Tag Archive for: OHSAA Tournaments

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.

NOTHING STOPS THE RAMS FROM GETTING IN TO DISTRICTS

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KIRTLAND OH- Mineral Ridge had a sizeable road trip for their sectional final on Saturday. It didn’t bother them too much though as the Rams went to Kirtland and swept Wickliffe on a neutral floor. (25-23 25-14 25-17)

 

Faith Schneider led the Rams offense by finishing with 13 kills.  Ava Hulett was also a strong weapon for the Rams finishing with 9 kills.  Samantha Aulet did what she does best and set up 32 assists. She completed a double double with 11 digs. Schneider also finished with a double double leading the team in digs with 20.

Mineral Ridge advances to the Grand Valley bracket District Semifinal.  They’ll be matched up with 3rd seeded Kirtland. That game will be the night cap on Wednesday at 7:30 at Grand Valley High School.

GIRARD PACKS THEIR BAGS FOR DISTRICTS

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GIRARD OH- Girard finished their final home match of the year in style on Thursday night. The top seeded Indians had no trouble sweeping the conference rival Niles for the third time this season. (25-11 25-12 25-11)

 

Lauren Pallone held the lead in kills for the offense. She finished with 16. Bree Latell contributed 9 kills to the cause.  Allison Durkin found all of her hitters in rhythm finishing with 30 assists.   Bailey Walters led the back row grabbing 12 digs. Latell went down and got 9 digs.  Girard had 22 aces as a team, Walters and Latell both had 6 to lead the way.

Girard advances to the district semifinals with the win. They are lined up with 9th seeded Aurora. That game is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:00 at Jefferson Area High School.

LAKEVIEW DOESN’T FALTER TO CONFERENCE FOE

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COLUMBIANA OH- They say it’s hard to beat a team three times in a season. That is exactly what Lakeview would have to do if they wanted a trip to the district semifinals. The Bulldogs didn’t waiver an inch as they swept Poland for the third time this season to advance. (25-13 25-15 25-9)

Emma Schmader and Tara Lytle both took the team lead in kills with 10 a piece.  Maggie Pavlansky had a productive night setting with 25 assists.  Maddie Bayus led the defense in the back row gathering 14 digs.  Brooke Schneider served well gathering 14 service points.

Lakeview advances to the district semifinals where they’ll match up with a fellow state ranked team in Crestview. First serve is set for 6:00 at Grand Valley High School on Wednesday.

MORE RECORDS FALL AS REBELS GO ON TO DISTRICTS

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COLUMBIANA OH- Crestview Volleyball has seen a lot of records fall this season as they have stormed to a 20-2 record. In their sectional final against Waterloo on Thursday night they saw another record broken as Abbey Emch eclipsed the most kills any Rebel has had in a season. Emch now sits at 367 kills. The previous record was held by MacKenzie Daub at 362.  The Rebels swept their way to victory. (25-4 25-3 25-3)

Emch led the offense with 12 kills on the night and also finished with 6 blocks, and 5 digs.  Grace Auer found another double double with 11 kills, and 13 assists.  Lainy Auer also had 13 assists on the night while adding 5 kills.  Alyssa Smotherman’s serve was electric. She had 20 service points and 5 aces.

Crestview advances to the Grand Valley district semifinal where they’ll meet Lakeview. That game is slated for Wednesday at 6:00 at Grand Valley High School in Orwell.

FITCH CLINCHES ADVANCEMENT PAST CHARDON

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CHARDON OH- Austintown Fitch had to hit the road on Tuesday to open up tournament play. As the 27 seed they found themselves squared up with the 22nd seeded Chardon Hilltoppers. Seedings didn’t matter to the Falcons though as they came out with a 4-1 victory on the road. It was the Falcons 5th win of the season.

Stats will be updated when made available. Fitch advances to the sectional final where they’ll duel with 5th seeded Massillon Jackson. That game will take place at Jackson on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7:00. The winner will advance to the district semifinals.

LAKEVIEW CELEBRATES FINAL GAME ON HOME COURT

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CORTLAND OH- Lakeview was voted as the four seed in the OHSAA Division 3 Northeast district. In a tough bracket full of state ranked teams, momentum is important. Lakeview took plenty of momentum forward as they celebrated their final game on their home floor with a sweep to move on to the next round. (25-6 25-8 25-11)

Tara Lytle did her thing in the middle leading the way with 16 kills.  Maggie Pavlansky spent her last night setting in the Lakeview gym leading the Bulldogs with 18 assists. Maddie Bayus had a big final home game as well. Not only did she lead the team in digs with 10, but she also celebrated her 1000th career dig on the court.  Reagan Price led the team in two categories with 2 blocks and 4 aces.

Lakeview moves on to the sectional final on Thursday as they’ll take on NE8 rival Poland for the third time this season. They will be the second game of the night in Crestview.  First serve is set for approximately 7:30.

