NEW CARLISLE – For the first time in five years the Greenville volleyball team began the Ohio High School Athletic Association tournament with a victory on Saturday.
Greenville swept fellow Greater Western Ohio Conference member Trotwood-Madison 25-7, 25-12, 25-18 in the first round of the Division II sectional tournament at Tecumseh High School to advance to Wednesday’s second round.
“It is really exciting for us to get a win at sectionals,” Greenville coach Chelsea Dowd said. “It’s been years since Greenville’s gotten through the first game of sectionals. For us and the program it’s a big confidence booster. It just feels good. It feels really good.”
Greenville came out playing really strong Saturday morning to set a tone for the rest of the day. The Lady Wave never trailed in the opening set of the match as they scored the game’s first four points and led by at least three the rest of the way en route to an easy 25-7 win.
“They did well,” Dowd said. “You know what, they showed up. They did what they needed to do especially in the first two sets they looked really consistent. They were passing really nice balls and mixing things up. They looked nice. They looked cohesive.”
After being throttled in the first set, Trotwood rebounded in the second game and took an early lead. The Rams led by as many as three points at 9-6, but from there Greenville went on a 19-3 run to win 25-12 and go up two games to none in the best-of-five match.
“It’s hard on a Saturday morning especially when it’s Homecoming Saturday morning so I think they had a lot going on in their heads,” Dowd said of her players. “But they did a good job of moving on especially after those first couple of points in the second set and cleaning it up and putting it away.”
Greenville started the third set in dominating fashion and built a big 16-4 lead. The Rams didn’t go down easily, though, as they scored 14 of the next 23 points. The Lady Wave had plenty of cushion, though, and won 25-18 to complete the three-set sweep.
“Hopefully the girls have fun at Homecoming and they got a win so it should be like a double happy day for them,” Dowd said.
Greenville now advances to the second round of the OHSAA tournament. The 10th seeded Wave will face second seeded Kenton Ridge at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Tecumseh High School.
