Conference Check-In: Northeastern Buckeye

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At the midpoint of the season, here are some top performers in the Northeastern Buckeye conference as Marlington continues to close in on another league title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Offense</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='289168' first='Layne' last='Graffice']</strong> - Marlington | OH | 2025<br>Graffice is the premier offensive threat in the league as she has the best numbers and biggest output with just over 200 total kills in 2023. The 5'9 junior pin is on average from a season ago at 4.5 k/s but has improved the quality of her impact as she is hitting at a career best .406 efficiency, which is incredible given the volume of offense she sees for the Dukes. She has terminated double-figure kills in all matches but one this season including 29 kills this week alone in the Dukes' consecutive 3-0 wins. She averaged 4.8 k/s while hitting .529 over those two matches. Graffice was a 2022 DII all-Ohio honorable mention selection.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Gabby Romano</strong> - Minerva | OH | 2024<br>The 5'10 outside hitter is putting up team best numbers offensively as the senior is averaging 2.7 k/s. good for second in the conference. One of few attackers to get ahead of 100 total kills at this point in the season, Romano gets the bulk of opportunities to swing for the Lions. With 730 total kills for her varsity career, she was solid in 2022 with over 300 kills and a 3.8 k/s season average. She makes big contributions in other areas also as she has 187 career service aces to go along with a career average of 9.7 digs per contest. She is having her best season defensively in 2023 with a career high 11.6 d/m.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Janelle Swisher</strong> - Marlington | S | 2024<br>Swisher, a 5'6 senior veteran setter for the Dukes, is averaging 9.3 a/s as Marlington has been dominant offensively in league play. She recently surpassed 1,500 assists for her career, which includes a career best 679 total assists in the 2022 season. She is on pace to eclipse that total this in 2023 and gets a lot of help from having the league's top offensive threat on her side of the net. With Swisher as the Dukes' floor general, their offense is collectively earning 12.0 k/s while hitting at a solid .312 team efficiency. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Defense</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Elena Colarossi</strong> - Salem | L/DS | 2024<br>Over 38 total sets the senior Colarossi has picked up a league high 210 total digs for a terrific effort of 19.9 digs per contest. She has twice surpassed the 30 dig mark as she had 32 digs in a recent tough 3-2 loss to Minerva. Earlier in the season she has a career best 34 digs versus CMHS. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='289169' first='Jacsyn' last='Hilliard']</strong> - Marlington | L/DS | 2025<br>Hilliard was just shy of 400 total digs in 2022, culminating the season with an average of 15.2 d/m. For 2023, she continues to make big contributions with 153 total digs and a 10.2 d/m average. Marlington is atop the league standings at 8-0 with an overall record of 13-2. Hilliard leads the Dukes in this phase defensively as she has eight matches behind her this season in which she picked up double-digit digs. Her season high of 21 digs came against Independence in a tough extra points loss.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->