SETTING — Harrison Central’s Emma Jarvis sets in front of teammate’s Maddie Taylor and Averee Hyde during Tuesday’s tournament match at St. Clairsville. - Kim North

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — St. Clairsville opened the 2025 high school volleyball season with a win over Harrison Central. It was deja vu Tuesday night on John Jenkins Court.

The fourth-seeded Red Devils (17-5) opened Ohio Division IV East 1 sectional tournament action with a sweep of the No. 13 Huskies (6-17) by scores of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-7 in a match that took just 53 minutes of actual playing time.

With the win, St. Clairsville remains at home for the second round as No. 5 East Liverpool visits on Monday at 6 p.m. The Potters took out No. 8 John Glenn in four sets Tuesday night in advancing.

“It’s been quite a while since St. Clairsville has hosted two sectional tournament matches in one season,” a smiling St. Clairsville head coach Steve Harris said. “We played pretty well tonight. We had some good practices leading up to tonight. We got our mind right and we’re playing well.”

The last time the Red Devils were on the floor was in a loss to Union Local in the OVAC Class 4A semifinals. Harris said that loss was good for a couple of reasons.

“I wouldn’t say it was a wakeup call, but more of a test to see where we are at and how good we have to play to be able to compete at that level,” he explained. “We played some really good teams at the end of the season, so this was a good re-set to go forward.”

St. Clairsville snapped a 1-all deadlock in the first set with four points in a row and seven of the next nine to lead 8-3. After Harrison Central scored a point, the Red Devils went on a 8-2 run to make it 16-6 and they never looked back as Corrin Preitts, Madison Wehr and Lola Schumacher controlled the action at the net.

“We’ve been working on our play at the net,” Harris stressed. “Let’s just say it’s been a topic in our practices. We need more hands and net presence.”

The second set saw the two rivals knotted at 4 before St. Clairsville gradually pulled away. The Red Devils tallied seven of the final nine points for a 2-0 lead.

A sweep was imminent after a 11-0 start to the third set. Abigail McCulley started the set with an ace, and had two in the early run, while Pritts, Wehr and Alyvia Adams worked the net. The Red Devils closed the match out by scoring six of the final seven points.

Harris’s daughter, Vivian, was out with a 104 temperature, but the head coach said the lineup was a familiar one despite her not playing.

“We played one other time without her, so we’ve played that lineup before,” Harris said. “The girls play really well together, but we can mix the lineups up and interchange things if we have to.”

Harrison Central head coach Grace Godich praised her injury-riddled squad for its effort.

“We’ve had a few key injuries this season and things just haven’t gone our way,” the second-year head coach said. “It was an entirely different lineup coming into tonight, but I’m very pleased with how the girls played. I thought they fought for every point and dug deep.

“They didn’t want to go home, but it is what it is,” she added. “I’m excited for next year because I think there is a lot of potential coming up.”