Claxon becomes second sister in family to adorn Gannon maroon and gold

There’s an adage out there in sports that simply says, "Winners Win."

Winners also typically find themselves competing on the best programs at every level of sport.

South Webster senior three-sport athlete Addison Claxon has done her fair share of winning. After all, Claxon has been a part of leading South Webster to its first-ever OHSAA Regional Championship in softball and helped lead the Lady Jeeps to OHSAA District Championships in each of her four seasons on the volleyball court.

Now, Claxon will get the chance to elevate a traditional powerhouse at the collegiate level.

Earlier in November, Claxon signed with the Gannon (Pa.) volleyball program – making it 3-for-3 in terms of Claxon sisters who have signed to play a sport at the collegiate level with one more, Avary, still in the South Webster pipeline.

By signing, Claxon becomes the second sister in her family to have the opportunity to play volleyball at the collegiate level, joining her older sister, Bella (Mount Vernon Nazarene) — and also becomes the second Claxon in her family to have an opportunity to play a collegiate sport at Gannon, joining Bri, who just started her senior year with the Knights.

“It’s definitely super special,” Claxon said of signing with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and NCAA Division II powerhouse. “It’s a blessing that I even have this opportunity. It gets some stress off of my shoulders to have that completed, and then I can just enjoy my senior year. Seeing my older sisters playing college sports, and them growing up, I am so fortunate to have had such great role models, so I think that’s really awesome, and I’m just very blessed.”

With Gannon, Claxon is joining one of the premier collegiate volleyball programs at all levels of the sport.

Since Matt Darling took over the Gannon volleyball program, the Knights have only had two losing seasons in his 19 seasons as head coach – the first two in 2007 and 2008. In every season since, Gannon has had a winning record, posted at least a .625 winning percentage in all but one season since 2009, and, outside of the cancelled 2021 NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has won an NCAA National Tournament game in each of the last nine seasons while advancing to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight five times and the NCAA Division II Final Four twice. Darling has gone 456-158 in his 19 seasons at the head of the bench.

“They were really great,” Claxon said of the entire Gannon volleyball program. “I just had that feeling, from the moment I stepped foot on campus, that I belonged there. The head coach (Matt Darling) was super sweet, and the assistant coach (Morgan Walters) – I just love her. It just felt like a second family at Gannon, and there was no doubt in my mind that was the right choice for me and where I should be. It was great to go up there and see campus. It’s pretty. It’s cold – really cold – but it’s a really nice place.”

Having older sister Bri to share the ropes with is an added bonus. Enjoying a successful college career in her own right, the eldest of the four Claxon sisters has scored 1,416 career points while averaging 12.3 points per game and shooting 44.9 percent from the field. The 2022-23 PSAC West Freshman of the Year

has since added in two First-Team All-PSAC West honors and two NCAA Division II Elite Eight appearances with Gannon and is a two-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete to boot.

Not a bad mentor to have in one’s corner, to say the least — and that’s just Addison’s oldest sister only, not factoring in the remainder of the Gannon community.

“I’m really excited,” Claxon said. “There’s a community of people that I know up there. Her basketball coach and their entire basketball family are great people, and then I have others that I know through Bri at Gannon, which makes it like an extended family. It’s really awesome.”

Make no mistake about it, however — Addison is no slouch herself.

An elite defensive talent in the sport of volleyball, Claxon accumulated 985 digs — by her sophomore season in high school — and proceeded to amass 1,831 dives over her contributions as a four-year talent who played a significant role throughout her career, posting the program’s all-time record for career digs in the process. Claxon also added in 2,604 service receptions over the course of her four seasons at South Webster, posting a service reception percentage above .950 even with the heavy workload.

After primarily playing on the backline each of her first three seasons while helping South Webster go 70-7 with three straight OHSAA District Championships, Claxon took on a larger role all across the court for the program coached by her mother, Darcee, and became the team’s leader following the loss of five seniors from a 2024-25 squad that went 21-3 overall.

In addition to leading the Lady Jeeps in digs (453) and service receptions (761), Claxon led the squad in aces (82) and finished second on the team in kills (285), helping South Webster claim its seventh consecutive district championship in the sport.

Claxon’s four-year career in volleyball, from an overall record standpoint? 86-17. 83.5 percent winning percentage.

Winners win.

“I’ve watched girls go through the volleyball program, with Mom coaching it, my whole entire life,” Claxon said. “I always wanted to be that girl in high school that the little ones looked up to. I know that I push my teammates, and it’s not always easy to play with me, just because I’m very determined and I demand greatness out of everybody else, too, but I just hope that at the end of the day, that I did make an impact on South Webster, and that I am that athlete that the little ones look up to, as well. I think that I have been, for them. It’s been great playing here.”

Claxon’s signing with Gannon continues a long line of family members who have gone on to play a sport at the collegiate ranks. Between Claxon, her sisters, her mother and father (Darcee and Corey), her aunts (Brandee and Ashlee) and her uncles (Casey, Kirby, and Lester), a total of 10 members of Addison’s family have gone on to play either volleyball, women’s basketball or men’s soccer at the collegiate level.

Her parents’ advice? They’ve told Claxon to play the game in the way that she knows how to play it.

“They have just told me to go and play my game,” Claxon said. “They told me that I don’t have to change — that they want me for me, and to continue to work hard and play. There’s always room for improvement and growth, and I’m going to be held to a high standard, but I’ve been held to a high standard my whole life with playing for my mom, as she expects greatness out of us, so that’s been really helpful for me. They just tell me to be myself.”

Playing for, with and alongside greatness has certainly brought out Claxon’s best moments. For that, she credits her mother and sisters for motivating her in the best ways and for showing her how to lead for girls and women coming up in sport.

“I don’t believe I would want it any other way,” Claxon said. “Ever since I can remember, I’ve been in the gym with her, and I’ve played for her and alongside my sisters. I got to play with Bella and then Ava, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. It’s been great. We do bicker sometimes, just as siblings or as Mom and daughter, but my mom’s a great coach and mother figure, and my sisters are great, too. It’s been wonderful getting to play with them as well as for my mom, too.”

With her signing now out of the way, Claxon now has some additional business to attend to. She wants to help Ryan Dutiel, the trusted leader of South Webster’s girls basketball program, right the ship with the Lady Jeeps in her final season with the program in 2025-26 — and wants to dial up postseason magic one final time with her father, Corey — who will be the head coach of the South Webster softball program in addition to his duties as the South Webster boys soccer head coach as well.

But most importantly, Claxon wants to absorb and appreciate the time that she has left as a part of the family that is present at South Webster.

“I just want to live in the moments,” Claxon said. “I’m never going to have this opportunity to compete at the high school level again, so I think that just staying positive and staying in those moments would be great.”