Crestview senior Abbey Emch was named a Div. V first team All-Ohioan by the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association. (Photo by Ron Firth)

Crestview’s volleyball team rolled to an impressive 25-1 record this season that included a Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Division title and the school’s sixth straight district title.

The honors also rolled in from the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association as coach Alisha Auer was named Div. V Coach of the Year, while junior outside hitter/setter Alaina Auer and senior outside and middle hitter Abbey Emch were named first team All-Ohioans in Div. V.

“I am honored to be Coach of the Year for Div. V this season,” Auer said. “We had a very successful season and had a lot of fun along the way. I am thankful for the players I have coached over the past 20 years and hope to have more good years to come.”

The Rebels finished as the No. 2 ranked team in Div. V in the state coaches poll behind powerhouse Mentor Lake Catholic.

Emch had a career like no other at Crestview. With the University of Pittsburgh recruit on the floor the Rebels went 102-6 in four years, including being unbeaten at home.

“Abbey is an outstanding, versatile volleyball player and has been a big part of Crestview volleyball over the past four years,” Alisha Auer said. “We will miss her in our gym but are very excited to see what her future holds. Abbey holds our match, season and career records in kills and blocks and these will stand for a very long time. Abbey has been a lot of fun to coach!”

In her senior season, Emch had 508 kills, a 58.4% kill rate, a .501 hit percentage, 64 aces, 201 service points, 37 blocks, 237 digs and five assists.

In 338 career sets, Emch had 1,577 kills, a 53.6% kill rate, a .501 hit percentage, 206 aces, 791 points, 317 blocks, 732 digs and 32 assists.

Alaina Auer continued being a versatile and valuable part of Crestview’s team.

“Lainy is a very talented, powerful volleyball player who has played many important roles in her three years as a starter,” mother and coach Alisha Auer said. “She is a setter, outside hitter and also plays middle back for us all in the same game. She will play any position the team needs and excels wherever we put her. We are very excited to have Lainy back for one more season.”

Alaina had a career-high 315 kills in her junior season with 77 aces, 232 service points, 21 blocks, 183 digs and 235 assists.

For her career, Alaina has 630 kills, 187 aces, 665 digs and 1,081 assists.

Columbiana senior libero Ava Heinrich led the Clippers to a 22-2 record and the Eastern Ohio Athletic Conference championship for the second straight season.

For her effort, the four-year starter and three-year captain was named second team Div. V All-Ohio.

“Ava has energy and a positive attitude that is infectious, she is often more excited when her teammates do something well than when she does something well,” Columbiana coach Jennifer Martin said. “She is an unwavering support to her peers and often takes the time to provide guidance and encouragement, helping her teammates strive for their personal bests. Ava is a great leader, an all around amazing athlete and now holds five records for Columbiana volleyball.”

The five records include: serve percentage for a season with 95 percent in 2024; most aces in a season (112 in both the 2023 and 2024 seasons); most service points in a career (832); most aces in a career (354) and highest serve reception percentage for a career at 93.3%.

In her senior season she had 20 kills, 112 aces, 227 service points, 333 digs and 47 assists.

Wellsville senior Presley Stokes ended her career as the most decorated Tiger in school history as she was named to the All-Ohio Div. VII second team.

This is Stokes’ forth time on All-Ohio as she was a third-team choice her freshman and junior years and second team her sophomore year.

“Presley has been a leader on her high school team all four years,” said Wellsville coach and Stokes’ mother Sherrie Allen. “She is one of the hardest workers and is great with the underclassmen. She has great court vision and is able to make plays for us anytime we needed it. Presley is an all-around player and can play any position. We move her around based on the team we are playing and she switches positions without any complaints. She’s willing to do anything that the team needs.”

Stokes’ capped her senior season with 498 kills (5.7 per set) with a .403 hit percentage. She had 83 aces and 73 service points, while posting 26 blocks and 255 digs. She added a career high 228 assists.

In 359 career sets, Stokes had a school-record 1,944 kills and 335 aces. She also totalled 554 service points with 191 total blocks, 1,215 digs and 721 assists.

Stokes will continue her career at Youngstown State University next fall.

Honorable mentions included West Branch senior libero/setter Ragan Greeneisen in Div. IV, East Liverpool junior outside hitter Ava Green in Div. IV, Columbiana senior setter/outsider hitter Ellie Jackson in Div. V and East Palestine middle and outside hitter Elle Berger in Div. VI.

Greeneisen helped the Warriors to a 17-8 record as she had 365 serve attempts with 65 aces and 204 service points. She had nine kills 569 serve receptions, 76 assists and 365 digs.

For her career, she had 1,075 serve attempts with 120 aces and 414 service points. She added 29 kills, 2,264 serve receptions, 203 assists and 1,278 digs.

Green was a key piece of the attack in the Potters’ 18-6 season. She played 81 sets and had a career-high 371 kills with a kill rate of 42.5%. She added 25 aces and 134 service points along with 18 blocks, 245 digs and six assists.

Jackson, who also played golf during volleyball season, was a big piece as Columbiana captain in the Clippers’ 22-2 season which included an outright EOAC championship.

In her senior season, Jackson had 167 kills, 33 aces, 152 service points, six blocks, 200 digs and 342 assists.

Jackson finished her career with an overall serving percentage of 97.1%, a school record. Jackson had 1,120 attempts from the service line with only 32 errors in her four years on varsity. She also had a total of 179 career aces.

Berger totaled 181 kills, 31 aces, 120 service points, 380 digs and 19 assists for the Bulldogs.