2026 Highland County Volleyball Preview
Hillsboro, McClain, Lynchburg-Clay, Fairfield and Whiteoak all have been working hard this summer to be prepared for the upcoming 2026 season, and this fall the games should be exciting to watch as the Hillsboro Lady Indians and McClain Lady Tigers will be competing in the Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC), while the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs, Fairfield Lady Lions and Whiteoak Lady Wildcats will compete in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference (SHAC).
In ’25, Hillsboro had their second straight 15-win season, while McClain was in the midst of a program change with a new head coach, finishing with a record of 5-18 overall. Lynchburg-Clay is coming off a 19-6 season, while Fairfield finished the ’25 campaign at 16-8. Whiteoak last year was 1-17 overall as they also had a new head coach.
Below are previews on the five Highland County volleyball teams for the ’26 season.
HILLSBORO LADY INDIANS
Head Coach: Heather Jones
‘Conference: Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC)
2025 FAC Record: 5-5 FAC (3rd place)
2025 Overall Record: 15-9
The Hillsboro Lady Indians had a successful season in ‘25 as last year they earned 15 wins for a second consecutive season, were third place in the Frontier Athletic Conference, were competitive, and they finished the year by winning five of their final six games.
Head coach Heather Jones returns for her third season at the helm of the Lady Indians, and after their 15 wins in each of the past two seasons, plus gaining a tournament win in ’25, Hillsboro is set to add to their success in ’26 with many returning players from a season ago.
Hillsboro’s ’26 seniors are Paisley Zink, Ryan Wagoner, Tylee Davis, Josie Rhoades, Scarlett Perkins and Marianne Mycroft. The lone junior is Riley Pence, and sophomores are Emmalee Young and Macy Fauber.
The Lady Indians have Davis returning for her senior season, and the no- four-year varsity starter returns for her final varsity season following a ’25 campaign where she totaled 328 digs, 278 kills, 33 aces, 27 assists, six blocks and 169 serve receptions. as she was also a first-team All-FAC selection.
Also back to the roster for her senior season is Wagoner, who was also a first-team All-FAC selection last year for a season where she totaled 287 kills, 243 digs, 43 aces, 13 assists, five blocks and 238 serve receptions.
Pence last season finished with 68 kills, 18 aces, nine total blocks, 45 digs and 10 assists. Rhoades had 113 digs in ’25, plus four assists, 16 aces and 170 serve receptions. Mycroft finished the ’25 season with 26 kills, 34 digs, five aces, nine total blocks and eight assists.
Young is coming off a ’25 season where she totaled 88 kills, 21 aces, 17 total blocks, 44 digs, 15 assists and 50 serve receptions. Fauber in ’25 had 16 aces, 113 digs, four assist and 248 serve receptions.
Hillsboro graduated two seniors from last year’s team, including All-FAC honorable mention selection Kayla Seeling and starter Allie Roush, who were big contributors to the team last season. The Lady Indians also were the champions of the ’25 Spike and Dig Tournament held each season among four of the five Highland County schools.
Last season, the FAC champions were both the Miami Trace Lady Panthers and the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers, who were each 9-1 in conference action. HHS went 5-5 in the FAC, tied for third place with the Jackson Ironladies.
HHS will face McClain, Chillicothe, Jackson, Miami Trace and Washington twice each in conference matches this season.
The Lady Indians’ non-conference schedule consists of matches against Eastern, Blanchester, Whiteoak (Spike and Dig), a TBA opponent in Spike and Dig event, Waverly, Western Brown, Zane Trace, Wilmington, Fairfield, Clinton-Massie and North Adams.
Hillsboro begins the 2026 season on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at home against the Eastern Lady Warriors and Blanchester in a tri-non-conference event.
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MCCLAIN LADY TIGERS
Head Coach: Cierra Bolender
Conference: Frontier Athletic Conference (FAC)
2025 FAC Record: 2-8 FAC (5th place)
2025 Overall Record: 5-18
The McClain Lady Tigers return to the court for their 2026 season looking to make improvements from their ’25 season where they collected five wins and battled through a tough Frontier Athletic Conference and non-conference schedule.
Cierra Bolender returns to lead McClain as their head coach for a second season, as last season the Lady Tigers’ five match wins included three victories against the Washington Lady Blue Lions (one was in non-conference action), the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats and the Paint Valley Lady Bearcats, both non-conference wins.
Finishing 5-18 overall and 2-8 in the FAC, the Lady Tigers have been working this offseason to improve their overall play on the court. Seniors this season for McClain are Adalynn Snyder, Shelby Wise, Lillian Keller, Brooke Smallwood-Martin and Molly McCune.
