GIRARD GREEN LIGHTS IN TO DISTRICT TITLE

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JEFFERSON OH- Girard continued their impressive season with a big win over Aurora in the District Semifinals.  Aurora may have been the 9 seed, but coming down from Division one made this Lady Greenmen team now joke. Girard had to fight tooth and nail to come up with the sweep to advance. (27-25 28-26 25-17)

 

Lauren Pallone, and Bree Latell both were on fire for the Indians. Pallone finished the night 22 kills while Latell was right behind her with 20.  Latell was also efficient as an attacker hitting .457 for the match.  Allison Durkin had a fantastic day setting up 44 assists for her offense.  Bailey Walters led the team defense with 16 digs. Pallone and Latell both got doubles doubles with their defensive effort with 12, and 11 digs respectively.

Girard advances to the Division II District Championship on Saturday. They’ll square up with the second seeded Marlington Dukes. That big matchup is set for 7:00 on Saturday night at Jefferson High School.

LYTLE SWINGS 2022 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

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EAST PALESTINE OH- What a volleyball season it has been. With a ton of teams having successful years in the YSN family, you can imagine there are also a lot of players who have put up big offensive numbers. Putting the ball down is the most electric thing you can do on a volleyball court. Nothing gets the crowd more involved than a kill that goes straight to the ground.  But who does it the best? Who has had the best offensive output this season.  It was a long discussion inside the YSN staff room, but we are proud to announce we have selected Lakeview’s senior middle blocker Tara Lytle as the 2022 Offensive Player of the Year.

Tara’s numbers definitely speak for herself when it comes to her offense. At the time that the selection was submitted Lytle had 359 kills on the season and averaged 4.7 kills per set.  That kill number is impressive enough. But with so many other players putting up comparable kill outputs, what stood out about Tara for us was her efficiency. Lytle hit at a percentage of .585 this year. That is video game type numbers. For those unfamiliar with the stat, hitting percentage is calculated by subtracting your errors from your kills and then putting that number over your total attacks. It’s as if batting average was calculated by subtracting every strike out from your hit total.  That is what makes it so hard to hit as high as Tara.  In 545 total attacks Lytle has only made 39 errors.

Lakeview ended the season at 21-4 on the year.  Congratulations to the Bulldogs on a great year, and once again congratulations to Tara Lytle who is YSN’s 2022 Offensive Player of the Year.

MINERAL RIDGE SEES SEASON END IN SEMIFINALS

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ORWELL OH- Mineral Ridge knew the task ahead of them would be tough as they found themselves across from Kirtland in the Orwell District Semifinals. Kirtland is ranked 13 in the state, while the Rams finished the year ranked 16.  After a quick start, the Rams saw Kirtland flex their muscles and take the match in four sets.  (19-25 25-17 25-12 25-18)

Leading the Rams offense on the night was Ava Hulett withn12 kills. Faith Schneider finished strong with 8 kills.  Hulett finished with a double double with 18 digs. Schneider finished with a team leading 20 digs. Samantha Aulet was able to set up 25 assists on the night.  Olivia Booth led the team in blocks with 3.

Mineral Ridge finished their great run at 24-3 on the season. They won the MVAC Scarlett tier.  Congratulations to the Rams on a fantastic run, and thank you for allowing us at YSN to be on the ride.

CRESTVIEW BREAKS OUT IN STATE RANKED MATCHUP

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ORWELL OH- As soon as the Orwell bracket came out for the Division III tournament everyone knew how tough it would be to get out of. The bracket featured 4 stats ranked teams.  All four of those teams took care of business and made it to the district semifinals. It was set up for a great night in Grand Valley with back to back state ranked battles. The first of those was 8th ranked Crestview vs 9th ranked Lakeview.  It lived up to the hype, but the Rebels made all the right plays down the stretch and won the match in four sets.  (25-23 25-22 13-25 25-20)

Abbey Emch showed up big when her team needed her most. She finished with 23 kills on the night.  She also managed 6 blocks against the strong Bulldog offense.  Grace Auer had a triple double with 22 kills, 22 assists, and 16 digs.  Lainy Auer had a double double with 18 assists and 17 digs.  She also led the team in aces with 3.

Lakeview’s offensive leader Tara Lytle still put up 16 kills on the night trying to Will her team to victory. Reagan Price also finished with 16 kills on the night keeping the Bulldogs middle attack strong.

Crestview advances to the District Championship game in the Orwell bracket. They’ll be matched up with another state ranked opponent as they take on Kirtland on Saturday at 7:00 in Grand Valley High School.

WILKINS DIGS UP 2022 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

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CANFIELD OH- In volleyball everything starts with a pass. You can have as good of a setter, or hitter as you want, but if you can’t control the ball it’s a moot point. Digs don’t always get the love they deserve, but it’s what separates the good teams from the great.  Liberos are normally a teams leader in digs and defense. We have a ton of great liberos in the YSN family that have put together exceptional seasons.  Canfield’s Parker Wilkins has separated herself as the best. We are proud to announce that Wilkins is our selection for the 2022 YSN Defensive Player of the Year.

