Unique hitters highlight central-Ohio area girls volleyball
Sunday, August 20, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Shekinah Christian junior Hailey Campagna (center) sends a shot over the net during a scrimmage at Jonathan Alder on Aug. 16. Photo: Michael Rich
Hailey Campagna was looking for something else to try after a severe ankle injury prematurely ended a promising gymnastics career. So, her mother, Maria, suggested giving volleyball a try.
Campagna, now a junior on the Shekinah Christian girls volleyball team, fell in love with the sport and has turned herself into one of the best players in the state.
“I did gymnastics for 10 years – that was my sport that I absolutely loved,” Campagna said. “My mom always played volleyball when she was in high school. She went to all these sand tournaments. She was like, ‘Hailey, you should really try volleyball. You’re super strong anyway and I think you’d be really good at it.’ I played a little sand volleyball for a church group and it was fun.”
Campagna began playing indoor volleyball as an eighth-grader and has blossomed. In two seasons with the Flames, she has 1,009 kills, 650 digs, 163 aces and 48 blocks, earning first-team all-state and all-league and Division IV district Player of the Year honors last season.
“I am a gym rat,” Campagna said. “I’m always in the gym working out. (Gymnastics) was my foundation for my strength. Gymnastics has discipline – working out all the muscles that you have to work in certain ways. Having body control and knowing how to use your body and having strength with it – I feel like it really translates to volleyball.”
Like Campagna, some of the top hitters in the area in Pickerington Central’s Myriah Massey, Olentangy Orange’s Lily Barron and Madison Cugino, Highland’s Kameron Stover and Dublin Scioto’s Alec Rothe each bring something unique to the game.
“We have a lot of good talent in central Ohio this year,” Rothe said. “It’s becoming a thing that people are wanting to see and be a part of. A lot of them are multisport athletes and it helps. It’s really cool.”
Last season, Campagna led Shekinah Christian with 577 kills and 389 digs and added 89 aces and 17 blocks.
The Flames went 23-2 overall and 12-0 to win the Mid-Ohio Christian Athletic League, ending Delaware Christian’s three-year run as champions.
Campagna, a Dublin resident, has played only one year of club volleyball because of ankle injuries. She hurt her left ankle in gymnastics, reinjured it trying to play club ball after her eight-grade season and then hurt her right ankle, costing her a chance to play club after her freshman year.
“She’s very strong and a lot of that comes from her gymnastics background,” Flames coach Colleen Showalter said. “(She has) just a natural physical ability. She’s not only gifted at volleyball physically, but she has an incredible mind for the sport. She soaks up everything.”
Myriah Massey of Pickerington Central hits the ball against host Dublin Scioto on Aug. 17. Photo: John Hulkenberg
‘I want to keep doing it’
While Campagna got her first taste of volleyball in the sand, Pickerington Central’s Massey is pursuing beach volleyball at the next level.
Massey, who was first-team all-district and OCC-Buckeye Division co-Player of the Year with teammate Amari Walker, now a graduate, is committed to play beach at Florida State.
“When I was nine or 10, my mom (Tabitha Furlong) made me do beach volleyball as conditioning,” Massey, a senior outside hitter. “I actually hated it at first because it’s so hard to get used to – running in the sand versus running on a court. Now, I love it so much.”
Last fall, Massey and Ashley Prater of Lakewood Ranch, Florida finished second at the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships in Dikilli, Turkey.
How did she fall in love with the sport?
“This sounds super shallow, but when me and my partner (Kayleigh Schmehl, now a senior at Olentangy Berlin) started winning,” Massey said. “We used to get crushed because we didn’t know what we were doing. Then we won U12 USA Nationals and I was like, ‘Oh O.K., I actually like this. I want to keep doing it.’
“I just met so many new friends. I think it’s more of an inclusive community and I think it’s because of how small it is. So, everybody knows everybody. I just love that about it.”
She also led the Tigers with 316 kills and 55 aces and added 216 digs and 28 blocks. Central went 21-5 overall and 10-0 to win the league outright.
“She’s so versatile,” Central coach Jeanne Krueger said. “She can play with the best of them and she can play all the way around. If Myriah had chosen to play indoor, I think she would have been a six-rotation player.”
Massey believes playing beach has helped her indoor game at Central.
“You do jump higher and run faster,” Massey said. “Your footwork on the court has to be a little bit different. The indoor game is more fast-paced. You have to have quicker reaction time. In beach, there’s two people, so you’re running around more. There’s not as much swinging. You’re more shooting around a block. It’s a lot more running.”
And running in sand isn’t easy.
“I used to play beach when I was younger and I used to play against her,” Cugino said. “It was just for fun. But it’s so hard, I was like, ‘I’m going to stick to indoor.’”
Olentangy Orange’s Madison Cugino (11) tips a shot over the net during a scrimmage at Highland on Aug. 17. Photo: Michael Rich
‘We’re just so much alike’
Cugino is one of two returning senior outside hitters for Orange along with Barron. Other than their height differences (Barron is 6-foot-2 and Cugino is 5-foot-9), it’s hard to tell them apart. They have a personality test to prove it.
Pioneers coach Katie Duy had her team take the CliftonStengths assessment earlier this summer and Barron and Cugino matched on their top three traits – competitiveness, leadership and focus.
“We’re just so much alike,” Cugino said. “The top one was competitiveness and of course we got the same one for that. We’re just so much like in the competitive aspect – just wanting to win and be first. It’s so fun playing with her because we just push each other so much. We’ve been playing together since we were 11 and we just know each other really well. It’s so fun to play with her because we’re so much alike.”
