Shelby and Lexington are preparing for the championship title, the postseason is in a three-way battle with Norwalk

SHELBY – When Shelby volleyball coach Katelyn Olewiler looked at the schedule for the 2024 season before Game 1, she left out the Sept. 28 three-way game with Lexington and Norwalk.

If everything went as she had hoped, her Whippets would be in the hunt for the championship that day, as well as preparations to compete in a district championship could begin, and there would be no better way to do so than by taking part in two of the better ones Volleyball programs in the area.

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She must have a crystal ball because that was exactly the scenario before Saturday’s games.

“We definitely want to put in the effort to prepare for tournament time and the rest of our league schedule,” Olewiler said. “This was a great test to find out where our weaknesses lie. It showed us what we need to work on if we want to achieve big things for the rest of the season.”

Shelby ultimately defeated Lexington in straight sets, 25-14 and 25-16, in perhaps his best game of the season, controlling possession and dictating the action throughout the game.

“Beating Lexington is a big deal because we didn’t do particularly well against them last year,” Olewiler said. “We wanted to rehab while keeping last year in mind.”

Shelby’s Madison Henkel dominated the match with kills and blocks on front row balls. With that result, the junior may have helped the Whippets secure first place in the Division IV district tournament.

“We knew we had to come play today because Lexington and Norwalk are a very good team,” Henkel said. “We haven’t had a lot of success with volleyball the last few years, so the win against Lexington is definitely big for us. We have seven seniors who want to make the most of their final season and I love each and every one of them and I. I want to do everything I can to make this a big year for them.

The Whippets fell to Division III Norwalk, 15-1, 25-20 and 25-22 in the second game, but it was a game that only prepared them for what lay ahead.

“The games build our confidence and prepare us to play and work hard in the remaining games this season,” said Henkel. “If we want to achieve our goals, we must not allow ourselves to be disappointed. We’re playing with a lot of energy right now and we’re really looking forward to moving forward with this energy.”

Shelby is in a tight Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title race, tied with Highland and Pleasant at the top of the league. The Whippets play Pleasant on Oct. 8, following two more MOAC games against Ontario and Clear Fork. With three wins, the Whippets have a chance to win a championship, and Saturday’s games against Norwalk and Lexington didn’t just prepare them for that run.

“Both teams have great outside attackers who are similar to the Pleasant girl we will see again later in the season,” Olewiler said. “We were able to compete against them so we can work on our defense by digging out the hard-hit balls, setting up our blocks and how we should line up. That gave us a game plan to compete against the rest. “We have a lot of teams on our league schedule and hopefully we’ll win the championship.”

Lexington is also in the hunt for the championship, tied with Wooster at the top of the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Lady Lex still has games remaining with Ashland, Madison and New Philadelphia, all of which she must win to secure a share of the OCC crown.

Lex lost both matches against Shelby before losing to Norwalk 25-17 and 25-22. In a match where Lex made a solid comeback to keep the lead at just a few points thanks to a spark from All-Ohio outside hitter Ava Brown, who switched to setter.

“I felt like that was a bright spot to come back and come close against last year’s district champion,” Lexington coach Janelle Wyant said. “Those are two great teams we just played against. But I told the girls after the game that they needed to focus on Monday and get back to work to win a championship. These two games prepared us for this.”

It also prepared them for the postseason, as Shelby competes in the same district tournament with Lexington. Lady Lex will keep the film from that first fight and learn from it for a possible rematch.

“We’ll see Shelby and Liberty Benton in the postseason and we should have everything figured out by then,” Wyant said. “We saw some good things with Ava (Brown) moving to setter and Alexis Foster improving every day. We just have to play with what we have and weigh the pros and cons in every game.”

Regardless of the 0-2 mark, Wyant felt that Lady Lex had improved despite some roster changes.

“We knew it was going to be a tough day,” Wyant said. “But you get better by playing against great teams. This is how you improve as a team. They can be angry today, but on Monday they have to get back in the gym and get ready to compete for an OCC title and then turn their focus to a sectional and district tournament.”

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