Willard repeats as Bay champions

WILLARD — The Willard volleyball team ended its tenure in the Sandusky Bay Conference in style. The Crimson Flashes swept visiting Margaretta Thursday night to share the Bay Division championship with Huron. It marked back-to-back league titles for the Flashes (19-3, 9-1), who will head to the Northern 10 Conference next season. Willard posted scores of 25-13, 25-23, and 25-16 to beat the Polar Bears. On Sept. 4, Huron (16-5, 9-1) won at Willard in five sets, claiming the fifth set with a 15-9 score. The Flashes then went to Huron on Sept. 30 and won in four sets, which included a pair of 25-23 wins. "What a way to send your seniors out in style on Senior Night by also earning a share of the league title with the victory," Willard head coach Ashley Bond said. "We had a coach tell us after our first loss to Huron that we could look at that loss as a positive because it could make us work so much harder to be ready for the next round, and the girls proved that to be true." In Thursday's win, Camryn Wiers had 15 kills, 14 assists and 10 digs. Natalie Slone had nine kills and 18 digs, while Leah Weiss had seven kills, six digs, and served 13-for-14 with four aces. Also for Willard, Alexis Rettig served 13-for-13 with three aces and also had 10 digs. Mya Stephens had 16 assists, five digs, and was 9-for-9 serving, and Teagan Schaffer had three kills and four digs. Paige Adams also had four kills. "The girls have worked extremely hard, starting way back with summer weights to be able to put themselves in this position," Bond said. "To be able to defend the crown from last year makes this really special. We will enjoy the moment tonight and then start to prepare for the postseason." Willard will host Shelby (11-10) at 6:30 p.m. Monday in their regular season finale. The Flashes then host Clear Fork in a Division V sectional mach on Oct. 16. Willard is again a No. 1 seed in its district after reaching a regional championship match in 2024. "A huge shoutout to the four seniors for their dedication to this program," Bond said. "Paige and Teagan both set the tone for our defense with their blocks. Cam and Nat both do a little bit of everything for us, both offensively and defensively — all four of them will be greatly missed next year."