Published for Ohio Valley Unicorns fans — October 2026
By Toxlay Sports Editorial Team · Last updated October 24, 2026
🏐 Ohio Valley Unicorns Fans — Your Horn Is Waiting!
The corniest team in the land is also one of the best stories in American volleyball. Born in the hills of Kentucky, built on brothers, best friends and a rainbow-splashed jersey, the Unicorns bring Tier 1 VLA volleyball to Hamilton, Ohio. New fan? Start here — and wear the horn.
The Club
The Ohio Valley Unicorns are proof that a volleyball club can be deadly serious about the sport and completely unserious about everything else. The club was founded in October 2022 in the hills of Kentucky — in its own words, “the Unicorns came out hiding, ready to take on the world of Men’s Volleyball” — and started life as the Kentucky Unicorns before the move north. Today the club is the Tier 1 flagship of Unicorn Athletics, an organization of 40-plus adult men’s players that also fields the Tier 3 Cincinnati Attack, with the Louisville Raiders under the same family umbrella and a partnership with Cincinnati Attack, the largest boys’ volleyball club in the region. In November 2024 the Ohio Valley Region of USA Volleyball came on board as sponsor, and the team took its current name: the VLA Ohio Valley Unicorns. Home weekends are hosted at Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill in Hamilton, Ohio, in the Cincinnati area, and the whole operation runs on owner/GM Shane Green’s sign-off: Peace, Love, Volleyball. Searching for an Ohio Valley Unicorns jersey, the latest Unicorns schedule or Unicorns tickets? Start with the question Ohio Valley asks all winter: when do the Unicorns play?
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Last Season (2025-26): A Veteran Core in Tier 1
What made the 2025-26 Unicorns special was not a trophy run — it was continuity, the rarest currency in semi-pro volleyball. The club’s official Tier 1 roster carried 12 men built around a core that has grown up together in the VLA: setter Ryan Kelley in his fifth VLA year, the longest-serving player on the roster, plus five teammates in their fourth VLA season — James Marton, Ben Luebbe, Jake Luebbe and the Pieper brothers, Casey and Corey. That core carried the Unicorns through the Central Division grind: a divisional weekend in Fort Wayne, Indiana in February 2026 on Team Pineapple’s home floor, the Men’s Tier 1 Central Division Cup on March 14, 2026 at the Koetter Center in Jefferson, Indiana — just across the river from Louisville — and further fixtures through April. The VLA season then wrapped at the VLA Championships on May 22, 2026 in Orlando, Florida, held alongside the USA Volleyball Adult Open National Championships. In a league where rosters churn every winter, the Unicorns’ story is the opposite: the same band, back for more.
Best Players Right Now (2025-26 Roster)
Ryan Kelley, Setter (#69) — The face of the club on the court: the roster’s only fifth-year VLA player, the floor general who runs the offense, and the owner of the most recognizable number in the Central Division.
James Marton, Middle Blocker (#15) — The player-manager: a fourth-year middle who anchors the net on match day and literally helps run the team off the court the rest of the week.
Casey Pieper, Outside Hitter (#20) — A fourth-year core outside and one half of the Pieper-brother duo that has manned the Unicorns’ left side for years.
Corey Pieper, Outside Hitter (#11) — Casey’s brother and fellow fourth-year pin. Two brothers, one left side, zero let-up — the family backbone of the roster.
Ben Luebbe, Middle Blocker (#9) — A fourth-year middle and one of the Luebbe brothers, giving head coach Yoon Ha a second veteran presence at the net.
Jake Luebbe, Opposite Hitter (#4) — Ben’s brother, a fourth-year opposite whose right-side power balances the Pieper pins.
Will Andrews, Libero (#36) — The third-year back-row anchor, easy to spot in the club’s deep purple libero jersey with its pastel pinstripes and dripping white lettering.
JoVeaun Banks, Middle Blocker (#1) — A second-year middle adding young legs to the veteran blocking rotation.
Aidan Tyra, Outside Hitter (#21) — A second-year outside who deepens the pin rotation behind the Pieper brothers.
Ryan Bollhauer, Middle Blocker (#10) — A first-year middle learning the Tier 1 trade behind Marton and Ben Luebbe.
Luke Wilson, Opposite Hitter (#66) — A first-year opposite wearing one of the club’s signature big numbers — because on this team, even the jersey numbers have personality.
Dante McCoy, Opposite Hitter — A second-year opposite on the official roster page, part of the young right-side depth chart.
Head coach: Yoon Ha — The man on the bench for the 2025-26 Tier 1 side, with owner/GM Shane Green — “Owner/Manager/Gentleman of Culture” on his own club card — running the organization.
Star Spotlight: Stories You Should Know
The setter who never left. Semi-pro rosters turn over constantly, which is what makes Ryan Kelley remarkable: five VLA seasons, one club, one number. The #69 on his chest — white with a navy outline, printed huge over the rainbow watercolor splash — has become the Unicorns’ trademark, and Kelley is the constant every new teammate orbits around. When the Unicorns take the floor at Spooky Nook, the offense still starts in the same hands it always has.
