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TORONTO – It has been said it is hard to beat a team three times in one season. The Toronto volleyball team was able to do just that in its match against Conotton Valley.
The top-seeded Red Knights rolled to a victory in the first set, and the girls from the Gem City did not look back en route to taking down the ninth-seeded Rockets, 25-6, 25-20, 25-21, in an Ohio Division VII Eastern District Sectional Co-Final Thursday night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.
“It was definitely a good night,” Toronto (21-2) head coach Shannon Bahen said. “We wanted to stay focused. We achieved one goal of winning an OVAC title, but we have more to go. This was just the first step.”
The Red Knights received contributions from many players in the win against the Rockets (3-19).
Individually for Toronto, Kylie Mitchell tallied seven kills, two blocks and two aces, Jayna Reeves recorded 18 kills and one block and Sydney Fisher finished with three kills and two aces. Also, Emma Parello produced two kills and two blocks, Addison Dobbs added 20 kills and Haley Bodnar delivered 15 digs. Finally, Jaylee Brown ended up with eight digs, and Keiara Bailey collected four digs.
During the regular season, Toronto defeated Conotton Valley in four sets Sept. 1 on the road before sweeping the visitors from Harrison County Sept. 24 at home.
“Conotton Valley has a really-good coach (Denell Gordon),” Bahen said. “Her daughter – Ava Williams – is really talented. They build their whole offense around her. She made us earn every point. They made some adjustments, but we were able to roll with it, and we came out on top.”
With Thursday’s win, Toronto will now take on No. 3 seed Strasburg in the district semifinals at 6 p.m. Monday at home. Strasburg advanced by sweeping No. 8 seed Shadyside, 25-10, 25-19, 25-20, Thursday night at home.
“I have seen them on tape,” Bahen said. “They have two really-good middle blockers. They have a DS who can swing from anywhere on the back row. I think it is a good matchup for us.
“I told the girls they are going to have to have fasten up their bootstraps. We are going to put in a lot of work in the next couple of days.”
The Rockets scored the first point of the match, but the girls in white rallied and built a 5-1 lead on Sutherin’s serve. Toronto increased its advantage to 8-2 forcing Conotton Valley to call a timeout. The timeout did not slow down the hosts as the victors extended their advantage out to 16-3 behind the serving of Mitchell. The visitors got to within 19-6, but the Red Knights put the set away behind the serving Bodnar a they won the set by 19 points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
“We got off to a slow start with our serve-receive, but we progressed with it throughout the night,” Bahen said. “Once we got a feel for it, we did a better job. Conotton Valley has good net play, but our defense was able to come around.”
Victories in the last two sets did not come quite as easily for Toronto.
“Conotton Valley did a good job on offense,” Bahen said. “They could see we were playing a little deep, and they were able to mix up their shots. They played the ball short. They kept us on our toes. I was impressed with our efficiency. Danielle Sutherin had 44 sets. Jayna Reeves had 18 kills and Addison Dobbs had 20 kills. We had a good night hitting.”
The Rockets scored the first point in the second set, and they built a 4-1 lead before the Red Knights stormed back and knotted the score at 5 causing Conotton Valley to call a timeout. The Green-and-White were able to regain the lead, but keyed by Bodnar’s serving Toronto went on a 6-0 run to build a 13-9 lead. The Red Knights then extended their advantage out to 21-13, however, the Rockets refused to throw in the towel. Conotton Valley battled back and closed to within four points, however, Toronto scored the final point to win the set by five to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The back-and-forth play continued in the third set. This time, Toronto took a 5-1 lead only to see Conotton Valley fight back and level the score at 5. The Rockets took the lead at 8-7, however, the home team responded and built a 12-8 lead.
The Rockets came back and cut their deficit down to two points at 16-14 and again at 17-15 only to see the Red Knights push their lead back out to five points at 20-15.
Trailing by five late in the third set, Conotton Valley staged another rivalry as it closed the gap back down to two points at 22-20 and again at 23-21, however, Toronto was able to right the ship, and the Red Knights tallied the final two points to win the set by four to sweep the match.
The Red Knights were excited about playing in front of their home crowd, and Toronto gave its fans plenty of reasons to cheer.
“We had a nice crowd tonight,” Bahen said. “It means a lot to the girls. They feed off the crowd’s energy. We still have a lot of work to do to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves. This was just step one in what we hope will be a very-long postseason.”
The Red Knights captured the school’s first OVAC Tournament title Saturday by defeating River down at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville. Now, the team turns its attention to winning the program’s first district title.
“Winning an OVAC title was great,” Bahen said. “Winning the first OVAC title in program history was even better, but I have reminded the girls that not girls’ team at Toronto has ever advanced to the regionals. Winning an OVAC title was great, but now we want to win a district title as well.”
The girls from Jefferson County have won 14-straight matches since losing to Big Red one month ago at home.
“We lost to Madonna and Big Red on our homecourt,” Bahen said. “The girls do not want to lose on their homecourt. They wanted to return the favor, and we did. These girls are self motivated, and they motivate each other. They don’t want to let that happen again.”