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SMITHVILLE -- Wellsville captured its 11th volleyball district title with a 25-18, 25-17, 18-25, 25-15 win over Cuyahoga Heights on Thursday in a Div. VII district final at Smithville High School.
The Tigers were led by Bella Poppelriter's 21 kills, 26 assists and 19 digs. Youngstown State recruit Presley Stokes added 28 kills, three aces, 17 assists and 15 digs. Myleigh Jackson had seven assists, 19 digs and four aces. Aleena Owens had an ace, two kills and 10 digs. Olivia Edison had five digs. Gracie Dowling added three digs. Madie Drysdale had three blocks and two digs. Kezie Bosco had three blocks and two digs.
Wellsville (20-5) is the third seed, while Heights was the 10th seed.
The Tigers will play eighth-seeded Middlefield Cardinal at 8 p.m. on Thursday at Strongsville High School in the regional semifinal.
The earlier regional semifinal will feature No. 1 seed Ashtabula St. John vs. No. 2 seed Norwalk St. Paul.
No teams in the regional bracket are state ranked, so a pathway to state is open for the Tigers.
Ashtabula St. John 3, Lisbon 0
ORWELL -- It was the end of the road for the Lisbon volleyball team as it was defeated by No. 1 seed Ashtabula St. John 25-14, 25-11, 25-16 in a Div. VII district final on Thursday at Grand Valley High School.
St. John (25-0) moves on to take on No. 2 seed Norwalk St. Paul in the regional semifinal at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Strongsville High School.
River View 3, East Liverpool 2
ZOARVILLE -- No. 2 seed East Liverpool got behind two sets early and had to mount a monumental comeback to get even with top-seeded River View on Thursday in a Div. IV district final at Tusky Valley.
Unfortunately River View turned it on in the final game to come away with a 25-20, 25-11, 23-25, 22-25, 15-11 victory.
"Everyone in that gym agreed that it was a tremendous volleyball game," East Liverpool coach Dan McKinstry said. "The fans of both teams and the coaches from River View all told me how much they enjoyed it."
It was the second straight season the Potters (18-6) lost in the district to River View.
After losing the first two games, the Potters grabbed a 5-2 lead in the third set and held onto it to get back in the match. In the fourth game, the Potters trailed 8-0 and 13-5 before tying the game at 21.
In the fifth game, East Liverpool was up 10-9 before River View ripped off four points to get enough space to grab the victory.
"I told them as they got off the bus that I was really proud of their effort," McKinstry said. "All you can ask is that they leave it all out on the floor and they did that."
For the Potters, Kamryn Yanni had 40 assists, Ayla Brown had two aces and nine kills, while Kenzie Headley had four aces, 16 kills and six blocks. Cate Davis had a kill. Ava Green added 15 kills and two blocks. Addi Rudibaugh had a five kills and a block. Ayla Riggle had an ace and 17 digs. Kendra Lacey had nine digs.
The Black Bears (18-7) advance to meet the winner of Saturday's London-Delaware Buckeye Valley match in the Central district. That regional semifinal match is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday at Pickerington North High School.