High school volleyball notes: Lake Erie League crown might just belong to King at season’s end
Steve Byrne | The Chronicle-Telegram
Admiral King is poised to win the Lake Erie League’s Erie Division championship.
The Admirals played five conference matches before Monday night and won them all. Only one has gone past three games. Bedford, the team Admiral King played Monday, took the Admirals to four games on Sept. 10.
The Admirals can feel fortunate the LEL matches are played on weeknights. Heading into Monday’s match, Admiral King (9-6) had won eight times when playing Monday through Friday. But Saturday’s victory against Black River in a triangular with Vermilion was the first time the Admirals won on the weekend. They’re 1-6 in Saturday competition.
“To win some outside the conference is an accomplishment for us,” Admirals coach Terry Traut said. “We have to cut out the weekend matches. We’re not a very good Saturday team. The energy isn’t there.”
So from where does the high voltage come on school nights?
“We haven’t been getting huge crowds on weeknights,” Traut said, “but we get a good core of male students — football players, mostly — who can get pretty loud. It pumps up the girls.”
Weekend woes notwithstanding, Admiral King is probably the most improved team in the county this season. The Admirals won only twice in 2007.
“We have a talented group, and we’re mostly juniors,” Traut said. “That bodes well for next year. We’re scrappy. Our setting could be better, but we’ve improved our passing.”
The Admirals are in the midst of four straight nights of matches. They finish the LEL schedule next Tuesday at Cleveland Heights.
Cards roost on poll
The newest Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association poll has been released. Look who’s on the list.
“As far as I know this is the first time for us,” Brookside High School athletic director Dick Kerschbaum said. “I’ve only been here four years, but judging from the reaction around the school I’d say this was the first time.”
Brookside is No. 20 in Ohio in Division II. The Cardinals are 14-1 so far and on their way to a possible eclipse of last year’s school-best 19-4 record.
“We were all pretty excited around here when we heard the news,” Kerschbaum said. “Everyone is really pumped up about it. The girls have worked hard and they deserve recognition.”
Brookside hosts Keystone tonight, the only team to have defeated the Cardinals this season. Those two, along with Buckeye, each have only one loss as the battle for the Patriot Athletic Conference title comes to the finish line.
Elyria, no stranger to being ranked statewide, made the cut for the first time in 2008.
The Pioneers are ranked No. 19 in Division I thanks to their 12-3 record and 6-0 mark in the Northeast Ohio Conference’s Valley Division.
Olmsted Falls is ranked second in Division I. The Bulldogs are
16-0, 10-0 in the Southwestern Conference.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hanna Dixon, Westlake
CLASS: Senior
POSITIONS: Middle hitter/outside hitter
LAST WEEK: In five matches (14 games), had 34 kills, 18 blocks, 33 digs, 34 points
(five aces), 88-percent hitting efficiency and 24-percent kill efficiency. Named Most Valuable Player of the eight-team Avon Invitational, won by Westlake. The Demons went 4-1 last week, winning
11 of 14 games, to improve to 10-8 for the year.
OTHER SPORT: Track (sprints, long jump)
FREE TIME: Hanna is a member of the Junior Goddesses, a dance team that performs during halftime of the Cleveland Gladiators games in the Arena Football League. She also enjoys listening to music (R&B) and shopping.
FUTURE PLANS: To attend college to major in business and play varsity volleyball.
PARENTS: Hikia and Hanford
| |
|
Filed by Steve Byrne | The Chronicle-Telegram September 30th, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 3% |
 Email this story
 Print this story
Read comments and discuss this story
Report an innappropriate comment
|
In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement
and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here. If you are registered, click here to log in.
Write a Comment