ABBEY EMCH

Crestview High School graduate and University of Pittsburgh sophomore Abbey Emch won’t be celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday at home, but she’s going to be covered in red, white and blue as she tries to make the U21 national volleyball team.

From June 26 to July 5 in Columbus, Emch will battle along with 20 others for 14 spots on the U21 Pan American Cup team.

If she does make the team, Columbiana County’s highest profile volleyball player ever will compete in the tournament against teams from North and Central America from July 9-12 at Ohio State University’s Covelli Center.

This is nothing new for the 6-foot, 4-inch middle blocker who was a four-time All-Ohioan for the Rebels and had 1,577 kills in her high school career.

Last summer Emch traveled to Europe when she played in the U19 World Championship. In the final, the USA fell in four sets to Bulgaria in a match played in Osijek, Croatia. The USA ended the tournament 6-3 with two losses to the champions.

“Originally I was selected as an alternate (for the U21 team),” Each said. “And then one of the girls unfortunately got injured, so I was called up and asked to be a part of this.”

The original roster went out earlier in the spring, but Emch only got word of her involvement in June, but since it’s Columbus it won’t be too much of a travel headache.

“(USA Volleyball) was going to fly us in, but I think we do have the option to drive,” Emch said.

Emch, who went to the Final Four with Pitt this past season, is excited for the chance to play with the USA team again.

“It’s definitely a huge opportunity and a very big chance to get better and just kind of get closer with some of the girls,” Emch said.

The list of players trying out includes players who have played on the U19 or U21 world championship tournament teams including her friend and Pitt teammate Ayanna Watson.

At Pitt this past season, Each played in 29 matches and 75 sets. The middle blocker had 76 blocks and 74 kills while hitting at a team-best rate of .488. She also had 10 blocks against Georgia Tech and eight kills against UMBC in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. For the week of Dec. 1, 2025, Emch was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s co-defensive player of the week.

“It was a surreal experience,” Emch said about her first year at Pitt. “Playing with the girls was amazing and being able to be coached by the coaches was incredible. They’re really great people and know how to coach volleyball. They really care about us as people. Obviously they care about what happens on the court, but I feel like I really grew my relationship with all of them and found myself a little bit better off the court too because of them. That’s really special to me.”

Emch said she’s come a long way in improving her blocking skills due to Pitt defensive coach Kellen Petrone.

“He’s once of our assistants, the main defensive coach, and he was just great. All of them were, but he really zoned in and really worked with me a lot and it helped,” Emch said.

Pitt ended up losing to eventual national champion Texas A&M in the national semifinal, but the bar is set higher for next season. The Panthers have never won the NCAA championship but have established themselves as a national power.

“Our goal is to win the national championship,” Emch said. “But we take it a game at a time and just kind of go at it. Everybody wants the same thing. We all want to end with the national championship. So we’re working hard every day in the gym, getting 1% better.”

As for trying out for the national team is concerned, Emch said it does come with its own set of nerves.

“It’s like an excited nervous just because I really want to do well,” Emch said. “There are definitely butterflies you get in your stomach before something exciting. It’s a cool opportunity and there are a lot of emotions.”

At the U19 world championships she got to see how other nations play the game and it was an eye-opening experience.

“There were definitely differences,” Emch said. “Especially the way they communicated and the different styles of play. It’s obviously not what I’m used to, so I feel like that helped me grow as a players and a person. It’s not like how we play in the States and it was super cool to see the different styles. I think some of the teams would dance in a circle after we played and that was just their culture which was really cool to see.”

And what will it take for her to make the Pan American team?

“I think I just have to keep going for it, just leave everything I have out on the court,” Emch said. “My mantra lately has been like just do it, just go for it. I have nothing to lose.”