Fort Loramie senior outside hitter Avery Brandewie spikes as New Bremen’s Lydia Bushman defends during a nonconference match on Sept. 21 in Fort Loramie. The Redskins were voted the No. 1 seed in the Division VII Southwest northern district.
Luke Gronneberg | Sidney Daily News
The first brackets in the era of expanded postseason play were determined on Sunday when tournament draw meetings were held across the state.
With the expanded postseason play, sectional rounds are no more, and area teams generally will have to win two games to advance to district finals, as opposed to three previously.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association board of directors voted earlier this year to expand postseason play for all team sports. Volleyball has been expanded from four to seven divisions and boys and girls soccer have been expanded from three to five.
Tournament seeds are determined by voting of head coaches of teams in a district. Tournament draw meetings were held Sunday. Seed voting began online early last week and concluded on Saturday. Results were tallied in preparation for Sunday’s meetings, during which teams placed themselves on their sectionals’ brackets by seed order.
Complete brackets for all sports can be found at OHSAA.org/SWDAB.
• Volleyball
Division VII
The expanded divisional setup has resulted in more host sties being used, and many area teams will be playing at sites they’ve not previously played at.
Fort Loramie (19-1) was voted the No. 1 seed in the Division VII northern Southwest district. The Redskins will open tournament play on Oct. 19 against Xenia Legacy Christian and will face the winner of No. 13 Springfield Emmanuel Christian and No. 14 Springfield Catholic Central in a district semifinal on Oct. 23. Both matches will be at Kettering Fairmont’s Trent Arena.
Jackson Center (14-7) was voted the No. 3 seed and will face No. 15 Riverside (2-17) on Oct. 19 at Fairmont. If victorious, the squad will face the winner of No. 9 South Charleston Southeastern and No. 11 Botkins on Oct. 23 in Kettering in a district semifinal. Botkins (8-13) will face Southeastern on Oct. 19 in a quarterfinal.
Russia (10-11) was voted the No. 6 seed and will face No. 4 Cedarville in a district quarterfinal on Oct. 19. The winner will advance to face No. 12 Troy Christian on Oct. 23. Both matches will be held at Trotwood-Madison.
Lehman Catholic (10-10) was voted the No. 6 seed and Fairlawn (8-13) was voted No. 10. The teams will face each other in a district quarterfinal on Oct. 19 at Newton, and the winner will face the winner of No. 2 Covington vs. No. 16 Bradford in a semifinal on Oct. 24.
D-VII district finals will take place on Oct. 26 at Fairborn High School, which opened at a new location this fall. The new school features an arena with a seating capacity of about 2,500.
Division VI
Anna (15-6) was voted the No. 2 seed in the D-VI northern district and will face No. 12 Triad in a district quarterfinal on Oct. 19. If victorious, the squad will face the winner of No. 6 Ansonia vs. No. 10 National Trail in a semifinal on Oct. 23. Both matches will be held at Arcanum High School.
Houston (3-17) was voted the No. 9 seed and will open postseason play against No. 5 Franklin-Monroe on Oct. 19 at Newton. If victorious, the squad will advance to a district semifinal on Oct. 24 at Newton, likely against No. 4 Tri-Village.
D-VI district finals will be held Oct. 26 at Vandalia-Butler High School’s Student Activity Center.
Division III
Sidney (11-9) was voted the No. 6 seed in the D-III northern district and will face No. 13 Trotwood-Madison in a district quarterfinal on Oct. 19 at Fairborn High School. If victorious, the squad will advance to a semifinal on Oct. 22 in Fairborn against the winner of No. 3 Vandalia-Butler vs. No. 7 Franklin.
• Girls soccer
The higher seed will host in the first two rounds, and neutral sites will be used in district finals.
Division III
Sidney (10-5-1) was voted the No. 4 seed in the Division III northern Southwest district and will host No. 15 West Carrollton in a district quarterfinal on Oct. 17. If victorious, the Yellow Jackets will advance to a semifinal, likely against No. 2 Carroll.
Division V
Due to the large number of Div. V teams in the Southwest district, three rounds of tournament play will be used.
Anna (9-2-2) was voted the No. 3 seed in the northern D-V district and took a first-round bye; the squad will host the winner of No. 10 Tri-County North and No. 13 National Trail on Oct. 17 in a district quarterfinal. If victorious, the Rockets will advance to a semifinal on Oct. 21, likely against No. 2 Jamestown Greeneview.
Botkins (8-6-1) was voted the No. 4 seed and will host No. 14 South Charleston Southeastern on Oct. 14. If victorious, the Trojans will host No. 12 Springfield Catholic Central on Oct. 17 in a district quarterfinal. If victorious, the squad will host a semifinal on Oct. 21 against either Preble Shawnee, Lehman Catholic or Dayton Christian.
The Cavaliers (4-10-1) were voted the No. 6 seed and will face the winner of No. 5 Preble Shawnee and No. 11 Dayton Chrisitan in a district quarterfinal on Oct. 17.
• Boys soccer
The higher seed will host in the first two rounds, and neutral sites will be used in district finals.
Division V
Botkins (12-1-0) was voted the No. 2 seed in the Division V northern Southwest district and will host No. 19 Fairlawn (0-16-0) on Oct. 19. The squad will host the winner of No. 12 Tri-County North and No. 14 Miami Valley in a district semifinal on Oct. 22.
Jackson Center (8-6-2) was voted the No. 8 seed and will travel to No. 7 Milton-Union on Oct. 19. If victorious, the team will play in a district semifinal on Oct. 22, likely at No. 4 Xenia Legacy Christian.
Lehman Catholic (5-12-0) was voted the No. 11 seed and will host No. 13 Preble Shawnee on Oct. 19. If victorious, the Cavaliers will play in a district semifinal on Oct. 22, likely at No. 3 Troy Christian.
Division II
Sidney (10-5-0) was voted the No. 4 seed in the six-team northern Div. II district. The Yellow Jackets will travel to No. 2 Miamisburg in a district semifinal on Oct. 22 and if victorious will play in a district final on Oct. 26 against either Kings or Loveland.
Reach Sidney Daily News editor Bryant Billing at 937-538-4822, or follow @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook or @TopBillingSport on X (Twitter).
