-Loudon fits has an
outstanding volleyball tradition of its own. In
addition to their two championship victories over the
Chieftains, St. Henry won state titles in 1985 and 1987
in Class A, 1990 in Division III, and 2004 back in
Division IV � giving the Redskins six state
championships, the second highest total in the state.
While we have just mentioned some of the outstanding
teams and coaches in Ohio girls volleyball, this story
would be lacking if it did not mention some of the
outstanding young ladies who have played the sport. For
example, Jill Shiley (New Knoxville H. S., 1977-80) is
ranked #5 nationally with career 444 service aces, #7
with 176 in one season (1979), and #4 with an average of
7.0 service aces per match for a whole season (1979).
Darcy Bice (Riverview H. S., 2004) is tied for third in
the national record book for assists in a match with 66,
while Katy Smykowski (Parma Heights Holy Name H. S.,
2005) is ranked fourth with 62. On defense, Trish
Brashear (Swanton H. S., 1999-2001) is third in the
national records for career blocks with 656, while Faye
Barhorst (Fort Loramie H. S., 1999-2002) is fifth in the
same category with 580 and Emily Hammond (Frankfort
Adena H. S., 1990-1993) is sixth with 553. |
