The Newark Catholic girls volleyball team and the Columbus Bishop Watterson boys soccer team both ended long periods of frustration by winning Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) championships earlier this month.
Newark Catholic took Division VI volleyball honors on Saturday, Nov. 8 with a 25-22, 25-23, 25-18 sweep of St. Henry at Wright State University. The championship was the ninth overall for the Green Wave but its first since 2004. The team had made eight appearances in the state semifinals since then without bringing home top honors.
Newark Catholic finished its first undefeated season since 1983 with its 27th straight victory and was led by All-Ohio player Natalie Harrington with 10 kills and 12 assists. Sydney Gummer added eight kills and 15 assists, Leah Caudill eight kills and five assists, Sophia Basham six kills and Aubrey Winters five kills.
One day after the Newark Catholic victory, Watterson won its first state boys soccer championship, shutting out Aurora 3-0 at Historic Crew Stadium for the Division III crown on goals by Alex Das, Max Meacham and Michael Quinn.
The Eagles (16-5-3) had been state semifinalists in 2023 and lost to archrival Columbus St. Francis DeSales in a shootout in the regional final last year. Watterson also reached the Final Four in 2010, 2013, when it finished second, and 2014.
“We were determined this year to end the frustration after making eight straight Final Fours and not winning one,” Newark Catholic’s first-year coach Katie Hill said. “This was a special group of 14 girls who were friends as well as players. That’s what may have made the difference with this year’s team. They really enjoyed playing together and seemed to have more chemistry than in past years.
“They also were playing for something bigger than themselves. When the seniors were seventh-graders, a classmate, Brady Hempleman, died in a car accident. His parents have been to all our games and you can see number 3, his football number, everywhere in the school, even on our warmup shirts. We dedicated the season to him.”
St. Henry, ranked second in the state volleyball coaches association poll, took a 6-1 lead in the first set of the championship game, but the third-ranked Green Wave called a timeout and settled down to win the set. They led 20-13 in the second set, but St. Henry tied the score before Gummer connected with Harrington on a kill and Harrington finished the set off with a pass from Veronica Bailey. The champions never trailed in the final set, leading by as much as 23-12 before St. Henry staged a late rally that fell short.
Newark Catholic had a harder time in the state semifinals, having to come from two sets down to defeat No.1-ranked Bremen with victories in the next three sets.
The nine championships ties Newark Catholic for second all time in OHSAA volleyball. Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame has 10. This was Newark Catholic’s 27th state championship in all sports, including eight each in football and baseball, but the school’s first since the baseball team won OHSAA honors in 2016.
“Because of the school’s history, there’s always pressure for Newark Catholic to make a deep postseason run. That makes playing here a different experience than at many schools and adds to the impact of being able to post another state banner at school,” Hill said.
Although this was Hill’s first year as head coach, she started coaching in the Newark Catholic program when the current seniors – Christiana Scarsella, Mackenzie Gebhart, Bailey, Gummer and Harrington – were seventh-graders and has been with them ever since.
She also was a member of the 2007 Green Wave team that lost in the state semifinals. Her assistant, Mackenzie Egan, played with her on that team and with the 2008 Green Wave, who ended the season the same way.
Hill said Newark Catholic’s volleyball team is a family in more ways than one. Caudill and Basham had older sisters play in the program, as did Caudill’s mother and the aunts of four players. Harrington, Caudill and Winters are cousins.
The Green Wave is anticipating another strong season in 2026 with the return of Caudill, a junior, and sophomores Basham and Winters.
Watterson’s state championship was unexpected by many because the Eagles were seeded fifth in the Central District when the playoffs started. “What happened in the tournament was a surprise to a lot of people, but not to us,” coach Aaron Linden said.
“Before the season started, we felt there was a real possibility we could make it to the state championship based on how far we’d come in the previous two years. That feeling kept on growing even when we lost games because you could see how much pride and confidence this group had.”
Linden said that in his pregame talk before facing Aurora, “I could be like many coaches and say it was just another game, but we all knew better. I just told everybody to let their emotions fuel you now that you’ve gotten this far.”
He described the game-time conditions as “freezing cold and snowing like crazy” and thought that would work to the Eagles’ advantage because it would dictate that most of the game would be played in the midfield. “We like to press really hard and the conditions made for that type of game,” he said.
“Aurora’s a very good team, but I don’t think they had seen a team do what we did as far as pressing them right from the start. We were all over them in the first 20 minutes. We’ve done that to every team we’ve played.”
Das, a defender who’s sometimes sent up front to give the attack a different look and is the team’s captain, scored what proved to be the only goal Watterson needed in the 22nd minute of the first half. “That was only his third goal of the year, along with three assists, but two of the goals were game winners in the tournament.” Linden said. “Alex has really taken advantage of the chances he’s had to make plays.”
Meacham, a first-team All-Ohioan, made it 2-0 in the 35th minute with his ninth goal. Quinn provided insurance with his third goal of the season, a header set up by Meacham, in the 71st minute.
“Quinn had been injured until the start of the tournament and really came through,” Linden said.
“The first goal was the key, as it usually is, and once we got up 2-0, the Meachams (Max and his brother Sam, a junior, the team’s leading scorer with 11 goals) and (sophomore Andrew) Fultz, three of the better players in central Ohio, controlled the pace most of the rest of the way. In the end, our talent level made the difference.”
All three goal scorers in the championship game are seniors. Other team members graduating this year are Luis Porcayo, Eli Pham, Connor Adkins Davidson, Cannon Graessle, Creux Martin and Madden Galiffo.
Linden has been coaching youth soccer in central Ohio for more than 20 years and is in his fourth season at Watterson. He also coached at Westerville South from 2011 to 2015.
He echoed his counterpart at Newark Catholic in describing how team members related to each other. “Without a doubt this is the closest group I’ve ever coached,” he said. “Their meals, where they go after games – they do everything together.
“You can’t create something like that. It just happens. I’ve seen the joy in their faces after winning games and just gotten the feeling that I’ve been fortunate they brought me along for the ride.
“Being a Catholic school, of course we pray before every game. We had a preseason team blessing ceremony and it was a special moment to be part of their Mass before the championship game. These guys take their faith very seriously.”
Hill said that’s also true for her champions. “One of the things that’s bonded us has been going to chapel together before games,” she said. “There’s a specific hallway in school we walk down together in reverence. A different player for each game picks a Scripture verse and we base reflections and prayers on that. It’s something we’ve done here at least since I’ve been in high school.”
In football, Watterson (12-0) continued its quest for a second consecutive Division III state title by defeating Steubenville 43-0 on Friday, Nov. 21 in a regional final game.
The Eagles, 48-6 victors over Dresden Tri-Valley on Nov. 14, won their 28th straight game and will play Tipp City Tippecanoe (13-0) on Nov. 28 with the winner going to the state championship game in Canton the following weekend.
A football championship would be the school’s third state title of this academic year. The Watterson girls won the Division II cross country title in early November.
DeSales ended its football season 9-3, losing to Massillon Washington 48-14 on Nov. 14 in a Division II regional semifinal.
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