PLEASANT HILL — The Arcanum Lady Trojans overcame early deficits in the first two sets and a determined Newton team Tuesday night to capture their fourth consecutive Western Ohio Athletic Conference volleyball championship.
Arcanum defeated the host Lady Indians 25-18, 25-22, 18-25, 25-10, finishing conference play 11-0 for its third straight outright league title.
The championship came during a season that appeared to present rebuilding challenges. Arcanum returned just one starter from last season, and that player has been sidelined by an injury. Instead, coach Jacie Holman and her staff guided another group to the top of the WOAC standings.
“These girls come in every year, and they don’t want to be that team that doesn’t win the WOAC, and they buy in, and they do what they need to do,” Holman said. “And I’m exceptionally proud of them.”
Newton made Arcanum work for the championship, building substantial leads in each of the first three sets before the Lady Trojans took control in the fourth.
“We started every single set in the hole except for the fourth set,” Holman said. “We were down five or six points every single time, and we were always playing the catch-up game.”
The Lady Indians jumped ahead 5-1 and 8-3 in the opening set. Arcanum rallied to tie the score at 9, 10 and 11 before taking its first lead at 12-11. The Lady Trojans completed the comeback with a 25-18 victory.
Newton delivered another strong start in the second set, opening leads of 6-1 and 9-2. The Lady Indians held a six-point lead at 16-10 before Arcanum scored four straight points to force a Newton timeout.
The Lady Indians scored out of the timeout for a 17-14 lead, but Arcanum answered with another four-point run to move ahead 18-17. After the teams reached a 19-19 tie, the Lady Trojans closed with a 6-3 run to win 25-22 and take a 2-0 match lead.
Newton coach Danita Rapp, who recently earned her 100th career coaching victory, said her team entered the match determined to challenge the conference leaders.
“That was our number one goal: was that if they were going to take home the win tonight and the conference title, then we wanted to make them fight for it,” Rapp said. “I’m super proud of my girls. We had a great game, and I think we did the job we set out to do.”
Newton broke through in the third set after building a 12-6 lead. Arcanum pulled within 12-10, prompting a Lady Indians timeout, but Newton responded with four straight points to restore its six-point cushion.
The Lady Trojans cut the deficit to 19-16 before Newton finished off a 25-18 victory to extend the match.
Holman credited Newton’s effort while pointing to her own team’s mistakes as a factor in the slow starts.
“Every team that we face in the WOAC wants us. They want to take us down, and kudos to Newton,” Holman said. “They did a job well done.”
Arcanum found its rhythm in the fourth set, taking an 8-4 lead and holding it at 12-8. The Lady Trojans pushed ahead 14-8 to bring a Newton timeout, then continued a decisive closing stretch.
Arcanum outscored Newton 13-2 after the 12-8 mark, finishing the match with a 25-10 victory.
Holman said the response was encouraging as the Lady Trojans prepare for tournament play.
“We talked about tournament. If we play like that in tournament, we’re not going to get the results we want,” she said. “And then I think they all kind of realized, like, we got to pick it up.”
Despite the loss, Rapp saw value in her team’s performance against an opponent it had followed throughout the season.
“We’ve watched Arcanum all season,” Rapp said. “We knew we had to match that, and we had to get focused on our side and play our game with discipline and an intention.”
Newton entered the match 8-2 in conference play and finished its WOAC schedule 8-3. With Minster ahead in tournament play, Rapp said the demanding regular-season finish provided useful preparation.
“Minster’s going to be tough, and we know that,” she said. “We were excited to end with a tough opponent just to kind of get us mentally prepared.”
For Holman, the WOAC coach of the year in 2023, 2024 and 2025, the latest championship continued a standard established by previous teams and maintained by this year’s seniors.
“To my seniors who have won it four years in a row, they should be exceptionally proud of themselves,” Holman said. “That’s what I told them in the locker room. That’s not common, and we’re not done.”
The Lady Trojans now turn their attention to extending their season.
“We’re not just going for WOAC championships,” Holman said. “We’re going to go to districts again, hopefully win another medal. That’s our goal for the season.”
