High school volleyball: Avon Lake's Aubrey Kirk caps stellar high school career with Miss Volleyball award

VERMILION — After dominating the Northeast Ohio volleyball scene this year, Avon Lake's Aubrey Kirk now gets to add her name to a pretty exclusive list. Kirk was named 2023 Lorain County Miss Volleyball on Tuesday at the annual Lorain County Volleyball Coaches Association all-star game, becoming just the fourth Shoregal to earn the county's highest volleyball honor since the award's inception in 1985, joining Sarah Simmons (1995), Whitney Craigo (2012) and Katie Mihalik (2013). "I obviously couldn't have done any of this without my team," Kirk said. "They got me to this point." Miss Volleyball is just the latest in a string of accolades for Kirk this season, including Southwestern Conference MVP, Lorain County Division I Player of the Year and Division I District 3 Player of the Year. And the 5-foot-9 senior earned every one of those honors. Kirk finished her career with 1,099 kills, 673 digs, 97 blocks 95 aces and 47 assists, but was especially dominant her junior and senior seasons. As a junior, she totaled 381 kills in 78 sets and in her final high school season posted 354 kills in 77 sets — averaging nearly five kills per set over the course of her last two seasons. It's not just her stats that set her apart either. Avon Lake coach Shana Miocinovic said Kirk was the glue of the team. "We are a different team when she's not on the court," Miocinovic said. "She is a light that people gravitate towards. She's a great captain, a very experienced athlete, a very experienced volleyball player — she's just the person who absolutely is the glue to our team and it's really hard for us to be successful when she is not on the court. ... On the court, off the court, administrators love her, teachers love her, her family loves her, her friends love her (and) respect her. She's just great all around." The feeling is mutual between Kirk, Miocinovic and the rest of the team, which is no doubt a big part of what helped Avon Lake find so much success this season. The Shoregals made their first regional tournament appearance in more than a decade before eventually falling to rival Avon. "This team has supported me through so much, especially Shana," Kirk said. "I have to give a big thanks to her. She's not just a coach to me, she's someone I'll always remember. Same with this team. They've done everything to support me." Kirk has made the decision not to pursue volleyball at the collegiate level after going through the recruiting process, so the annual senior all-star game is her final go-around with some of her teammates and SWC competitors. Not everyone gets to end on such a high note, too, so going home with the Miss Volleyball trophy was a perfect way to cap off an incredible season. "This year was really special," Kirk said. "I'm going to miss them so much. I formed the best relationships with them. This whole season, starting from June, has just been so much fun for me — all the camps and practices and games and preseason stuff was so much fun. The biggest thing I'm going to take out of this is my team and my coaches and the relationships I've formed with them. It's something I'll remember for probably my whole life." Contact Marissa McNees at ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow her on X @MarissaNM. Miss Volleyball Winners Year Player &emsp;&emsp;School &emsp;&emsp; 1985 Angie Riggins &emsp;&emsp;Elyria 1986 Jennifer Smith &emsp;&emsp;Midview 1987 Rebecca Yarish &emsp;&emsp;Elyria Catholic 1988 Monica Taylor &emsp;&emsp;Elyria &emsp;&emsp; 1989 Rosie Schneider &emsp;&emsp;Avon 1990 Amy Schloss &emsp;&emsp;Elyria 1991 Kearsten Yarish &emsp;&emsp;Elyria Catholic 1992 Marin Ferlic &emsp;&emsp;Lorain Catholic 1993 Becky Paukst &emsp;&emsp;Elyria West 1994 Jodie Williams &emsp;&emsp;Elyria 1995 Sarah Simmons &emsp;&emsp;Avon Lake 1996 Erinn Kingman &emsp;&emsp;Elyria 1997 Rachel Beran &emsp;&emsp;Firelands 1998 Jenn Snyder &emsp;&emsp;Elyria 1999 Jessy Verhoff &emsp;&emsp;Elyria 2000 Laura Sidorowicz&emsp;&emsp;Amherst Steele 2001 Lisa Verhoff &emsp;&emsp;Elyria &emsp;&emsp; 2002 Courtney Gilbert &emsp;&emsp;Midview &emsp;&emsp; 2003 Mel Snyder &emsp;&emsp;Amherst Steele 2004 Kate Verhoff &emsp;&emsp;Elyria &emsp;&emsp; 2005 Kelly Ruth &emsp;&emsp;Elyria &emsp;&emsp; 2006 Ashley Yuhas &emsp;&emsp;Elyria &emsp;&emsp; 2007 Courtney Jarvis &emsp;&emsp;Amherst Steele 2008 Amanda Medvetz&emsp;&emsp;Elyria 2009 Zoe Zwegart &emsp;&emsp;Elyria Catholic 2010 Deme Morales &emsp;&emsp;Amherst Steele 2011 Sarah Kaminski &emsp;&emsp;Elyria Catholic 2012 Whitney Craigo &emsp;&emsp;Avon Lake 2013 Katie Mihalik &emsp;&emsp;Avon Lake 2014 Elizabeth Zollos &emsp;&emsp;Avon &emsp;&emsp; 2015 Ashley Makruski &emsp;&emsp;Amherst 2016 Jessie Lee &emsp;&emsp;Elyria 2017 Erin Gardner &emsp;&emsp;Avon 2018 Gillian Romanchok Avon 2019 Alex Laboy &emsp;&emsp;Avon 2021 &emsp;Laken Voss &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;Amherst 2022 &emsp;Nia Hall &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;Amherst 2023 Aubrey Kirk &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;Avon Lake