By Rick Cassano

WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP – Another successful chapter got added to Harrison High School’s girls volleyball story Thursday night.

The Wildcats appeared to be headed for defeat at Lakota West, then rallied for a 25-23, 18-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-9 victory in just their fourth five-set match of the season.

“I think we’re pretty proud of our team win,” said Harrison’s Madison Meibers, a sophomore middle hitter. “It took a lot of effort as a team to keep each other going when things got hard because Lakota West is a great team with amazing hitters. I just think our team energy and chemistry really pulled through for us.”

The gut-check win included a fourth set where the Wildcats were down 17-10. They wiped out that deficit to extend the match and Harrison never trailed in the fifth set, grabbing a quick 3-0 lead and handling its business from there.

The Wildcats have one more regular-season contest before moving into the Division II district tournament.

Harrison will be looking to push its record to 20-2 on Saturday afternoon at Lebanon. It would be the Wildcats’ best regular season since they were 20-2 in 2008.

“I think we have a lot of potential. We just need to be mentally there,” HHS senior libero Lucy Longworth said. “Physically, we can beat anybody. I truly believe we can go all the way with our physical abilities, but we need to be mentally stable. We’re still pretty young, so we’re working on that.”

Harrison coach Philip Deak said his team came up with a bunch of big plays at crunch time and got on-court leadership from captains Kenna Farris, Carsyn Easter and Longworth to take down West (12-10) on Senior Night.

“We expected it to be tough because they’re very good and play in a tough league,” Deak said. “I knew it was going to take a lot out of us to come into their gym on Senior Night with a good crowd. It was a great atmosphere.”

Deak said he didn’t realize the Wildcats were down as much as they were in the fourth set.

“Sometimes in volleyball you need some things to go your way, a couple balls to bounce down and drop in for you, to change the energy and change the mood,” Deak said. “We talked in the huddle about controlling our attitudes and our energy and picking each other up.

“It’s a tough sport and it’s easy to pull yourself down, and when you pull yourself down, it pulls other girls down. So we talked about having good body language and positive language with ourselves and with each other. I have great captains who kind of steered us through that, and we’ve got good young players that made some big plays to get us going.”

Sophomore outside hitter Aubrey Templin began the night averaging 18 kills per match and once again led Harrison’s crew at the net. It’s a group that includes Meibers, junior Regan Oaks and sophomore Madison Waite.

Deak said the Wildcats made some adjustments and tried to get the ball to Meibers more as the match progressed.

The Firebirds also have some firepower in the middle with senior Adelyn Twyman, a Miami University commit, and West has faced a difficult schedule with four five-set defeats.

Third-year Firebirds coach Ali Hile said she saw a lot of good things against the Wildcats, but the roller-coaster performance found a dip when the match was on the line.

“You put a lot of emotion into Senior Night,” Hile said. “The girls wanted it. They showed up and played. But we had a lot of unforced errors on our end, and Harrison is a phenomenal team. I knew we were going to have a battle.

“I think it’s a lot of mentality for us. That’s what I’ve seen a lot this season. I don’t think our record speaks for us. We have some really strong wins and some really great games against some great teams, then we didn’t follow through. That mentality gets in these girls’ heads a lot.

“I am working on them trusting each other, trusting themselves and not playing scared. Sometimes they play scared. They lose some of that trust in each other and in themselves, and it kind of takes you down.”

The Wildcats struggled to find a rhythm in serve-receive for quite a while. Deak said they had to slow things down and make sure Farris was in a good position for setting to get the offense rolling.

“It took a while to figure out what they were trying to do and figure out a way to slow them down,” Deak said. “They were passing really well and they have a D-I middle, and when they gave her the ball, she was finishing it. No. 2 (Celia Kronauge) on the outside has a really strong arm, and we were just kind of late blocking it.

“Once we figured things out, we made it a little easier on ourselves. We needed to put a little more pressure on them by hitting a little harder at them.”

Longworth said Harrison’s fourth-set recovery was a combination of executing better and keeping a positive mind-set.

“I always tell my teammates we have to take it personally when the ball hits the ground, so we always have to be hustling,” Longworth said. “We were letting balls drop that we shouldn’t have let drop. We had to switch that energy. It was coming together in a huddle and saying we need to calm down. Instead of yelling at each other and being upset, we needed to pick each other up and stay positive.”

“We definitely didn’t come out ready for their energy,” Meibers said. “They had some great swings on us and some great blocks. Falling behind like that was definitely a wakeup call for us. Once we got ahold of the fourth set, I think we took all of our momentum into the fifth set. We were able to take control and keep control.”

Deak said the Wildcats benefited from being on serve-receive first in the final set.

“We talked about it as a situational thing,” Deak said. “We sided them out right away and then Regan’s serving and she rattles off a couple points with our first serve. We’re up 3-1 and they’re already to their second server.”

Hile said West has a strong senior class and she was happy to have all seven of those players – Amira Scherzinger, Morgann Price, Sophia Barela, Ava Kennedy, Ailee Dobrozsi, Twyman and Kronauge – on the floor for Senior Night.

The Firebirds are seeded 11th in Division I and will begin district play against No. 16 Fairfield at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 28 at Lakota East. The winner will almost certainly see Seton, the No. 1 team in Ohio, in the next round.

“I’m hoping we can make some noise,” Hile said. “If we can beat Fairfield, Seton would be second. We played them earlier this year and had a really strong set against them, so I hope that adds to the girls’ motivation.”

Harrison has been wearing a bull’s-eye all season. Deak said that’s not always an easy thing to deal with, and he thought the Wildcats looked “a little shell-shocked” when West was in control Thursday.

HHS will be back at West to start district competition against Miamisburg at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 27. The winner will advance to a district final against Anderson or Stebbins.

“Obviously there are some things we’ve got to work on to be more prepared for the tournament so we can make a good run, but I think the potential’s there,” Deak said. “Everything we need is there for us. The elements of the different players that we have, the attitudes, the energy … that combination can help us do something special in the tournament.

“But it’s a tough tournament. It’s one-and-done, and Division II is brutal. There are no walkthroughs to get to the next round. It’s going to be a challenge, but I think they’re excited about it, especially after that win. I don’t know if our attitude would’ve been the same if we would’ve taken a 3-1 loss. Coming back in that fourth set and taking control in the fifth, I think that helps us go into the tournament with a different vibe.”

Meibers said Harrison fully expected to have a standout season in 2026 after finishing 13-10 last year.

“We knew this season was going to be a different speed,” Meibers said. “It’s so much more than talent. It’s chemistry. It’s friendship. It’s coaching. I think we’re ready to go pretty far in the tournament.”