Trending
TORONTO – The journey is worth it. The Toronto volleyball team wants to finish it.
Toronto swept Harrison Central, 25-18, 25-12, 25-21, Thursday night on Senior Night inside the George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium to cap off the regular season with a stellar record of 18-2.
As a result of their strong showing so far this season, the Red Knights claimed the OVAC Class 2A regular season championships giving them the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.
“It’s great,” second-year Toronto head coach Shannon Bahen said. “It is a credit to the girls. As you know, I am also the head coach in softball, and after we played our last softball game in the spring, the girls kept asking me ‘When does open gym start? When does lifting start?’ It is nice to see. These girls want to win the OVAC Tournament title as well.”
The top four teams in each of the five classes qualify for the annual tournament. The semifinals will be held Tuesday on the higher’ seeded teams homecourt, and the tournament finals will be held Saturday down at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville.
there will also be consolation matches with those matches being determined by the conference’s volleyball committee.
Toronto has qualified for the tournament for the first time since 2023.
“It’s huge,” Bahen said about her team qualifying for the annual tournament for the first time since 2023. “These seniors were part of the group that lost in the finals in 2023. They were a part of that group. We had a two-year drought. It is an incredible honor to be able to compete in such a great tournament.”
Back in 2023, the girls from the Gem City entered the OVAC Tournament with an undefeated record of 20-0. The Red-and-White were the No. 1 seed in the tournament, and Toronto swept No. 4 seed Southern Local in the semifinals, while No. 2 seed Caldwell swept No. 3 seed Monroe Central setting up a meeting between the Red Knights and the Redskins.
Unfortunately for the girls from Jefferson County, things did not turn out the way they intended down at Union Local as Caldwell swept Toronto to win the tournament title preventing the Red Knights from capturing the elusive tournament title.
This season, Toronto once again enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed, and the Red Knights will once again face the fourth-seeded Indians in the semifinals. The JV match will start at 5 p.m. with the varsity match to follow around 6:30.
“I talked to (Southern Local head coach) Bob (Shansky) is morning,” Bahen said. “He has over 700 career wins. He has been coaching longer than I have been alive. He is going to have his team ready. Southern Local is athletic. They are not going to go down without a fight.”
Toronto and Southern have already met twice this season with the Red Knights winning both matches. In its second match of the season, Toronto traveled to Salineville and swept Southern before the Red Knights defeated the Indians in four sets Sept. 14 at home. The victory was the first of 11-straight wins the girls from Jefferson County have captured going into the tournament.
The 11-straight wins followed back-to-back losses to Madonna and Big Red. Both of those losses came at Toronto, however, the Red Knights were able to turn the tables and defeat the Blue Dons and Big Red on the road to split the season series with both teams.
In the other semifinal, No. 2 seed River will take on No. 3 seed Caldwell at home. The match is a rematch of last season’s tournament final. The Redskins defeated the Pilots in four sets to win the title in 2025.
The Red Knights have not played the Pilots or the Redskins this season.
The winners of the two semifinals will meet in the tournament final at 11 a.m. Saturday.
With Toronto being the No. 1 seed, the other teams will be looking to knock them off this upcoming week.
“I would say so,” Bahen said asked if her team was being the hunted going into the tournament. “This group is not going to go down without a fight. This is only the seventh time Toronto has ever made the OVAC Tournament. This group just wants to win. We are going to prepare for this. We want to bring the title to Toronto.”
The losers of the semifinals will meet in the consolation final.
Toronto is one of three local teams to have qualified for upcoming tournament with the others being Hancock County rivals Oak Glen and Madonna. The Golden Bears made the tournament in Class 4A, while the Blue Dons will be competing in Class 1A.
Oak Glen (21-9) is the No. 3 seed in Class 4A behind undefeated and state-ranked top-seeded Martins Ferry and No. 2 seed St. Clairsville. Cambridge is the No. 4 seed.
The Purple Riders (19-0) will take on the Bobcats in one semifinal, while the Golden Bears will take on the Red Devils on the road down on John Jenkins Court. The JV match between Oak Glen and St. Clairsville is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. with the varsity match following at around 7 p.m.
The winners of the semifinals will meet in the tournament final at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Bears have not played the Bobcats this season, however, the Purple Riders and Red Devils have swept the Golden Bears already this season.
The losers of the semifinals will meet in the consolation final.
Beaver Local defeated Union Local in five sets last season to win the tournament title.
Oak Glen is looking to win its first tournament title since 2024.
Madonna (18-11) is the No. 3 seed in Class 1A behind No. 1 seed Trinity Christian and No. 2 seed Frontier. Wood County Christian is the No. 4 seed.
In the semifinals, the Warriors will take on the Wildcats at home, while the Cougars will play host to the Blue Dons.
The winners of the semifinals will meet for the tournament title at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
Earlier this season, Madonna defeated Trinity Christian in five sets Sept. 3 on the road before defeating them, 2-1, in a tri-match Sept. 24 at home on Joanna Bernabei-McNamee Court inside the Bill Barrett Gymnasium. Madonna swept Ritchie County, 2-0, at the tri, while the Warriors also swept the Rebels.
The Blue Dons have not faced the Cougars or the Wildcats this season.
The losers of the semifinals will meet in the consolation final.
Last season, Conotton Valley – the No. 1 seed – swept Madonna to win the tournament title. Conotton Valley defeated Wood County Christian in the semifinals, while Madonna defeated Heartland Christian in five sets in the other.
There are no local teams in Class 3A.
In the semifinals, No. 1 seed Wheeling Central will take on No. 4 seed Fort Frye at home, while No. 2 seed Columbiana is slated to host Columbiana County rival and No. 3 seed United.
The losers of the semifinals will meet in the consolation final.
The winners of the semifinals will meet in the tournament final at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
Martins Ferry defeated Shenandoah in four sets to win the tournament title last season.
No local teams qualified for the tournament in Class 5A.
In the semifinals, No. 1 seed Beaver Local will take on No. 4 seed John Marshall at home, while No. 2 seed University will take on No. 3 seed East Liverpool at home.
The losers of the semifinals will meet in the consolation final.
The winners of the semifinals will meet in the tournament title at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Locally, Big Red ended up in fifth place in the class, Brooke finished in seventh place and Weir ended up in eighth place. Finally, Indian Creek placed ninth.
Last season, Morgantown defeated John Marshall in four sets to win the tournament title. The Mohigans defeated Big Red in the semifinals.
For information, visit ovac.org.