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Weeks 3-5 Highlights - 2008 (Sep 6 - 26) September 26, 2008 By Jim Jicha The season is flying by and I've been unable to keep up with everything. Hurricane Ike didn't help, as we were without power for almost five days last week. Other hurricanes have been more damaging where they first landed, although Ike was bad enough in Texas. But I have never witnessed or heard of a hurricane that came so far inland with so much residual wind force. All 88 counties in Ohio were affected, with at least one million out of power for at least a time. The power loss in Ohio was even mentioned in The Economist magazine. At any rate here is a brief summary of highlights of the past three weeks. Cincinnati Ursuline Academy has, based on records, the best volleyball team in Ohio. The top ranked Lions are 14-0 against one of the toughest schedules of around, and now hold a commanding two-game lead over No. 2 Mother of Mercy and No. 5 Mt. Notre Dame in the Greater Girls Cincinnati League. They downed Mercy for the second time this past Tuesday, and beat Mt. Notre Dame last week. All three matches went four games. And as a reminder of how fickle the GGCL can be, Ursuline had to overcome a two game deficit last night to defeat 1-5 Cincinnati St. Ursula 20-25, 21-25, 25-13, 25-10, 15-5. St. Ursula had taken Mother of Mercy to five a couple of weeks ago. Elsewhere, Bowling Green slowed down Sylvania Southview’s attempted Northern Lakes League coup by handing the host Cougars their first loss of the season. Bee Gee has won at least the last four titles, but an early season five game home loss to Southview put thatr streak in jeopardy. Both teams are now 9-1 and can share the crown if they take care of business. In the City League, defending Division II state champion Toledo Central Catholic is 7-0 after nipping Notre Dame Academy 25-21, 15-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12 last week. Graduating seven seniors, four of them to college, hasn’t slowed them down. Notre Dame rebounded from their loss to Central with a big three game win over St. Ursula. Oregon Clay is 5-1 in the league and still has to play Notre Dame and Central. Heading east, third ranked 16-0 Olmsted Falls beat Amherst Steele for the second time this season last night to take a commanding lead in Southwestern Conference. Magnificat is now 8-6 after beating Cincinnati McAuley and losing to Dublin Coffman in last weekend’s Fall Classic at Mother of Mercy. Amherst Steele gave Lodi Cloverleaf its first loss last weekend at the Canton GlenOak tournament. Mentor beat Orrville and handed Canal Fulton Northwest its first loss to win Massillon Jackson’s tournament last weekend. The Cardinals will host the Northeast Ohio Invitational Tournament this weekend. Ursuline Academy is favored in that one. In Central, Dublin Coffman is now 15-1 with wins over Magnificat and Toledo Central last weekend. The Shamrocks only loss is to Mercy 23-25, 25-17, 25-21. Pickerington North remains unbeaten, while Olentangy knocked Marysville from the ranks of the unbeaten to avenge an earlier loss. In Division II, Wooster Triway jumped over Tipp City Tippecanoe and Kenston and into first place by beating last week’s top two, Salem and Bishop Hartley, in a tri-match. Tippecanoe (15-0) knocked off GGCL Grey leader Chaminade-Julienne, followed by GWOC leader Troy, last weekend. And Kenston (14-0) topped Elyria to win the Rocky River Invitational the weekend before. Padua Franciscan avenged its only loss of the season by beating Lake Catholic to take sole possession of first in the North Coast League. Big Walnut lost for only the second time on Wednesday to Newark Catholic 25-27, 25-20, 25-9, 24-26, 15-9. Hubbard remained undefeated after fending off an upset bid by Archbishop Hoban on Saturday. Tiffin Columbian moved back into sole possession of first place in the Northern Ohio League, thanks to Galion which upended co-leader Shelby 25-18, 15-25, 25-8, 24-26, 15-5. Shelby had forced a tie by beating Columbian the week before. In Division III, top ranked Lima Central Catholic remains unbeaten. The Thunderbirds downed Indian Lake and Jackson Center in a tri-match of ranked unbeaten teams two weeks ago. Second rated Smithville (18-0) had a big weekend as they knocked off Amherst Steele to win the Canton GlenOak tournament. In the title match with Steele, Jenna Pew matched her personal record nine block kills she set earlier against fifth ranked 14-1 West Salem Northwestern. Number three Frankfort Adena is 10-0 in the Scioto Valley Conference and 15-1 overall after beating Westfall for the second time this season. Gilmour Academy, which beat Walsh Jesuit two weeks ago, is 15-0. Orrville won their rematch last week with Mansfield Madison, 25-20, 25-15, 17-25, 14-25, 15-8, to tie the Rams for first in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. In Division IV, Jackson Center is poised to grab the top spot based on their dramatic come-from-behind 21-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18, 15-12 road win over Marion Local last Saturday. Marion (13-2) lost again last night to Versailles 20-25, 25-15, 28-30, 25-21, 15-11, and is now tied with New Bremen for the Midwest Athletic Conference lead. New Bremen missed a chance to take sole possession of first place when they lost yesterday to Minster 25-22, 19-25, 25-16, 19-25, 15-12. Minster is tied for third with Rockford Parkway, to whom they lost last week 31-29, 18-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-8. All five MAC schools mentioned are ranked. Folks in MAC country do get to see some great volleyball! And football - Coldwater, Marion Local, St. Henry, Delphos St. John's and Minster are ranked. Finally, Jackson Center had a big week, as they downed Anna and Fort Loramie to grab a two-game edge in the Shelby County Athletic League. 09/25/08 - Mentor will host the Northeast Ohio Invitational Tournament this weekend. Participating schools include top ranked Cincinnati Ursuline Academy, along with Bowling Green, Lake Catholic, Lakota West, Magnificat, Solon, Toledo Notre Dame, Walsh Jesuit, Wooster. 09/24/08 - Wooster Triway topples No. 2 Bishop Hartley and No. 1 Salem, vaults into top spot 09/20/08 - Mercy Fall Classic, Triway Tri-Match 09/19/08 - Shelby in control of own NOL destiny after win over Tiffin Columbian Lima Central Catholic prevails in tri-match of ranked unbeaten teams 09/10/08 - Jenna Pew blocks Smithville over Northwestern in clash of ranked Wayne County Athletic League powers Smithville tops Norwayne, tunes up for Northwestern with quad wins Padua Franciscan tops Holy Name to win Fall Showcase
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