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A total of 18 student athletes were recognized Wednesday during a special spring signing event at Lakota East High School. Overall, athletes from 11 different sports at Lakota East selected to attend 14 colleges and universities from the around the country.

Among those recognized, four will be competing for Division I programs, the highest level of collegiate sports. That includes Jordan Combs, who will compete in the pole vault at Miami University; Taylor Holden, who will play tennis for the University of Rhode Island; Ali Lake, who will play volleyball at Ohio University; and Anna Starr, who will play volleyball at Bowling Green State University.

• Benjamin Bostick – football – Centre College
• Jacob Burton – wrestling – College of Mount St. Joseph
• Brett Colburn – baseball – Capital University
• Jordan Combs – track, pole vault – Miami University
• Hannah Copeland – soccer – Carroll University
• Kyler Corbett – football – Moorehead State University
• Morgan Costa – lacrosse and basketball – Walsh University
• Adam Delaet – baseball – Walsh University
• Zachary Daniel – football – Ohio Northern University
• Danielle Fleming – volleyball – Ohio Dominican University
• Tyler Gibbons – baseball – Capital University
• Taylor Holden – tennis – University of Rhode Island
• Ali Lake – volleyball – Ohio University
• Kayla Lamar – basketball – University of Virginia at Wise
• Erin Smiddy – golf – Ohio Dominican University
• Justin Smith – football – Centre College
• Anna Starr – volleyball – Bowling Green State University
• Kalen White – men’s volleyball – Alderson-Broaddus University

Combs recently finished first in the boys’ pole vault at the Greater Miami Conference meet. This week, he will compete in the Division I track district tournament at Winton Woods.

Holden, meanwhile, selected URI because she wanted to play at a competitive school on the East Coast. She was also considering Massachusetts, George Washington, Seton Hall, St. Bonaventure and Ball State. For Lakota East, Holden was a four-time state quarterfinalist, state doubles runner-up in 2009, GMC Player of the Year in 2011 and was named first team all-city from 2009 to 2011.

Lake selected Ohio over other offers that included Xavier, James Madison and High Point. She verbally committed to Ohio as a sophomore and also had interest from North Carolina, Tennessee and Marquette.

Starr, who was previously committed to Wright State, signed with Bowling Green, according to the Lakota East athletic department. Starr was named first team all-GMC in 2012 and was a captain as a senior. She joins fellow senior Madeline Garda, who signed with BGSU earlier this year.

The 18 student athletes join the 17 others from Lakota East, who signed with colleges in February. Those athletes include Derek Baker (baseball – Ashland), Ethan Bryant (baseball – Sinclair), Chris Elam (baseball – Lincoln Trail), Jarrett Rindfleisch (baseball – Ball State), Lea Buckenmyer (softball – Goshen), Jake Chestnut (football – Notre Dame College), Richie Gould (football California University of Penn.), Keith Brady (football – Columbia), Ashley Evans (volleyball – Purdue), Madeline Garda (volleyball – Bowling Green), Emily Roth (swimming – Findlay), Kyle Lee (Lacrosse – SUNY Herkimer County Community College), Stedman Lowry (basketball – Hillsdale), Matthew Rice (cross country/track – Harding), Kelly Burrows (cross country/track – Northern Kentucky), Andrea Felix (soccer – Slippery Rock) and Will Mahone (football – Notre Dame College).

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports, Spring sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Ali Lake, Ali Lake Lakota East, Ali Lake Ohio University volleyball, Anna Starr, Anna Starr Bowling Green, Anna Starr Lakota East, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Ohio football recruiting, Ohio High School sports recruiting, Ohio preps recruiting, Ohio sports recruiting, Taylor Holden, Taylor Holden Lakota East, Taylor Holden Rhode Island

The Ursuline Lions continued the tradition of Girls Greater Cincinnati League volleyball teams winning local regional titles with a 25-18, 25-8, 14-25, 25-14 win against Lakota East on Saturday at Lebanon High School.

The win marks the 18th straight year and the 34th time in the past 38 years that a GGCL program has won the big school (Class AAA or Division I) Southwest Ohio regional title.

“When I was the coach at Lakota East, I don’t think that I beat a GGCL team one time in nine years,” head coach Jeni Case said, who coached East until taking over at Ursuline in 2006. “Our schedule helps us. We have to play each GGCL team twice every season and I think that just prepares you more for the tournament.”

