MILLBURY — The St. Ursula Academy Arrows won their 11th consecutive district title Thursday, defeating Three Rivers Athletic Conference foe Clay, 25-18, 18-25, 25-10, 25-18.
A trip to the regional tournament likely is one that not many outsiders would not have predicted, as the Arrows floundered early in the season, losing four of their first eight matches.
They ended the regular season on a high note, winning a share of the TRAC along with Clay and Notre Dame Academy.
“Right now, we’re just kind of celebrating the fact that we won districts, and not a lot of people expected us to,” third-year coach Sydney Antonio said. “I love when we end stronger than we start because it means us coaches are doing our job and we’re getting better.”
VIDEO: St. Ursula-Clay
“We’ve had ups and downs this season, and we worked very hard to stay mostly up,” junior Hannah Best added. “This is a big win for us, and we’re excited to keep moving forward.”
This is the second time the Arrows have beaten the Eagles (13-12) in the past two weeks. On Oct. 12, St. Ursula swept Clay, 25-19, 25-14, 25-11.
Antonio stressed beating their rival twice, particularly with a district title on the line, was no easy feat.
“Playing any team twice is hard, but especially a team as strong as Clay,” she said. “People don’t give the TRAC enough credit. We’ve got three teams in the district finals right now, so we knew it was going to be a battle tonight.
“I thought our kids stepped up and stayed calm through the match, so I was really impressed with that.”
Jillian Seitz led the Arrows with 16 kills and 20 digs, while Best had 13 kills and 12 digs. Payton Morman had 37 assists and 11 digs, and Abbey Glancey had 18 digs for St. Ursula (14-10).
The Arrows took a 20-12 lead in the first game. While the Eagles scored six more points, Best gave the Arrows the game with a kill.
Clay came back to take the second behind strong play at the net from Olivia Henneman-Dallape and Hannah Blausey.
In the third, the Arrows came back with a vengeance. They jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead behind kills from Best and Seitz. The Arrows rattled off the final six points to take a 2-1 lead.
The Eagles took a 7-4 lead to begin the final game, but the Arrows answered with a 6-2 run of their own. Going up 10-9, they wouldn’t falter the rest of the way as Best recorded a kill on match point.
VIDEO: St. Ursula wins 11th consecutive district championship
Despite coming up short, first-year Clay coach Carrie Wagoner said her team defied expectations.
“We set some very big goals,” she said. “Going to districts and being one of the contenders at the end playing St. Ursula was huge.
“So I just couldn’t even ask for anything more from my girls, and I’m really looking forward to next season because a lot of my girls are coming back.”
The Arrows will play their regional semifinal match Nov. 1 at Norwalk High School, facing the winner of the Brunswick district.
“I’m looking forward to being on the court with my team again and having some more fun,” Best said.
OTHER MATCHES: In another Division I district final at Napoleon, Notre Dame Academy swept Northview 3-0 to advance to the regional round.
VIDEO: Notre Dame-Northview
Oak Harbor advanced to a Division II regional semifinal after a 3-1 win against Tiffin Columbian at Findlay, while Wauseon earned a 3-1 victory against Defiance at Bluffton to move on.
Liberty-Benton moved to 26-0 this year with a five-set Division III district final win against Ottawa-Glandorf at Kalida.
Contact Ashley Bastock at: abastock@theblade.com, 419-345-5214, or on Twitter @AshleyBastock42.
First Published October 26, 2018, 1:22 a.m.
