Toronto makes history with district title win
Trending
CARROLLTON -- History has been made in the Gem City.
For the first time in school history, Toronto High School has a district championship trophy in girls sports, and the Red Knights volleyball team is the team who got the job done.
The Knights accomplished the feat in thrilling fashion on Wednesday night, battling from behind to win the Division VII, East District championship in five sets over Tuscarawas Central inside Carrollton High School.
“It’s really special,” Toronto head coach Shannon Bahen said. “It’s not only special for the kids, but also my assistant coaches who are Toronto born and raised, our fans that are Toronto through-and-through. Tonight wasn’t just for us, it for every team that came before us. I told the kids it was bigger than themselves; we had a whole community behind us. We feel the gravity of that are honored to be the team that got to make history for our school and our community.
“We’ve got a couple more trophies and four more wins to go get.”
Toronto also won the program’s first OVAC championship earlier this month.
Toronto, the top seed in the district, trailed the second-seeded Saints in the match after losing the first and third sets, but battled back with wins in the second, fourth and fifth to earn the hard-fought victory, 20-25, 25-21, 9-25, 25-21, 15-10.
“It was an exciting way to win but a little nerve-wracking at times,” Bahen said. “I’m just really proud of the girls, they did not back down when it was tough and they kept fighting.”
The Saints (15-10) pulled away in the first set after it was a back-and-forth battle early. Toronto battled back and edged ahead in a close second set to even the match, but the Saints again took the advantage with a strong third set.
The Knights (23-2), however, were not ready to go away, and closed the fourth set strong, senior Jayna Reeves tallying four-straight points as part of 6-1 Red Knights run to close the set and force a fifth and deciding set.
In the fifth, Toronto jumped ahead 5-1 and stayed in front by at least two the rest of the way in completing the comeback.
“We told them after the third set they had a choice to make, you can either let it affect you or pick yourself back up and win the darn thing, and they picked themselves up and won it,” Bahen said. “They have heart and fight that you can’t coach or teach, they just have it.”
For the Knights, Reeves tallied 16 kills, two blocks and two aces, Kylie Mitchell recorded 10 kills, four blocks and an ace, Addison Dobbs finished with 20 kills, four blocks and an ace, Danielle Sutherin recorded 37 assists and four aces, Emma Parello had five blocks and two kills, Haley Bodnar recorded 12 digs and Jaylee Brown added seven digs.
Toronto advances to next week’s regional tournament. The Red Knights will play the winner of the Southeast District in the Region 25 semifinals next Thursday inside the Winland Memorial Gymnasium in Zanesville. Beaver Eastern and Reedsville Eastern meet in that district title match on Saturday.