Pickerington Central, North girls volleyball teams take different paths to strong seasons

A three-game district semifinal sweep that at least on paper was considered an upset was not the only reason Pickerington Central girls volleyball coach Jeannie Krueger and her players were smiling Oct. 27 at Whitehall.

The Tigers not only derived motivation from a book about dealing with adversity, they embraced any adversity they encountered.

“It’s good for us to have some competition, games that aren’t 25-5 or 25-7,” Krueger said before citing “Be Great,” a book written by area strength coach Charles Schultz. “There’s a chapter in there about fighting adversity. (It says) every day when you wake up, you get in the boat and you can either coast on the water and just get through the day with whatever life throws you, or you can have an oar and paddle through the current of adversity.”

Ninth-seeded Central returned to a second consecutive Division I district final with another dominating year, tying the program record for wins and recording its third undefeated league season, but lost 25-20, 25-21, 19-25, 20-25, 15-12 to sixth-seeded Dublin Coffman in a district final Oct. 29 at Whitehall to finish 21-5 overall.

Junior outside hitter/defensive specialist Myriah Massey, a Florida State beach volleyball commit, led the way with 316 kills, 55 aces and 216 digs to share OCC-Buckeye Division Player of the Year honors with teammate and senior libero Amari Walker.

Massey will enter her senior season 41 kills shy of 1,000 for her career, while Walker finished with 300 digs and 52 aces this fall.

Senior hitter Emma Beretich, a West Virginia commit who earned first-team all-league and honorable mention all-district honors, had 216 kills.

Senior setter Willow Alls had 666 digs and finished with 1,150 in a career that began flourishing midway through the 2021 season, when she took over starting duties. She will play for Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

“I frequently asked my hitters what I can do better to make their swing better and make them have more options. I asked them almost after every (game),” Alls said following a 25-13, 25-21, 25-19 district semifinal sweep of fourth-seeded Olentangy. “During the summer and preseason, that was all we worked on — middle-setter connections and the same with my outsides. I request feedback every time.”

Central, which was 10-0 in the OCC-Buckeye, tied the 2018 team for victories. The Tigers went 21-4 that year and lost in a district semifinal.

•Sitting two matches out of first place halfway through the OCC-Ohio season, North used a stretch of 13 wins in 16 contests and two five-game victories to capture a share of its first league championship in five years.

The Panthers went 15-9 overall, losing 25-23, 25-18, 25-23 to 11th-seeded Watkins Memorial in a district semifinal Oct. 27 at Central Crossing, and 8-2 in the OCC-Ohio to tie Gahanna for first.

North capped league play by outlasting the Lions 24-26, 25-23, 26-24, 16-25, 15-11 on Oct. 13 in the final OCC-Ohio match for both teams.

“We knew we had a chance to take this. It’s been a goal from the first day,” coach April Boudreau said. “We jelled and came together with a lot of energy. We worked our tails off on blocking and defense and got excellent leadership.”

North, which was seeded 14th in the district tournament, lost only to Central (26-24, 25-9, 25-11 on Oct. 4), Gahanna (25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 26-24 on Sept. 20) and Division III district champion Cardington (25-14, 15-25, 27-25 on Sept. 24) over the final six weeks of the season until the district semifinal.

Sophomore hitter Dylan Hunt led the Panthers in kills (308) and was second in digs (178) to earn second-team all-league and honorable mention all-district honors. Junior hitter McKenna Diederich had 195 kills and 30 aces, and senior libero/defensive specialist Kyleigh Bryant had 366 digs and 32 aces.

Bryant finished her career with a program-record 1,124 digs and was named league Player of the Year and first-team all-district.

“We communicated a lot better and talked to each other, especially (between) our setters and hitters,” Diederich said. “We improved a lot all season. Everything came together.”

dpurpura@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekDave

CENTRAL

•Record: 21-5 overall

•OCC-Buckeye standings: Pickerington Central (10-0), Newark (8-2), Reynoldsburg (5-5), Lancaster (4-6), Central Crossing (3-7), Groveport (0-10)

•Seniors lost: Willow Alls, Kendall Beaver, Emma Beretich, Mason Campbell, Sanai Culver, Paige Mock and Amari Walker

•Key returnees: Kennedi Culp, Myriah Massey and Berry Wallace

•Postseason: Def. Hilliard Darby 25-22, 25-9, 25-14; def. Independence 25-4, 25-1, 25-2; def. Olentangy 25-13, 25-21, 25-19; lost to Dublin Coffman 25-20, 25-21, 19-25, 20-25, 15-12 in Division I district final

NORTH

•Record: 15-9 overall

•OCC-Ohio standings: Pickerington North (8-2), Gahanna (8-2), Westerville Central (6-4), New Albany (5-5), Grove City (2-8), Westland (1-9)

•Seniors lost: Brynne Badgett, Kyleigh Bryant, McKenna Diederich and Jordan Kevelder

•Key returnees: DesieRaye Blakely, Katie Honaker, Dylan Hunt, Savanna McIlvain, Erin Piekenbrock and Makaiya Turner

•Postseason: Def. Grove City 25-12, 25-23, 25-15; def. Westerville South 19-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-19; lost to Watkins Memorial 25-23, 25-18, 25-23 in Division I district semifinal

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Pickerington girls volleyball teams enjoy strong seasons