Postseason Volleyball Awards Announced, Columbus State's Ruffing, Yocum Take Home Top Honors

By Nicholas Huenefeld/OCCAC Sports Information

Columbus, Ohio---A perfect conference season leads to many awards and Columbus State Community College reaped those benefits as postseason awards were announced today.

Sophomore outside hitter Stephanie Ruffing was named the OCCAC Player of the Year, while head coach Jaclynn Yocum was named OCCAC Coach of the Year after each helped lead the Cougars to a 28-1 overall record and 14-0 OCCAC record this year. The team will get a bye in the first round of the upcoming Region XII tournament, and will open play on Saturday against the winner of Mott and Macomb on Saturday at 10 a.m.

In 28 matches, Ruffing has 467 kills, 20 assists, 11 aces, 337 digs and 64 blocks. In 13 conference matches, she had 215 kills (1st), 11 assists, five aces, 160 digs and 27 blocks. She leads the nation in kills per set overall at 5.31. She is second in the nation in overall kills.

In addition to Ruffing, her teammates Ellie Cain, Rachel Noffsinger and Jenni Payne also earned First Team All-OCCAC honors. Other first team selections include Rebecca Robben and Sam Diebold from Cincinnati State, Carly Cabot from Lakeland, Ciarra Wirick, Macy Reigelsperger and Erika Hartings from Owens, and Gabby Woods and Paige Elias from Lorain County.

Earning Honorable Mention All-OCCAC were: Paige Brady (Columbus State), Abigail Tarski (Cuyahoga), Faith Gerhardstein (Cincinnati State), Jasmine Davis (Edison), Elizabeth Spellacy (Lakeland), Kady Whitsel (Lorain County), Ally Mikesell (Owens) and Carly Butler (Sinclair).

While Columbus State finished first, Owens was second at 12-2 and Lorain County. Cincinnati State and Sinclair tied for fourth. Lakeland, Edison and Cuyahoga finished 6-7-8. 

Most of the conference teams will participate in their respective region tournaments this weekend. Good luck to all teams!