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Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2007
Power Play
The Girls
Greater Catholic League has a dominating presence in Ohio high
school volleyball
By Ed Letsinger
The Ohio
High School Athletic Association officially began their state
volleyball tournament in 1975 and it took just two years for the
Girls Greater Catholic League to make its mark as a volleyball
powerhouse.
Mother of
Mercy won the league’s first big-school title in 1977 which
began a dominate run that has never slowed down.
The numbers
speak for themselves. Mercy won again in 1980, then the rest of
the decade belonged to a Seton program that won four more titles
including three straight from 1984-86.
The
floodgates really opened up in the 1990s with a GGCL school
winning at least one title ever year from ’93-99 with St. Ursula
(6) in Division II and Mount Notre Dame (3) in Division I
leading the way. GGCL schools have continued their winning ways
in the 2000s, with at least one school bringing home a title in
at least one of the four divisions including Mount Notre Dame
last season.
Overall,
the league has won a whopping 29 state titles led by St. Ursula
(9), Seton (6) and Mount Notre Dame (5).
Why the
success? Mount Notre Dame coach Donna Mechley, a former player
for Roger Bacon in the 1980s who is in her 12th year
of coaching, suggests a few theories.
One is that
parochial schools typically start competitive, organized
volleyball competition beginning in the third grade, ultimately
giving players who eventually end up playing in high school a
big head start. Volleyball also tends to be more of a popular,
mainstream sport at all-girl schools.
“Volleyball
for Mount Notre Dame is like football at some of the other
schools,” says Mechley. “Everyone really gets behind the sport
and I think that the school spirit may help create an edge.”
That’s one
of the reasons that it is not untypical for a GGCL match to pack
in over a 1,000 fans at times.
Same-division schools in the GGCL play each other twice during
the regular season, so the stiff competition week in and out
provides a great primer come tournament time.
“Playing in
the GGCL is definitely an advantage,” says Mechley.
GGCL Past Champions
(Division, School, Year)
AAA, MOTHER OF MERCY HIGH SCHOOL, 1977
AAA, MOTHER OF MERCY HIGH SCHOOL, 1980
AAA, MOTHER OF MERCY HIGH SCHOOL, 1982
AAA, SETON HIGH SCHOOL, 1984
AAA, SETON HIGH SCHOOL, 1985
AAA, SETON HIGH SCHOOL, 1986
AAA, SETON HIGH SCHOOL, 1988
II, ST URSULA ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 1993
I, URSULINE ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 1993
II, ST URSULA ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 1994
I, MOUNT NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL, 1995
II, ST URSULA ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 1995
I, CINCINNATI SETON HIGH SCHOOL, 1996
II, CINCINNATI ST URSULA ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 1996
II, CINCINNATI ST URSULA ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 1997
I, CINCINNATI MOUNT NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL, 1998
II, CINCINNATI ST URSULA ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 1998
I, CINCINNATI MOUNT NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL, 1999
I, CINCINNATI MOUNT NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL, 2000
I, CINCINNATI ST URSULA ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 2001
II, ST BERNARD ROGER BACON HIGH SCHOOL, 2001
II, KETTERING ARCHBISHOP ALTER HIGH SCHOOL, 2002
I, CINCINNATI URSULINE ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 2002
I, CINCINNATI ST URSULA ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL, 2003
II, KETTERING ARCHBISHOP ALTER HIGH SCHOOL, 2003
II, ST BERNARD ROGER BACON HIGH SCHOOL, 2004
I, CINCINNATI SETON HIGH SCHOOL, 2005
II, ST BERNARD ROGER BACON HIGH SCHOOL, 2005
I, MOUNT
NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL, 2006
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