(11-13-26) Parkway is playing for a state championship today. The Panthers outlasted MAC rival St. Henry in five sets Thursday night at Wittenberg University — 25-21, 16-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10 — in the Division VI state semifinal, and now face Dalton in the final at 2 p.m. at Wright State’s Nutter Center.

Division VI 

Dalton (27-1) def. Sugarcreek Garaway (23-5), 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-17)   STATS

Parkway (24-3) def. St. Henry (23-5), 3-2 (25-21, 16-25, 23-25, 25-23, 15-10)  STATS

State Championship: Friday, 2 p.m. at Nutter Center, Wright State University

Parkway (24-3) is back in the state final for the first time since its back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997. St. Henry (23-4) ends its season at 23-5, a Final Four trip short of the title again.

How the fifth set decided it

The match swung twice. Parkway took the first set 25-21 as St. Henry served poorly and piled up attack errors. St. Henry answered with a roar in the second, jumping out to a 16-6 lead and winning 25-16, then took the third 25-23 — Parkway had rallied from 16-12 down to lead 18-17, but the set was tied at 20, 21 and 23 before Kylie Bollenbacher’s kill gave St. Henry set point.

Parkway flipped the script in the fourth, jumping out 17-9. St. Henry clawed all the way back to tie it 23-23, but couldn’t get the last two points, and Parkway took it 25-23 to force a fifth.

The decider had seven ties and three lead changes. Parkway took the lead for good at 8-7, stretched it to 9-7 and 13-9, and closed it 15-10.

The numbers

Parkway’s balance won it. Savada Triplett and senior Naomi Knapke had 13 kills each — Knapke hitting .227 — and KJae Stover had 10 kills and 21 assists. Madelyn Stover ran the offense with 28 assists. And sophomore libero Hadley Stover, a first-team All-Ohio selection, was everywhere on defense: 43 digs for the match, 38 of them through three sets by her coach’s count.

Parkway coach Jordan Henkle

“We kept capitalizing on their service and hitting mistakes in set one. We’ve got a group of fighters and they’ve done this all year. We lost three MAC games on the road against the three best teams in the MAC. We’re battle tested, and you saw that tonight.”


St. Henry actually outhit Parkway in the box score — 60 kills to 57 — but couldn’t finish. Karlee Baumer and Kylie Bollenbacher had 16 kills each, junior setter Addy Homan handed out 52 assists, and libero Paige Bergman had 25 digs. Bollenbacher added 23 digs of her own.

St. Henry coach Tricia Rosenbeck

“We fought hard from beginning to end,We just came up a little bit short. They gave us some balls that we needed to put away and we didn’t. And then they played some incredible defense.”

St. Henry’s frustration continues

For St. Henry, it was the fifth Final Four trip since its last state title in 2011 — and the third semifinal loss in that stretch, after 2015 and 2023. The Redskins were state runners-up in 2021 and again in 2025, and are still chasing an eighth state title in program history, six of them under DeDe Stoner.

Rosenbeck’s team got to Springfield with impressive wins over Lima Perry, Marion Local, Crestview, Defiance Tinora and previously unbeaten Patrick Henry. It finishes 23-5 and returns 80 percent of its roster next season, with only three seniors.

Rosenbeck said-

“Our seniors found a way to lead this team after not having a role on last year’s team. And for them to come in and learn to lead the way they did, I’ll never forget it.”

Dalton waits in the final

Dalton (27-1) swept Sugarcreek Garaway 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-17) in the first semifinal Thursday, and the Bulldogs are playing for a state championship for the first time in program history.

Senior outside hitter Sara Geibel was the story: 23 kills on .429 hitting, with 13 digs. Jaedyn Yoder added 11 kills, and setter Cali Steiner had 47 assists. Dalton hit .305 as a team.

Garaway (23-5) saw its 10-game winning streak end. The Pirates lost the first two sets by a combined five points, and Dalton closed the third on a 6-2 run. Audrey Miller, a first-team All-Ohio selection, led Garaway with 12 kills.

The final

Parkway (24-3) vs. Dalton (27-1), Division VI state championship, Friday, 2 p.m., Nutter Center, Wright State University. Parkway is playing for its third state title in volleyball. Dalton is playing for its first, in its first appearance in the title round. The match streams live on the NFHS Network.

One more local note: St. Henry’s season isn’t over on every field. The Redskins’ football team hosts Versailles tonight at 7 p.m. in the Division VI regional semifinal — a MAC rematch St. Henry won 34-21 in September.

Sources: OHSAA box scores (Parkway vs. St. Henry; Dalton vs. Garaway); Press Pros Magazine; OHSAA state tournament pairings.

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