The Crestview Lady Knights varsity volleyball team, took on their cross county rival, the Van Wert Cougars on Monday night.
The Lady Knights got out to a fast start in the first set, winning the first 7 points of the set, forcing the Cougars to call a timeout. It worked, as Van Wert would get 3 straight points. The momentum wouldn’t last, as it quickly got to 17-5, and win the first set 25-12.
The second set was another fast start for the Lady Knights at 5-1. The Cougars would battle back to get it to 6-5, before the Lady Knights would rattle 6 straight points, making it 12-5. The Cougars would sprinkle in a point here and there, but the Lady Knights would dominate the second set, winning 25-8.
The theme of the night was fast starts by the Lady Knights, as they got 8 straight points to open the third set. The Cougars would not go quietly though, as then responded with 6 straight points of their own, getting it to an 8-6 set. The two teams would trade points, small runs, long rallies, and a lot of digs.
The Cougars would get it as close as 23-20, before falling to the Lady Knights in 3 straight sets 25-20.
Leading the way for the Lady Knights…..
Serving
Delanie Balliet 18/19 with 4 aces
Nora Perkins 10/11 with 4 aces
Kaylee Owens 9/10 with 3 aces
Kinley Crider 5/5 with 3 aces
Hitting
Kaci Gregory 6 kills
Alecta Baxter 5 kills
Kaylee Owens 4 kills
Ella Ream 3 kills
Setting
Nora Perkins 11 assists
Kenadie Schwartz & Kinley Crider 5 assists each
Digs
Delanie Balliet 6 digs
Kaci Gregory 5 digs
Blocks
Alecta Baxter 3 stuff blocks
The Lady Knights are now 6-5 on the season, and are right back on the court Tuesday Night in a conference match against the Delphos Jefferson Wildcats. JV game starts at 5:30 PM, with varsity immediately afterwards.
It was a cold 48 degree, Saturday morning, in the small city of Van Wert, Ohio; that even the hot coffee in my thermos could barely conquer.
The air was heavy with a thick fog, that clung to it, like a blanket with an unwavering grip.
Hundreds of people were milling about the grounds, excitedly talking about the upcoming races.
Which teams were the strongest?
Which runner was going to win?
Did they or the teams have a chance to make it to state? (yes, they were talking that far ahead) LOL.
The Ohio Health XC (cross country) Invitational was being held at the Van Wert Country Reservoirs and Hiestand Woods and Parks Preserve, right next to the hospital.
The high school girls’ race, kicked things off at 9:00 AM.
A cold, foggy start to the Ohio Health High School Cross Country Invitational.
Knights runner Emily Heth would get off to a quick start (as seen above), but would fade a bit throughout the race. She would finish in 18th place with a time of 21:35.3.
Lydia Grace 30th place and Jetta Merkle 84th place, would both run new personal records of 22:20.3 and 26:47.5.
The Crestview Lady Knights would end up finishing 8th out of 12 teams that participated.
At 10:10-ish AM, the high school boys race started, and that is when Crestview history was made.
Knights’ runner Derek Young sets a brand new school record of 15:45.9, to win 1st place.
The boys team got off to a fast start, and they were able to hold serve.
Derek Young dominated from the opening shot, and never looked back, as he absolutely smoked the field (see above video, nobody behind him), with a new school record.
Newly crowned homecoming king, Kale Vining, finished 10th with a time of 17:17.
After Kale, 4 Knight runners group together to finish 20th, 22nd, 27th, and 29th, in Hudson Perrott(17:39.5), Andy Heth(17:46.2), Caleb Thomas(17:56.9), and Luke Sawmiller(18:08.8).
4 Knight boys also set new personal records as well.
Hunter Waltmire(19:28.9) Cole Miller(19:57.4) Evan Knueve (21:21.2) Carter Perkins(24:03.2)
The boys team finished 2nd out of 14 participating teams.
DEREK YOUNG is the allsportsfan.com Player of the Game…..or in this case, Runner of the Meet. LOL.
Thank you to Daily Dose in Convoy for being our sponsor.
The Knights and Lady Knights next race is the Kalida XC Invitational, on October 3rd, at 9:00 AM.
Nothing like a good rivalry game, on a warm Tuesday afternoon, to get the blood flowing.
That’s exactly what we saw in as the Lincolnview Lancers made the trip across Van Wert County, to take on the Crestview Knights.
The Lancers were coming off back-to-back losses, and the Knights had won two straight matches.
Lincolnview opened the scoring, before going down 13-8 and calling a timeout. The Lancers then won a long rally to make it a 15-13 game. The Lancers and Knights traded timeouts at 16-15, and 20-18. The girls would trade points and rallies back and forth, before the Knights finally put them away, winning a hard fought first set, 28-26.
Knights #7 Emily Lichtle opened the 2nd set with an ace. Crestview would force a timeout by Lincolnview up 3-0.
There would be a long discussion at the net by two officials and players from each team, as nobody saw which side of the net, the ball fell, on what was supposed to be the 7th point of match. They finally decided to simply replay the point, and eventually the Knights won. (The two officials would not answer when I asked about it after the game).
