Staff report
The Division 4 All-Ohio Volleyball first team reflected the dominance that has been shown lately in the Shelby-Auglaize County area as five of the nine players selected are from this area.
Four of them are from Shelby County, and two are from two-time D-4 state champion Jackson Center.
They include seniors Cassie Meyer and Alicia Kessler.
Meyer is the two-time County Player of the Year who led the Lady Tigers to the state championship over the weekend. She had 20 kills and eight ace serves in the semifinal win over Dalton, and 17 kills, 20 digs and two aces in the championship game 3-0 win over Tuscarawas Central Catholic.
Kessler had seven kills in the semifinal win, and eight kills, three aces and a solo block in the championship game.
In addition, Jackson Center head coach Kim Metz was named the D-4 Coach of the Year after leading led the Lady Tigers to a perfect 30-0 record this season, the only team in Ohio to finish unbeaten.
Also named to the first team is Fort Loramie senior Caleigh Barhorst, who as a sophomore helped lead the Lady Redskins to the D-4 state championship.
This season, she finished with 428 kills and 284 blocks, and also had 47 ace serves.
She was joined on the team by senior Sidney Chapman of Lehman, who announced this week that she has signed to play at St. Joseph’s in Indiana.
She finished the season with a school-record 554 kills, breaking her own mark set last season. And she finished her career with a school record 1,694 kills and 1,008 digs.
The only junior named to the All-Ohio first team is New Bremen’s Paige Jones after an incredible season.
She led the Lady Cardinals to a 23-4 record, with two of those losses coming to state champion Jackson Center.
She finished the season with an amazing 785 kills, shattering the state record for kills in a single season.
She also served 121 aces and had 246 blocks.
Three more county/area girls were named All-Ohio third team.
Jackson Center senior Camryn Hoehne was joined on the team by Jordyn Heitbrink of Minster and Kenzie Schroer of New Knoxville.
Hoehne had a strong state tournament last weekend, finishing the semifinal game against Dalton with nine kills, eight digs and 21 assists, then getting five kills, 14 digs, eight assists and two aces in the championship game victory.
Heitbrink finished with 273 kills, 27 aces and 253 blocks for Minster.
Schroer did it all for the Lady Rangers, finishingd with 199 kills, 21 aces, 16 solo blocks, a team-high 316 digs, and 490 assists.
In addition, Fairlawn’s Audrey Francis, Russia’s Whitney Pleiman, New Bremen’s Rachel Kremer and Marion Local’s Carrie Fesenmeyer and Kylie Albers were all named to the Honorable Mention list, and New Bremen head coach Diane Kramer won a Coaches Achievement Award.
Division 3
In Division 3, meanwhile, junior Danielle Winner of Versailles was named tothe third team
All-Ohio Volleyball
Division 4
First team — Allison Adelsperger, senior, Old Fort; Caleigh Barhorst, senior, Fort Loramie; Sidney Chapman, senior, Lehman; Sydney Gilland, senior, Tuscarawas Central Catholic; Emma Granger, senior, Dalton; Paige Jones, senior, New Bremen; Alicia Kessler, senior, Jackson Center; Cassie Meyer, senior, Jackson Center.
Second team — Madison Ellis, junior, Delphos St. John’s; Bonnie Flynn, senior, Heartland Christian; Alexis Gilland, junior, Tuscarawas Central Catholic; Meghan Hedrick, junior, Norwalk St. Paul; Halle Schoen, senior, Norwalk St. Paul; Lexi Smith, junior, Notre Dame; Kaeleigh Stang, senior, Norwalk St. Paul; Lauren Willow, senior, Arlington.
Third team — Brooke Gerdema, senior, Leipsic; Briana Gillig, junior, New Riegel; Jordyn Heitbrink, senior, Minster; Camryn Hoehne, senior, Jackson Center; Sydney Kin, junior, Carey; Kenzie Schroer, senior, New Knoxville; Brooklyn Sullivan, senior, South Webster; Melina Woods, junior, Ada.
County/area honorable mention — Audrey Francis, senior, Fairlawn; Whitney Pleiman, junior, Russia; Rachel Kremer, sophomore, New Bremen; Kylie Albers, junior, Marion Local; Carrie Fesenmeyer, sophomore, Marion Local.
