Big Red to host volleyball tourney

STEUBENVILLE - The Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament will be held Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. at Steubenville High's Crimson Center and Stern Gymnasium.

The last several tournaments were held at Union Local High School.

The format for the tournament is the semifinal matches will go on concurrently in the two gyms with the top seed playing in the Crimson Center and the second seed in the other gym.

Immediately after the completion of the semifinals, the winning teams will meet for the title in the Crimson Center.

Class A gets things under way at 9 a.m. The tournament will then proceed in order of size in three-hour windows - Class AA at noon, Class AAA at 3 p.m. and Class AAAA at 6 p.m.

In Class A, St. John Central - on the strength of its 17-3 mark at the cut-off - garnered the top seed for the tournament.

The Irish will meet rival Bridgeport in the semifinal. The other semifinal pits second-seeded Paden City against first-year OVAC member Morgantown Trinity Christian.

All of the members of this field - outside of Trinity - own at least one OVAC banner.

Paden City leads the way with two pennants, but the Lady Wildcats haven't won the championship since 2005.

Their other title came in 1993.

St. John Central hasn't visited the volleyball winner's circle since 1997, while Bridgeport was the champion in 2004.

No one in Class A has hoisted the wooden trophy other than Beallsville since 2006, but the Lady Blue Devils finished fifth in the standings, missing out on the tournament.

In Class AA, the road through the title has ran through either Old Washington or Graysville each of the past five years.

Both Buckeye Trail and Monroe Central are back in the event this season.

The Lady Warriors of coach Jeff Beros are the top seed with a 16-2 mark. The Lady Warriors have set the pace in OVAC volleyball circles with 12 total championships.

Trail will meet Barnesville (12-6) in the opening round. The Lady Shamrocks have never won an OVAC volleyball crown.

Steubenville Central posted a 15-5 mark before the cut-off date and edged out the four-time defending champion Lady Seminoles for the second seed by just half a point.

The Lady Crusaders have won two conference titles, but none since 1992.

In Class AAA, St. Clairsville is back to defend its title, but the Lady Red Devils' road is by no means an easy one.

Coach Rebecca Hays' team qualified as the second seed this year. The top seed went to Oak Glen, which has posted a 17-3 record. The Golden Bears own a pair of conference net titles, but none have come since 1997, which was their second straight.

Oak Glen will meet Martins Ferry, which had posted a 10-8 mark before the OVAC cut-off, which was last Saturday.

The aforementioned Lady Red Devils rank third all-time in number of OVAC titles with six. They've won five of the last six Class AAA titles.

St. Clairsville will meet Buckeye 8 rival Edison in the semifinals.

The Lady Wildcats have won four OVAC titles in their history, including last year's crown in AAAA. They knocked off St. Clairsville in four games earlier in the season.

In Class AAAA, a true battle for the crown is sure to unfold as a new champion is assured since the aforementioned Edison has dropped down.

Indian Creek - which owns five titles, but none since 2001 - is the top seed. The Lady Redskins finished the pre-tourney phase of their schedule with a 16-2 mark.

One of those losses came to second-seeded Cambridge, which finished with an identical mark. The Lady Bobcats will make the lengthy trip to Jefferson County and tangle with highly regarded East Liverpool, which has won nine conference titles in the second-third seed matchup.

Cambridge owns just one OVAC title and it came in 2000. The fourth seed is by no means a pushover with 14-5 Beaver Local earning the final spot. The Lady Beavers have won three titles in their volleyball history