“I asked the girls where the volleyball banners were,” Leedy recalled. “They told me Oakwood had never won one.”
The school joined the Southwestern Buckeye League in 1953. According to its website, the league began play in girls volleyball in 1979. Surely, the Jills had at least one SWBL championship. Not so.
“The girls set a goal,” Leedy said, “to win the league title by this season.”
By winning its first 11 league matches, Leedy’s team has done just that. Recent victories at Valley View and Eaton clinched the SWBL’s Southwest Division title.
The climb to the top is the result of hard work at improving basic techniques and the coming of age of a core group of players.
“The first year I coached, pretty much all ball-handling,” says Leedy, who doubles as the Centerville High School boys coach in the spring. “Then in the second year, I only lost two players, so I didn’t have to worry about that as much.”
Most of this year’s players are experienced. Senior Karin Mueller, who was a 2nd team all-district selection a year ago, ranks second on the team in kills and digs. She and most of the team’s seven juniors play club ball.
“It’s important,” says Leedy, a former Xavier University standout. “The school season is only a couple of months long. In club ball, they play a lot more games and the play is generally at a higher level.”
Junior outside hitter Meaghan Malloy leads the team in kills. Classmate Heather Saunier is tops in assists, digs and service aces.
“She runs our team,” says the coach.
The Jills also get major contributions from juniors Emily Kugel and Kaila Ryan.
“They (the junior class) have been winning at every level since seventh grade,” says Leedy.
Senior Brooke Trauthwein guards the middle of the net and leads the team in blocks. Another senior, Riki Sagraves, plays the libero position. A back-row defensive specialist, Sagraves is among the team leaders with over 140 digs.
The Jills face a tough postseason in the difficult Division II Springboro Sectional. Alter and Chaminade Julienne join Oakwood among the seeded teams. CJ has an early-season victory over the Jills.
“We didn’t play them as well as I wanted to,” Leedy says. “We’ve come together. (The girls) know where their teammates are going to be on the court. I know they have improved, but so have we. We know those two (CJ and Alter) are teams we need to look out for.”
But as far as the regular season is concerned, the girls have reached a goal that they set years ago.
Malloy aptly summed up their feelings: “We’re going to get the banner.”
It soon will hang proudly among the others in the Oakwood gym.
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