By STEVE WALKER
swalker@MorningJournal.com

The Huron Lady Tigers pose for a picture after winning the OHSAA Division III State Volleyball Championship. SPECIAL TO THE MORNING JOURNAL

When the Huron volleyball team made it to the state tournament this season, it was head coach Don Wood's sixth time being there.

Having made five other appearances, including state championships in 1999 and 2002, Wood knew what it took to get there.

And win.

But this was a new class and this team was on a three-year drought of winning at regionals. His four seniors Jesse Miedema, Melissa Moberg, Adriana Deluca and Devon Koenig were freshmen the last time the Tigers were state champs, but didn't get the experience of playing on the big stage.

That didn't pose a threat as Huron made it look easy, sweeping Frankfort Adena, 25-17, 25-21, 25-21 at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in the OHSAA Division III state championship match on Saturday.

"It feels exactly like a dream come true," said Miedema, who will be signing her letter of intent today to play volleyball at Radford, a Division I college in Virginia. "I remember being a little freshman and watching our team go down to state and saying 'Wow, I want that so bad' and we just did it. Looking back I'm so happy. This season could not have ended on a better note. Especially my senior year, just to cap off my entire high school volleyball career is great. A complete dream come true."

Wood had been there before, but this championship is different.

"It's a pretty special one," Wood said. "Everytime we've made it down to Dayton, it's special in its own way, but there is something about this group of kids, the community and the students the way they followed us. It gave us a really nice feeling. Everything was just right. The fans were terrific. The students were the talk of the place. In fact, our student section made a name for themselves with their costumes and the way they followed us.

"We had a great parade when we came into town and a great crowd at the gym Saturday night. It was special. It was just the way you would dream of it happening."

Miedema led the Tigers with 12 kills, while junior Taylor Slauterbeck recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs. Junior Taryn Graham added 28 digs.

Adena had two more kills than Huron for the match (37-35), but committed 28 attack errors compared to just 17 for the Tigers.

"It was very exciting, very overwhelming," Moberg said. "It kind've came on to us like we're the big champion, we're the best in our division. Just that feeling is so amazing. This is definitely you want to end your senior season, just to know that you ended your senior season with a win and you couldn't get any farther than you went.

"A lot of our success is credited to the chemistry all of us girls had together and being able to focus toward one main goal and not having side distractions distract us from that goal."

Huron advanced to the championship match by knocking off Middletown Bishop Fenwick in a five-game semifinal. The Tigers punched their ticket to the championship match by winning the fifth-and-deciding game, 15-10.

The road wasn't easy for Huron, who also won a five-game battle with Archbold, who came in at 27-0, in the regional final after its come-from-behind win over Marion Elgin in the regional semifinal.

Huron had swept through sectionals without losing a game, knocking off Woodmore, Clear Fork and Margaretta to advance to regional play.

"They were well prepared in staying strong and staying focused from our regular season schedule," Wood said. "Our conference was no breeze this year. We had a couple five-gamers with Edison that we split. We played some tough tough teams so to even compete with some of them, we had to be mentally tough. That helped prepare them for the tournament run."

The Tigers, who finished the season 26-3, haven't lost since a 3-2 loss to Findlay midway through the season. Another loss was to Padua Franciscan, who won the Division II state title. The season started off bumpy as Huron had its 99-straight Sandusky Bay Conference match win streak snapped by Edison, causing many to think the Tigers weren't the kings of the conference or the area anymore. The loss, in Wood's eyes, seemed to be a wake-up call.

"The winning streak in the SBC wasn't something that we ever talked about, because number one we respect the heck out of everybody in our conference," Wood said. "I just never thought that was something that I should ever really talk about. Just the fact of losing that first conference game of the year and trying to defend the SBC title, that put 'em behind the eight ball early. I think it gave them a wake-up call. They really did work hard after that. If we had squeaked that one out at Edison, I don't know if we would've had that same urgency that I was able to get out of them."

Overall, Wood couldn't be more pleased with the play of his team.

Miedema had a tremendous offensive year, while earning All-Ohio recognition. Grendow set her teammates up well. Moberg did a great job serving. Defensively, Graham played excellent at libero and even recorded a regional-record 44 digs in the regional final win over Archbold. Deluca, Koenig, Slauterbeck, Katlyn Sommer and Erin O'Reilly were also keys to the Tigers' success. And state championship.