LEXINGTON — Olivia Kreger and her Ontario teammates made history Thursday night.
The fourth-seeded Warriors cruised to a 3-0 win over No. 11 Mansfield Senior in the early match of a Division II sectional final doubleheader at Lexington High School.
The sectional championship was the first for the Warriors since 2003.
“It means a lot knowing that we worked that hard and gotten where we’ve gotten,” said Kreger, was born three years after Ontario’s last sectional title. “It means we’re heading in the right direction. We’re setting the path for everyone to continue on.”
The Warriors came out focused, winning the first game 25-5. The Tygers made things interesting in the second and third games, but Ontario prevailed 25-12 and 25-14.
“I am so proud of them. This is what we’ve worked for all season,” Ontario coach Natalie Shell said. “We have had two goals all season and that is have a winning mentality and to play to our potential and I think that is exactly what we did tonight.
‘This is huge for our volleyball program and we have a lot to be proud of.”
Ontario’s setter, Kreger had 22 assists. Sophomores Sara Wharton and Annie Weaver each had 11 kills.
The Warriors (13-10) will play Lexington in the district semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Seneca East High School. The teams met in the regular season with Lady Lex prevailing in four games.
“We took a couple of hard losses at the end of league play, but I feel like going into tournaments we know what our goal is,” Shell said. “I feel like we’ve been playing well together was a team.
“They have so much to be proud of. I told them, ‘In two years you’ve changed this program completely around from what it was.’ That just speaks volumes about the athletes we have and the potential and the dedication we have to the volleyball program.”