They would once again go back and forth, with ties at 7-7, and again at 13-13. Crestview would go on a 4-point streak and force another timeout at 18-14. The Knights would call a timeout at 21-19.
The Knights would win the second set, the same way they started. Another ace by #7 Emily Lichtle iced it, 25-20.
She had a big game, going 17/17 on serves, with 2 aces, and a whooping 20 sets.
The Lancers would get the 1st point of the third set, before the Knights would answer with 4 straight. There would be great saves by Knights players #5 Lydia Grace and #3 Kaci Gregory, to get the ball back in play. Crestview would end up winning the point and going up 8-7. The Lancers didn’t go down easy, forcing a Knights timeout, with the Lancers up 11-9.
They would trade leads, before getting to a 15-15 tie. There was a miscommunication between Grace and Gregory on play, and the Lancers got the point to go up 16-15. Crestview would take the lead back at 17-16, and #20 Nora Perkins would get a big ace at 19-16. Forcing a Lancers timeout at 21-18. Perkins would finish going 16/16 on serves, with 1 ace, and 13 sets.
The Lancers had one last fight in them, tying it at 22-22, before the Lady Knights would win the 3rd and final set of the match, in straight sets (28-26, 25-20, 25-22).
#21 Haley McCoy led the team with 12 kills and 4 blocks. Kaci Gregory and Lydia Grace each had 19 digs for the Knights. Grace also went 9/10 on serves with an ace, as well.
I spoke with Crestview Knights girls volleyball head coach Tammy Gregory after the game.
I asked her how she and the team were feeling after getting a big conference win.
“I’m just so proud of the girls. You know, we put it together. We made some changes down the stretch, and they just trust each other. They’re becoming more confident every game. Winning the conference is a goal of ours. They had a game last night, and the girls stepped up and did what they had to do.”
It was a game of long rallies, with both teams going on long runs of 5 and 6 straight points. I asked how she kept the girls focused when momentum changes like that.
“We talk about that because your right. You know, our goal is to never let somebody score more than two points, but you know, that stuff happens. You have to stop it. Whether that’s a timeout, or changing something on the court, so that it looks different to the serving team. Once you get the momentum, you have to keep it going.”
The Knights are coming up on a stretch of 5 games in 9 days. I asked about that upcoming calendar.
“We’ve got another conference game on Thursday, and the girls know that we cannot overlook any team, at any given night. Some things are going well for us, some things aren’t, but we’re going to continue to gel and believe in one another.”
The Knights are now 6-3 overall, and 2-0 in the Northwest Conference.
The Lady Knights will host the Allen East Mustangs (3-8 overall, and 0-2 in conference play), on Thursday afternoon. JV starts at 5:30 PM (EST).
Knights JV girls volleyball team was also victorious, winning 2-1.
– by Sean McKenzie
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Stats courtesy of…..Knights Head Coach Tammy Gregory.
Van Wert County, Ohio is a rural county with strong agricultural roots. Only 1% of the counties 410 square miles has been deemed “urban”. The Lincoln Highway Byway is a beautiful driving route, with many land markers and stops along the way. America’s very first free public county library was built here (Brumback Library). The Van Wert County courthouse, built in 1876, is a Gothic and Romanesque architectural marvel. I’ve visited multiple times.
There is strong community support and spirit in the towns that dot the landscape. People greet each other by name. Know your family and help neighbors out in times of need.
There’s only one thing that could divide families, and put friendships on hold for a few hours, and that is high school football.
The two predominate football teams in Van Wert County are the Van Wert Cougars.
and the Crestview Knights.
Parents and children are often related to someone from the other team. Friendships formed from youth sports, church events, pancake breakfasts, and other community events.
So for that brief moment in time, when the helmets are put on. The chin straps are snapped on, and pads start popping, the trash talking starts. On this hot and clear, but beautiful summer evening, the friendly chirping was aplenty.
Knight Pride vs Cougar Pride.
The 2025 football scrimmage game had both teams looking to clean some things up, lingering over from summer practice. Both teams hoping that this would be the start, of a return to the playoffs.
The varsity starters played an entire first half of football.
On the first play, Knights HB Braxton Leeth busted through the middle for a 15-yard run. but it was to be short lived, as the Knights fumbled the football on the very next play.
The Cougars couldn’t capitalize, as the Knights stopped them on a 4th down attempt.
Van Wert QB #15, sophomore Zach Crummey missed a throw, to a wide-open receiver, that would’ve been a touchdown on Van Wert’s fourth offensive drive.
The defenses ruled, and after the first quarter of play, it was a 0-0 game.
Finally, with 1:31 left to play in the half; the Cougars put the first points up on the board, when QB Zach Crummey scored on a quarterback draw from the 1-yard line, on a 3rd and 1.
The lead would be short lived for the visiting Van Wert Cougars as a mere 25 seconds later, the Crestview Knights would tie the game when senior QB #4 Huxley Grose connected on deep pass to senior WR #5 Hayden Perrott, with 1:06 left on the clock.
