VOLLEYBALL POLL: Huron, Vermilion, Monroeville all rise

Huron, Vermilion and Monroeville's volleyball teams are all on the rise, according to the coaches association's newest state volleyball poll that came out Sunday night. The Tigers moved up one spot in Division III and are now the No. 3 team in the state behind just Lake Catholic and Versailles. Huron (15-1, 6-0 SBC Bay) also picked up its first first-place vote of the season. Lake Catholic received 44 first-place votes. Huron's move up came after a four-set win over perennial power Padua on Saturday. The Tigers also swept Willard and Port Clinton in the last week. They will play Edison, Margaretta and Oregon Clay in the week to come. Vermilion had dropped out of the Division II state poll a week ago, but they're back in and all the way up at No. 11 this week. The Sailors (13-2, 8-0 SBC Lake) defeated Bellevue in four sets and swept Sandusky in the last week. Monroeville (13-3, 10-0 Firelands Conference) rebounded from a Monday loss to Galion to rattle off sweeps against Mapleton, Plymouth and Clyde. They're up one spot in Division IV, now at No. 16 in the state. Huron, Vermilion and Monroeville all play league games Tuesday and Thursday of this week, and they're all looking at similar scenarios. Each requires two wins to clinch shares of their respective league titles, and they can all secure outright league titles a week from Tuesday even if all their closest league competitors do their best to keep up. The Tigers and Sailors are both defending league champions, while the Eagles finished behind St. Paul in the Firelands in 2021.