TURNER BRINGS HOME FIRST PLACE FINISH AT STATE

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COLUMBUS OH- It was a great day for Cardinal Mooney golf as they added a State Champion to their ranks. Rocco Turner shot a two round total a 145 to claim the crown. His Round 1 total was a 74, and he improved his score by three strokes in Round 2 to submit a 71.  Dante Turner was next best on Mooney with a total of 176.  Alex Eckstein was also sub 200 shooting a 183 at state.  Tim Reardon, and Joe Zeno rounded out the scores shooting a 219 and a 254 respectively.

Everyone at YSN would like to congratulate the entire Mooney golf team on a fantastic season.  We look forward to more success come next fall.

2022 DIVISION III VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW

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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:

2022 DIVISION II VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT PREVIEW

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Division II in volleyball features a ton of talent. Not only in the entire state, but just the Northeast district. Plenty of teams with state championship pedigrees fill the district brackets. That being said Girard was voted by those coaches as the overall number 1 seed. The Indians have to go and earn if of course, but that’s a big sign of respect to a Girard team that seems to be striding at the right time.  This is your best spot to get the low down on the entire district and what our YSN teams should expect.

Lets start with the overall number one seed Girard.  The Indians will once again be in the Jefferson district. They got to this district championship last season but fell short.  The next highest seed in the district is the second seeded Marlington Dukes. The Dukes had an opportunity to head up their own district but chose to go after Girard and let Notre Dame Cathedral Latin be a top seed in Streetsboro. It’s an interesting decision, and one that might bode well for Girard.  It made NDCL’s decision to go away from Girard’s district easy.  If Marlington took the Streetsboro district, maybe powerhouse NDCL slides with Girard.

The Dukes present a solid threat to Girard’s run as well there’s no doubt about that. Marlington is 17-3 on the season and are coming off an EBC Championship.  The Dukes carry 4 players with more than 100 kills, but they are without a doubt led by sophomore Lauren Graffice who has baffled opponents this season and racked up 247 kills.  Their setter Jenelle Swisher  is a big reason why they have 4 hitters with over 100 kills. She has 494 assists at the moment.

Aurora is a team to keep an eye on as well for Girard. The Green machine has moved from Division I to Division II and they have given the bigger teams on YSN’s wall problems. They are used to high level volleyball.  Their 13-6 on the season and have a couple of big wins over big teams.  They are led by junior Brooke Gecina with over 180 kills. Gecina is a all round volleyball player that plays club for the Ignite program.  If numbers went chalk Girard would meet Aurora in the district semifinal.

Other YSN teams that are in this district are #7 Howland (15-6) #11 Ursuline (13-6) #13 Edgewood (11-7) #21 Struthers (5-14) #23 Niles (3-16) #25 Chaney (0-13) #26 East (3-14).

Complete Bracket:

YSN has four teams that went into the Streetsboro district to try their luck with NDCL.  The highest seed  in the YSN family in the Streetsboro district is the 5 seed Jefferson. The Falcons might be the biggest surprise out of the season. They lost a very good senior class, including Taylor Skinner who statistically was the NE8’s best blocker a season ago.  They just have one senior on the team in Remi Ryan, but she’s one of the best leaders you can ask for, and her coaches would attest to that. Ryan and Chloe O’Rourke have gotten together for a combined   506 kills.  Their setter Helaina Edgar is a special talent that spreads the ball around. She had 48 assists in Jefferson’s win over the district’s 1 seed Girard.  That win proves when they’re on, Jefferson can beat anybody.

West Branch is the 6 seed right behind Jefferson.  The Warriors sit at 15-5. They definitely have the hitters to contend. Claire Brunner, Mikayln Fitts, and Olivia Showalter all put in great work with Hannah Rush. Rush is their setter that is a member of the 1000 assists club. Their biggest asset though might be their defense. Ragan Greeneisen leads a great back row that makes life easy for a setter at the caliber that Rush is at.  Don’t sleep on West Branch in this bracket.

Canfield is now loving life in Division II their tough schedule garnered some respect and they earned a 8 seed. Their senior leadership will carry them in tournament games. Parker Wilkins in my opinion is the best libero in the area. She gets the ball where it needs to go. That helps Canfield’s offense because their biggest weapon might be their middle Abby Muckleroy.  To set middle blockers you got have good passing, and Canfield definitely does.  They can also go outside to hitters like Maddy Cleevely who has 138 kills on the season.  Riley Kinkade has 1000 assists in her career for a reason.  She gets the ball to the right places.  Canfield has been begging to be out of Division I for a while, now it’s time for the Cardinals to show up.

Salem also finds themselves in this district. They are 4-14 on the season and will open their district tournament against EBC rival West Branch.  Both districts get started with games on October 18th.

Obviously NDCL will be the favorite in the bracket as the 3 seed.  Last season NDCL won the district championship before losing to Lake Center in the regionals.  Caroline Jurevicious is without a doubt the Lions leader. She’s one of the best players in Northeast Ohio, maybe one of the best in the state. She is committed to play at the next level at Nebraska which is a volleyball powerhouse in the Big 10.  She has 272 kills on the season to this point. They’ll be a tough beat, but outside of Jurevicious, the Lions don’t have anyone with more than 100 kills to this point.

Complete Bracket: