TROY — Shelby County Athletic League teams again dominated Division IV district finals on Saturday at Troy High School’s Trojan Activities Center.

Fort Loramie won its 16th consecutive district title, Russia beat Fairlawn 3-2 to earn its seventh consecutive district title and Jackson Center won its third straight district championship.

It’s the 11th time since 2009 at least three SCAL teams have won district championships in a season.

“We’re all raised the same, play ball since we can, whenever we can,” Russia senior middle hitter Roni Poling said. “It’s so fun to play the people around us, even if we have to drive an hour to meet them when they’re 20 minutes away.”

Such will be the case when the three SCAL squads and New Bremen travel to Northmont High School’s Thunderdome for regional semifinals on Thursday.

The Redskins (24-2), which were the No. 1 ranked team in D-IV in the final state coaches association poll, will face Jackson Center (21-5) in a regional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. while Russia (16-10) will face New Bremen (21-4) in a semifinal at 6.

The winners of the semifinals will play in a regional final at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Northmont.

Fort Loramie, which beat Miami Valley Christian Academy 25-12, 25-3, 25-5 on Saturday, is hoping to break through this season and earn its first regional title since 2019.

The Redskins have lost in regional matches each year since, including 3-0 to eventual state champion New Bremen last year.

“We just have to play our best,” Fort Loramie senior outside hitter Summer Hoying, who was recently named SCAL player of the year, said. “I feel like sometimes we kind of crumble in regionals. But this year I think is going to be different. Our practices have been a lot tougher, we’ve been doing more things in the gym, so I think we’ll be prepared this year.”

Fort Loramie beat Jackson Center 3-0 in both SCAL matchups in regular season. But the Tigers played close; they scored at least 18 points in five of six sets.

“Jackson Center is one of the top programs in our area, they’re well-coached, they’re going to come out with nothing to lose and just go after it,” Fort Loramie coach John Rodgers said. “That’s Kim (Metz’s) style. We’re going to have to be ready for it. We’re going to have be ready to play our game at our speed and be ready to battle all the way through.”

If the Redskins can beat Jackson Center for a third time, they may have to beat New Bremen in a regional final. The Cardinals have won three state titles since 2017. Fort Loramie beat New Bremen for the first time in three years 3-1 on the road on Sept. 23.

Fort Loramie has seven seniors, and Rodgers said he thinks the veteran group is ready to earn a state berth.

“They’re consistent, and consistency is the biggest thing for any volleyball team, any volleyball program,” Rodgers said. “It’s about being able to perform at your best when it counts. That’s what we’ve really stressed this entire season, trying to not give up runs, trying to stay on top of the game. Bouncing back from one bad play and putting together a good pass on the next one.

“Those little things that build consistency are what it’s going to take to win two more to get to the final four.”

Jackson Center beat Cincinnati Christian 25-12, 25-15, 25-14 on Saturday. The Tigers have won five straight since a late-season 3-2 loss on the road at Versailles and will try to keep the winning streak alive on Thursday against Fort Loramie.

“I think that gave us some fire to win those tight matches,” Jackson Center junior outside hitter McKinley Reichert, a first team all-SCAL selection, said of the Versailles loss. “It gave us something to focus on to get better at and work together more.”

Reichert said the squad has focused on working together this season, including on defense and passing. She said that will be a key on Thursday.

“They’re good again, as always, and that’s okay,” Reichert said of Fort Loramie. “We’re ready. …I think blocking and defense will be key, their setter and where she’s putting the ball. …We definitely battle with them, and I think our blocking is very important. They have good hitters, and if our blocks slow down, that could hurt us.”

Jackson Center coach Kim Metz said the squad’s hard work ethic has earned it a spot back in regionals.

“They’re a well-rounded group of kids, and I’m super happy for them,” Metz said. “… At this point in the season, you just have to make sure you’re working on picking up your weaknesses, emphasizing your strengths, be able to adapt and adjust and a moment’s notice, and constantly reinvent yourself as the match continues, because that’s what your opponent is doing.

