ST. MARYS — It had already been an exceptional season for the Otto-Eldred High School volleyball team.
The Terrors lost a single set while compiling a 16-0 record in North Tier League play.
Coach Jame Thomas’ club beat Portville (N.Y.), a four-time defending Section 6 champion, in a pair of non-league interstate battles of Big 30 powers.
O-E was awarded the No. 2 seed for the District 9 Class A tournament.
And on Saturday, O-E made a strong argument that it probably should have been the top seed.
Camryn Thomas recorded 22 kills, five blocks and 20 digs while Alli Cousins added 13 kills and 22 digs to lift the Terrors to a 25-21, 25-23, 16-25, 25-19 win over top-seeded A-C Valley, now 17-1, to capture the school’s first-ever district title in volleyball.
Also for O-E, Emily Smith recorded 50 assists while Alyssa Shelander (8 kills, 25 digs) and Harlee VanScoter (8 kills, 2 aces) served for 10 and nine points, respectively.
The Terrors will meet the No. 3 seed from District 7, Frazier, in the first round of the PIAA state tournament on Tuesday.
“It’s crazy because these girls have played together since fifth grade,” Thomas said of his squad, “not just in school but at the club level as well.
“All the volleyball through the years, it’s finally paid off. They didn’t play particularly great today — to their capabilities — but they got the job done.
“And it was fun to watch and I’m sure the fans were pleased as well as I am,” Thomas added. “We’ve got some things to work on going to states, but we’ll enjoy the victory as best we can.
“We struggled with ours serve-receive. Our serve-receive passing was off and we just couldn’t get the set we’d like to our hitters. It just kept us behind a little bit. We just couldn’t pull ahead, but we had some monster plays by Harlee VanScoter blocking. She came up huge. Rame Hulett didn’t have a lot of stats, but she was huge on our defensive play.”
As for his five seniors who could finally celebrate a District 9 crown, Thomas noted, “It was in the back of their minds. It wasn’t that we talked about it because we really focus on one game at a time.
“The time came and we’d faced A-C Valley at the Elk County Catholic Tournament, so we knew what they had. We beat them in two sets down there, but we knew that they were going to change their game play and they played tough. Our girls did a nice job.”

CLASS A CONSOLATION MATCH
Clarion 3, Coudersport 1 (25-16, 25-18, 27-25)
ST. MARYS — Third-seeded Clarion needed four sets to defeat No. 5 Coudersport in the Class A consolation match.
Clarion will move on as the district’s No. 3 seed for the Pennsylvania state tournament while the Falcons will have to settle for a 17-5 record for the year.
Coudersport was led by Adrian Page (11 kills, 25 digs), Joplin Osgood (84 digs), Haley Keck (29 assists, 17 digs), EmmaRae Easton (10 kills, 5 blocks) and Shaylyn Black (11 blocks).
“As you can see with the number of digs we had today, Clarion had us playing back on our heels defensively a lot,” Coudy coach Patty Wilson said. “There were a ton of good volleys today. I honestly don’t think there was a single dig-set-kill possession for us the entire match.”
The Falcons will graduate their entire starting lineup.
“We have seven seniors and they are all starters,” Wilson said. “This was a disappointing day. I told my girls that they need to focus on the memories they’ve created. I told them, as one journey ends, another one starts
“These girls have been a joy to work with … probably my favorite group. They are a tight-knit group that wanted to play together, they are all good kids. … Many of them are involved in so many other things in school as well.
“There are some seasons when you reach the end,” Wilson added, “that you are ready for it to end because it can be a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Not so with these girls.
“From the very start of the season, maybe even going back a couple of years, this group decided what kind of teammates they want to be … they wanted to help each other.”