Madonna's Madi Owens goes for a kill - Nick Henthorn

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The OVAC Volleyball Championships took over Ohio University Eastern’s ECO Center all day Saturday, and local teams were all over the day’s finals like white on rice.

Across the five OVAC Classes, Martins Ferry was the day’s big winner, taking home their first-ever OVAC Championship in a victory over Shenandoah, while John Marshall, Madonna, River and Union Local each finished as conference runners-up.

PURPLE RIDERS CLAIM FIRST OVAC CROWN

Martins Ferry earned their first-ever conference volleyball championship on Saturday, defeating Shenandoah in the 3A finals 28-26, 24-26, 25-20, 25-19.

A program which has not finished under .500 since 2021, Martins Ferry head coach Jaela Koeller thought Saturday was a long time coming for her Purple Riders.

“There’s been teams before where I’m like, how did we not- we’ve been in the top three or four- but how did we not seal that deal?” Koeller said. “And tonight we made it happen.”

Martins Ferry’s star junior, Giana Chirpas, was dominant against the Zeps, totalling 20 kills and eight blocks. In all three sets that Martins Ferry won, Chirpas tallied the set-clinching score- plowing down a set-point block in the first and third sets, and putting down a thunderous kill to clinch the match in the fourth set.

“Ups and downs today,” Koeller said of her team’s performance. It’s real easy for kids sometimes to get down on themselves. Let’s try to brush it off. Sometimes it takes a few minutes to come out of it. And every now and then we need that one person to make that spark and boom, light us up again. And I think that’s what we were able to do in the third and fourth game that we weren’t getting in the second.”

Nicole Hammerquist had a big game in her own right with 18 kills and three blocks. Maddie Lucas finished with 15 kills and 14 digs, SJ Koeller tallied four service aces and laid out for an impressive 48 digs, while Olivia Harkness had three service aces while racking up 41 assists.

“We said coming into this season we had three goals,” Koeller said. “OVAC was a personal one of mine since I started here. And the OVAC title was the last of our three goals. We hit them all this year. So man, it felt good. It felt good.”

JOHN MARSHALL FALLS TO TOP-RANKED MORGANTOWN

The Monarchs played the first game of the day, a 9 a.m. outing vs. the top-seeded Mohigans, and fell in four sets, 25-13, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22 in the 5A championship.

“I thought we did a really good job of staying with it,” Morgantown head coach Abigail Wolfe said. “We came out with tons of energy and a lot of grit in those first two sets. John Marshall responded super well, they have a lot of tenacity. They come after the ball. They don’t give up and they managed our serve really well in the third and fourth set. We kind of had to work through it and do a little bit more of, like, playing those longer rallies and winning them.”

Morgantown’s Leah Greeny led the Mohigans with 19 kills and 12 digs, the kills a team-high, and the digs second only to Audrey Tompkins’ 13.

Paige Brink finished with 17 kills and eight digs, and Abby Paulson had nine kills and five blocks. Riley Brennan finished with 29 assists.

John Marshall, who defeated University in the OVAC semifinals to make it to Saturday, were looking for their first OVAC title since 2017, but came up just short.

“At the end of the day, I’m just so proud of my girls,” John Marshall head coach Chelsea Eikleberry said. “They didn’t quit. We didn’t start off the game great. I don’t know if it was just being in the morning or what, but you know what? They battled. Coming back that third set and winning was huge, and really that fourth set was back and forth in a really close game. I wish we could have pulled that fourth set out, but I’m just so proud of them for battling and playing some really good volleyball today.”

Nia Miller led John Marshall with 18 kills, followed by Addison Blake’s nine. Zoey Koontz tallied a team-high 10 digs, one more than Bre Defibaugh.

MADONNA SWEPT BY ROCKETS

The Blue Dons fell to the Connoton Valley Rockets in straight sets, 25-22, 25-15, 25-15, though Madonna still had reason to hold their heads high after making the conference championship one year after not qualifying for the 1A tournament at all.

“This is huge for us,” Madonna head coach Jaedyn Hissam said. “This is my second year with Weirton Madonna. When I took on Weirton Madonna, they were, you know, not a winning program.

“A goal for us was to be able to turn things around. And I’m so super impressed by the way these girls have grown and changed in the last year. When I took this position, I never would have guessed we would have gotten to this point this fast, you know what I mean? We’ve been working and growing, so I’m super excited that we made it here. This was the first goal on my list for this year, and they’ve really been working hard and kicking butt, so they deserve to be here. Of course, everyone hates losing, but I’m so happy we made it to this point.”

Madonna received seven kills from Rylee Birkhimer and six from Madi Owens. Birkhimer also had 12 digs, while Owens had 16. Both finished behind Breea Birkhimer’s 18 digs. Sophie Brady racked up 18 of the Blue Dons’ 19 assists. Geena Birkhimer and Lacy Quering each had two blocks.

RIVER THWARTED BY CALDWELL

It was all-red everything in the OVAC 2A championship game as Caldwell and the River Pilots duked it out Saturday. Caldwell took the championship game in four sets, 25-21, 25-19, 15-25, 25-14.

While the Pilots were disappointed with the result Saturday, River head coach Judi Curtis has her team looking forward– to a potential rematch.

“Like I told the girls, they had to fight hard to get here, and they did, so I was proud of them,” Curtis said. “They worked hard and they continue to work hard. We have a younger team, so we’ll just keep coming. We’ll probably meet [Caldwell] in sectionals again.”

Hallie Hammel led River with 13 kills, followed by Mallorie Maddy’s 11 kills. Hammel also led the team with 12 digs. Maci Isaly had 11 while Maddy and Aubrey Fetty each had 10. Reagan Lucas cashed in three service aces, and Zoey Fox put down three blocks.

JETS FALL IN HARD-FOUGHT FIVE SETS

The final game of the day, 4A’s championship game between Union Local and Beaver Local, was the sole championship game to go to five sets, the Beavers eventually pulling through 26-24, 23-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-10 in what was a slugfest of a finale.

“[Beaver Local’s] a good team, it was a good match,” Union Local head coach Kaye Sechrest said. “These girls don’t give up. I mean, we got down in a few games, and we just couldn’t come back from that. When you’re playing a good team, you can’t get down four or five points and expect to come back. We tried.

“These girls have grit. They are tough and they don’t give up. It’s just the way it is, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose. And today was not our day to win. We’re looking forward to the tournament.”

Across the hard-fought five sets, Union Local’s Ameera Saunders shined with 30 kills and 22 digs, a monster performance that had her lead her Jets in both categories.

Laken Vinskovich finished with 13 kills, four blocks, three service aces and 14 digs. Alli Kellaway finished with seven kills and four service aces. Ramsey Butler also had four blocks. Delaney Butler played her role as setter to the tune of 49 assists. Myah Martins scrapped out 16 digs.