“Fort Loramie is a fantastic ball club and they’re having an excellent season this year. …Underdog or favored, I think you have butterflies in your gut throughout the entire match (at this stage).”

The Raiders and Fairlawn traded runs in Saturday’s third district final. Russia started with a big run in the fifth set and pulled away to win 15-10 to claim the match.

“A big thing we’ve focused on all year is focusing on Russia volleyball culture,” Russia coach Aaron Watkins said. “What is our culture, how do we want to present ourselves, how do we want to respond to certain situations. That was our talk after set four. Was it ideal? No it wasn’t. But we still have the match we can win.

“Russia volleyball goes out here, they step up, they respond, and they win that fifth set. That is what I’m so proud of my girls for doing.

“… It’s really a testament to our seniors. We have a lot of girls here who it’s their first time playing in a district final. It’s a big moment for three or four freshmen and a couple sophomores. Our three seniors who played tonight, and Samantha Bell on the bench, I can’t say enough about them. Leading the girls on the court, off the court and in everything we do. They’ve just been fantastic.”

Russia controlled the first set against Fairlawn on Saturday and won 25-14. The Jets scored the first four points in the second and led by as many as six before the Raiders slowly fought back and tied it 17-17.

The teams traded points to a 21-21 score. Poling made a hard kill by spiking the ball nearly straight down over the net to give Russia its first lead of the set and cause Fairlawn to take a timeout. The Jets battled back and tied it three times, but Russia scored two straight to earn a 27-25 win, with Carley Scott delivering the match-winning kill.

Fairlawn jumped out to a big early lead in the third set and fought off another Russia rally try to win 25-23, then dominated the fourth to win 25-14.

“Our girls came back hungry, wanting to win,” Fairlawn coach Ashley Miller said. “They never gave up the entire time. I’m very proud of them. Not the way we wanted to go out, but we fought hard the entire game. Down 0-2, that’s something that’s hard to come back from.”

It was all Russia in the fifth. The Raiders scored the first three points, took a 5-1 lead and pushed their lead to seven before Fairlawn scored three straight late to close the final gap.

Poling said the team was able to fight through nervous periods to earn the win.

“We needed everyone on,” Poling said. “We needed our freshman, our sophomores, on. They haven’t been here much, but they showed up for us, and that’s what we needed.”

Russia lost 3-0 to New Bremen on its home court on Aug. 22 and will try for a better result against the Cardinals this time.

“We’re going to have to play a pretty darn good game, but we’re going to come up with a game plan, give our girls an opportunity and go to battle,” Watkins said. “When you go to regionals, you’ve got to have a little luck. Diana (Kramer) has a fantastic squad, super athletic.

Fairlawn finishes 15-11 overall. The Jets will lose three seniors to graduation, including outside hitter Addison Swearingen, who was a first team all-SCAL selection. She had 309 kills to her credit this season entering Saturday’s match.

The Jets will also lose Ellie Henman and Julia Huelskamp to graduation.

Miller said Swearingen played in every set all four years she was in high school. She will graduate with over 900 career kills to her credit.

Swearingnen credited her teammates, including Henman, for helping the Jets advance to a district final.

“I played with Ellie since freshman year, and she is definitely improved,” Swearingen said. “She got hurt last year, but she has definitely come back a lot stronger. Aubree Jutte took on a big role this year. We had two setters last year, and this year we had just her, and she took on that role and did a pretty good job, hit her 1,000th assist. Julia (Huelskamp), our libero, has really come through and improved a lot. Everybody else, everybody held their own and helped us out a lot.”

Anna loses 3-0 to Summit Country Day

The Rockets lost 25-18, 25-10, 25-20 to Summit Country Day in a Div. III district final at Fairfield High School.

Anna finishes 17-9 overall. The squad will lose two seniors to graduation: Abbey George and Brenna Cobb. Cobb, a setter, was a first team all-SCAL selection.

Versailles wins 11th straight district title

Versailles beat Cincinnati Madeira 25-13, 25-16, 25-23 on Saturday in Fairfield to win its 11th consecutive district title.

The Tigers will face Summit Country Day in a Div. III regional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Trent Arena in Kettering.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.