The 2025 high school girls volleyball season brought two state championships to Cincinnati and a state runner-up to Northern Kentucky.

But more than that, the action on the court each night showcased some of the best talent each state had to offer.

Here are The Enquirer’s 2025 all-city teams for each division in Ohio, plus Northern Kentucky and Indiana.

Pitt volleyball will begin the 2026 campaign with two major tests, as the Panthers were announced as hosts for the Opening Spike Classic, featuring matchups against Kansas and Wisconsin.

The two-day event at Petersen Events Center will be televised nationally on ESPN and see Pitt play the Jayhawks Aug. 28 and Badgers on Aug. 30. Stanford and Wisconsin also play on the event’s first day, followed by the Jayhawks vs. the Cardinal on Day 2.

The Opening Spike Classic debuted last season with the Badgers playing host to matches featuring Kansas, Creighton and Texas.

“We’re excited to kick off opening weekend by hosting three of the best teams in the country,” Pitt coach Dan Fisher said in statement. “Fans can look forward to high-level volleyball right here in Pittsburgh. If we want to be the best, we have to play the best, and we’re doing that right away.”

The No. 1-seeded Panthers (28-4, 18-2 ACC) host No. 4 Minnesota at 7 p.m. Thursday in the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals.

A win over the Gophers would propel the Panthers, who have advanced to the Final Four for the last four consecutive seasons, to the Elite 8, where they’d face the winner of the regional semifinal match between No. 2 SMU and No. 3 Purdue.

Next year’s Opening Spike Classic participants — Stanford, Kansas and Wisconsin — are all also currently competing for a national title.

No. 4 Kansas faces No. 1 Nebraska on Friday night, while No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 Wisconsin square off in the afternoon.

The Opening Spike Classic is organized by PlayFly Sports in collaboration with JMI Sports, exclusive multimedia rights holder for Pitt Athletics.

“We are thrilled to be bringing this event back for a second year and to build on the momentum we created with the event launch last year,” said Michael Neuman, co-head of Playfly Sports Consulting. “The Opening Spike Classic is a celebration of women’s achievements in sports, and there is no better way to recognize that than by bringing together these top college volleyball teams to compete.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association today released its 2025 AVCA All-Americans. Included in the list are three Gannon players – Bengisu Arslan (Ankara, Turkey/Private Çankaya Doga Anatolian), Lauren Atwell (Mars, Pa./Mars Area), and Sydney Wake (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson). It comes after Gannon had four honorable mention All-Americans a year ago, although all graduated.

The Golden Knights are currently in Sioux Falls, SD preparing for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Head coach Matt Darling‘s squad won its second straight Atlantic Regional to advance to the Elite Eight. Gannon is the number seven seed and will face No. 2 seed Concordia-St. Paul, the Central Region champion, at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Makenna Nold of Concordia-St. Paul was named the AVCA Division II Player of the Year.

Arslan is now a two-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-American after previously earning the honor in 2022. The native of Ankara, Turkey was earlier named to the AVCA All-Atlantic Region team for the second time and is also a D2CCA All-Atlantic Region selection.

Gannon’s setter was chosen the PSAC West Athlete of the Year and is now a three-time All-PSAC West selection. She was a first team choice in 2022 and 2025 and was named to the second team in 2024. In addition, she was the 2022 PSAC West Freshman of the Year.

Arslan enters the Elite Eight with has 1,3759 assists, the second-highest season total. In fact, she now owns three of the top nine season assists totals, in the process boosting her career total to 4,481 assists. That is also good for second all-time. She leads the PSAC in assists per set (11.18), good for 10th in Division II.

She also stands second on the team in service aces (46) and third in digs with 298. She now has 1,140 career digs. She is tied for seventh in career service aces (175), along with seventh in sets played (457) and tied for eighth in matches played (128).  

Atwell and Wake are first-time AVCA All-Americans, with Atwell the force at the net and Wake emerging as Gannon’s top hitter. Both were previously named first team AVCA All-Atlantic Region performers and second team D2CCA All-Atlantic Region selections. They were both also named to the All-PSAC West first team.

A 6-foot-3 middle blocker, Atwell leads the Golden Knights with 105 blocks, with team highs of 28 solo blocks and 77 block assists, while tied for in kills with 260. She ranks ninth in the PSAC in blocks per set. The junior also leads the team in hitting percentage at .333, good for fourth in the PSAC. She has moved up to fourth in career blocks with 365.

 

Wake entered her junior season with 82 career kills but the 5-foot-11 middle blocker has exploded for a team-high 347 kills and is second in hitting percentage at .298. She is also third in total blocks with 66 and fifth in digs with 133.

All three players were named to the Atlantic Regional All-Tournament Team last weekend. 

CANYON, Texas – West Texas A&M’s Emma Becker, Currie Marusak and Taytum Stow earned the highest honor a Division II volleyball student-athlete can receive on Wednesday as the trip of Lady Buffs were tabbed All-Americans.
 
Stow was named a Second Team honoree by the American Volleyball Coaches Association with Becker and Marusak claiming Honorable Mention accolades. Stow was also named to the D2CCA Third Team All-American squad.
 
Becker earned her third straight AVCA All-American honors as the Liberty Hill, Texas product registered 348 kills with a .212 attack percentage to go along with 17 assists, 10 service aces, 266 digs and 65 total blocks for a total of 396.5 points to average 3.51 per set. Becker was a First Team All-Lone Star Conference selection.
 
Marusak becomes the 33rd All-American in WT Volleyball history as she led the way offensively for the Lady Buffs during her senior campaign in 2025. The Amarillo High School alum had a team-best 410 kills on 1,008 swings for an attack percentage of .254 to go along with 14 aces, 282 digs and 49.0 blocks for a team-leading 452.0 points to average 4.00 per set as she was named to the All-Lone Star Conference First Team as well as the LSC Championship All-Tournament Team.
 
Stow, the three-time Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year, became one of the top players in Division II Volleyball during her storied career. The Hereford, Texas product is now a four-time All-American as she set new school all-time marks in total blocks and solo blocks this season while leading the Lady Buffs to the program’s 32nd NCAA Tournament. Stow tallied 290 kills with an attack percentage of .396 to go along with 19 service aces, 72 digs and an incredible 155 total blocks to average 1.37 per set.