Juniors for ’26 are Brooklyn Bolender, Kambriah Tomlin, Makenzie Worthen and Alaya Jackson. Sophomores this season are Brynlee Karnes and Allie Havens.
MHS graduated three seniors from the ’25 team, and they were Lillie Saunders, Zoie Everhart and Lydia Beatty.
As for the current roster, Karnes — an All-FAC honorable mention selection — as a freshman in ’25 collected 95 kills, seven aces, 13 total blocks, 53 digs, seven assists and 38 serve receptions. Bolender totaled nine aces in ’25 while adding 21 digs, 36 assists and 30 serve receptions. Tomlin had five aces, 25 digs and 42 serve receptions last season.
Jackson led MHS last season in kills with 113 on the season in 70 sets played. She also had 22 aces, 15 total blocks, 51 digs, 14 assists and 37 serve receptions.
Snyder is coming off a season (’25) where she totaled 55 kills, 10 aces, three total blocks, 102 digs, five assists and 160 serve receptions. Wise finished last season with 116 digs and 228 serve receptions. McCune had a ’25 season that included 14 kills, 27 aces, 57 digs and 223 assists.
MHS will play 10 FAC matches this season with two games each against Hillsboro, Chillicothe, Jackson, Washington and Miami Trace.
Non-conference games for the Lady Tigers will include matches against Lynchburg-Clay (Spike and Dig), a TBA opponent in the Spike and Dig Tournament, Logan Elm, Zane Trace, Fairfield, East Clinton, Western Brown, Clinton-Massie, Paint Valley, Blanchester, Westfall and Wilmington.
McClain opens their ’26 season on Saturday, Aug. 22 in the annual Spike and Dig Tournament at Hillsboro, where their first-round opponent will be Lynchburg-Clay at 10 a.m.
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LYNCHBURG-CLAY LADY MUSTANGS
Head Coach: Rick Seeling
Conference: Southern Hills Athletic Conference (SHAC)
2025 SHAC Record: 11-2 (DI 2nd place)
2025 Overall Record: 19-6
The Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs start the ‘26 volleyball season with a new head coach, that being Rick Seeling, who takes over for Janelle Rockey. LCHS played in the district championship game a season ago, finishing as district runners-up.
With their 19-6 overall record a season ago, the Lady Mustangs finished in second place in the Division I of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference where they were 11-2, then they followed that with a 2-1 record in tournament action as they defeated Belpre and Fairfield, then fell to South Webster in the district championship contest, snapping what was a 10-match winning streak.
LCHS lost four players from graduation, with those players being All-SHAC selection Ava McLaughlin, All-SHAC selection Joslyn Rockey, Matalyn Magee and Avery Shope.
This season, seniors are Melany Stephenson, Addy Carraher, Ashlynn Wilson, Halle Greene, Kylie O'Connor and Jules Vesey. The lone junior for LCHS is Bre Rosselott.
In ’25, Stephenson finished with 53 kills, 37 assists, 68 aces, 264 digs and three blocks. Carraher ended the ’25 season totaling 67 kills, 131 assists, eight aces, 74 digs and two blocks. Greene had totals last season of 194 kills, six assists, 30 aces, 157 digs and five blocks.
Last season, O’Connor finished with 190 kills, seven assists, 26 aces, 79 digs and 36 blocks. Vesey in ’25 totaled four kills, six assists, 23 aces and 115 digs. Rosselott in ’25 had final totals of 49 kills, one assist, 11 digs and 16 blocks.
The non-conference matches for the Lady Mustangs include McClain (Spike and Dig), a TBA opponent in the Spike and Dig Tournament, East Clinton, Blanchester, Paint Valley, Bethel-Tate, Huntington, Miami Trace and Georgetown.
LC’s SHAC schedule will have two matches against all Division I opponents with those being North Adams, Eastern, Ripley, and West Union. Their Div. II opponents (one match each) will be against Manchester, Fairfield, Whiteoak, Peebles and Fayetteville.
The Lady Mustangs open the 2026 season on Thursday, Aug. 20 at home against the Manchester Lady Greyhounds in SHAC action.
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FAIRFIELD LADY LIONS
Head Coach: Kamryn Daulton
Conference: Southern Hills Athletic Conference (SHAC)
2025 SHAC Record: 10-3 (co-Div. II champions)
2025 Overall Record: 16-8
Returning to the court following a 16-win season in ‘25, the ‘26 Fairfield Lady Lions volleyball team returns a majority of the roster that had success which took them to playing in two tournament games, plus winning a co-Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division II championship as they tied with the Fayetteville Lady Rockets with both teams being 10-3 in conference games. The Lady Lions are led by second-year head coach Kamryn Daulton.
