(11-13-26) Dalton is a state champion for the first time. The Bulldogs beat Parkway 3-2 (25-21, 13-25, 25-20, 16-25, 15-12) Friday afternoon at Wright State’s Nutter Center in the Division VI final, closing out the fifth set 15-12 to win the first volleyball state title in school history.

Dalton (28-1) ends the season with one loss. Parkway (24-4) ends its season one win short of a third state title.

D VI State Champion Dalton Bulldogs

How the fifth set decided it

The match swung back and forth all afternoon. Dalton took the first set 25-21, jumping out 3-0 and leading 13-7 before Parkway tied it 15-15; the Bulldogs answered with three straight to lead 18-15 and closed it out. Parkway answered with a rout in the second, 25-13, leading 8-3, 14-7 and 20-9 and never letting Dalton find its footing.

Dalton took the third 25-20 in the match’s biggest swing. Parkway led 18-17, and Dalton trailed 19-18 before reeling off three straight to lead 21-19 and closing on a 7-1 run. Parkway answered again in the fourth, 25-16 — Dalton led 8-4 and 11-9, but the Panthers rallied to lead 16-12 and 19-15 and forced the decider.

The fifth set had four ties and five lead changes. Parkway led 5-4 before Dalton went ahead 7-5 and then 10-5 on a 5-0 run. The Bulldogs led 12-9, 13-10 and 14-12 before closing it 15-12.

The numbers

Dalton’s balance showed up early: the Bulldogs had 14 kills in the first set, four each by Sara Geibel, Jaedyn Yoder and Mei Simmons, with setter Cali Steiner handing out 13 assists in the set alone. Geibel had 23 kills on .429 hitting in Thursday’s semifinal sweep of Garaway.

Dalton hit just .110 as a team with 64 kills and 127 digs — and still won. Geibel carried the Bulldogs with 24 kills and 29 digs for 24 points, Yoder added 17 kills and 20 points, Simmons had 12 kills on .212 hitting with 16 digs, Payton Lehman had 9 kills and 25 digs, and Steiner handed out 57 assists with 19 digs. Hannah Wenger dug up 24 balls.

Parkway hit .151 with 54 kills and 107 digs, and out-blocked Dalton 16 team blocks to 1. Cami Langenkamp led the Panthers with 15 kills on .375 hitting and 20 points, Naomi Knapke had 12 kills and 16.5 points, Izzy Knapke had 11 kills and 15 points, and Savada Triplett had 10 kills and 22 digs. KJae Stover had 6 kills and 18 assists, Madelyn Stover handed out 22 assists with three aces, and sophomore libero Hadley Stover dug up 35 balls.

The road here

Dalton reached its first state final by sweeping Sugarcreek Garaway 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-17) on Thursday, and entered the final having swept 10 of its last 11 opponents. The Bulldogs’ only loss all season came before the tournament run.
Parkway reached the final by outlasting MAC rival St. Henry 3-2 (25-21, 16-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10) in Thursday’s semifinal at Wittenberg, with Savada Triplett and Naomi Knapke recording 13 kills each and sophomore libero Hadley Stover digging up 43 balls. It was Parkway’s fourth trip to the state final and its first since the back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997.

The final started 35 minutes late because the Division I championship before it ran long.

Sources: Times-Reporter live blog; OHSAA official box scores; Mix 101.3 WRKD; OHSAA state tournament pairings.

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