In fact, the last time a non-GGCL team won the local regional title was Lakota High School in 1994 before the district split into two high schools. Ironically, Ursuline (21-7), ranked No. 6 in the state, defeated No. 9 Lakota West in the regional semifinal before taking on No. 4 Lakota East (24-3).

For the Thunderhawks, it was their first time in the school’s 16-year history that they advanced to the regional semifinal. The loss also marks the end of the high school career of one of the state’s top players in Purdue commit Ashley Evans, who finished the match with a game-high 19 kills and 8 digs.

“I never had a player like Ashley Evans in my life,” Case said. “She is just incredible and she is going to be awesome in college.

“We knew we had to shut her down, or at least, as much as possible.”

In addition to Evans, seniors Madeline Garda (Bowling Green commit), Anna Starr (Wright State commit), Carlie Haddad, Danielle Fleming and Ali Lake (Ohio commit, didn’t play due to injury) will leave what was possibly East’s most talented team in school history.

“This is the best senior class that has ever come out of Lakota East and one of the best in the state,” Lakota East head coach Casie Garland said. “I have never seen a group of girls so passionate about the sport of volleyball and it is disappointing to see them fall short today because they deserve it more than any other group in the state.”

But it was Ursuline who played better on Saturday.

Led by Notre Dame commit junior Sam Fry (17 kills, 9 blocks), junior Paige Kebe (10 kills), senior Rachel Garnett (10 kills), senior Abby Weisenberger (41 assists) and senior Courtney Grafton (21 digs), the Lions will be making their 11th appearance at the big school state tournament when they face Toledo’s St. Ursula Academy in a state semifinal match at Wright State’s Nutter Center at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

A win there would advance Ursuline to the state final on Saturday at Wright State, where they will try for their fifth overall state championship and fourth among the big Ohio high schools.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Anna Starr, Anna Starr Lakota East, Ashley Evans, Ashley Evans Lakota East, Ashley Evans Purdue volleyball, Casie Garland, Casie Garland Lakota East, Casie Garland volleyball coach, Lakota East, Lakota East High School, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East volleyball, Lakota West High School, Madeline Garda, Madeline Garda Bowling Green volleyball, Madeline Garda Lakota East

Mark Schmetzer reports:

Almost as if they couldn’t wait, the Lakota East Thunderhawks were on the floor with a minute left before the fourth game of their Division I regional semifinal match against Mount Notre Dame.

That normally wouldn’t be unusual, except most teams aren’t that anxious to take on the undefeated defending state champions – but then, most teams weren’t Lakota East Thursday night at Lebanon High School.

“We didn’t want a delay,” senior outside hitter-setter Ashley Evans said. “We wanted to keep the momentum, because volleyball is such a game of momentum.”

The approach paid off as the Thunderhawks went on to win the fourth game and complete an historic 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20 win that sent them to the regional finals for the first time in the 16-year history of the program.

“I’m speechless,” said Evans, who led Lakota East with 26 kills. “I’m going to have to slap myself to make sure I’m awake. We’re coming together as a team. We tried to play them like they were any other team. We were the last team to beat them last year and the first team to beat them this year.”

“This is huge,” Thunderhawks’ coach Casie Garland said. “It’s incredible.”

Senior Madeline Garda had 40 digs and classmate Anna Starr finished with 45 assists for Lakota East (24-2), which is scheduled to face Ursuline (20-6) in the regional finals on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Lebanon.

The Lions advanced with a taut 15-25, 25-12, 21-25, 25-22, 15-11 win over Lakota West (20-6) in Thursday’s second match.

The state semifinals are scheduled to be played on Nov. 8 with the finals on Nov. 10, all at Wright State University’s Nutter Center.

Lakota East, the No. 3 team in the Enquirer’s Division I coaches poll and fourth-ranked team in the Division I state coaches association poll, had several motivational cards to play, including a season loss to Mount Notre Dame (25-1), the top-ranked team in both the Enquirer and statewide polls, late in the regular season.

“They served and passed a lot better,” Cougars coach Joe Burke said about the difference in the two matches. “We didn’t have our ‘A’ game. We worked and played hard, but when you don’t give your best effort and the other team is on, it’s hard.”

“We weren’t clicking then,” Garland said. “I’d rather lose in the regular season than in the tournament. We’re jelling and clicking at the right time.’

“It came down to who played defense – and Evans was a game-changer.”

