Fish Report to air Russia Volleyball again

Russia's new mantra in 2026 is #BuiltForMore

Postgame with Jocelyn Wysocki

The 2026 Russia Volleyball regular season opens this week and Fish Report is once again along for the ride. We'll be airing all home varsity matches from press row with our experienced broadcast team. It starts when the Lady Raiders host their backyard rivals from Versailles for a rare Friday night showdown on August 17th. Matches begin with the JV-B at 4:30, followed by the JV around 5:30, and the Varsity finale for the nightcap. Fish Report will be live with play-by-play announcer Brandon Koverman and color commentator Craig Fiessinger for pre-game around 6:30. Listeners can check for live updates on the varsity start time inside the blue box located in the top-right corner of this website. Tune in for all the exciting game action and stick around our postgame wrap up and interview.

Russia is coming off arguably their most successful season in program history. Their final 2025 record was 21-7, including 10-2 in the Shelby County Athletic League. That league mark tied with Anna and Ft. Loramie for the county championship. In the postseason tournament, the Raiders won their 12th district title and followed that with their first-ever regional title. Russia bowed out in the state semifinals at Vandalia Butler falling to Monroeville 26-24, 25-23, 25-20. Graduating from that team were three seniors in Claudia Hoehne, Izzy Chapman, and Kourtney Phlipot, who ended her career with 1,041 digs.

Raider fans will be very familiar with the 2026 team and it begins with head coach Aaron Watkins, now in his 11th season with a career record of 178-91. Assistant coaches include David Strunk is his eighth season and newcomer Lonnie Cain. Coach Cain might be a beginner at Russia, but he's also an OHSVCA Hall of Famer, long-time head coach at Covington, and won two state championships as an assistant coach at Lehman in 2010 and 2005. Russia's staff will get added help from JV coaches Allie Hafer in her fifth season and Morgan Albers in her first.

Coaches David Strunk, Morgan Albers, Aaron Watkins, Allie Hafer, and Lonnie Cain

Heading to state in 2025

Along with the veteran coaches, there will be experience on the court as well. It starts with senior hitters Hazel Francis and Celeste Borchers, both First Team All-SCAL honorees last year. Hazel was the team MVP and Russia's top scorer with 365 kills last season. In a game against Ft. Loramie, she also tallied 10 blocks for a new school record. Hazel's first cousin, Celeste, has been just as effective. She racked up 288 kills in her junior campaign to bring her career total to 533. She also led Russia's team in that 2025 state semifinal match with a team high 11 kills. Three more seniors complete Russia's roster in returnees Violet Armstrong, Lily Francis, and Ava Gibson. Violet and Lily are versatile enough to play a couple of important roles for Coach Watkins this year. Ava's top priority will be setter, where she's recorded 1,057 assists coming into her final season.

The junior class includes Therese Gibson, Macy Smith, Alysha Phlipot, Jocelyn Wysocki, and All-SCAL Honorable Mention honoree Aryana Cordonnier. In Russia's preseason scrimmages, Aryana has switched from her position last year as an outside hitter to the libero position this year. From Fish Report's point of view it looks like Ary has adjusted well. We also like the move for Russia's team considering some of the younger talent the Raiders have coming up.

Fans got a glimpse of that talent last year when freshman outside hitter Ruby Francis made her debut. Ruby split playing time with the JV team then, but could anchor the right side of the net this season as a sophomore. A couple tall classmates in Desiree Borchers and Gianna Poling are on the roster also. Finally, there's one freshman to keep your eye on and that's Jewel Cordonnier, the younger sister of Aryana. Time will tell what impact Jewel might have, but sources tell Fish Report she's off to a good start!

