The Kings Knights are going back to the state tournament. Kings swept Anthony Wayne 25-23, 25-20, 25-22 on Saturday, November 7, in the Division II, Region 8 final, winning its first regional volleyball championship since 2023, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s regional final coverage.
The sweep was no small scalp. Anthony Wayne had reached the OHSAA state finals in each of the last two seasons and arrived at the regional final fresh off a five-set marathon win over Mount Notre Dame in the semifinals. Kings, now 22-3, handled the moment in straight sets — close in the first, controlled in the second and third.
The Knights are riding a 19-match winning streak into the final four, the Enquirer reported. Their tournament path ran through a straight-sets win over Harrison in the regional semifinal on November 5, and Saturday’s victory completed a regional run without dropping a set. The Knights have lost just three matches all season, and every one of those losses came before the winning streak began.
It has been three years since Kings stood on this stage. The Knights won it all in 2023, and the program has been a perennial power in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference since, but the two seasons in between ended short of the state tournament. Saturday’s sweep ends that wait.
Anthony Wayne’s season closes after another deep run — the Generals’ back-to-back state final appearances set the standard in Division II, and they needed five sets just to get past Mount Notre Dame on Thursday. Against Kings, though, they could never seize a set, and their streak of finals trips ends at two.
What happens next is a state semifinal date with Wadsworth, which beat Olmsted Falls in four sets in its own regional final on Saturday, according to the Akron Beacon Journal’s roundup. The semifinal is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, November 13, at Vandalia Butler, the Enquirer reported.
One more win puts Kings in the state championship match, playing for the program’s second state title in four seasons. The Knights have waited three years and won 19 straight matches to get this close — they will not want the run to end one match early.
Photo: Todd Ryburn, CC BY