Barron, who was honorable mention all-state, first-team all-district and all-league, is a more traditional hitter.
“There’s not that much (different about us) – especially volleyball-wise,” Barron said. “We’ve always been competitive, hardworking people. She’s a libero in club (with Mintonette Sports) and I play the same position. That’s probably the only difference between us.”
Cugino, who was first-team all-district and all-league, is committed to play at Gonzaga as a libero.
“I used to be a hitter when I was younger until (U15 club ball) when I switched to libero,” she said. “It’s fun that I still get to (be a hitter) for school. Being an attacker as well really helps me understand the game better. When I’m playing libero for club, having my hitting knowledge from school, it gives me read the hitter better.”
She led the Pioneers with 52 aces and was second in kills (214) and digs (291).
A Houston commit, Barron had 323 kills to lead the team and added 215 digs, 31 aces and 24 blocks for Orange, which went 15-9 overall and 8-2 in the OCC-Central to place second behind rival Olentangy Liberty (9-1).
“We’re really lucky to have not only two experienced players on the floor, but they’re both excellent leaders for us as well,” Duy said. “They both have been playing at such a high level – not only in high school, but in club as well.”
Sophomore Emma Cugino, Madison’s younger sister, is also a talented libero. Emma had 458 digs last season and her emergence allowed Madison to play the front line.
“We’re fortunate to also have another person (Emma) that can play that position that’s very good and that has a high IQ as well,” Duy said. “We’re really lucky to have two liberos on our team.”
Highland’s Kameron Stover (3) goes for a kill during a scrimmage against Olentangy Orange on Aug. 17 in Sparta. Photo: Michael Rich
Stover a legacy at Highland
Stover is a little undersized at 5-foot-8, but she more than makes up for it with her athleticism.
The junior right-side hitter and left-handed swinger was third-team all-state and first-team all-district and all-league leading the Fighting Scots with 443 kills while adding 278 digs, 62 aces and 35 blocks.
“(Kameron Stover) has a 24-inch vertical where she’s touching about 9-foot-6,” Highland coach Rob Terrill said. “She loves to swing, but she plays all the way around. She’s very a good athlete. I think her size helped her growing up because in club, she played a number of different positions. So, now that she’s going into her junior year, she’s just comfortable playing anywhere on the court.”
Stover is the younger sister of 2022 graduate Kendall Stover, who is now playing at Grand Valley State.
The Stover’s are a legacy. Kameron and Kendall’s father, Ty, is Highland’s football coach. He played football and their mother, Melissa, played volleyball at Bowling Green.
Kameron has a twin brother, Colton, who is Highland’s starting quarterback. Their younger brother, Kane, is a freshman multisport athlete.
Cousin, Garrett, is a senior at Big Walnut and is committed to play football at Ohio State where another cousin, Cade, plays linebacker.
“My parents pushed me to be the best I can and so did my siblings,” Kameron said. “Obviously, looking up to my cousins. They are going great places. So, I would like to be like them. Just like my older sister and get where she’s at and push myself to get there.”
Highland, which went 23-1 overall and 13-1 to share the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference championship with Galion, features another legacy in junior setter Larsen Terrill, the coach’s daughter. She had 809 assists, 309 digs and 66 aces last season and was first-team all-state, all-district and all-league.
“She’s very calm and collected,” Kameron Stover said. “When I’m struggling to get the ball over, she’ll find places (to put the ball) where my strengths are. She’s my person, so I can go to her whenever I need help.”
‘She’s kind of a unicorn’
Rothe is a legacy in her own right after twin older sisters Ashleigh and Karleigh were three-sport athletes in volleyball, basketball and lacrosse at Scioto. The twins, who graduated in 2021, play lacrosse at Grand Valley State.
Alec Rothe, a senior committed to play volleyball at Florida, was second-team all-state, first-team all-district and OCC-Capital Player of the Year. She led the Irish with 341 kills and 80 blocks and added 198 digs and 49 aces. Scioto went 20-5 overall last season and shared the league title with Big Walnut at 13-1.
Alec Rothe credits basketball and lacrosse for making her a better volleyball player.
“No matter what, being a multisport athlete – no matter what sport you’re playing – is probably the most beneficial thing you can do as an athlete,” she said. “Even if you have a standout sport, playing multiple sports helps because it works different muscle groups. You’re getting more coordinated and you’re building strength and building connections with (different) teams and all that kind of stuff.”
Alec, who is a 6-foot-3 middle blocker, is leaping to about 10-feet-5.
“We thought she was good last year and the year before that,” Scioto coach Jackie Wilson said. “But she’s really made a change coming into this season. She’s playing bigger, her vertical is better … she’s just on a whole other level compared to what we saw a year ago. I think she’s gotten better defensively as a blocker.”
Alec Rothe plays six rotations with the Irish.
“She’s kind of a unicorn,” Wilson said. “She’s been working on her back row attacks so she can be an offensive threat when she plays back row for us.”
Alec Rothe is missing out on the beginning of the high school season because she’s participating in the International Volleyball Federation Women’s U21 World Cup as a member of the U.S. National Team.
“It has been my dream for as long as I’ve been playing volleyball,” she said. “I know it’s the thing to say – everybody wants to be on the national team. But I’ve been to two tryouts and cut both times. Ever since those tryouts, I’ve had a fire inside of me that I didn’t know I was capable of having. I think that fire has inspired me to not just settle, but to keep wanting more. I know it’s within reach.”