Wilkins led a very good defensive team with 370 digs this season. She averaged 4.6 digs per set.  One of the things that really stood out about Wilkins is how she played against the best hitters on the schedule. In the Cardinals season opener against Girard, Wilkins had 34 digs.  She put up 26 digs against McDonald who has a strong offense.  In two matches with Fitch Wilkins had a combined 35 digs.  Her serve receive numbers also make her stand out.  In 429 serve receives Wilkins has only made 29 receiving errors.

Canfield is gearing up for a big matchup with Notre Dame Cathedral Latin in the district semifinals.  That matchup is slated for 6:00 at Streetsboro High School. Congratulations again to Parker Wilkins 2022 YSN Defensive Player of the Year.

TIGERS GET THE JOB DONE

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LISBON OH- The top seeded Wellsville Tigers didn’t miss a beat Tuesday night in their district semifinal against Sebring. The Trojans came in flying high on their upset win over Jackson Milton, but the Tigers grabbed momentum early and never let go. They moved on with a sweeping victory. (25-14 25-13 25-16)

Presley Stokes led the way for the Tigers offense capturing a double double with 14 kills and 13 assists.  Alana Amato was a presence at the net with 9 kills and 5 blocks.  Bella Poppelritter had a double double as well with 12 assists, and 10 digs.  Aubri Ramsey led the Tigers defense with 12 digs.

Wellsville moves on to the Division IV Lisbon District Championship.  They will match up with the fourth seeded McDonald Blue Devils.  That matchup is slated for 7:00 on Thursday at Lisbon High School.

MCDONALD PACKS UP FOR BIG TITLE GAME

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LISBON OH- McDonald spent their Tuesday night grinding their way to a big win in the District Semifinals. The Blue Devils were matched up with 8th seeded Dalton.  The Bulldogs are historically successful and fought like crazy. McDonald pushed their way to a four set victory.  (25-22 19-25 25-15 25-22)

Maria Rasile put on a show in the semifinals.  She finished with a triple double with 22 kills, 24 assists, and 18 digs.  Gianna Constantino also had a triple double with 12 kills, 28 digs, and 21 assists.  The defense for the Blue Devils was on full display as they got three other players in double digit digs.  Megan Zajack finished with 14 digs, Miley Titus grabbed 19 digs, and Juliana Krumpak gathered 22 digs.

McDonald will now set their sights to the Division IV Lisbon District Championship.  They will meet top seeded Wellsville.  That match is slated for 7:00 on Thursday at Lisbon High School.

RESERVE RUNS THE SHOW IN DISTRICT SEMIS

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COLUMBIANA OH- The reigning district champion Western Reserve Blue Devils punched their ticket to another district championship on Tuesday night. They came out on top in a four set battle with Southern Local.  (25-12 20-25 25-15 25-22)

Alyvia hughes had 22 kills 18 digs and 3 aces  Lisa Eichert had 18 kills 16 digs 3 aces Angelina Cappabianca had 5 blocks and 3 aces Allison Jones had 35 digs and 2 aces, Raelyn Meyer had 22 assists.

The Blue Devils advance to the Division IV Columbiana District Championship game. They’ll play against the fifth seeded Canton Central Catholic Crusaders.  The championship match is slated for Thursday at 7:00 at Columbiana High School.

HEART OF A LEONE

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BERLIN CENTER OH- Every one knows how important of a position setter is in volleyball.  They are your quarterback, your point guard, your captain on the floor.  So for a coach to pick a player to step in to that role on the varsity level, that is a big amount of trust that is being put in that player. For Western Reserve, they needed someone to do it, and they asked senior Madison Leone to be that girl.

Leone has done everything in her power to become the best setter she can be for her team.  The fact that she has hitters like Alyvia Hughes, and Lisa Eichert to set to has made things smoother.  They are experienced enough to know where they want the ball to be to give them the best chance to get a good swing.

Leone is second on the team in assists with 287.  She averages nearly 4 per set.  In 869 total chances she’s only made 26 errors. Pretty impressive for a first year setter.  Leone is a quality defender as well as she has dug up over 100 digs on the year.

Leone has been gracious enough to share her time with us and hop on an interview with Anthony Hartwig. They talk about being back on the team, what makes this team so tight, and much more.  Check out the latest Western Reserve Volleyball Player Profile only on YSN.

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RASILE RISES UP

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MCDONALD OH- Maria Rasile is part of a senior class that WS literally the building blocks of McDonald volleyball.  The program started four years ago. Here they are in just four years sitting as a top 5 seed in the district tournament and set up to fight for a chance to go to a district championship.

Maria has been an irreplaceable asset to this team. Unfortunately they have been without stand out setter Megan Klockner for a big chunk of the end of the season.  Maria, and her teammate Gianna Constantino have been asked to revert to a 6-2 offense and both set up the offense when they’re in the back row. It’s not a completely new position for either of them, but to be able to go right into that setter’s mentality on a moment’s notice is what is impressive.

Because of this change, Maria’s stats have become very well rounded.  Not only does she lead the team with 308 kills, but she also now sits at the team lead with 230 assists, and also leads the team in digs with 329.  There aren’t too many players in the area that have proven to be that important to their team’s success.

Rasile took the time this week to talk to YSN’s Anthony Hartwig. They talk about her family legacy at McDonald and what it’s like living up to it, watching the program build from the ground up, and so much more. Check out the latest McDonald Volleyball Player Profile with Maria Rasile.

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