The Eastern Cincinnati Conference was formed in 2012. In seven of the last nine seasons, the league title has either been split or decided by one game.

“This conference is very, very strong. I think it’s the strongest it’s been in years,” Loveland head coach Tina Collins said.

Kings won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 with a combined 35-1 league record. Anderson took two early losses in 2024 but won 15 straight conference matches to win its first title since 2014.

“We have a target on our back so everybody is coming out with their absolute best against us. It doesn’t matter if we’re having a good day or a bad day because they’re going to have their best day against us,” Anderson head coach Julie Mulvey said.

Loveland recently had one of its best days of the season in a home win over the Raptors to stay tied with Kings for the conference lead. The Tigers, Knights and Turpin Spartans are the top three teams in the league and have all beaten each other in the first half of the season.

What makes the ECC so tough, especially this year, is that any team can win on a given night.

Players, schedules are what make the Eastern Cincinnati Conference so tough

Each year, the league title typically comes down to the wire. A microcosm of that is how late into the night regular-season matches typically run. That’s partially due to the length of freshman and junior varsity matches, but also because so many varsity matches have gone to four or five sets.

“None of the coaches like it. We’re all old and want to go to bed,” Collins said with a laugh.

Fans can only expect more late-night matches as the season goes on and teams see each other for the second time.

The Greater Miami Conference also consists of 10 teams but only plays nine league games each season, meaning the ECC is the largest league in the city that plays a true double round-robin. A schedule with so many league games doesn’t allow many opportunities for outside competition, but many teams don’t mind since the league is so tough already.

“The ECC being so strong fuels us. Every single team has great players. When we’re in the gym and we don’t feel like we’re going all out, it’s in the back of our heads that there are teams that are working hard right now, and we have to outwork them,” Kings senior Ava McIntyre said.

This year, 18 all-league players returned, led by McIntyre, the Offensive Player of the Year, and Milford’s Rachel Morgan, the Defensive Player of the Year. McIntyre and Loveland setter Makenna Kirlin were All-Ohio selections in 2024, and five teams boast at least one Division I college commit.

How far can ECC teams go in the 2025 postseason?

Loveland and Turpin advanced to their respective regional finals last year. Milford won a district championship and Anderson played in a DII district final.

The biggest change this season is that Loveland moved up to DI. Thanks to statewide realignment caused by expansion, the Tigers won’t have to play Seton or St. Ursula on the road to the state tournament.

Kings and Anderson will be two of the main players in DII. Turpin’s main adversary in DIII figures to be Ursuline.

“It’s going to be competitive all the way to the end. Cincinnati has such a strong volleyball following, and the coaches in this league get everything out of their players that they can,” Mulvey said.

Which regular-season ECC matchups in the second half of the season carry the most weight?

Turpin, currently 8-2 and in third place in the league, hosts Loveland on Oct. 2 and Kings on Oct. 9. If the Spartans don’t lose a conference match until then, they’ll position themselves nicely to finish at the top of the standings.

Kings’s trip to Turpin could decide the league title. It’s the last league game of the season for the Knights, but they also have to deal with Oak Hills, Mason and St. Ursula in the final two weeks of the season.

Loveland is currently in the most advantageous position. The Tigers are tied with Kings for the league lead, but only have three more matches against schools in the top half of the standings. The week of Sept. 29 looms large as they host Kings on Sept. 30, then travel to Turpin on Oct. 2.

Anderson and Milford, both at 6-4, are tied for fourth in the league. The Raptors’ remaining September schedule is tough with matches against Lebanon, Kings, Turpin and Milford. With three of those matches on their home court, Anderson has a prime opportunity to make up some ground. The Eagles are coming off a statement win over Lebanon and their next two matches are against Kings and at Turpin.

“I can’t emphasize it enough that every game is going to be a battle,” Kings head coach Amanda Meadows said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Eastern Cincinnati Conference makes case for top volleyball league