Lakota West senior Annie Bierman once thought of herself as a soccer player until her father forced her to play volleyball. After eight years of playing soccer, Bierman eventually quit and is now planning to continue her volleyball career in college.
Earlier this summer, the outside hitter decided to make a verbal commitment to attend Furman University in Greenville, S.C.
“When I went down to Furman, it just clicked,” Bierman said. “I really liked the coaches and the area. I just knew that is where I wanted to go.”
Bierman was also considering Northern Kentucky, Ohio, Ohio Dominican and Wright State universities.
As a junior last season, Bierman was second in the Greater Miami Conference in kills and was named first team all-GMC. She also had 12 kills and 3 blocks in the 25-23, 25-23, 26-24 upset win against Lakota East in the district championship.
Hoping to build upon her success last fall, Bierman will take on a new role this season as she tries to help fill the void of losing two leaders to graduation in libero Mel Stewart (NKU) and middle hitter Corri Muha (Georgetown College).
“This year, I am definitely going to have to step up and be one of the main leaders on the court because we lost Mel and Corri and they were such strong leaders for everybody,” Bierman said. “It is going to be big shoes to fill, but I think I can do it.”
In 2011, Lakota West finished second in the GMC with an 18-8 overall record and an 8-1 mark within the GMC. The Firebirds only loss in conference play during the regular season was to school district rival Lakota East.
Lakota West, however, revenged that loss by defeating the Thunderhawks in the postseason. The Firebirds did lose their next postseason match in the regional semifinal to Mt. Notre Dame, who went on to win the Division I state championship.
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