Russia fans will be excited on Friday for the start of another season

26th Russia Alumni this weekend

Russia's Class of 2013 is back to defend last year's alumni championship

The 2026 Russia Alumni Softball Tournament will take place this weekend August 14-16 at Russia Community Park. It's the 26th edition of the annual event. It's also the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Russia Park Board, which uses proceeds for improvements and maintenance to the park. This year's Park Board president is Trevor Monnin, who replaced 2025 president Mitch Bergman. Other current park board members include Mitchel Hoying, Zach Sherman, Colin Puthoff, Chett Borchers, Jordan Gariety, and newest member Sam Cook. 

In addition to the softball action, this year the Park Board has added a new highlight. On Saturday night at 8:00 there will be a contest called Russia's Fastest Man. The fastest alumni to run around the bases will be awarded the Fastest Man Chain. This spectacle will replace the former "world famous" Dino races that is being retired after a successful number of years.

Below is the entire schedule of pool play games, tournament bracket, and rules.

God Story with Anne Wilson

Contemporary Christian and country music singer Anne Wilson entertained everyone at The Fraze Pavilion in Kettering this past weekend

I first saw Anne Wilson (pronounced Ann) two years ago at the 2024 Country Concert Saloon Stage and stuck around just long enough for a couple songs. The tune I was most familiar with at that time was "My Jesus", which was a hit single that Wilson released in 2021. The song has quite a story behind it too. Wilson, a Lexington, Kentucky native who is now 24, had an older brother that died in a car accident when she was just 15 and he was 23. The younger Wilson says her brother was her best friend and following the tragedy she leaned on her faith in Jesus. After he passed, she felt called by God to pursue a career in music and encourage others to follow Jesus as well.

On the big screen and big stage in 2025

In 2025 Wilson returned to Country Concert again, only now as Friday's opening act on the larger main stage. This time I stuck around for Wilson's entire set and was impressed with her ability to both entertain a rowdy group of country music fans and communicate her spiritual message. I was also much more familiar with her setlist, including songs like "Sunday Sermon", "God & Country", "Rebel", "Rain in the Rearview", and "Songs About Whiskey".

This past Friday I saw Wilson perform for the third time. Only this environment was a much different scene. The Fraze Pavilion in Kettering hosted Wilson as their headliner following an opening act by Leanna Crawford. If you've never been to The Fraze, it's a much different musical experience than Country Concert. The main difference being the overall amphitheater vibe. Country Concert is a three-day festival with tens of thousands of people. The Fraze is a three-hour evening outing with a maximum of 4,300 attendees. To put it nicely, Fraze fans are probably a little more polished. On Friday they were also predominately mothers with their young daughters that were giddy to see Anne Wilson. I felt extremely outnumbered, but had my wife by my side for confidence on a date night.

Anne Wilson says you can't
take the church out of me

Before I rave about Wilson, I have to compliment Leanna Crawford for her poise getting the evening started. Crawford charged out on stage for an upbeat opening song only to quickly discover her microphone didn't work. The music stopped, things got quiet, and it was a little awkward. Crawford handled it like a true professional though, joking with the front row fans and signing autographs. Five minutes later she was back in business with a new mic. 

Fortunately, Wilson didn't have any audio problems. She hit the stage around 9:00 singing "God Story" as the entire crowd stood and cheered. My wife and I were in the seventh row and center stage. It felt like we were in the heart of the Anne Wilson fan club, as most folks around us seemed to know every word of every song. Wilson played those familiar hits I heard at Country Concert and I enjoyed some newer music I'd become familiar with like "Devil Is Too", "Hold Your Horses", and "Jesus On The Radio". 

My favorite things about Wilson are her clever songwriting and that distinctive vibrato voice. While she's most certainly a faith-based singer, it doesn't take a deeply religious person to appreciate her tremendous talent and the fun she has on stage. I also want to say, her positivity is an inspiration that I greatly admire in this day and age. Finally, the fact that I've had Wilson's playlist on repeat ever since I left the concert tells me all I really need to know. She's one that I want to see again! 

Anne Wilson made us smile. And isn't that why you go to a concert!