At 15-0, the Goshen High School volleyball team is off to the best start in program history, securing back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2017 and 2018, and is one of just two undefeated teams in Southwest Ohio.
The architect of the resurgence is second-year head coach Samantha Johnson, a two-time All-Greater Miami Conference selection at Fairfield who went on to play at Urbana University. Before taking over at Goshen, she was an assistant at Fairfield and Lakota West. In her first season, she brought the school its first postseason win since 2021 and first Southern Buckeye Conference title since 2018.
At the end of the 2025 campaign, she saw the team's hunger for more and instilled the belief that bigger and better things were
possible.
Now two-thirds of the way through the season, there have been thoughts of 22-0 but the coaching staff is quick to remind the team of the adage: take it one match at a time.
"I tell them that each win they get, they have a bigger and bigger target on their back and the next team wants to be the one to put that 1 on the 0 side. They come in, they work and we speak about it, but we also don't know that it's going to happen. We work for it," Johnson said.
Senior setter Macee Steele added: "The mindset going into practice every day is working extra hard and making sure no one can give us that 1."
This summer, the Warriors spent 20 hours per week in the gym and held two-a-day practices during the preseason. That work paid off as they played at least three matches per week over the season's first month, going on a bit of a revenge tour. They beat Batavia twice and downed Summit Country Day, the only team they lost to as they went 11-1 at the end of the 2025 season.
A loss to Lakota East on Sept. 6, 2025, preceded that hot streak. Goshen flipped that result earlier this season, picking up the biggest win of this magical ride.
"Leading up to that game, we didn't face anybody that really challenged us. We were like, 'Hey, this is a point. Are we just SBAAC good or are we good good?'" Johnson said.
After cramming 15 matches into the season's first month, the Warriors will play just seven times over the next three weeks. Now that they have some longer breaks in the schedule, Johnson will block out more time for scouting and positional work. Goshen will be tested before the postseason as they host Western Brown and Fairfield, and travel to Colerain, Princeton and Little Miami.
Johnson also added Sycamore and Ross to the 2027 schedule, but the team has started to look forward to punching above its weight.
"I want to put our name out there and actually prove that we can be super good because I think this team's special," Steele said.
This team is also setting the table for the future. In a Sept. 22 win over Clinton-Massie, Goshen hosted the youth teams in the school district, including a number of girls whom Johnson has already made contact with, since she is a teacher at Goshen Middle School.
With only two seniors on the team, this run of success should continue into 2027 and beyond. Sophomores Sophia Scherzinger and Cecilia Snyder both have over 100 kills. So does junior Lindsey Cameron, who leads the Warriors in blocks. After Steele graduates, Goshen will have another senior setter next year in Kristi Hardiman.
Currently at No. 5 in the statewide coaches poll, Goshen is hoping to make more history when the postseason arrives, where they will compete with McNicholas, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Tippecanoe, Bellbrook, Bloom-Carroll and Roger Bacon.
"I will never forget these memories. These girls mean a lot to me. They're some of my best friends. I've known them for a long time and they hold a special place in my heart," Steele said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'We work for it.' Goshen volleyball eyeing undefeated season
