UNIONTOWN—Independence defeated previously undefeated Dalton, 3-0, to clinch its first regional championship since 2021.
The Blue Devils beat the Bulldogs, 25-22, 25-13, 20-25, 25-14, to earn a Final Four berth for the first time since their five seniors were freshmen.
“Progression was the goal,” said Independence coach Tony Messina. “We went to the Toledo Super 20 (in the preseason) and we started talking about getting better every day to get back to state because the last two years we had a major roadblock in front of us in Lake Catholic.”
Dalton entered the match 26-0 and had won 75 of 86 sets played.
“We played a challenging schedule, but I thought the path was a little more doable this year,” Messina said. “We wanted to be playing our best at this time, and the last few matches, we’ve played really well. The goal was to get here today and to move on and they did it.”
Dalton gave the Blue Devils all they could handle in the first set.
Independence’s block was in the right place at the right time, but Dalton’s hitters took advantage of an overaggressive defense and matched the Blue Devils nearly point for point.
A service error ended the first set and then Messina made an adjustment in the huddle prior to the start of the second set.
“Coach wasn’t real happy about how strong the hands were (on the block) in set one,” he said. “The thing we might have changed in the huddle was to have stronger hands.”
The Blue Devils rode their block and scrappy defense to a 7-1 lead in the second set and easily cruised to a two-set lead.
Dalton came out hot in the third set but Independence rallied back from a four-point deficit but couldn’t maintain the lead as the Bulldogs rallied to force a fourth set.
The Blue Devils regrouped and dominated the fourth and final set.
With the win, Independence improved to 25-3 and will play Coldwater in the state semifinals on Friday at Vandalia Butler High School. Tip is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
