‘We kind of clicked’: Pickerington North girls volleyball coming together in another state bid
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
By Michael Rich
mrichnotwealthy@gmail.com
Pickerington North’s Makiaya Turner hits at the net during the Panthers’ win over Thomas Worthington in the district final at Central Crossing last week. Photo: Kevin Rouch
Sitting on the sidelines because of a back injury, senior outside hitter Makiaya Turner could see things coming together for the Pickerington North girls volleyball team. The Panthers were firing on all cylinders during a non-league match at Olentangy Berlin Sept. 20.
It had been a season of change after graduating seven seniors from the 2024 team that made the state tournament for the first time in program history – among them outside hitter Dylan Hunt, the program’s all-time leader in kills, who is now playing at the University of New Hampshire.
Turner, a Bowling Green commit, was slated to be one of the team’s top returners along with junior setter Madison Smith.
After years of playing volleyball year-round, including with Mintonette Sports’ national club team, Turner was dealing with a back injury that cost her most of this season at North.
“I had stress fractures in my back in three places,” Turner said. “I was out for two months initially from July to about September. I had switched doctors one time (and) gone to multiple physical therapy sessions and, finally, for our last game of the first round of conference play (against Gahanna Lincoln Sept. 23), I was cleared to play.
“(I’ve) definitely had my ups and downs – especially mentally – because I’m balancing it with school. But I think it’s actually going very well. I’ve progressed a lot faster than I thought I was going to.”
The Panthers, who are 17-7 overall and winners of the OCC-Ohio Division for the fourth consecutive season, suffered their only league loss against Gahanna in Turner’s return match.
“I feel like in the beginning, we were still just trying to get used to playing together with losing so many seniors last year,” said Smith, who has 725 assists and 54 aces to lead the Panthers. “When OCC play started, we kind of clicked. (Then) we also got Makiaya back and I feel like that was a really important part of our team’s (success).”
Setter Madison Smith serves for the Pickerington North Panthers in the district final last week at Central Crossing. Photo: Kevin Rouch
North lost four of its first five matches with its only win coming against DeSales. But all were against quality competition, including Olentangy Liberty, Dublin Scioto, Dublin Jerome and Upper Arlington.
“It was kind of a struggle for us early on when we took some losses because we were just trying to figure out who was going to be in (Turner’s) spot,” 11th-year coach April Boudreau said. “We also played a pretty tough schedule to start and our team has basically a brand-new back row this year, except for Makiaya and Madison.
“So, that was the thing we really kind of focused on was our receive and our defense. I feel like that’s coming around and we’re playing much better in those spots right now.”
Senior Alexa Thomas (libero) has 235 digs and junior Shelly Careres (right-side hitter) has 221 digs and senior Addie Gosche (middle hitter) has 72 blocks to the lead North defensively.
Turner was nervous heading into her first match back. She was ready to jump out of her shoes at the first opportunity. But things didn’t work out the way she hoped.
“I swung, it got blocked and then it hit me before it went out of bounds,” she said.
Despite Turner’s injury and a new back row, North found its footing. Turner points to the Berlin match as a key victory.
“We were communicating, no balls were hitting the floor (and) everything was getting picked up,” Turner said. “We were flowing fantastically and communicating. It was an amazing game. Like, we could actually do this.”
After a hiccup against Gahanna the following match, the Panthers have reeled off seven consecutive victories. including a 21-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-22 victory over 15th-seeded Thomas Worthington in a Division I district final on Oct. 23 at Central Crossing.
Addie Gosche (12) and Kayla Diederich go up for the block against Thomas Worthington’s Audrey Waller during the Panthers’ district final win. Photo: Kevin Rouch
Careres has 272 kills, Gosche has 188 and senior Emma Pezzolla (outside hitter) has 128 to lead North on offense.
Turner has 89 kills in eight matches, including a season-high 18 against Thomas.
“She can definitely terminate a ball,” Boudreau said. “That’s something we definitely count on her for offensively. But she’s also very good in the back row. She reads the ball really well, she’s very fast and she picks up a lot of balls that other kids don’t pick up.”
North, appearing in the regional bracket for the sixth time, faces second-ranked Olentangy Orange (22-2) in a semifinal Oct. 29 at Hilliard Darby. The winner faces Olentangy Liberty or Dublin Jerome in the final Nov. 1 at Darby. The state tournament is Nov. 6-8 at Wright State University’s Nutter Center.
The Panthers defeated the Pioneers in last year’s regional title match to advance to state for the first time. Orange was missing setter Izzy Scholvin because of a foot injury. She was replaced by libero Emma Cugino.
“I think it’s going to be really different because last year, they did have injuries on their team, so their lineup was really different,” Smith said. “They are really good on defense and I feel like their hitters make smart decisions. So, I feel like it’s going to be a different game, but we are ready for it.”
These last couple of seasons are the culmination of years of work, Boudreau said.
“The thing about Pick North’s athletics (programs) is that you get top caliber kids that really put in the effort outside of the season,” she said. “You have parents who will do anything for their kids to be able to reach their potential.
“I feel like we have a really strong coaching staff in our junior high and high school. We have people who know the game (and) are committed to the program. So, all those things really play a part in how much we have grown as a program.”
Pickerington North head coach April Boudreau applauds a Panther point with her team last week at Central Crossing. Photo: Kevin Rouch