TOLEDO, Ohio — The 2023 OHSAA volleyball season wraps up in Dayton this weekend with State Championships. Among the 16 teams competing across four divisions are St. Ursula and Calvert.
The Arrows and Senecas actually played each other on Oct. 4 inside the Stroh Center at BGSU, and now they are both traveling to Wright State University at the Nutter Center for a shot at bringing home a title.
For St. Ursula players, who possess a record of 19-8, they are making the program's 13th trip overall, but first since 2015. Head coach Jason Reilly told WTOL 11 they always aimed to be in this position, but the reality now that they're actually here feels unlike anything they could have imagined.
"It's not just the 19 of us anymore, it's an entire school," he said. "And that was truly felt this morning. We hope to continue the success and the foundation was built back in the early 2000's and hopefully we can build on this even more and continue the success."
Senior setter and captain Lucy Mott added she hopes to come back to Toledo with some hardware, but also is grateful to experience something like this with her team.
"Knowing that we worked so hard for this makes it even more exciting and makes it even better for us," she said. "Doing it with the people I love it's just such an accomplishment and I'm so grateful to fulfill."
The Arrows, who are ranked 16th in the State for Division One, will play number 7 Olentangy Orange on Friday at 2 p.m. The winner will advance to Saturday's State Championship match at 3 p.m.
As for Calvert, they are making just their third appearance in program history. In the previous two trips in 2018 and 2020, they went on to win the whole thing.
The Senecas are ranked third in Division IV and hold a record of 26-1, having only lost five sets all season.
"This is one of the many things that make Calvert so special. The support that we feel within Calvert walls and outside Calvert walls, it's just overwhelming," head coach Lori Rombach said. "It's not just the parents and our local community, but the whole town. It feels so wonderful and I'm so happy for these girls to experience something so positive."
Thursday morning, the Calvert community gathered at the school and held a Pep Rally. Superfan 'Seneca Sue' led the charge as she normally does before the team then headed outside to be greeted by fans during a send-off.
"I'm feeling very excited, I'm very proud of my team because we worked really hard to get to this point," senior Caroline Lanicek said. "Like coach mentioed in our Pep Rally, our job isn't finished yet. I'm looking forward to what's to come this weekend."
Before the bus left Tiffin, many elementary students lined the street with signs and cheers. With five seniors on Calvert's roster, the emotions couldn't be ignored.
"This is my last time playing volleyball, so I'm real excited to end it this weekend," senior Camryn Shook said. "I couldn't have dreamt of a better way to end my volleyball career."
The Senecas will battle number 19 Canton Central Catholic on Friday at 6 p.m. The winner will then play for the Division IV Championship at 5 p.m. on Saturday in Dayton.
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