TEAM LEADER … Stryker’s Aubrey Clemens delivers one of her 18 kills on the night in a three-set win over Wauseon.
PHOTOS BY REBEKAH DELL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
MAKING THE PLAY … Wauseon senior Jadyn Demaline goes low to keep the ball alive during Monday’s match at Stryker.
By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
STRYKER (September 22, 2025) – Somewhere, someone is getting ready to promote a new HGTV series called “Aubrey’s Demo Reno,” with the star of the series being Stryker’s Aubrey Clemens.
Demolition just might be in her future, as the Panthers board splitting junior hitter nailed a whopping 18 kills to help lead Stryker to a 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 victory over Wauseon to push the Panthers to 8-5 on the season. The win was the fifth straight for Stryker.
“I’m very proud of our girls. We have been working on our mental game a lot,” Panther coach Allie Meade said. “Tonight, I think we really did a good job finishing all the points we needed to get.”
“That loss against Pettisville really hurt us a lot,” Meade explained in response to the key to the Panthers’ five-match win streak.
“The girls really wanted to come back from that, and they have been working really hard and coming back together as a team.” “I think that showed tonight. They were flowing really nicely together, and this winning streak is very good going into BBC rounds.”
To be honest, Clemens had a lot of help as a number of Panthers were employed on the demo crew, busting wood from the word go. Abigail Oberlin and Allie Ruffer nailed three early shots, and Anna Donovan scored two more to help boost Stryker on top 10-4.
Halle Gleckler and Josie Russell scored for Wauseon during a five-point run to get the Indians back within 11-9, but Reiss Creighton aced the Indians to regain a four-point lead and then came Clemens.
First, she snapped off a second ball bomb, then blasted another kill from a sharp angle on the right to give the Panthers a 19-12 lead.
Aces from Bella McGuire and Addison Fisher, along with a duo of Gleckler kills, got Wauseon within 21-17, but Clemens popped off two more bullets from the middle, Ruffer stuffed a Wauseon attack, and Oberlin nailed a left side off a block to end the first set.
Oberlin broke a 3-3 tie in the second, Khloe Goebel scored next, then Clemens drilled an ace to double the score at 6-3. Kenzie Clemens’ ace made it 10-4, but Wauseon rallied.
Russell’s ace got the Indians back to a 13-9 deficit, but after taking a short break from swinging the hammer, Clemens responded in a big way.
Four high-velocity lasers around Oberlin’s shot from the left put Stryker back in control at 19-11. Goebel’s right side and Donovan’s tip gave the Panthers their biggest gap at 22-13 before Clemens’ blast through a block ended the set.
Wauseon kept it tight for the first half of the third set. Halle Fogarty’s ace, and another by Anaya Gonzales, kept the Indians even at 13-13.
Then again came the leader of Meade’s Demo group. By the end of the set, Wauseon must have thought Clemens had cloned herself as she stuck one from the right, then the back row, and four more from the middle in the last 12 Stryker points.
“I’ve always known she can do it,” Meade expressed of her big-hitting junior. “Tonight, she showed she has the ability to put the ball down every time she touches it.
“So, from here on out, that’s what I expect from her: to put that ball down every time she gets her hands on it. I’m very proud of her.”
Donovan’s slam of an Indian overpass and Ruffer’s block aided in closing out the match, sending the Panthers to ready themselves for the rest of BBC play.
“I feel like the BBC is up in the air,” Meade stated. “Our girls want it really bad, so we are going to do what we can to try to get that BBC title.”
Stryker d. Wauseon, 25-20, 25-18, 25-15
Wauseon (4-10): Bella McGuire – 16 digs; Braelyn Rupp – 10 assists; Addison Fisher – 4 kills, 7 digs
Stryker (9-5): Aubrey Clemens – 22/25 attacks, 18 kills, 9 digs; Reiss Creighton – 23 assists; Kenzie Clemens – 23 assists; Anny Oberlin – 14 digs