Dover volleyball clinches share of OCC title; boys soccer stays hot with fifth straight win

With a little help from their friends, better known as the Lexington Minutemen, the girls on Dover’s volleyball team secured sole possession of first place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference with just a single match left, thereby clinching at least a share of the league championship.

That one match, at New Philadelphia, was scheduled for Oct. 7. The Tornadoes easily beat the Quakers in the teams’ first meeting on Sept. 9, so an outright title was ripe for Dover’s picking.

When Lexington beat the Wooster 3-2 on Sept. 30, it opened the door for Dover, which trailed Wooster by a game before the Tornadoes beat the Generals on Sept. 25. Since then, Dover reeled off wins over Mansfield Senior twice and Ashland once to move to 12-1 in league play.

In gaining at least a share of the OCC championship, the Tornadoes overwhelmed Mansfield, 25-5, 25-4, 25-4. They did a ton of damage from the service line getting more than half their points on 38 aces. Leading that charge with 10 was senior Caroline Hanner. Sophomore Charlee Metcalf added eight, junior Alli Hupp and senior Quincey Werntz five each, and senior Hailey Keucher four.

Conversely, the Tornadoes needed to put down just 19 balls, with Hanner’s seven leading the way. Metcalf had five. Werntz led with just eight assists and sophomore Sophie Bantum had just seven, as there weren’t enough balls in play to have higher totals.

Dover, ranked 11th in the state in the Division III coaches poll, has a non-league match set for Oct. 9 at Hoover to wind up the regular season. 

Boys golf

Dover played some solid golf at the Lancaster Division I District tournament on Oct. 6. The Tornadoes shot a team total of 348 to place fourth in the 12-team field, which because of its location had only one team berth and one individual berth into the Oct. 12-13 state tournament at stake. Those went to district champ Sheridan, which shot a team 333 to beat Marietta and New Philadelphia by 12 strokes each. Dover Senior Gauge Stingle shot a 9-over-par 81, finishing one stroke out of the medalist race and thus narrowly missing a trip to Akron’s Firestone Country Club for the state tourney. Sophomore Carson Peoples wasn’t far behind, shooting 84 to place eighth. Sophomore Austin Levengood shot a 91 for the Tornadoes to finish 25th among 48 players. Senior Kaden Gerber checked in 28th with a 92, and Senior Cole Greisen shot 97 to place 38th.

Girls golf

Dover’s Sophia Wicker was a long shot to make it to the state tournament coming out of the Lancaster Division I District at Lancaster Golf Club on Oct. 2. The senior was competing with most of a 48-player district field for a single individual state berth. Wicker then shot a 116, below her normal standard, to finish in 37th place. Ellie Beck-Aden of Athens shot 79 to grab the trip to the state tourney. Minerva won the team race by 16 strokes over Marietta to nab the only team berth.

Girls tennis

Dover’s Sophia Hoffman posted a first-round victory over Barberton’s Jackie Gouamba, not dropping a game, but was on the other side of that score in the second round when she ran into top-seeded Addison Sheil of Hoover, the eventual district champ. Carly Dumermuth also notched a straight-set first-round win, beating Akron North’s Niya Rai 6-4, 6-3, before falling 6-4, 6-4 in the second round to Boardman’s Nina Sinchak, the second seed who went on to finish second to move on to districts. Alaina Amstrong fell to Boardman’s Payton Konnerth in the first round.

In doubles, the duo of Kyra Immel and Kacey Ireland stopped a pair from Lake in the first round in three sets before falling to a pair from Canton McKinley. Shelby Watson and Hannah Bauer made it to the third round, winning a second-round match over Barberton in straight sets after a bye. The pair lost in the next round to Hoover, also in straight sets.

Soccer

Dover’s boys team ran its record to 10-5-1 overall, its winning streak to five matches and its unbeaten streak to seven with victories over New Philadelphia (1-0) and Sandy Valley (8-2). The win over the Quakers upped the Tornadoes Ohio Cardinal Conference record to 3-3-1, pulling them into a tie for fifth place after they started the season 0-3 in league play. 

With wins over West Holmes (2-1) and New Philadelphia (7-0) the girls team improved to 8-6-1 overall, 4-3-1 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, with two victories over the rival Quakers. Siri Blickensderfer and Bridget McCrate scored against West Holmes. Taylor Vaughan scored a pair of goals against New Philadelphia.