Dover volleyball off to red-hot start in conference action

Dover’s volleyball team could not have started the season much better. Led by the play of seniors Caroline Hanner, Quincy Werntz and Chera Schmidt, the Tornadoes have roared out to a 5-0 start, winning their first two Ohio Cardinal Conference matches in the process.

They were 3-0 in the past week, winning consecutive three-set matches over Madison Comprehensive, West Holmes and Tusky Valley, none of which was close. The Tornadoes only gave up more than 20 points in one of the nine sets.

Against Madison on Aug. 19, Hanner led with 19 kills in a 25-22, 25-14, 25-20 victory. Werntz added 14 digs and 32 assists, while Schmidt had 17 digs. Junior Alli Hupp chipped in 12 kills.

In Dover’s 25-9, 25-14, 25-10 shellacking of West Holmes, Hanner against paced with 10 kills. Wertnz had 25 assists. Senior Hailey Keucher added three blocks.

In a 3-0 win over Tusky Valley on Aug. 23 (25-20, 25-13, 25-19). Hanner led the way with 17 kills, three blocks and 10 digs. Keucher with nine kills. Senior Jenna Molk had a team-best four blocks. Schmidt led with18 dogs and Werntz had 40 assists.

The Tornadoes’ only match scheduled for this week was a Thursday meeting at Wooster, which also won its first two Ohio Cardinal Conference matches. Dover returns to action at Ashland on Sept. 4.

Boys soccer

The Tornadoes got the season off to a wild start, winning 2-of-3 matches that featured a total of 21 goals. Things began with an 11-1 win over Minerva, followed by a 4-0 loss to Ashland, which in turn was followed by a 5-0 win over Louisville. In the opener the Tornadoes actually trailed 1-0 before rattling off 11 unanswered goals, seven before halftime. Against Louisville, the Tornadoes were locked in a scoreless tie at halftime before exploding for five goals in the final 40 minutes for an easier-than-it-started victory. Andrew Allen got off to a hot start with four goals and an assist in three games. Chase Jarrett had three goals, while Carson Conley scored one and assisted on three other goals.

Girls soccer

The Dover girls also started 2-1 but in more traditional fashion. They began things with a 3-1 victory over Minerva on Aug. 15 before falling 2-0 to Ashland on Aug. 21. Dover bounced back with a 4-0 win over Dresden Tri-Valley on Aug. 23. Through three games, Cashlyn Harmon was the team’s leading scorer with two goals and two assists. Miley Patton was tied for tops with six points, four coming via assists. Savannah Blind logged 20 saves in the three games in goal.

Cross country

Dover’s boys squad placed 12th among 25 scoring teams at the GlenOak Invitational on Aug. 24, the season-opening event for most of its teams. Senior Chase Daniel had a great day, clocking a time of 16:41.16 to finish ninth. Elijah Perklaky was next for the Tornadoes. The sophomore cross in 18:57.94 to place 94th, three spots ahead of classmate Hunter Anslow (19:02.25). The race had 207 finishers.

Dover’s girls placed 13th out of 20 teams, many of them power programs from larger schools, at GlenOak. Sophomore Bethany Hutchison was Dover’s top performer. She placed 48th in 22:26.98. Senior Addie Hinman was next, coming in 62nd in 23:04.52. A total of 154 runners finished the race.