The calendar has turned to August, which means the preseason has officially started for volleyball teams in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. First serves are less than three weeks away as teams begin their journey to the postseason.
As The Enquirer wraps up its preview of the top players by position, let’s take a look at the top hitters this fall.
Make sure to vote for the top hitter in the city in the poll at the bottom of the story. The poll will close at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 7. The USA Today Co. network is debuting a new polling service that allows readers to vote more often while protecting against fraudulent voting methods. User experience feedback can be sent to mlaughman@enquirer.com.
The University of Washington commit was second in the Girls Greater Catholic League with 319 kills and fourth with 76 blocks in 2025. She will certainly be in the conversation for league player of the year after being named to the all-league and all-state first teams and the district player of the year.
Think about some of the great hitters the Pandas have had just in this decade. Anna Long, Sydney Nolan, Ava Tilden, Audrey Dyas and Grace Portwood come to mind. Now Kondik can join that list after finishing with 310 kills, 105 digs and 30 blocks as a junior. At 6-foot-1 with an approach touch of 9-foot-5, she levitates on the attack and converts any serve placement into a kill. She is committed to the University of Cincinnati.
She will step into a starting role for the Saints after they graduated a trio of powerful hitters. She came on strong in the second half of her junior season, posting nine kills in a win over Roger Bacon and 10 in a win over Anderson. She ended the campaign with 136 kills, 47 blocks and 41 digs. She is committed to Northern Kentucky University.
She was named the Greater Catholic League-Coed player of the year and to the all-district and all-state first teams after leading the league with 343 kills to go with 258 digs and 21 aces. The Falcons return a plethora of talent and should be considered frontrunners to return to the state tournament for the second time in three years and win their first title since 2019.
She is the top returning hitter in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference with 280 kills as a junior. Murray also dug 111 attacks, served up 44 aces and rejected 34 attacks. If she can improve on her hitting percentage of 16.7, she will truly be one of the most dangerous hitters in the city. She was named to the all-district first team and is committed to Northern Kentucky.
O’Brien was a centerpiece for arguably the most successful season in program history. The Tigers graduated plenty of talent after the 2025 season but have just as deep a senior class this fall. A Bellarmine University commit and all-state second-team member, O’Brien put up 314 kills, 296 digs, 64 aces and 18 blocks as a junior.
She burst onto the scene as a freshman and has proved herself as a valuable six-rotation player. As a sophomore, Patton ranked 14th in Kentucky with 511 kills while adding 211 digs, 38 blocks and 30 aces. She was named to the first-team all-state and is receiving plenty of attention from Division I colleges.
Her recent commitment to Morehead State University means the Rockets have four seniors committed to DI college programs. The Rockets moved up to Division III this season and may have to face three of last year’s state tournament qualifiers to repeat as state champions, but they have the talent to do so. Stacey was named to the all-league and all-district first teams and all-state third team after posting 278 kills, 254 digs, 41 aces and 30 blocks.
Since 2006, Templin is one of just two Wildcats to eclipse 400 kills in a season. Faith Young did it as a senior in 2023 and Templin did it as a freshman last year. In fact, she finished 15th in the country among freshmen with 456 kills while adding 204 digs, 56 aces and 27 blocks. She was named to the all-district first team.
The Bulldogs will have one of the top front lines in the GGCL as Waleskowski leads a quartet of skilled attackers. As a junior, she finished with 244 kills, 53 digs and 30 blocks. She is committed to Belmont University.
Ellie Albers, Cincinnati Country Day; Blakely Bennett, Villa Madonna; Lydia Berube, Milford; Gianna Bruemmer, Anderson; Lindsey Cameron, Goshen; Reagan Draper, Fairfield; Sadie Ellis, Sycamore; Lizzy Hilvert, Taylor; Maisie Jones, St. Ursula; Lowe Long, St. Ursula; Brooklyn Meinberg, Mason; Amerie Mullins, Campbell County; Ruth Pryor, MVCA; Mina Radaszewski, Ursuline; Laura Raines, Kings; Kail Ricketts, Little Miami; Callie Ritter, Bishop Brossart; Evie Schiller, Madeira; Leah Seeger, Mount Notre Dame; Parker Terrill, St. Ursula; Emma Tharp, Oak Hills; Lily Thornberry, CHCA; Annie Tully, Mariemont; Alexi Walters, Clermont Northeastern; Layna Wilkinson, Ryle; Lauren Williams, Milford
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Vote for Cincinnati’s top volleyball hitters in the 2026 preseason
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
