TCC volleyball advances to Sweet 16; Price qualifies for state meet

With a 20-5 record and a lot of momentum, Tuscarawas Central Catholic’s volleyball team headed to regionals this weekend, owners of a Div. VII district championship trophy.

TCC was set to meet Southeast District 1 champion Reedsville Eastern on Oct. 30 in a Zanesville Regional Semifinal. The winner will play Nov. 1 against either Portsmouth Notre Dame or Plain City Shekinah Christian with a berth in the state final four on the line. Shekinah Christian is ranked 10th in the final state coaches poll. The Saints at No. 17.

After a sluggish start in the district final, No. 2 seed TCC rebound to defeat top-seeded Conotton Valley, ranked No. 11 in the state, 14-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-17. The Saints were led by senior Khloe Trivoli’s 29 kills, 21 digs and two blocks.

Junior Ryann Wallace led with four aces. Senior Nora Jackson had 39 digs and three aces. Junior Jessica Selinsky added 21 digs and had a team-high 26 assists.

To get to the district final, the Saints first had to get past fourth-seeded Strasburg, which fell in four sets on Oct. 20, 25-27, 25-18, 25-17, 25-10. Trivoli paced the Saints in that one with 27 kills, 20 digs and two blocks. Selinsky had 33 assists, 19 digs and four aces.

Central Catholic took a six-match win streak into the regional.

Cross country

Central Catholic senior Elena Price will finish her career at the state meet in Obetz this weekend. Price finished in 12th place last weekend in the Division IV girls race at the Pickerington Regional. That got her one of 12 state berths for runners not on qualifying teams. Price’s time of 20:01.08 was about 1:15 behind regional champ Ida Estadt of Shenandoah. Price was sixth among individual qualifiers.

For the boys, Alex Mercer finished 75th. The sophomore’s time of 18:29 was about a minute shy of what he would have needed to make it to the state meet.