Girls volleyball: Kamryn Heldreth propels Highland to SL American win over Copley

GRANGER TWP. — The Highland volleyball team's hopes for a seventh straight Suburban League American Conference title are still alive. A ton of Hornets are responsible for that, but none more than senior Kamryn Heldreth, who had 28 kills and five blocks Tuesday in a thrilling 25-13, 25-27, 15-25, 27-25, 15-11 conference win over Copley. The Hornets (9-5, 7-2) began the night a game back of Aurora, which was 12-4, 7-1 prior to Tuesday, in the SL American, but the Greenmen still have to play Copley (10-6, 6-3), which beat Highland in three sets on Aug. 28, and several other decent league foes. All league teams have five SL American matches remaining, but Highland has finished playing the Indians and Greenmen, going 1-1 against each. "It was definitely a must win for us," Heldreth said. "It gives us a better chance of getting our seventh straight Suburban League (American title). It's very important to us. I've been on varsity for four years, and it would stink losing that streak in my final year." Highland, which trailed two sets to one and was down 22-20 and 25-24 in the fourth, had plenty of heroes. In addition to Heldreth, big-swinging Samantha Ross had 12 kills and Allysa Koehler had eight, including two key putdowns in the final set, two blocks and an ace. "It got my adrenaline going," Koehler said of her first kill in the final set, which put Highland up 11-7. "It helped me put the next one down." Libero Carley Niese had 32 digs and Ross had 17 for the Hornets, while Payton Hrics had 26 assists and Emma Tremonte had 23. The match-saving moments came late in the fourth set. Three points from losing, the Hornets outscored the Indians 7-3. Emeri Gausman and Koehler had crucial blocks before Ross closed the set with a resounding kill. Highland actually trailed 25-24 but tied on Heldreth's deep kill and got a Copley hitting error before Ross ended the set. The only time the Hornets trailed in the fifth set was 2-1. Heldreth again came up with big kills, including one that led to a bloody nose for Koehler, who had to run to the locker room to change her white uniform top from No. 14 to No. 11 and played the rest of the match with a tissue stuffed in her right nostril. "When Kamryn got a kill, I threw my arms up and hit my nose and it started bleeding," she said with a laugh. "Not my proudest moment." Highland dominated the first set behind five kills from Heldreth, two aces from Ross and quality serving from Ava Andrews. The Indians rallied to win the second behind the hitting of Kalynn Stoner, who finished with a team-high 18 kills, Meryn Stacy (12) and Angelina Cerra (12). "It's super important," Koehler said of the win. "We've won six straight Suburban League (American) titles and we needed this to have a chance to keep that going. We're going into a new alignment next year (the SL National), so we want to go out winning this last one (in the American)." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.