Mansfield Christian wins first sectional since 2005, Buckettes sweep county rival Bucyrus

NEW WASHINGTON - The two Division VI sectional championships hosted by Buckeye Central on Wednesday evening couldn't have been more different.

The top-seed Buckettes made quick work of No. 8 Bucyrus with a 25-6, 25-9, 25-19 sweep in a match that took just over an hour. Immediately after, No. 4 Mansfield Christian and No. 5 Lucas met for the third time having split in the regular season and battled for two hours in a five-set thriller eventually won by the Flames (11-25, 25-19, 25-14, 27-29, 15-5).

For Buckeye Central, it was business as usual in the sectional tournament, advancing to districts for the umpteenth time. But for Mansfield Christian, it was a win the program had been waiting nearly two decades for.

"This is our first since 2005," coach Barbara McLeary said. "We lost the first two sets to Wynford and won the next three.

VOTE! Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum Athlete of the Week (Oct. 14)

"The girls have worked so hard this year, and our junior high is doing well. It just helps our program that they know what they can do if they work hard."

Grinding out a five-set win for just the second time this season was the epitome of hard work. Especially considering how the opening set went.

"After that first set, it was like — oh my goodness — are we gonna just fall apart?" McLeary said. "But we have this little saying about turning on the light , who's going to turn the light on out here and make everything work? They did that tonight."

And when it came down to the decisive fifth set, she kept it simple in the huddle.

"We just told them we can't get down," McLeary said. "Fifth sets are traumatizing at times, they really are. Against New London we lost the first two sets then came back and won the next three. We haven't had a whole lot of them, a lot of fours, but this is just great. I'm so happy for the girls."

CRAWFORD COUNTY TOURNAMENT DRAW: Volleyball teams learn their postseason schedules

Missy McDougal was quite happy with her Buckettes, too. Well, mostly.

"I was a little worried in warmups," she admitted. "I thought we were pretty flat and I challenged them to come out, play like we were capable of, and try to hold them under 10 points. They did that in the first two sets, and that's not easy to do.

"We kind of let up in that third set and got a little sloppy, but that's OK, we came out and won another sectional championship."

RICHLAND COUNTY TOURNAMENT DRAW: Shelby Whippets earn No. 1 overall seed in Division IV district tournament

Bucyrus was able to take advantage of that sloppiness to give Buckeye Central a battle in the third set, even taking the lead a couple of times early.

"Usually when teams are down and are getting beat like that, you don't hear them cheering," coach Amber Christy said. "You heard the girls on the sideline, they still did their cheers … and that's one thing that we've been shooting for. We just didn't pass the ball the way we should have passed the ball and didn't get into base coverage enough."

It ended the careers of Isabella Stang and Jenna Ashley for the Redmen, but was a valuable learning experience for the rest of the team that returns next season.

"Jenna Ashley hurt her knee, and then Bella Stang — what a surprise she has been this year for us," Christy said. We pulled her aside and told her we're gonna miss her. She has big hands and she's starting to really get to the point that she's playing better.

"And my two freshmen hitters, Tori Stang and Peyton Fackler, have been huge. They hit a lot of balls tonight … and then we had our setter Macie Hubble go in and set quite a bit tonight, she did a great job. When you're standing out there in a sectional tournament against Buckeye Central and you have three freshmen on your court that have never played — that's huge for us."

It was a good learning experience for Buckeye Central's tournament newbies, too.

"I told them to relax, have some fun: This is what we worked all season for," McDougal said. "We got ourselves out of the running for a league championship early … but it's a new season."

zholden@gannett.com | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Mansfield Christian wins first sectional since 2005, Buckettes sweep county rival Bucyrus