Evans and her teammates also made sure to remember that no Lakota East team had gotten past the regional semifinals.

“We found some old jerseys and wore them around school today,” Evans said. “We called it ‘Throwback Thursday.’”

Ursuline, ranked second in the Enquirer and sixth in the state, lost to Lakota East in the third match of the regular season.

The Firebirds (20-6), ranked third third in the Enquirer and ninth in the state, fell short of their second trip in three year to the regional championship match.

“We played them twice earlier in the season and beat them both times, but I knew it’d be close,” Lions coach Jeni Case said. “It looked like they wanted it more in the beginning, but we picked it up.”

Volleyball – Regional semifinals at Lebanon High School

Lakota East (24-2) def. Mount Notre Dame (25-1) 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 25-20

Ursuline (20-6) def. Lakota West (20-6) 15-25, 25-12, 21-25, 25-22, 15-11.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Anna Starr, Anna Starr Lakota East, Ashley Evans, Ashley Evans Lakota East, Ashley Evans Purdue volleyball, Casie Garland, Casie Garland Lakota East, Casie Garland volleyball coach, Lakota East, Lakota East High School, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East volleyball, Lakota West, Lakota West High School, Lakota West sports, Lakota West volleyball, Madeline Garda, Madeline Garda Bowling Green volleyball, Madeline Garda Lakota East, Tracey Kornau, Tracey Kornau Lakota West

Shannon Russell reports:

Lakota East and Lakota West clinched Division I district girls’ volleyball championships Saturday at Lebanon and punched their tickets to respective regional semifinals.

The Thunderhawks ended McAuley’s first winning season in five years in a 30-28, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18 thriller and clinched a place in Thursday’s 6 p.m. regional semifinal at Lebanon.

By ousting Troy 25-12, 25-14, 25-15 – and snapping the Trojans’ 11-match winning streak – Lakota West secured its place in Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. regional semifinal, also at Lebanon.

McAuley (17-8) didn’t make it easy for Lakota East (23-2) to clinch its second district title in three years, but the Thunderhawks proved resilient after dropping their first game of the postseason.

“We remember how it felt after we lost last year and we didn’t want to that to happen again, so we just pushed through,” said Lakota East senior Ashley Evans, who had 23 kills, 23 digs, two blocks and an ace.

Coach Casie Garland said Lakota East’s solid passing set the tone for a good offensive showing, and McAuley coach Gene Toms agreed.

Toms said the Mohawks had “antsy feet” and struggled to make good, aggressive moves on defense. But rather than emphasize the outcome, he praised McAuley’s nine seniors, including Taylor Bove (12 kills) and Jordyn Thiery (7 kills).

“We’re going to try to celebrate the season instead of focusing on how it ended for us,” Toms said.

Lakota East setter Anna Starr finished with 54 assists, while libero Madeline Garda had 20 digs and Spenser Parks amassed 15 kills.

Then it was Lakota West’s turn. The Firebirds (20-5) won a third straight district title by controlling the tempo and making big plays at key moments.

“We knew we had to come out strong so we just had tons of energy,” outside hitter Annie Bierman said.

Coach Tracey Kornau called the win a complete team effort.

“We spread the ball out pretty evenly,” Kornau said.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Anna Starr, Anna Starr Lakota East, Ashley Evans, Ashley Evans Lakota East, Ashley Evans Purdue volleyball, Casie Garland, Casie Garland Lakota East, Casie Garland volleyball coach, Lakota East, Lakota East High School, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East volleyball, Lakota West, Lakota West High School, Lakota West sports, Lakota West volleyball, Madeline Garda, Madeline Garda Bowling Green volleyball, Madeline Garda Lakota East, Spenser Parks, Tracey Kornau, Tracey Kornau Lakota West

Kevin Goheen reports:

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Anna Starr, Annie Bierman, Ashley Evans, Carlie Haddad, Casie Garland, danielle fleming, Donna Street, Firebirds, Gabby Blados, GMC, Lakota East, Lakota West, madline garda, Mandy Stanislovaitis, Rachel Cogan, sports, Thunderhawks, Tracey Kornau, volleyball

It was an odd day.

Union Elementary first grader Jeff Back didn’t understand why recess was being held inside on such a beautiful day or why so many of his classmates were being picked up from school by their parents.

Meanwhile, at Liberty Elementary, Anna Starr was starting to get jealous.

