Pleasant senior Kam Cocherl has joined the most exclusive club in Marion County athletics, becoming only the ninth athlete in more than 45 years to win the Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month award four times in a high school career. Cocherl was named the September winner for girls, and she is the first volleyball player ever to earn a place in what local sports followers call the Fahey Four.
Cocherl, an outside hitter and defensive specialist for the Spartans, joins a short list that includes River Valley wrestler Hadyn Daniels, Marion Harding basketball player Ariyah Douglas, Ridgedale softball player Hannah Ferguson, Marion Harding gymnast Ashleigh Lindsey, River Valley golfer Caden Orewiler, Marion Harding basketball player Shawna Dyer, Pleasant tennis player Maaria Husain and Marion Harding wrestler Jeff Ratliff. She is only the second Pleasant athlete on the list, after Husain.
The honor reflects a senior season that has reached well beyond Marion County. Cocherl is a two-time All-USA Ohio Top 25 selection by USA Today Ohio Network journalists and is expected to become a three-time All-Ohio pick by the state coaches association. She leads Division V in hitting percentage at .526, ranks second in Ohio in any division, and stands 11th nationally in the category, according to MaxPreps. She owns every hitting record at Pleasant.
Through the regular season she has recorded 383 kills, 57 aces, 267 service points, 28 blocks, 159 digs and 189 service receptions. More important to Cocherl and her teammates, Pleasant is 23-0 and has yet to drop a set in 2026 as district play begins Tuesday, October 27.
Her coach is also her grandmother, Kory Ute, who says the individual awards barely register with her star. Ute noted that Cocherl never asks about all-league honors after conference meetings and stays focused on the team. Cocherl herself said the conference schedule did not test the Spartans as much as the tournament will, and that the group has to keep improving as the opponents get harder.
That focus comes from two unfinished runs. Pleasant lost in the state final when Cocherl was a sophomore and in the state semifinal when she was a junior. This fall, she and the Spartans are trying to finish the job and bring home a state championship trophy before she graduates.
Cocherl has already signed her next chapter: she will play NCAA Division I volleyball at Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Conference and plans to start there in January. She credits Pleasant and her coaches for preparing her, played year-round for the Columbus-area Mintonette club program, and says she has taken training and diet more seriously as college approaches. First, though, comes the district tournament and one last run with a perfect record on the line.
Photo: Todd Ryburn, CC BY