That would be it for the varsity football teams from both schools. Ending up in a 7-7 tie at the end of the half.
The Knights outgained the Cougars in total yards 162 to 151. Both teams struggled on 3rd downs, going a combined 2 for 11.
Knights QB Huxley Grose finished the half completing 5/9 for 89 yards.
His counterpart Cougars QB Zach Crummey 9/14 for 60 yards.
I spoke with Crestview head coach Cole Harting first after the game.
“I thought both teams played really hard. Both offenses were able to move the ball at times. We had a couple penalties here and there, so we got to clean that up. We got to get our snap game a little better, we had some bad snaps, but we should be OK. Braxton had a really nice game. He had a couple tough runs, and a couple deep runs. Obviously, Hayden Perrott had a nice game, and I thought Huxley played really nice.”
I asked him specifically about the Knights defensive line getting lots of pressure on Cougars QB Crummey, mostly on the edge.
“We have a little bit more experience on the edges there, and our kids are pretty athletic, so that bodes well for us on the perimeter.”
Van Wert head coach Keith Recker has been leading the Cougars for 14 seasons, and led them to a state championship in 2020. I caught up with him after the game.
“Defensively we played well. We challenged them to really stop the run. They ran all over us last year with the same running back and a lot of the same offensive line. So, we challenged our linebackers to fill and keep their shoulders square. We did a really nice job against that.”
I asked Coach Recker about #11 sophomore WR/DB Xavier Kelly, who was a 2024 Honorable Mention as a freshman.
“Yeah, X does a great job and he’s only a sophomore. He can play a lot of different positions. We put him in at running back today because he can get a lot of touches that way.”
Van Wert’s starting QB Zach Crummey is a big kid, at 6’6″. He showed some scrambling ability for a kid his size. I asked Coach Recker about his ability to move around.
“Unfortunately, our pass pro broke down quite a bit and he had to be elusive, but I thought he showed that really well. We want to keep him healthy through the scrimmage and but he’s tough and he’ll do whatever he needs to when we get into the game.”
At the end of the day, there were hugs and handshakes by all. Players, coaches, and even the fans who came out to support their kids and teams. They’ll be seeing each other again. I know both teams will be represented at the Wren Homecoming Pie Eating Contest, in Wren, Ohio on Saturday at 2:15 PM.
I wonder if it will be as competitive as last night’s game.
As summer break for kids starts coming to a close, fall high school sports season is about to kickoff.
After a few weeks of those long, hot, dog day of summer practices against each other, teams are finally seeing how they stack up against other local area squads.
On late Friday afternoon, I made the trip up US-49 (getting lost thanks to those detour signs), to Antwerp, Ohio to watch the Crestview Knights take on the Antwerp Archers.
I wasn’t the only person who made the trip. I counted 69 parents and fellow students (including 5 members of the girls’ volleyball team), who all came out to support the football Knights.
The starters for both teams opened the scrimmage on both sides of the ball. On the first play of the scrimmage, Antwerp jumped offsides. That was something they unfortunately struggled with often on this day.
The 3rd offensive play, saw Knights HB Braxton Leetch score a TD on a long run over the right side.
On the 2nd drive, the Knights had back-to-back high snaps. This is something they’re struggling with, as they search for a new center. QB Huxley Grose threw a TD the next play.
Crestview started the third offensive drive by lining up offsides. That was a very brief setback, as the very next play, HB Braxton Leeth scored his second TD. This time a reception out of the backfield.
Leeth would score not one, not two, not even three, but four TDs in this scrimmage, as well as deliver a big hit, that forced an incompletion on Antwerp’s second offensive drive.
Knights WR/DB Braxtyn Couts would also get on the board with a TD.
The starters for the Knights dominated the Archers on both sides of the ball.
The Archers answered back though once the backups got in, with a great TD catch by #10 Kane Hines, and #12 Zack Salas bulldozing his way into the endzone.
To end the scrimmage, the starters played a full 12-minute quarter.
#8 Cash Hammons had a pick-6 for the Knights defense, and the afore mentioned #2 Braxton Leeth, as well as, #7 Liam Putman had scores.
I got a brief interview with Knights head coach Cole Harting afterwards.
“Obviously, I thought we did a lot of good things. We got a lot of kids’ reps tonight. Offensively, we found some stuff that could work. They played well and really executed well at times. We just let our athletes be athletes.”
“On the defensive side of the ball, we did a really good job of rotating guys in. They had a couple of long drives, but we did a good job of rotating guys in and out. There’s obviously things to fix, but you know, we’ll go back and watch film and see what we can improve on.”
He finished up the interview saying “I told the guys, I want us to be playing our best football Week 10. So, looking forward to watching the tape and seeing what we can fix for next week.”
The Crestview Knights will scrimmage against the Van Wert Cougars next Friday afternoon, at 6:00 PM (EST) in Convoy.
– by Sean McKenzie
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