This season, seniors are Remi Moon, Kinsey Drury, Alyssa Bales and Emma Ayers.
Juniors for Fairfield are Miley Caldwell, Hadley Weddle, Paisley Stahlhut, Jorja May and Addison Cannon. The sophomores this season are Corinne Tolle and Bailey Jones. New to the program are freshmen Brynlee Barrera and Laurel McCoy.
This season, the Lady Lions have Remi Moon returning for her senior season as her junior season saw her lead Fairfield with 445 kills, 23 assists, 65 aces, 324 digs and two blocks, as she was selected as an All-SHAC player.
Fairfield also returns All-SHAC selection Alyssa Bales, who is also entering her senior season. Bales as a junior totaled nine assists, 54 aces and a team-best 371 digs.
Emma Ayers also is back for her senior season as in ’25 she totaled five assists, three aces and 90 digs. Also a senior this year is Kinsey Drury, who as a junior totaled 15 assists, 13 aces and 71 digs. Ally Maynard is another senior for Fairfield in ’26, but as a junior she had 16 assists, 23 aces, and 153 digs.
Addison Cannon is back for her junior year, and as a sophomore she collected 38 kills, six assists, 49 aces, 50 digs and 32 blocks. Jorja May is a junior in ’26, but as a sophomore she had 116 kills, 10 assists, 57 aces and 267 digs. Paisley Stahlhut will be a junior this season, and during her sophomore year last season she totaled 47 kills, 609 assists, 36 aces and 168 digs.
Bailey Jones will be a sophomore this season, and as a freshman in ’25 she totaled 24 blocks.
Graduating from last season’s team are All-SHAC selections Jaeden Drury and Kaitlyn Eidenier.
The non-conference schedule for Fairfield includes matches against Williamsburg, Huntington, McClain, East Clinton, Paint Valley, Clinton-Massie, Glenwood New Boston, Hillsboro and Washington.
Fairfield’s Div. II SHAC schedule includes two games versus Manchester, Whiteoak, Peebles, and Fayetteville, while their Div. I schedule in SHAC play has them facing Lynchburg-Clay, North Adams, Eastern, Ripley and West Union once each this season.
Fairfield’s first game of the ’26 season is on Friday, Aug. 21 on the road with a non-conference game at Williamsburg.
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WHITEOAK LADY WILDCATS
Head Coach: Marah Call
Conference: Southern Hills Athletic Conference (SHAC)
2025 SHAC Record: 1-12 (DII 5th place)
2025 Overall Record: 1-17
The Whiteoak Lady Wildcats volleyball team is set to add to their foundation which started last season as they continue to build their program back while battling in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
Playing in Division II of the SHAC, the Lady ’Cats went 1-17 overall and 1-12 in the conference standings, WHS looks to keep adding to the experience gained a season ago.
WHS lost three seniors to graduation from last season, as they were Kyra Boyd, Matalynn Conrad and Marley Gobin.
Players in the Whiteoak volleyball program for ’26 are: Kennadi Storms, Gabriella Colley, Zoey Newton, Chanel Captain, Georgia Stiglitz, Gabrielle Flader, Layla Lear, Aveah Captain, Renee Shaver, Makenah Steward, Emily Brill, Hadley Hauke-Simmons, Jada Combs, Madelyn Howard, Kylee Ruark, Paisley Coleman, Mareah Wyatt, Lucy Wilson, Amiyah Hackle, Kalynne Bell, Libby Webster and Georgia Baucom.
Storms, an All-SHAC selection last season, returns for her sophomore season, where as a freshman she had 53 kills, one assist, 18 aces, 94 digs and 10 blocks.
Ruark returns for her senior year following a junior season where she collected 38 kills, two assists, 11 aces, 54 digs and 12 blocks. Brill returns for a sophomore season where as a freshman she totaled 10 kills, 43 assists, 10 aces, 48 digs and one block.
The Lady ’Cats will play in Division II of the SHAC where they will take on Manchester, Fairfield, Peebles and Fayetteville twice this season in conference games. They will also face SHAC Div. I opponents Lynchburg-Clay, North Adams, Eastern, Ripley and West Union in one game each that will count in the SHAC standings.
Whiteoak’s non-conference schedule will be matches against Hillsboro (Spike and Dig), a TBA opponent (at Spike and Dig), East Clinton, Felicity-Franklin, Goshen, Clinton-Massie and Paint Valley.
The Lady ’Cats start their 2026 season on Thursday, Aug. 20 at home against North Adams.