Over the hump! Buckeye Central sweeps Monroeville for first district title since 2017
WILLARD ― It had been six years since Buckeye Central last won a district title in volleyball.
"'Feels longer than that," coach Missy McDougal said Thursday night.
The top-seeded Buckettes don't have to wait any longer for their return to regionals following an impressive sweep of No. 2 Monroeville 25-21, 25-22, 25-23 in Thursday's Division IV district championship at Willard High School. Buckeye Central plays Columbia Station Columbia in the regional semifinal at Strongsville High School on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m.
"These girls have worked really hard over the years and we really felt like this was our year," McDougal said.
Monroeville had knocked the Buckettes out of the playoffs in 2018 and each of the last three seasons, including the district final in 2020 and 2021. Monroeville had won the past five district titles and made four state appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2022.
"We talked about it all year," McDougal said. "We preach taking one game at a time, but we always know at the end of the day (it goes through Monroeville). We beat them early in the season, but we knew it was going to get tougher."
Buckeye Central swept the teams' previous matchup this season, 25-15, 25-16, 25-19, yet Monroeville came out looking like the team to beat. The Eagles led 18-11 before the Buckettes went on a 10-1 run and closed out the set with two aces from Mara McDougal.
After losing an 11-point lead in the second set, the Buckettes broke it open after the score was 19-18 to win, then erased a 23-19 deficit in the third set with the final six points of the match.
"I don't know why they put themselves in holes like that," coach McDougal said. "But the girls never gave up and I'm just super proud of them. They could have folded (in the first) and they didn't. They stuck together and came back one point at a time to finish that set out."
It's a match Monroeville coach Kendra Snook will look back on and wonder what could've been had a point or two fallen her team's way earlier in each set.
"We were right in it to win set one. We had that big lead, let it slip away from us and Buckeye started making some plays," she said. "We missed some key serves at the end. Then in set two being down 11-0 and really outplaying them the rest of the set, I was really proud of that. The kids fought and didn't just give up after that big deficit. And again in set three we were right there to win it, had the lead at the end and couldn't finish.
"I don't think it was necessarily anything that we were doing. They were getting us out of system and then our hitters became predictable. And when they have a big block up there, it's hard to score."
It was a total team effort from the Buckettes, but seniors Mia McDougal and Kimmy Biglin stepped up.
"I can't even imagine how many blocks Mia had tonight, I think she really affected their hitters," coach McDougal said. "And Kimmy came up with a couple big blocks there at the end, too. They provided leadership this year and I'm just super happy that they get to finally experience a regional.
"I went many times and I've wanted nothing more than to have these girls experience that."
419-617-6018
Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Buckeye Central volleyball sweeps Monroeville in OHSAA district final
