2022 DIVISION III VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW

When you look at all the districts that are happening in the area, the Division 3 district had to be the most stacked. The state champion might just come out of this super district. Five state ranked teams were perched in the district, including top ranked Mentor Lake Catholic.  When the brackets were set to be drawn, it was going to be interesting to see where these teams decided to go. In the end, everyone chose to leave Lake Catholic alone in their bracket, which makes for a star studded Grand Valley district. Lets take a look at that one a bit deeper.

The top seed in the Grand Valley bracket is #2 Crestview. The Rebels are ranked 8th in the state, and won yet another MVAC championship. The Rebels were cruising into the last week of the regular season. They’d lost one set all season long coming in to it. However, they ran into huge programs to test themselves the last few days.  Crestview exposed a few chunks in that armor against Girard and Fitch. A lot of people on the outside might look at those two losses and think that you can put the dirt on the Rebels chances in the state conversation.  I wouldn’t be so hasty. First of all, Alisha Auer is one of the best coaches in town for volleyball. It must be pointed out that Crestview didn’t have a practice between their games against Girard and Fitch. Some problems have been exposed for sure, but Auer and her staff will now have plenty of time to get in the gym, correct what needs to be corrected and move forward.  Crestview’s middle blocker Abbey Emch is their biggest weapon. Emch has 314 kills on the season which leads the team by 49.  The double edge sword to having a middle blocker be your biggest threat is that you need to be in system with good passing to get them involved. Grace Auer is a triple double machine for the Rebels. She might just be the most versatile players in the area.  Her importance is really immeasurable. She has 265 kills which is impressive enough, but she adds to that 321 assists, and 256 digs. Try to find someone with those kind of numbers in all of those categories. Crestview will need to have strong serve receive if they want to win this district.

Crestview is for sure not the only big player in this bracket.  Kirtland is the 3 seed in the district and is has played top seeded Lake Catholic twice this season. They’ve been pretty competitive too. In their second matchup, Kirtland dropped the match in 3 but one of those dropped sets was 34-32.  The Hornets lost steam after dropping that one out of the gates.  The Hornets are 19-2 on the season, and they have a regular season matchup with Lakeview on the horizon. That will show us a ton. They are led by senior Natalie Glowe. She has 225 kills on the season, and averages over 3 per set. She spends her off seasons playing with AVC National so you know she’s got plenty of high levels volleyball experience. Setter Katie Reynolds runs a solid 5-1 offense for Kirtland and has rattled off over 400 assists this season, to go along with 67 digs on defense. She doesn’t attack much out of the offense. Reynolds only has 3 kills on the season.  The Hornets will be heard from in this bracket for sure. If numbers play out then Kirtland will match up with Crestview in the final.

Lakeview is the next highest seed in this bracket. The Bulldogs sit at 4th overall in the district, and are ranked 10th overall in the state. Much like Crestview, Lakeview’s biggest offensive threat this season has been out of the middle. They have 2 middle blockers that have decimated opposing defenses.  Tara Lytle and Reagan Price have combined for 509 kills on the season.  They haven’t had too many matches this season where getting it to the middle has been an issue. Their serve receive and passing has been on point.  When you pass at a high level to an elite setter like Maggie Pavlansky, good things are going to happen. It’s important to note that their are unsung heroes on this team that give them big versatility.  Emma Schmader can hit from anywhere. Coach Heather Guthrie is able to move her around where they need her to succeed.  Brooke Schneider has become a consistent threat on the attack. Schneider used to be more known for her defense, but now if days you can’t sleep on her swing, or her serve.  Schmader has 138 kills on the season, and when you combine Schneider’s kills and aces, you get 86 points she’s responsible for. Lakeview has really put something special together with this senior class. They’ll be matched up with Crestview in the semis if the results go chalk.

Last but not least with state ranked teams in this bracket is the 5th overall seed in Mineral Ridge.  The Rams are loaded with talent. High level talent. In my opinion, the Rams have the top setter in the area. There are a ton of good ones, but when you grab 1,000 assists in 2 seasons as a starter, you’re doing something special. Samantha Aulet is really good at hammering the ball exactly where her hitters need it to go.  When you look at her numbers, she had over 700 assists last season, currently and sitting at 570 this season. I think she also does a tremendous job at reading the defense before she sets, a lot of setters fall in to the trap of predetermining where they’re going to go without looking at the blockers. Aulet simply doesn’t do it.  Offensively the Rams gave a few key weapons. They are lead by outside hitter Faith Schneider. She has 262 kills on the season to this point. The Rams also have another outside hitter with over 200 kills in Ava Hulett.  They are the only team out of the 4 state ranked teams in this bracket with two outside hitters with over 200 kills.  That’s a big advantage. Outside are simply easier to get the ball to in tough situations. The Rams have 2 that are a threat anywhere.  The Rams would match up with Kirtland in the semifinals if the numbers went chalk.

Complete Grand Valley bracket:

The story of the Medina bracket is definitely Lake Catholic.  They are the number 1 team in the state. However, they have been beaten this season. Their record stands at 18-2.  They’ve lost to Magnificat, and just lost in three to Notre Dame Cathedral Latin.  They split the season series with NDCL.  Junior Katie Sowko is the offensive leader for Lake Catholic.  She has 251 kills on the season and averages 4.3 per set.  The Cougars have 2 other players with 100 or more kills.  They have multiple ways to beat you. The team has a total of 167 blocks.  Their blocking leader is senior Kyra Walnch with 40.  They have 900 digs as a team as well.

n The next highest seed in this bracket is 6th seeded Berkshire. The next highest YSN team is 7th seeded Garfield.  The Lady G-Men have put together a solid 14-5 record and are led by a great coach in Ali Roach.  Their kills are pretty spread out, which can make them hard to defend. 4 Garfield hitters have more than 100 kills.  They are led by Montana McGranahan with 230 to this point.  Garfield has another hitter was over 200 lurking in the shadows. Senior Gsbby Barnard has 203 kills on the season. Their offense is diverse because their setter is fantastic.  Madeline Shirkey has set up 495 assists to this point. She will also use her height to attack the defense. Shirkey has 56 kills on the year in the setter’s position.  Obviously Lake Catholic will be a big favorite in this bracket, but there are some sneaky teams that could take a shot at them. Garfield is at the top of that list.

Complete Medina Bracket: