ASHLAND, Ohio — Ashland junior setter Arienne Vaughn has been named first-team All-Ohio in Division III, headlining five area volleyball players honored when the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association announced its annual All-Ohio teams for 2026, the Mansfield News Journal reported Nov. 10.
Vaughn finished the season with 749 assists along with 100 kills, 39 aces, 43 blocks and 194 digs, the News Journal reported, and she broke the Arrows’ career assists record along the way. She currently sits at 2,032 career assists, with another season still to come.
Ashland placed a second player on the Division III teams. Sophomore Makenna Oslie landed on the second team after being named District 6 Player of the Year, the News Journal reported. Oslie finished her season with 355 kills, 85 aces, 31 blocks, 190 digs and 261 receptions, and she recorded her 500th career kill in the district semifinal.
The honors extended to the bench as well. Arrows coach Jenise Vaughn was the lone recipient in Division III of the Coaches Achievement Award, the News Journal reported, after guiding the program to its first Ohio Cardinal Conference title since 2017, a district runner-up finish for just the fourth time ever, and a school-record 23 wins in a single season.
In Division VI, Hillsdale senior Jillian Cowger earned third-team honors, the News Journal reported. Cowger powered the Falcons to the most wins in program history, 21, and a regional runner-up finish for just the second time ever, finishing with 394 kills, 22 aces and 79 blocks.
Two more area players were selected as honorable mentions. Crestview junior Zoe Kuhn’s 338 kills led her team, along with 22 aces, 45 blocks, 335 digs and 249 receptions, after leading the Cougars to a district runner-up finish, their best since 2018, the News Journal reported.
Loudonville senior Sophie Shultz closed a historic year for the Redbirds. According to the News Journal’s reporting, Shultz broke the single-game kills record with 31 against Clear Fork — the previous mark of 25 was held by Leigh Ann Edmondson in 2007 — set the single-season kills record with 375, and shattered the career kills record, finishing with 1,003 after recording her 1,000th in the final match of the season.
The five honorees span three divisions and four programs — Ashland and Hillsdale, Crestview and Loudonville — a sign of how deep volleyball talent runs in the Ashland and Richland County area. All-Ohio selections are the statewide coaches association’s end-of-season recognition, placing the area’s best alongside the top players in each of Ohio’s seven divisions.
Vaughn’s first-team selection puts her in statewide company. The Division III first team, as announced by the coaches association and reported by the News Journal, also includes Frankie Brkic of Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, Evelyn Hamman of Chillicothe, Abbi Mader of Tippecanoe, Maria Schulte and Savanna Stacey of Archbishop McNicholas, and Kenley Von Handorf of Bellbrook. Archbishop McNicholas coach Darlene Tierney was named Division III Coach of the Year, the News Journal reported.
The season behind the honors was a milestone run for Ashland. The Arrows’ Ohio Cardinal Conference title was the program’s first since 2017, their district runner-up finish was just the fourth in program history, and their 23 wins set a single-season school record, the News Journal reported — achievements that also earned coach Jenise Vaughn her Coaches Achievement Award as the only Division III recipient.
Area programs have been collecting statewide honors across fall sports this month. In cross country, Ridgedale’s Elliot Weston led Marion County’s All-Ohio haul, and on the volleyball court in northwest Ohio, Findlay took an eight-match win streak into its G-MAC quarterfinal with Tiffin. Girls’ teams are still playing for state titles, too — unbeaten Hudson carried a 20-0 mark into a state semifinal.
For Vaughn and Oslie, the story is not finished. Both are underclassmen — a junior setter who already owns her school’s career assists record, and a sophomore who has already passed 500 career kills — which means Ashland’s core returns next fall with its conference title to defend.
What happens next for the honorees is the offseason: club volleyball, training, and, for the seniors in the group, college decisions. For Ashland, Hillsdale, Crestview and Loudonville, the All-Ohio list is the final word on a 2026 season that included a conference championship, a regional final and a string of school records — all of them now part of the programs’ history.