SHADYSIDE — The cut-off day for next week’s OVAC Volleyball Tournament is Thursday. Monroe Central solidified its bid for a spot in the Class 2A portion of the week-long event. The No. 4 ranked Seminoles had a comfortable lead over fifth-place Salineville Southern, but had the possibility of catching No. 3 Wheeling Central in the next couple of days.

Monday night, visiting Monroe Central (12-4) won the first two sets before allowing Shadyside to gain some momentum with a victory in the third set, but took control midway through the fourth set to prevail by scores of 25-19, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-17 inside a toasty Tigers Den on Senior Night at Shadyside High School.

“We’re very happy that we are where we are and we’re very excited about it,” Monroe Central head coach Jeanette Schwall said. “We will be ready to play.”

Following half-a-dozen stalemates early in the fourth set, Monroe Central pulled away with Olivia Valkovich at the service line for a 13-9 advantage as Valkovic. She had three aces. Following a point for the hosts, the Seminoles notched five of the next six markers and never looked back.

Deadlocked at four in the first set, the Seminoles slowly, but surely, pulled away for the victory. They led 13-7 and 22-16 before watching the Tigers (4-15) claw to within 22-19, but get no closer.

The second set was a nail-biter and knotted three times, the final time at 18 before the Monroe Countians built a three-point margin at 21-18. Shadyside closed to 21-20 and the rivals traded the next four markers as Monroe Central led 23-22 before Schwall called a timeout to settle her team down.

It worked as the Seminoles tallied two of the next three for a narrow two-point nod.

The Tigers built an early lead in the third set and extended it to 24-16 before holding off the visitors down the stretch.

“It was senior night and there was a lot of emotion associated with that, but we just couldn’t keep that emotion going in the fourth set. We were right there … ,” Shadyside head coach Eric Mercer noted. “That’s been the story of our season. We get things going in the right direction but then we back up a little bit … take two steps backward and one forward. It’s been an up-and-down year.”

Monroe Central was paced by senior Abby Thompson with 14 kills while Valkovic added 20 assists. Kynzi Bishop charted 14 points and half-as-dozen kills and Jacey English finished with 10 points, eight kills, four digs and a trio of aces.

Kyra English chipped in 17 assists, seven points and two aces. Maclarin Craft donated seven points, five digs and two aces. Olivia Bettinger had a trio of blocks.

“Abby really had a good game at the net tonight,” Schwall said. “She’s one of our leaders up there. She did a good job of blocking and moving around for us.”

Schwall noted that the effort wasn’t a clean one, and that several players contributed to the win.

“We had a lot of players get involved tonight, but we weren’t as sharp on our serving or service returns,” she stressed. “We had a kind of down night as far as serving goes. We’re usually pretty good with our serves and our serve receive wasn’t what it normally is.”

The Seminoles don’t have much time to savor the triumph as they welcome Caldwell tonight.

Gentry Brown continued her splendid senior season with 17 kills, seven digs, four aces and a trio of blocks. Bayleigh Harman, another upperclassman, added eight assists, six aces, five kills and a pair of digs. Ali Weatherspoon charted 14 assists and two digs. Macy Hendershot chipped in three aces, a like number of digs and two kills.

Josey Greenwood contributed two kills, a pair of digs and two blocks, while Janelle Greenwood had a trio of kills and three digs.

Toronto sweeps Buckeye Local

TORONTO — With visiting Buckeye Local on the verge of a set point trying to extend the match, Toronto coach Lori Lynn Jackson used a timeout and simply told her girls to “finish.”

They did, scoring four of the final five points to close out a hard-fought third set and a sweep of the Panthers Monday night at home, 25-17, 15-9, 26-24.

For Toronto, Andrea Reeves tallied 36 assists, seven digs, six aces, four digs and two blocks, Hannah Dobbs hammered 22 kills, six digs, two aces and an assist, Ashton Thomas had eight digs, four kills and six blocks, Michelle Anderson had nine kills and five digs and Callie Anderson recorded 10 digs, two aces and two kills.

The Panthers efforts were led by Brynn McKeever with three kills and an ace, Pam Kandrach with three kills and Madison Zeroski with six kills.