Photo by Seth Staskey Union Local’s Torre Kildow (5) attempts to block East Liverpool’s Paityn Maze (12) Thursday.

MORRISTOWN — It’s to the point of the volleyball season where teams begin officially checking off goals.

Union Local did just that Thursday evening before a boisterous crowd inside ‘The Hangar’ when it captured the Buckeye 8 volleyball title by sweeping East Liverpool by scores of 25-12, 25-12 and 25-18.

The title is the Jets’ third in four seasons. Along with the Buckeye 8, the win also sewed up the top seed for the Jets in next week’s OVAC Class 3A Tournament. The semifinals are slated for Tuesday.

“It was a total team effort,” Union Local head coach Kaye Sechrest said. “The girls really played well. They wanted this. Now we’ll get ready for the OVAC Tournament.”

The Jets (19-1) have bounced back in resounding fashion since suffering their first loss of the campaign on Monday at Shenandoah.

“I hate losing, but I think that woke us up and made us realize there are some things we need to continue to work on,” Sechrest said.

As has been the case for basically all of the teams the Jets have played this season, the Potters, who are going to be the top seed in the OVAC 4A Tournament, had no answer for Ohio University commit Torre Kildow, who was seemingly hitting rockets into floor all night long.

“We didn’t pass it well enough to put enough pressure on their defense and (Kildow) jumps better than anyone we have,” East Liverpool coach Dan McKinstry said.

“We’ve played some good people, but not played anyone who just simply jumped over top of us. We just didn’t have the size to match up with her. We didn’t get them out of system enough times to give ourselves a chance.”

Kildow made a living at the net for the Jets. Actually, the numbers she posted were downright impressive. She had 30 kills, only two hitting errors and hit at a .504 clip.

“It does help when you have Torre,” Sechrest said. “She’s a great player, but she’s not done it alone. It was a total team effort and that’s what it takes.”

The Jets and Potters were locked in a 10-all deadlock in the first set. Union Local took over from there, reeling of 15 of the final 17.

Similarly, Union Local closed the second set with 13 of the final 15 and in the third the Potters had an early lead, but the Jets were simply too much.

“We didn’t play well or pass the ball very well,” McKinstry said. “In each of the first two sets, we were right there and they just took off on us.”

Kildow’s production wasn’t limited to kills. She also had nine digs.

Many of Kildow’s kills came from the setting of Kelly Gress, who handed out 38 assists. She also had three digs. Julie Broussard posted 19 digs, while Emma Yager had seven. Olivia Wortman had six kills, while Ella Pietranton and Ali Briggs each had three.

The Potters were led by Kyia White’s 12 kills. Dalani Ice added 10 assists, while Ava Green posted two kills and two blocks. Kamryn Yanni posted seven assists. Paityn Maze had three kills, 12 digs and five assists.