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Cougars bring home 1st OVAC volleyball title in 10 years

By Jordan Holland 4 min read

ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- For the first time since 2016, Frontier High School will have to update its Ohio Valley Athletic Conference volleyball championship banner.

Saturday at the ECO Center, the second-seeded Cougars knocked off top-seeded Trinity Christian in four sets (25-21, 15-25, 25-20, 25-20) to claim the OVAC 1A title.

"This is huge," said first-year Frontier head coach Laken Shook. "All year long we've been talking to the girls about how awesome it would be to leave their mark and put their year up on a banner. They've definitely put in the work. It's huge for Frontier to bring some hardware back to our trophy case."

Frontier swept Paden City in the 2016 OVAC finals. Since then, the Cougars have been OVAC runners-up once (2019) and have lost in the semis three times (2018, 2020 and 2022).

Shook, who previously coached at Waterford, realized soon after taking the Frontier job that this year's team had potential.

"They have a lot of talent," Shook said of her players. "Really, we just had to get them to have that winning mentality, and they're getting that. I'm so proud of all the girls for believing in our program and trusting me to lead them."

Trinity Christian (15-6-1) presented challenges for Frontier with its size, specifically Addy Wingrove and Marlo Flecker, who finished with 16 and 13 kills, respectively.

"They had a couple nice hitters, and we do too," Shook said. "We needed to make sure we were keeping the ball in play, making the ball better with every touch we had. The girls did a nice job of knowing when to place the ball and when to swing. Our serving was really consistent, which was a huge help."

Frontier earned a 1-0 advantage but had a bit of a letdown in the second set to allow the Warriors to tie it up. The Cougars were making some uncharacteristic mistakes that needed to be cleaned up.

"We had so many errors in the second set," Shook explained. "When you're this far along in the season and you're playing good teams, you can't give them easy points. Before the season I asked them what their goals were, and almost every one of them wrote down 'OVAC championship.' I told them, 'You're so close to it. You're here. Don't let it slip out of your fingers.' I think that hit close to home. They put their game hats back on and went out and played Cougar volleyball."

Trinity led 12-8 in the third set when a kill by Frontier's Addison Edgar ended a long rally and seemed to give the Cougars a surge. Tied at 15-all, Mikayla Bennett's ace put Frontier up for good.

The Cougars never trailed in the fourth set. Knotted up at 13-13, Frontier went on a 6-2 run to take a 19-15 lead and prompt a Warriors timeout. The Warriors got within 22-20, but Willow Smitley's block set up match point before an attack error by Trinity sealed the victory for the Cougars.

Smitley and Bethanie Thompson led Frontier's attack with 14 kills apiece, while Edgar also reached double figures with 10. Thompson also had a team-high 27 digs, followed by Gracelyn Boone with 24, Smitley and Kenzie Livingston with 22 each, Edgar with 18 and Bennett with 17. Bennett tallied 18 assists while Smitley recorded 16. Smitley and Allie Slonaker had three blocks apiece while Edgar served three aces.

The Cougars improved to 16-6 and will begin tournament play at 6 p.m. Thursday against Steubenville Catholic Central.

"We aren't done," Shook said. "We have sectionals Thursday, and we'd love to add our year on that banner as well. Hopefully we've got a couple more games in us."

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.

At ECO Center

OVAC 1A Finals

Frontier d. Trinity Christian 25-21, 15-25, 25-20, 25-20

Frontier (16-6) stats: Willow Smitley 14K, 2 aces, 16 ast, 22D, 3B; Kenzie Livingston 2 aces, 3 ast, 22D; Bethanie Thompson 14K, 1 ace, 1 ast, 27D, 1B; Mikayla Bennett 1K, 1 ace, 18 ast, 17D; Addie Edgar 10K, 3 aces, 18D; Allie Slonaker 2K, 2D, 3B; Gracelyn Boone 1 ace, 1 ast, 24D, 2B; Lexi Hanes 2B, 2B

Next match: Frontier vs. Steubenville Catholic Central, 6 p.m. Thursday (Tournament)

Starting at /week.