CHAMPIONS CROWNED

Here are our observations of a great weekend of Ohio High School Volleyball in Dayton this past weekend:

DIVISION ONE:
What a shocker it was to watch #1 Cincinnati Ursuline go down, and in the fashion they did. Ursuline embarrassed #3 Cincinnati Mt. Notre Dame in their semi-final and looked like a well-oiled machine. #2 Olmsted Falls easily handled #10 Brecksville-Broadview Heights in their semi-final, but that was no surprise. And, OF did not look they would be quite able to keep up with Ursuline based on their level of play in their semi. But the final was a classic, which began with an Ursuline rally that led to the longest single game in state tournament history, with OF pulling out a 39-37 win. The play of Olmsted's White was incredible to say the least, as well! She was dominant. It was strange to see a GGCL team turned on their heels. They were literally in shock after the match, as was most of the crowd, who had seen Cincy Catholic teams win the title every since 1998 except once in 2004.

DIVISION TWO:
#4 Parma Padua Franciscan was the deserving champion in the drama-free D2 division. The games were not that exciting, with Padua winning a four-gamer against #19 Alter. I thought #6 Columbus Bishop Hartley was a lot better than many gave them credit for and would have liked to have seen them push Alter to a fifth game in the semi-final, which should of happened before an Alter comeback. Mansfield Madison was disappointing, but they should be a contender next season. They were young and couldn't handle Padua's methodical, consistent level of play.

DIVISION THREE:
This division ended up being a complete surprise with the ease of #2 Albany Alexander winning the title. First they defeated #14 Versailles in three hotly-contested games in their semi-final and then easily handed #6 Gilmour Academy defeat in the D3 Championship match. The most excitement (or lack their of) came from Gilmour's incredible dominance of #1 Lima Central Catholic in the semi-finals.

DIVISION FOUR:
#2 Newark Catholic and #5 Marion Local had a classic back-and-forth semi-final match. Newark Catholic, though ranked higher than ML, had to be considered the underdog against the defending champions. They almost pulled it out, but fell 15-12 in the final game. For #1 Jackson Center, they advanced easily against #9 Buckeye Central, who has several young players with tremendous potential. While JC pulled out game one, Marion Local controlled the rest and claimed their second straight title. They also return nearly their entire team and are so young, we may see a new Hopewell-Loudon developing in D4.