The player-manager. James Marton does two jobs that would each be enough. On the court he is a fourth-year middle blocker, a first contact at the net in the biggest Central Division matches. Off it, he is the team’s manager — the person who makes sure a semi-pro club of working adults actually gets to the right gym, in the right jersey, on the right weekend. The Unicorns run on volunteers and believers; Marton is both, wearing #15.
Brothers on the pins. The Pieper brothers, Casey (#20) and Corey (#11), have spent four VLA seasons sharing the left side, and they are not the only family act: Ben and Jake Luebbe give the club a second set of brothers across the net positions. That is the Unicorns in one image — a team that is quite literally family, recruited from the same gyms, the same towns and, twice over, the same dinner tables.
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This Season (2026-27): The Next Run
The next chapter is already being written. The club held men’s tryouts on the last Sunday of August 2026 at Flock Sports Entertainment in Cincinnati, auditioning talent for both the Ohio Valley Unicorns and the Cincinnati Attack — the first step in building the 2026-27 Tier 1 roster. The fall centerpiece comes before league play even starts: the 4th Annual Horns n Corns, the club’s own fundraiser tournament at Spooky Nook Champion Mill, brings 40 teams across men’s, women’s and coed divisions to Hamilton on November 14-15, 2026. The VLA’s 2026-27 divisional fixture list — expected to follow the league’s established January-to-May calendar — had not been published yet, and neither had the finalized roster, so the famous numbers in this guide are the verified 2026 set. Whenever the new cards drop, one thing is certain: the corn, the rainbows and the sign-off will be back. Peace, Love, Volleyball.
Mark Your Calendar: The Road Ahead
Circle the dates ahead, Unicorns fans — the fall party comes first — then relive the 2026 weekends that made the Central Division grind before the new season lands in January:
- November 14–15, 2026 — Horns n Corns (4th Annual), Spooky Nook Champion Mill, Hamilton, OH: The club’s own fundraiser tournament — 40 teams, men’s, women’s and coed 6s divisions, hosted by the Unicorns. The biggest Unicorns weekend of the fall.
- January 2027 — The VLA season begins: Central Division play runs January through May on the league’s established calendar. Exact fixtures and the finalized 2026-27 roster will be confirmed when the VLA publishes its schedule.
- Relive it — March 14, 2026, the Central Division Cup: The Tier 1 Central Division Cup at the Koetter Center in Jefferson, Indiana, where the division’s pecking order gets settled each spring.
- Relive it — February 2026, the Fort Wayne weekend: A divisional road trip to Team Pineapple’s home event in Fort Wayne, Indiana — the away leg of the Central Division’s friendliest feud.
- Relive it — May 22, 2026, the VLA Championships: The league’s season finale in Orlando, Florida, staged alongside the USA Volleyball Adult Open National Championships.
Biggest Rivalries — The Wars
1. Team Pineapple — the home-and-home. The Central Division’s two anchor clubs trade home weekends like family visits with a scoreboard. Pineapple came to Hamilton for the Unicorns’ hosted season-opening tri-meet at Spooky Nook in January 2025, and the Unicorns return the trip to Fort Wayne every February — 2025 and 2026 alike. It is the closest thing the division has to a true home-and-home rivalry.
2. Beer City Brewers — the tri-meet rivals. The Grand Rapids club were one of the two visiting teams at the Unicorns’ hosted Central Division opener at Spooky Nook in January 2025, and they keep crossing paths with the Unicorns at division events and cups all spring. Every meeting is another chapter.
3. The Central Division Cup field — the spring sorting. The March Central Division Cups — Angola, Indiana in 2025, Jefferson, Indiana in 2026 — are where the division’s pecking order gets settled each spring, with the Ball Sports Academy and Union VBC crews standing between the Unicorns and cup bragging rights. One weekend, every grudge renewed.
And a note of honesty from the corniest team in the land: the Louisville Raiders and the Cincinnati Attack are not rivals. They are sister teams inside the same Unicorn Athletics organization — family, in every sense.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When do the Ohio Valley Unicorns play next?
The Unicorns host their 4th Annual Horns n Corns tournament on November 14-15, 2026 at Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill in Hamilton, Ohio. VLA league play for the 2026-27 season is expected to run January through May 2027, with exact fixtures confirmed when the league publishes its schedule.
Where do the Ohio Valley Unicorns play their home games?
The club hosts league events at Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill in Hamilton, Ohio, in the Cincinnati area. The organization was founded in Kentucky in 2022 as the Kentucky Unicorns and also fields the Cincinnati Attack and Louisville Raiders under the Unicorn Athletics umbrella.
Who are the Ohio Valley Unicorns’ star players?
Setter Ryan Kelley (#69), the roster’s only fifth-year VLA player; middle blocker James Marton (#15), who doubles as team manager; and outside hitter Casey Pieper (#20), one half of the Pieper-brother duo. All three numbers come from the club’s official 2025-26 player cards.
Where can I buy Ohio Valley Unicorns fan gear?
Toxlay Sports offers fan-inspired apparel for Unicorns supporters — fan-designed gear made for real fans. Note that fan-inspired apparel is not official VLA licensed merchandise.
Sources: Volleyball League of America (usavla.com), the Ohio Valley Unicorns’ official club site and announcements, Ohio Valley Region — schedules and rosters checked October 2026.
Peace, Love, Volleyball — the corniest team in the land is just getting started.
