For the second straight year, Southwest Ohio is sending five girls volleyball teams to the Ohio High School Athletic Association state tournament, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported: Seton, St. Ursula, Kings, McNicholas and Fenwick, programs that have combined for 19 state championships.
Seton is making its third consecutive state appearance behind balance rather than a single star — five players have posted 10-kill matches this season and six have served at least 30 aces, the Enquirer reported. All-Ohio first-teamers Charley Moeddel and Penelope Reisman lead the Saints, who play at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at Butler High School.
St. Ursula (18-8) arrives on a nine-match winning streak after sitting 9-8 on Sept. 25. “We had a really great October and played really clean and really started to buy in,” head coach Gretchen Krumdieck told the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Bulldogs face Cleveland St. Joseph at approximately 8 p.m. Nov. 12 at Butler, with sisters Lola and Lucy Waleskowski — both All-Ohio first-team selections — leading the way.
Kings (22-3) opens at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, against Wadsworth (24-2). The Knights carry a 19-match winning streak and a young lineup: freshman Sammi Wehrman was one of only two freshmen in Ohio named first-team all-state, the Enquirer reported.
McNicholas is led by an eight-member senior class that holds the school records for assists (Maria Schulte), kills (Savanna Stacey), digs (Ali Strange) and blocks (Lilly Tierney), according to the Enquirer. The Rockets play Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin at 1 p.m. Nov. 13 at Butler High School.
Fenwick (26-2) meets unbeaten Gallia Academy at approximately 4 p.m. Nov. 12 at Wright State. The Falcons are chasing their first state title since 2019, the Enquirer reported.
All five programs are, at a minimum, making their second state trip in the last four years, and collectively they can add as many as four more championships this weekend to the 19 they already own, the Enquirer reported.
Winners this weekend advance to state championship matches, and an all-Cincinnati final is possible in the bracket Seton and St. Ursula share — the last all-Girls Greater Catholic League state final was in 2007, according to the Enquirer. NewsForce247 will report the semifinal results as they finish; no matches in this preview have been played yet.
Photo: K.M. Klemencic, CC BY