Photo by Nick Henthorn Wheeling Central senior Helene Crall connects for a kill attempt Tuesday inside the Central Catholic Athletic Center during the Maroon Knights’ 3-0 victory over Toronto.

WHEELING — The Wheeling Central Maroon Knights came away with a sweep inside the Central Catholic Athletic Center, defending their home court against the Toronto Red Knights, but in a closely-contested contest like Tuesday’s, just a few flipped outcomes could have reversed the result.

Nonetheless, Wheeling Central navigated their way through three narrow sets, sweeping Toronto 25-20, 25-23, 25-22.

The win had special importance to the Maroon, who celebrated senior night on Tuesday, and got a win for their five elder statesmen- Maddie Miehle, Kitlin Brodegard, Lainey Peters, Alyssa Parker and Helene Crall.

“That’s how we started our locker room talk,” Wheeling Central first-year head coach Grace White said. “It was, ‘You will get your seniors a three set win on senior night. There’s no if, ands, or buts about it. You’re gonna do it.’ They’ve done a lot for this program. It’s my first year, so to have five seniors stick around says a lot about the program and what was already established. And I mean, they completely welcomed me with open arms, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the five that I have right now.”

In the tug-of-war game of runs on the volleyball court, it was Wheeling Central who seemed to play their strongest at the end of each set- Toronto had a lead at one point in each of Tuesday’s three sets, but the Maroon Knights managed to stay out in front at the end of each.

“The first time we played Wheeling Central, we were very sluggish,” Toronto head coach Shannon Bahen said. “We came out tonight with a lot of energy. We were coming off a big win against Lisbon [David Anderson]. We’re definitely trending in the right direction for tournament time, but we have to find a way to finish. We see too many times, neck-and-neck games where ultimately our opponent pulls out in front in the end to finish it. We’ve got to find a way to dig deep when it matters most and finish.”

The first set was tied as late as a 14-14 game, with Central’s Chloe Groome finishing the set with a kill.

The second set was knotted at 21-21 before a service ace from Olivia Stephens put Wheeling Central ahead, and a Toronto misplay would give the Maroon Knights the set.

The third set, like the first two, also had the two teams locked in a dead heat, tied 20-20, with another Toronto error going down as the deciding point.

For Toronto, Kylie Mitchell and Jayna Reeves each had seven kills. Mitchell added four blocks. Sydney Fisher and Emma Parello had five kills. Chloe Fisher had four kills, but a game-high five blocks.

JJ Rebich and Danielle Sutherin each had 11 assists, and Gracee Rex led the way with 20 digs.

For Wheeling Central, Remy Peters finished with a game-high 11 kills, followed by Morgan Miehle’s nine, Lainey Peters’ six and Helene Crall’s five. Olivia Stephens had three service aces and 16 digs, both tops on her team.

Wheeling Central improves to 11-6 on the season. Toronto moves to 7-12.

“We tried a lot of new things, a lot of new girls, and a lot of new positions, which is always exciting,” Smith said. “And it’s senior night, too, so there’s those emotions. But overall, they hung in there and they played well.”

“We’re competing, we’re getting there, we’re playing around with things, and we’re just using the regular season to get things ready for the postseason.”