The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
PAC volleyball race heating up in its final season
A little less than a month into regular-season play, and the local conference races are as competitive as ever.
Avon (6-0, 6-0) was ranked ninth in the first OHSVCA state poll and sits atop the Southwestern Conference as the only unbeaten team, but there are at least four teams that could make a serious play for the championship — including 2017 co-champion Amherst, Olmsted Falls and Westlake.
Over in the Greater Cleveland Conference, Elyria (6-3, 3-2) is hanging tough as one of four teams at 2-2, while Brunswick and Strongsville are tied for first place at 4-0.
But one of the most intriguing conference races has emerged in the Patriot Athletic Conference in what is the league’s final year before it disbands.
Last season, Fairview won the Stripes Division crown for the first time since 2011 and went a perfect 16-0 in PAC play, and Buckeye took the Stars Division for the second time in three years.
Three weeks into the 2018 season and it’s anyone’s championship to win.
The race is a little less tight in the Stars with only a few teams chasing firstplace Keystone (5-2, 4-1) — Wellington, Firelands and Brookside.
For Keystone, first-year coach Kristin Walsh has the Wildcats on the path to their first conference championship since 2013. A title would make it five total for the program, but there are plenty of darkhorses that could emerge.
Brookside, the 2016 champion, has handed Keystone its only PAC loss of the season thus far and has plenty of championship experience with four titles to its name.
The Stripes Division, however, is looking more and more like a fight with each passing week.
Fairview (8-3, 5-0) is in first place and has won 21-straight conference games dating back to last season. But realistically Oberlin, Lutheran West and Columbia have a shot to take down the Warriors.
Both Oberlin and Lutheran West are within a game of Fairview, with the Warriors having already beat Lutheran West once this season.
Lutheran West has seven PAC championships since the conference was established in 2005, including a run from 200508. Columbia won it once in 2009. Oberlin has never won a conference title, making 2018 the Phoenix’s last shot to reign over the PAC.
It will be interesting to watch the last month of the regular season play out as the Warriors know they have a target on their backs with every conference win they rack up. In the final year of the PAC, there are plenty of story lines developing across both divisions that will make for a heated race come October.