This past fall sports season saw an impressive diet of competitive volleyball between Brownstown Central, Seymour and Trinity Lutheran.

The Owls had a lot of success heading into the always-tough Providence Sectional, Brownstown won sectionals and Trinity was just one set short of capturing the state championship.

As a result of those three impressive teams having solid seasons, it’s natural that some of athletes would get recognized as some of the premier players in the state of Indiana.

That was the case across the board for the aforementioned programs.

Starting with the 2021 junior all-star roster, Seymour’s Olivia Fish made the cut on the South team.

Fish is a 6-foot-2 outside hitter for the Owls who eclipsed over 1,000 career kills in her Seymour career as a junior and already broke the school record. According to the all-star program, Fish’s favorite quote is, “Talent wins games but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Her future plans are to further her volleyball career at Wake Forest University. Her hero is Michael Jordan because “he was the ultimate leader. He constantly pushed his teammates around him to become better players. Even though he was the best, he worked harder than anyone. I try to model my volleyball career after the same ideals.”

As for the 3A/4A all-star roster, Brownstown’s Reagan Nuss made the South team. Nuss was the setter for the Braves sectional title team this season, and she was also a part of Brownstown’s 2019 team that won the state title.

Nuss’ favorite quote is “F.E.A.R. has two meanings, Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise….The choice is yours.”

Her future plans are to further her volleyball career at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Her hero is her grandpa “because he is there when I need to tell him something important or even something small. I look at the life of my grandpa, and how he has touched the lives of family, friends, and strangers and know that is how I hope to be in life.”

Then there’s Trinity, who had three all-stars on the 1A/2A South team, and those were the Cougars’ three seniors in Ruthie Bingham, Kamzi Gross and Stella Kleffman. Head coach Faith Wilder-Newland was one of the all-star coaches as well.

This Trinity trio advanced to the state finals twice during their Cougar careers, and both times came up just shy in five sets in the title match. But their careers were recognized by being named all-stars.

Gross’ favorite quote is “You get what you work for, not what you wish for.”

She is currently uncommitted but plans to play volleyball at the collegiate level. Her hero is her mom “because she does more than I could ever imagine to take care of me and my family. No matter how busy or rundown she is from a long day of work she still comes home with a smile on her face, and will do whatever it takes to make us happy.”

As for Bingham, her favorite quote was actually the exact same as Gross’.

Bingham is also uncommitted but plans to play volleyball at the collegiate level. Her hero is Cortney Vanliew “because she taught me what hard work and dedication looks like. She’s an amazing athlete and person. She has been a strong support person for me throughout my high school career.”

Last but not least is Kleffman, who transferred to the Cougars from Columbus East but made a major impact right off the bat.

Kleffman’s favorite quote is “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.”

Much like her fellow senior teammates, she is also uncommitted but plans to play volleyball at the collegiate level. Her hero are her parents “because they have sacrificed a lot of their time so that I can play the sport that I love. They are always my number one supporters in life and in volleyball. Without them, I wouldn’t be the person and player that I am today.”

Jackson County is well-represented on the volleyball court, and all five athletes that were named all-stars got to experience game opportunities within the past couple weeks, playing with some of the best players in the state of Indiana.