Girls volleyball draw: Wadsworth earns area's top seed

No. 4 ranked Wadsworth and No. 3 ranked Avon accounted for half of the field at the 2024 Division II state volleyball tournament in suburban Dayton. Only one of them will be headed back there this fall, based on a mutual desire to avoid playing No. 1 ranked Magnificat until the state semifinals. The Suburban League National Conference champion Grizzlies and undefeated Eagles are lined up for a potential showdown in the Streetsboro Regional final, while the Blue Streaks will head to the Ravenna Regional as a result of their respective postseason draws. The aforementioned trio and No. 2 ranked Whitehouse Anthony Wayne are considered the clear-cut, best D-II teams in Ohio — the only question was whether Wadsworth or Avon would be seeded higher by the 33 coaches in the Northeast District. Largely because of their win over juggernaut Archbishop Hoban, the Eagles were given the nod over the Grizzlies. The Knights are No. 1 ranked in the OHSAA state coaches poll in D-III. "I'm good with it," Wadsworth coach Allyson Wines said. "Beating Hoban should give them some credit and, hopefully, we'll see Avon in the regional final." Magnificat, Wadsworth and Avon were seeded 1-2-3 in the tight district voting. Olmsted Falls was fourth and SL National runner-up Nordonia fifth. It would be nothing short of astonishing if the top three seeds fail to reach the regional finals. In D-III, Highland is seeking back-to-back regional berths, as well, and also is positioned nicely to do so. The 11th-seeded Hornets should meet 13th-seeded North Olmsted or 17th-seeded Chardon in the district finals, sending the victor into a regional matchup with Hoban. "I figure if you can make it to regionals, you've done a decent job," Highland coach Laura Merk said. "That's our hope, to get back there." Cloverleaf is seeded 18th and Buckeye is 33rd in their first year as D-III members under the second-year playoff format, which features a whopping 46 schools from the Northeast District. The Colts open against Westlake, which split its home-and-home Cleveland West Conference series with the Bucks, while Buckeye takes on Uniontown Lake. The top two divisions only include 64 teams statewide, so seventh-seeded Medina and ninth-seeded Brunswick need just two wins to reach regionals.Greater Cleveland Conference champion Mentor would stand in the way of the red-hot Bees, should they beat Stow in the first round on the Cardinals' home court. The Blue Devils have a comical road trip for their opener, which takes place in Perrysburg against Berea-Midpark. Potential district finals for Medina and Brunswick both are scheduled at Normandy. In D-IV, Black River is seeded 14th and Medina Christian garnered the 21st spot in the 35-team field. The path chosen by Pirates coach Courtney Dieter makes her squad a legitimate darkhorse to get past the district level. Black River opens with 16th-seeded Hillsdale, then would face 11th-seeded Andrews Osborne and eighth-seeded Smithville. A potential district final should place sixth-seeded Mineral Ridge or 12th-seeded Waynedale on the other side. The Knights' quest for their initial OHSAA Tournament win has them hosting 24th-seeded Columbia in the sectional semifinals. Contact Brian Dulik at sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow @BrianDulik on X.