Eight area teams earn top seeds as Southeast District releases tournament draws

SOSA Staff Report

The area’s volleyball and soccer programs learned of their first-round postseason fates Sunday afternoon as the Southeast Ohio District Athletic Board revealed tournament seeds.

Here’s a brief look at where each area team will begin its postseason run.

VOLLEYBALL

DIVISION II

The area’s highest ranked seed in Division II is Waverly at No. 3. The Tigers (16-3) will host No. 6 Jackson (10-8) in a sectional semifinal on Oct. 16.

Elsewhere, No. 4 Chillicothe (14-8) will host No. 5 Washington (11-9) in a sectional semifinal the same evening. That matchup is the pair’s fourth this year with the last two meetings lasting five sets. The Cavs have won all three meetings so far.

No. 5 Unioto (13-6) will make a long trek to No. 4 Marietta for a sectional semifinal on Oct. 16, No. 6 Miami Trace (9-8) travels to No. 3 Circleville, and No. 7 McClain (7-14) goes to No. 2 Fairfield Union.

Hillsboro (4-18), a No. 8 seed, will host No. 9 Logan Elm in a sectional quarterfinal on Oct. 14.

Division II’s top seeds are Vinton County and Sheridan.

DIVISION III

In Division III, Westfall (16-2), Adena (13-7) and Wheelersburg (19-0) all earned No. 1 seeds.

The Mustangs await the winner of Federal Hocking and Wellston on Oct. 19, the Warriors do the same with No. 8 Valley (5-14) and No. 9 Piketon (2-17), who play in a sectional quarterfinal on Oct. 15, and the Pirates will face either Coal Grove or Portsmouth on Oct. 19 — which is when every sectional semifinal contest will take place.

Huntington (13-6) is a No. 2 seed and will face either Lynchburg-Clay or West Union, Zane Trace (11-8) is a No. 3 and will host Eastern Meigs, Minford (10-10) is a No. 4 and will host Chesapeake, and Northwest is also a No. 4 and will host Fairfield.

“We have been improving as the season has progressed,” Northwest coach Elizabeth Lewis said. “As we focus on limiting errors and playing more aggressive offensively, we believe we will be very competitive going into the tournament.”

Also seeded in Division III is No. 11 West (1-17) and No. 7 Southeastern (9-10). Both will play in sectional quarterfinals on Oct. 15 as the Senators travel to No. 6 Eastern Brown and the Panthers host No. 10 Crooksville.

DIVISION IV

Per usual, Notre Dame (17-3) is a No. 1 seed in Division IV, joining top-seeded South Webster (14-5) on the opposite side of the bracket.

The Titans will play in a sectional semifinal on Oct. 17 against either No. 8 Paint Valley (7-12) or No. 9 Whiteoak, who play in a sectional quarterfinal on Oct. 14. The Jeeps will face No. 8 Green (5-10) or No. 9 Belpre on the same night.

Western (13-6) is a No. 2 seed and will await the winner of No. 7 Eastern (5-14) and no. 8 East (1-13) on Oct. 17. The Eagles and Tartans also play Oct. 14.

Clay (11-8) is a No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 Manchester, New Boston (11-8) is a No. 6 seed and will travel to No. 3 Peebles, and Symmes Valley (6-12) is a No. 7 seed and will host No. 10 Ironton St. Joseph on Oct. 14.

NOTE: For a full look at the Southeast District volleyball brackets, click here.

BOYS SOCCER

DIVISION I

The area’s lone team in Division I, Chillicothe (10-2-2), earned a No. 25 seed in the Central District and will host No. 37 Whitehall-Yearling in a sectional semifinal on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.

A win for the Cavaliers would pit them against No. 15 Groveport-Madison on Oct. 17 with a sectional title on the line.

DIVISION II

In Division II, the area’s highest-seeded team is No. 1 Miami Trace (10-4). The Panthers, after a bye, will take on No. 8 Washington (0-13-1) or No. 9 New Lexington in a sectional semifinal on Oct. 17.

No. 4 Jackson (10-4) will host No. 5 Unioto (10-5) on Oct. 17 in a sectional semifinal, No. 2 McClain (7-7) hosts No. 7 Sheridan the same night, and No. 5 Hillsboro (4-10-1) will travel to No. 4 Circleville.

On Oct. 14, both No. 8 Waverly (3-10-1) and No. 10 West (1-13) will play in sectional quarterfinals. The Tigers host No. 9 Chesapeake and the Senators travel to No. 7 Gallia Academy.

DIVISION III

Wheelersburg (13-1) is a top seed in Division III while South Webster (9-3-1) has earned a No. 2 seed, Minford (11-3-1) is a No. 3 seed and Clay (10-4-1) is a No. 4 seed.

All four of those programs will have a bye before playing on Oct. 16.

That day, the Pirates will take on No. 8 Zane Trace (6-5-2) or No. 9 Fairland, the Jeeps will host No. 7 Rock Hill or No. 10 Belpre, the Falcons will play No. 6 New Boston (7-6) or No. 11 Southeastern (2-8-1), and the Panthers will await the winner of No. 5 Valley (6-5-3) or No. 12 Westfall (0-12-1).

Also in Division III, No. 11 Piketon (1-4-1) will travel to No. 6 Eastern Brown on Oct. 12, and No. 8 Northwest (4-9-1) will host No. 8 West Union the same night.

NOTE: For a full look at the Southeast District boys soccer brackets, click here.

GIRLS SOCCER

DIVISION II

On the girls soccer side, Chillicothe (11-2) is a No. 1 seed in Division II and will host No. 8 Washington (0-13) on Oct. 15 in a sectional semifinal.

“It’s nice to be recognized by the other coaches for the play of the girls this year,” Chillicothe coach Tyler Wickham said. “I’m sure the girls will be excited. However, we still have three games on the schedule that we must play before we can worry about the tournaments.”

No. 4 McClain (6-6-2) will host No. 5 Hillsboro (4-7-2), and No. 6 Jackson (6-5-2) will travel to No. 3 Waverly (11-3) with a trip to a sectional final on the line.

“Our focus right now is our match on Tuesday against Northwest for the SOC championship, and then finishing out our regular season against McClain,” Waverly coach Chris Murphy said. “As far as tournaments go, we will do what we always do and focus on one match at a time.”

On the opposite side of the bracket, Unioto (7-6-1) is a No. 2 seed and will host No. 7 Sheridan, Miami Trace (8-6) is a No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Circleville, and Wheelersburg (11-2-1), who moved to Division II this season, is a No. 4 seed and will welcome in No. 5 Athens.

DIVISION III

Minford (7-7) is the highest ranked team in SOSA’s coverage are in the Division III bracket, coming in at No 3. The Falcons will host South Point in sectional semifinal on Oct. 14.

Following close behind is No. 4 Westfall (10-3), which will face No. 5 Peebles in a sectional semifinal. Not too far from the Mustangs is No. 6 Zane Trace (5-8-1), which will travel to No. 3 Eastern Brown.

No. 10 Piketon (1-11) will travel to No. 7 Northwest (4-8-2) on Oct. 12 for a sectional quarterfinal matchup, No. 9 West (0-14) heads to Chesapeake the same day, and No. 7 Southeastern (4-8-1) hosts No. 10 New Lexington.

The top seeds in Division III are Alexander and state-ranked North Adams.

NOTE: For a full look at the Southeast District girls soccer brackets, click here.