Five area teams ranked in first D-II state poll

The Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association released its first poll of the season, and five NewsHerald coverage area teams are featured in the Division II poll.

Gilmour, Lake Catholic, NDCL, Kenston and Beaumont are among the top 20, with the Lancers topping the poll after getting 25 of 36 first-place votes.

The Lancers (8-2) recently dropped their first two games of the season in five-set fashion to Notre

Dame Academy from Kentucky and Seton, which is eighth in the Division I poll. Gilmour has dropped four sets in all other matches this season.

Leading the way for Gilmour is Kathryn Randorf. Last year’s Ohio Gatorade player of the year for volleyball and two-time News-Herald player of the year currently is second in the coverage area with kills per set, averaging 4.8.

It isn’t a one-player show for Gilmour, with players like Laney Klika (5.5 digs per set), Ella Jackson (10.5 assists per set) and Sabrina

Gremm (3 kills per set) all in the top 10 in their respective categories. The defending state champions have the weapons to get back to the state title game.

Trailing the Lancers are two teams from the Crown Conference, Lake Catholic (9-3, 3-0 Crown) and NDCL (7-4, 1-2 Crown) who come in at fourth and seventh respectively. The Cougars and Lions take the court in a big game on Sept. 23.

Lake Catholic’s three losses on the season are to St. Joseph Academy, which is fourth in the Division I poll, and a pair of losses to Gilmour.

Under first-year coach Kara Oster, the Cougars look to at least match last year’s postseason run when Lake Catholic advanced to the regional semifinals.

The Cougars have a quartet of dangerous players on the front line with Jessica Wilson (3.4 kills per set), Schaefer (2.2 kills per set) and Katie Sowko (2.5 kills per set) are all in the top 30 of the area. They are joined by Hannah Pattie who has recorded 300 assists through Lake Catholic’s 12 games on the season.

On the opposite side, the Lions have the area’s kill leader Caroline Jurevicius (5.4 per set) and Eva Wheeler who is third in the area for assists per set at 9.4. NDCL has had an upand-down start to their season after being state finalists last season, and with Lake Catholic and a rematch with Beaumont on the schedule will test the Lions in the coming weeks.

Kenston (8-3, 3-0 WRC) came in at eighth in the poll, and it’s been a duo in the front row and one in the back row that led the Bombers to win their first eight games. Julia Sell (68 kills), Peyeton Pampush (62 kills) and Maria Insana (194 digs) have stepped into leadership roles that a young Kenston squad needed.

First-year head coach Christian Jolley has already equaled the number of wins Kenston had last season, when the Bombers finished 8-13. While they have lost the past three, the Bombers are still atop the Western Reserve Conference.

Rounding out the bunch is Beaumont (5-4, 3-1 Crown) in 18th, tied with Kettering Alter. The Blue Streaks came off of a win over NDCL on Sept. 14, but fell in their past three games.