By Chris Chaney
Sun staff

The Southern Buckeye Conference and Eastern Cincinnati Conference announced their All-Star teams for the girls’ volleyball season late last month with many Clermont County players receiving recognition for their exceptional play on the court.

While the First and Second Teams from each conference were chalk-full of talent, Williamsburg’s senior outside hitter Tiffany Tibbs was given the highest individual honor of any area athlete, being named the Player of the Year in the National Division of the SBC.

“Where do you start with Tiffany?” Lady Wildcats head coach Kim McCarty said when asked what Tibbs meant to the team and program. “She is just a phenomenal player. She’s played varsity for four years and she has been a huge asset to the team.

“She’s the one who has had the best experience and she totally took the team to the level that it is.”

Tibbs was joined on the First Team All-SBC by a pair of teammates Jessie Brunsman and Sarah Wetzel.

“Sarah was the other varsity player who played last year (other than Tibbs) and she was a great middle (hitter) for us,” McCarty said. “She plays the game very smartly and can see the floor. She was a great asset to be able to help us with blocking and kills.”

Also on the First Team in the National Division were Morgan Fisler of Batavia and Raelyn Reynolds and Lindsay Wright of Clermont Northeastern.

Felicity was well represented on the First Team as well, but it was their coach, Damon Smith, who received the Coach of the Year Award.

“It’s all about the kids in the first place,” Smith said when asked what the honor means to him. “When you surround yourself with good assistants and you have good players, they make coaches look better, so I have to give all the credit to the players that we had and their ability to step up their level of play.

“It’s quite an honor to be recognized as coach of the year among the caliber of coaches that we have in our league.”

Two of the players that Smith relied heavily on this past season, Amber Lawrence and Kelsey Mitchell, were both named to the First Team.

“The fact that Amber is a club player and is going to pursue her volleyball at UC Clermont, she’s obviously the catalyst for our team,” Smith said. “The rest of the girls have played varsity for the last four years, so they know how to play together.”

Making the Second Team All-SBC National were Mary Kate Garrard of Batavia, Jenna Mummert of CNE, Charlotte Clinger and Jodi Seale of Felicity and Kelsey Burnett and Betsy Spencer of Williamsburg.

In the American Division of the SBC, League Champions Western Brown swept the individual awards, but Katie Kelly of Amelia, Christine Meyers of Bethel, Morgan Dean and Courtney Wilson of Goshen and Jessica Mowery of New Richmond were all named to the First Team.

On the Second Team, Elizabeth Kelly of Amelia, Chandler Sollmann of Bethel, Michaela Adams and Tiffany Scheadler of Goshen and Eleanor Wildey of New Richmond were honored.

In the ECC, Milford’s Beatrice Craycraft and Rachel Sullivan were First Team selections and Madison Taggart was an Honorable Mention.

Craycraft was second in the league in digs with 362, while Sullivan was second in kills with 235.

For the Glen Este Lady Trojans, Jenny Howell was a First Team honoree and Shaelyn Hollingshead was an Honorable Mention.

Howell was just behind Sullivan in kills, finishing third in the conference with 210 and Hollingshead was sixth in the conference in digs with 312.