Why wasn’t her mom picking her up?

What was so special about today?

It was Sept. 11, 2001.

It was a day not easily forgotten by Hannah Lee.

Lee remembers briefly watching the news coverage in her first grade classroom.

“The World Trade Center! I was just there,” said Lee, who went on a trip to visit relatives in New York City three weeks prior to the attacks.

Her teacher looked at her. The television was quickly turned off.

While she was only in first grade, Lee knew something terrible had just happened. She knew her uncle worked at the World Trade Center. She knew that her other uncle was a New York City fire fighter.

A lot of her family lives there.

She wondered: Are they ok?

Fellow first graders Keith Brady and Jake Chestnut remember their teachers whispering in the hallway.

Why were their teachers crying? (more…)

Posted in: News |

Tags: Tags: 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, 9/11 attacks, Anna Starr, Hannah Lee, Jake Chestnut, Jeff Back, Keith Brady, Lakota East, Lakota High School

Lakota East volleyball preview

An earlier than expected loss last postseason has given the Thunderhawks something to prove in 2012.

Lakota East, which was ranked No. 4 in the state in the final coaches’ poll of 2011, saw its 20-game winning streak end in the district final in a 25-23, 25-23, 26-24 loss against school district rival Lakota West, a team the Thunderhawks defeated in straight sets just a month before.

After the match, Lakota West head coach Tracey Kornau said of the upset, “if we play (Lakota East) ten times, we win once. Today, was that once.”

The Firebirds would lose their next match to Mount Notre Dame, a team that went on to win the Division I state championship in 2011 after also losing to Lakota East in the regular season.

“We went through the regular season and we were 20-1, so to end the season 22-2 against a team we beat pretty well during the regular season was disappointing,” Lakota East head coach Casie Garland said.

“But, that is the way it happens sometimes. They came out to play and we didn’t. I think we definitely learned from that match because I think we kind of overlooked them and now we realize that we can’t overlook anybody.”

Garland admitted the team will use the loss to Lakota West as motivation for this season and hopes East can advance further in the postseason in 2012 despite losing six seniors to graduation.

Among that group of seniors, five are now playing in college including Morgan Weinheimer (University of Mississippi), Hannah Berling (Tusculum College), Hannah Sigala (Morehead State University), Lauren Beitel (Otterbein University) and Emily Bostian (Otterbein).

“The luxury we had last year is that we had six juniors as well,” Garland said. “So, we have a good core coming back, but we will definitely miss the ones from last year.”

Leading the core of returning seniors will be Greater Miami Conference Player of the Year Ashley Evans (committed to Purdue University) and GMC first teamer Ali Lake (committed to Ohio University), who was among the conference leaders in kills and assists last season.

Senior Madeline Garda (committed to Bowling Green), who is competing for the libero role, also returns.

“They (Evans and Lake) have really taken on a leadership role, on and off the court,” Garland said.

“They are definitely our biggest offensive threats, but I think people underestimate our defensive ability. With Garda and (junior) Cailyn Wachtel back as our primary passers and defenders, overall defense is one our strengths.”

Another one of the Thunderhawks’ strengths is their depth, as there are multiple starting spots that have yet to be decided as the team gears up for its opener against Turpin and Wyoming next Saturday Aug. 25.

Senior setter Anna Starr is currently a starter, while her freshman sister Le Ann Starr is competing for a starting spot at outside hitter. Another competition, for a starting middle hitter role, is between freshman Spenser Parks and sophomore NaDiah Fry.

Another player who is competing for a starting spot is senior Danielle Fleming, who Garland said has improved tremendously from past seasons.

“This is my third year with these girls and it is exciting to see their growth for the past few years,” Garland said. “Their excitement, their dedication, they really deserve something special to end with. I think everyone’s goal to make this season the best for the seniors and go out with a bang.”

WestChesterBuzz.com will preview the 2012 Lakota West volleyball season on Monday

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Ali Lake, Ali Lake Lakota East, Ali Lake Ohio University volleyball, Anna Starr, Ashley Evans, Ashley Evans Lakota East, Ashley Evans Purdue volleyball, Casie Garland, Casie Garland Lakota East, Casie Garland volleyball coach, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East volleyball, Le Ann Starr, Madeline Garda, Madeline Garda Bowling Green volleyball, Madeline Garda Lakota East, NaDiah Fry, Spenser Parks