Lady Leopards Fall to Highland, Finish as District Runner-Up – Volleyball
#4 Medina Highland 25-25-26, Louisville 16-12-24
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The No. 13 seed Louisville Leopards Varsity Volleyball Team saw its postseason run come to an end Thursday evening as the No. 4 seed Medina Highland Hornets captured the Division III Northeast 1 District Championship in straight sets at Girard High School.
Highland defeated Louisville 25-16, 25-12, 26-24 to claim its third consecutive district championship. The Lady Leopards finish the 2026 season with a 14-10 record and their first district runner-up finish since 2020.
The Hornets extended their winning streak to six matches and improved to 19-6.
Rukavina Leads Louisville Attack
Kloey Rukavina led the Lady Leopards offensively with 9 kills and a block on defense. Izzy Manko added 4 kills and a block, while Ella Tillett finished with 3 kills and a team-high 3 blocks.
Louisville split its setting duties between Bailey Cole, who recorded 11 assists, and Addison Johnston, who added 8 assists.
Aubrey Johnston led the back row with 10 digs as Louisville totaled 49 digs as a team. Paityn McCully and Karis Miglich also registered 8 digs each. Cole and Miglich also recorded 2 blocks each.
Highland Pulls Away in Opening Set
Medina Highland established an early advantage by scoring the first three points of the match before building its lead to 10-5.
Louisville called timeout and responded, cutting the deficit to 10-7 and later 11-8. The Hornets answered with the decisive run of the set.
Highland put together a pair of four-point bursts as part of an 8-1 run that extended its advantage to 19-9. The Hornets eventually built their largest lead at 22-11.
Louisville closed the gap some down the stretch, but Highland finished off a 25-16 opening-set victory to take a 1-0 lead.
Hornets Answer Louisville’s Fast Start in Second Set
The Lady Leopards reversed the opening script in the second set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead.
Highland quickly recovered. The Hornets battled back to tie the frame at 6-6 as part of a 10-1 stretch to surge ahead 12-7.
Louisville battled back within four at 14-10, but Highland took complete control from there. The Hornets closed the set on an 11-2 run to win 25-12 and take a commanding 2-0 advantage in the match.
Leopards Push Highland to the Limit in Third Set
Louisville refused to go quietly with its season on the line.
The third set featured nine lead changes, and neither team held an advantage larger than two points during the early stages of the frame.
That changed when Louisville ripped off four straight points to move ahead 15-11, its largest lead of the set.
Highland immediately answered with three consecutive points to trim the Louisville advantage to 15-14. The Lady Leopards pushed back ahead 17-15 before the Hornets responded with a 5-0 run to take a 20-17 lead.
Louisville continued to fight.
Trailing 22-20, the Leopards scored twice to knot the set at 22-22. Highland then reached match point with a 24-22 advantage, but Louisville again fought off elimination with two consecutive points to tie the frame 24-24.
The Hornets finally broke through by winning the next two hard-fought rallies, taking the set 26-24 to clinch the district championship.
Highland Captures Third Straight DIII District Championship
Medina Highland’s victory continued an impressive postseason run for the Hornets.
Highland has now won three consecutive district championships since entering Division III when the OHSAA expanded volleyball to seven divisions in 2024.
The Hornets are 9-0 in sectional and district tournament matches during that span, sweeping eight of those nine opponents in straight sets.
Highland will now attempt to advance beyond the regional semifinal after seeing each of its previous two seasons end at that stage.
The Hornets will face No. 5 seed Boardman in the Division III, Region 9 Semifinal on Thursday, November 5 at 6:00 PM at Mentor High School.
Boardman advanced by defeating No. 10 seed Grafton Midview 25-22, 25-27, 25-20, 25-20 in the Division III Northeast 4 District Championship played at Girard following the Louisville-Highland match.
Louisville Earns First District Runner-Up Finish Since 2020
Thursday marked Louisville’s first appearance in a district championship match since the Lady Leopards finished as the Division I Northeast 2 runner-up to Jackson in 2020.
It was also Louisville’s first Division III District Runner-Up finish.
Louisville has now appeared in nine district championship matches and holds a 4-5 record in those contests.
The Lady Leopards captured district championships in 1987, 2000, 2001, and 2005. Louisville’s five runner-up finishes have come in 1998, 2015, 2016, 2020, and 2026.
| Season | Division | District Finish |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | AAA | District Champions |
| 1998 | DII | District Runner-Up |
| 2000 | DII | District Champions |
| 2001 | DII | District Champions |
| 2005 | DII | District Champions |
| 2015 | DI | District Runner-Up |
| 2016 | DI | District Runner-Up |
| 2020 | DI | District Runner-Up |
| 2026 | DIII | District Runner-Up |
Louisville’s last district championship remains its memorable 2005 title, when the Lady Leopards rallied from two sets down to reverse sweep Minerva 14-25, 24-26, 25-13, 25-12, 15-12 in the Division II Canton South District Championship.
Thursday’s loss moves Louisville’s postseason record to 46-41 in available records dating back to 1986. The Lady Leopards are 24-23 in tournament matches since rally scoring was implemented in 2004.
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