Central Ohio High School Sports Awards: Super 12 girls volleyball finalists announced
Twelve schools are represented on ThisWeek’s Super 12 girls volleyball team.
All the honorees are finalists to be named Captain – our girls volleyball Athlete of the Year.
Our top athletes in all 30 sports will be among the honors revealed during the Central Ohio High School Sports Awards, presented by Encova Insurance and in partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital Sports Medicine and Raising Cane’s. The event’s site, time and date will be announced soon.
To read bios of previously announced honorees, visit dispatch.com/sports/central-ohio-high-school-sports-awards.
Below is the Super 12 for girls volleyball:
Ella Brandewie
School: Hartley
Year: Junior
With this 6-foot-3 middle hitter leading the way, the Hawks went 22-6 and advanced to the state tournament for the eighth time in program history.
Brandewie missed eight regular-season matches while competing for the USA U18 Junior National team but still earned first-team all-district and first-team all-state honors in Division II.
Ella Durham
School: Dublin Coffman
Year: Junior
According to coach Max Miller, Durham has been among the top hitters in the state the last two seasons while leading the Shamrocks to 30 victories.
A 6-0 outside hitter and middle hitter who also made the Super 12 as a sophomore, Durham was first-team all-district and second-team all-state in Division I after finishing with 415 kills, 472 serves received and 160 digs.
Jenna Lucas
School: Watkins Memorial
Year: Senior
After helping the Warriors to a third Division I district runner-up finish in four seasons, this 6-0 middle hitter was named second-team all-state.
Lucas finished with 415 kills, 118 blocks and 233 digs and closed her prep career as the program’s single-season and all-time leader in both kills and blocks. She also led the Warriors to their fourth consecutive LCL-Buckeye Division title.
Myriah Massey
School: Pickerington Central
Year: Sophomore
Massey, an outside hitter and defensive specialist, led the Tigers in kills (329) and aces (36) and was second in digs (205) and third in blocks (35) as Central won its second consecutive league championship and finished one win short of its first Division I district title since 1993.
Massey was named OCC-Buckeye Player of the Year, first-team all-district and honorable mention all-state.
Mercedes Motton
School: Watterson
Year: Junior
Listed at 5-7, Motton’s athleticism helped her make the state girls wrestling tournament last winter and become one of the area’s top volleyball players this fall as the Eagles won their fourth consecutive Division I district title.
Motton, who was first-team all-district and third-team all-state, had 239 kills and 83 blocks.
Gabi Moulton
School: Olentangy Liberty
Year: Junior
This setter had a single-season program-record 939 assists, leading the Patriots to their first appearance in the Division I state championship match. They lost 25-21, 24-26, 25-14, 25-19 to Rocky River Magnificat to finish 27-2.
Moulton was first-team all-state. She also shared district Player of the Year honors with Dublin Scioto’s Alec Rothe and was OCC-Central Player of the Year.
Alec Rothe
School: Dublin Scioto
Year: Sophomore
The 6-2 Rothe, a middle hitter, shared district Player of the Year honors with Liberty’s Moulton and was first-team all-league and second-team all-state in Division I. She led the Irish in kills (407) and blocks (67) and finished third in digs (213).
Scioto won its first district championship since 2007 and shared the OCC-Capital title with Big Walnut at 13-1.
Molly Shomock
School: Olentangy Orange
Year: Senior
Shomock had a team-leading 326 kills and also recorded 28 blocks for the Pioneers, who won their sixth consecutive district title before losing to Liberty 25-23, 25-17, 25-21 in a Division I regional final to finish 20-7.
The 5-10 outside hitter/back-row player was a three-year starter. She was named third-team all-state and first-team all-district and all-OCC-Central.
Brooklyn Smith
School: Newark Catholic
Year: Senior
Smith, who became the first player in program history to surpass 1,000 career digs, helped the Green Wave to a Division IV regional runner-up finish and its third consecutive district title.
Also the district’s co-Player of the Year, Smith finished with 424 digs and 417 serves received as Newark Catholic’s libero.
Caroline Speelman
School: Big Walnut
Year: Senior
This outside hitter is Big Walnut’s all-time leader in kills with 1,121. She had 329 kills this season, the most of her career.
Speelman was honorable mention all-state, first-team all-district and the Player of the Year in the OCC-Capital, helping the Golden Eagles capture their fifth league title in six seasons.
Jonna Spohn
School: Olentangy
Year: Junior
Spohn led Olentangy in digs (451) and aces (51), helping the Braves win their second consecutive OCC-Cardinal title.
The libero was honorable mention all-state, first-team all-district and OCC-Cardinal Player of the Year as Olentangy finished 17-7 for its most wins since 2018 (19).
Kendall White
School: Gahanna Lincoln
Year: Senior
White was first-team all-district in Division I as her team was a district runner-up and OCC-Ohio Player of the Year as the Lions were co-champions.
She finished with 210 kills, 251 digs and 397 assists as one of the setters in Gahanna’s 6-2 offense while also seeing action at outside hitter.
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Central Ohio High School Sports Awards: Super 12 girls volleyball finalists announced
