By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

DARKE COUNTY — The high school volleyball playoffs are set as tournament play will start on Oct. 17. Each school in Darke County will have a chance to make their season a special one with a run in the postseason.

Some teams will have a chance to compete with other local teams in the tournament. Some will be in different parts of the bracket or are in a different division.

Here is a look at where each team landed on the bracket and some of their potential opponents down the road.

Greenville:

The Lady Wave are an 11 seed in the Division I Southwest Sectional and will start with a game against the eighth seeded Wayne High School in Centerville. The Lady Warriors are 12-9 with a 7-7 conference record while playing in the Greater Western Ohio Conference.

They do share some common opponents. Wayne has defeated Stebbins and Piqua. The Lady Wave split two games against Stebbins and won both games against Piqua.

The first game will be a battle of young teams. Wayne only rosters two seniors. Their senior, Samara Wilcox, is second in her conference with 266 kills. Sophomore Kendall Turner is fourth with 206 kills. That is similar to how sophomores Brooke Schmidt and Lilly Camacho are first and fifth in the MVL in kills. It will also be the battle of the freshman setters. Kindyl Peltz for Greenville and Dani Snyder for Wayne are top five in their respective conference in aces and assists.

A win over Wayne will set up a match against Kettering Fairmont High School, a fifth seed. They are 11-9 and play in the same conference as Wayne. If they can win that match, they could have three seeded Bellbrook on deck and a possible match against the one seed in Cincinnati Ursuline Academy.

Versailles and Tri-Village:

Both teams will have a chance to play in the Division III Southwest Sectional Final. Two wins by both teams will have the two teams playing on Oct. 25 in Brookville. As the sixth seed, Tri-Village will need to take care of Springfield Shawnee and Tri-County North. As the one seed, Versailles will need to take care of Springfield Greenon and the winner of Dixie/Jamestown Greeneview.

For the Lady Patriots, Shawnee has a 3-17 record and Tri-County North is 0-20. For them, it should be an easy path to set up a showdown against Versailles.

For the Lady Tigers, Greenon is 3-16 while Dixie has double digit wins and Greeneview is 11-9. They have a slightly tougher road, but Versailles has shown to be an elite team.

Versailles vs Tri-Village playing for a spot in the District Finals would be a great matchup to watch.

Arcanum:

The Lady Trojans are in Division III as well, but in a different section. Still playing in Brookville, they are the 12th seed going up against the tenth seed in Bethel High School. Bethel does have double digit wins, but is 0-2 against the WOAC. They lost in five at Preble Shawnee and in four at Franklin Monroe. Arcanum lost in four to Preble Shawnee and won at Franklin Monroe in five.

Arcanum has had a rough October so far, but they are a persistent team. They are the type of team that will always rally when they are down, no matter how far into a set they are.

They do face some tough competition if they advance. Their next round game could be against the fourth seed in West Liberty-Salem. A win against them could see them go against the two seed in Miami East.

Ansonia:

Just like the rest of the schools, Ansonia will be in the Division IV Southwest Sectional/District. They were the lucky team to stay close to Darke County as they will play most of their games at Arcanum.

They are the 13th seed and will play against South Charleston Southeastern Local High School, the sixth seed. The Lady Trojans are 17-4 on the season while playing in the Ohio Heritage Conference. Their senior, Kelsey Vollrath is second in her conference in kills with 276 and third in aces with 50. Her senior teammate, Ella McCombs, is second in aces with 55.

The front line will need to get their hands on the Lady Trojans’ attacks. Juniors Addie Marker and Abby Kramer are third and fourth in the WOAC in blocks with 41 and 39 respectively. The Lady Tigers are also coming into the postseason on a four game winning streak.

Franklin Monroe and Bradford:

Both schools are in the same section, playing their games at Troy. Bradford enters as the 22nd seed going up against the second seeded Fort Loramie. Fort Loramie made it to the Regional Final last season and are 16-5 this season. It will be a tough task for the Lady Railroaders to pull off the upset. But at a minimum, they will gain valuable tournament experience that will benefit the program.

For the Lady Jets, they are the ninth seed and will face 15th seed Riverside. They are 6-15 on the season while playing in the Three Rivers Conference. Franklin Monroe did stumble their way through the end of the season. They went 1-3 in their last four games after getting a win at Tri-Village.

They are still a dangerous team to face in the playoffs. Wins against Riverside and against the 17th seed in Calvary Christian should set them up with a match against Fort Loramie in the Sectional Final.

Mississinawa Valley:

The Lady Blackhawks are the 12th seed in a different section than Franklin Monroe or Bradford. They are playing their games at Troy and will face the tenth seed in Sidney Lehman Catholic. Mississinawa Valley is 13-9 on the season while Lehman Catholic is 11-10.

The Lady Cavaliers will boast a good offense as they have two players with just under 200 kills on the season. Jocelyn Hoggatt does have 200+ kills for the Lady Blackhawks. Senior Caroline Wesner leads her conference with 652 assists for Lehman Catholic. Mississinawa Valley will have to be able to have their defense rolling to get a win.

A win over Lehman Catholic would set up a match against the 18th seed in Springfield Catholic Central, who has three wins this season so far. If Mississinawa Valley can get past them, they will more than likely face the one seed in Russia High School. Russia made the Regional Semifinal last season after they beat Tri-Village in the District Final.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]