By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Since making the changes last spring, the first Southeast District tournament brackets were released on Sunday, with all the new divisional pairings lined up. Sectional and now district tournament play will begin next week and the four Adams County volleyball squads now know where their postseason paths will commence.

Beginning in Division V, the North Adams Lady Devils, holding an 18-2 record at press time, are the #4 seed, which tells you something about how stacked the Division V district is this season. What was once known as the sectional finals is now a district quarterfinal and the Lady Devils will host #21 seeded Portsmouth on October 16 at 7 p.m. A win there propels North Adams to the district semis on October 23 at Waverly High School, where they would battle the winner of #9 seeded Zane Trace and #16 seeded Wellston with a berth in the district title match on October 26 on the line.

Also in Division V are the West Union Lady Dragons (8-9 at press time) and they are the #15 seed and will be on the road on October 16 for a 7 p.m. match up at #10 seeded Westfall. The winner of that match moves to the district semi-finals on October 23 at Waverly, facing the winner of #3 seed Huntington and #22 seed River Valley.

Moving on to Division VI, the Peebles Lady Indians (6-9), are the #11 seed and will be on the road on October 15 to face a familiar foe, fellow Southern Hills Athletic Conference member Fairfield, in a 7 p.m. start. A trip to the district semifinals will go to the winner where they will face #3 seeded Eastern Pike on October 23 on the court at Wellston High School.

Finally in Division VII, the Manchester Lady Greyhounds (6-11) are the #8 seed and will have a home district quarterfinal match, hosting #9 seeded New Boston on October 15 at 7 p.m. If the Lady Hounds pull off that “W”, they will have the unenviable task of a road trip to Southeastern High School in the district semifinals to face #1 seeded Portsmouth Notre Dame. That semi will be played on October 21 at 6 p.m.

All of these new-look volleyball pairings for the Southeast District can be found at https://www.ohsaa.org/Southeast-Sports-Tournaments/Volleyball.