WestChesterBuzz.com

Lakota East senior Ashley Evans signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Purdue Wednesday.

Lakota East head coach Casie Garland

“I am very happy for Ashley to make this official. It has been a long time coming and a huge dream of hers has just come true today. Purdue is blessed to have Ashley, as she is one of the best players in the nation, but even more a spectacular person. It is so gratifying to see so much hard work and dedication pay off for such an amazing young woman, and I look forward to seeing what her future holds. We will miss her at Lakota East.”

Below is a press release from the university.

The Boilermaker volleyball team has signed one of the nation’s best prep players to a National Letter of Intent to play for the team beginning in the fall of 2013. Ashley Evans, a setter from Liberty Township, Ohio, is listed as the No. 21 player on PrepVolleyball.com’s list of Senior Aces.

Senior Ashley Evans, who signed to Purdue, helped Lakota East advance to regional final this fall for the first time in school history. Photo taken this postseason by Amanda Davidson.

The 6-1 setter is a two-time all-state selection and was named Greater Miami Conference (GMC) Player of the Year for the second straight year after a senior campaign that saw her average 3.81 kills, 3.57 digs and 1.38 assists per set, while also serving up 54 aces for Lakota East High School.

Evans led her team to the district and sectional titles and a runner-up finish in the Ohio Southwest Region her final season, while also earning first team all-GMC and first team all-city honors.

One of PrepVolleyball’s Top 50 junior recruits, she earned first team all-state, all-GMC and all-city accolades as a junior and was part of USA Volleyball’s High Performance Junior A2 Team after leading her team to the GMC and sectional titles.

A three-time All-Academic GMC honoree, Evans was a member of the USAV U15 National all-tournament team and high performance youth A2 teams as a freshman and garnered the first of three first team All-GMC honors her sophomore year.

A four-year member of the high honor roll and a National Honor Society member, Evans was named as a J. Kyle Braid Leadership Foundation Selection. Evans plays club volleyball for the Cincy Classics, while finished fifth in the Junior Olympic U15 national tournament. The daughter of David and Ann Evans plans to major in engineering.

Head coach Dave Shondell said Evans bring both high academics and volleyball skills to Purdue.

“Ashley is the epitome of a great student-athlete,” Shondell said. “She is coming in here to study engineering after having done very well at her high school academically. She is a very bold and aggressive leader, which is sometimes hard to find in our sport, and that is one of the things that I really appreciate about her. She has great physicality and is similar to some of the setters we have had in the past like Jaclyn Hart and Renata Dargan. She still has a lot of development ahead of her as a setter since she hasn’t been setting for a long time. She is a high character, hardworking and very competitive individual that I think is going to make us a better volleyball team.”

PrepVolleyball.com’s John Tawa had this to say about the setter.

“Evans is a proto-type Big Ten setter who fits the mold of recent Purdue grad Jaclyn Hart, an All-America who is second on the Boilers’ all-time assists chart. A dynamic and dedicated athlete, Evans has only transitioned to the role of setter in the past few years after starting out as a pin hitter with impressive power. Her versatility – the ability to hit, block, defend, pass, and set – will be a benefit as she moves to the college level. Evans’ physical skills are impressive, but her toughness, leadership and competitiveness are her true strengths. At 6-1, Evans has the size and strength to battle at the net against the physical outside bangers at the top Division I level. Planning to major in Engineering at Purdue, Evans will be designing plans to achieve success in the classroom and on the volleyball court. Few setters in this class can provide the many tools that Evans brings to the game.”

Four players from the 2012 roster will be exhausting their eligibility at season’s end. The Boilermakers kick off a four-match homestand on Friday, when they take on No. 15 Ohio State on Belin Court. No. 2 Penn State comes to town on Saturday when the teams will face off in Mackey Arena as part of the Operation 14K event.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Ashely Evans Purdue, Ashley Evans, Ashley Evans Lakota East, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East volleyball

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

Lakota sports fans have the unique opportunity tonight to watch both the Lakota East and Lakota West varsity volleyball programs play in back-to-back regional semifinal games at Lebanon High School. If both Lakota schools win then they will face off in the regional final.

Lakota East (22-2) will have the tough task of trying to defeat unbeaten Mount Notre Dame (25-0) in its regional semifinal match at 6:30 p.m.

Currently, the Cougars are ranked No. 6 nationally by MaxPreps and haven’t lost since Oct. 13, 2011. Ironically, that loss came against Lakota East.

“We know that our game on Thursday against Mount Notre Dame is going to be a battle,” Lakota East head coach Casie Garland said. “They are the strongest team in the state thus far at 25-0 and defending state champions, so it’s definitely not going to be easy.

“However, I do feel our team is fully capable of battling with the best of them.”

Both teams feature a future Big Ten volleyball player. East is led by Purdue commit Ashley Evans, who had 23 kills and 23 digs in the 30-28, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18 win against McAuley in the district final last Saturday. On the other side of the net, MND is led by senior Michelle Strizak, who is committed to Illinois. Strizak led the Girls Greater Cincinnati League with 381 kills.

In the late game Thursday, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Lakota West (20-5) will take on Ursuline (19-6). It will be the third meeting this fall between the two teams – with the Lions winning the first two: 25-20, 25-17, 25-27, 25-18 and 25-23, 25-21, 25-23.

“Ursuline is a great team,” Lakota West head coach Tracey Kornau said. “They are very well coached, always solid fundamentally and always play great defense.

“It will be a great game.”

Like in the earlier matchup, each team is led by one of the region’s best players. Junior Sam Fry, who had 362 kills this season and has already verbally committed to Notre Dame, leads Ursuline. While, Furman commit Annie Bierman, who led the Greater Miami Conference in kills this fall with 297, leads Lakota West.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Annie Bierman, Annie Bierman Furman, Annie Bierman Lakota West, 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, 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:

It was fitting that Lakota East senior Danielle Fleming ended the first game of Monday night’s Division I volleyball sectional final against St. Ursula with an ace. Fleming is one of six seniors on the roster for the fourth-seeded Thunderhawks and serving was just one of the advantages they utilized in a 25-23, 25-20, 25-17 win against the No. 6 Bulldogs that earned them a fourth straight sectional title.

Senior Ashley Evans had 14 kills, 10 digs and three of the 10 aces Lakota East had as a team as it improved to 21-2 on the season and advanced to Saturday’s district championship at Lebanon against No. 5 seed McAuley.

The Mohawks (17-7) defeated No. 12 seed Milford in three games, 26-24, 25-12, 25-10, in Monday’s second match to win their first sectional title since 2008. McAuley rallied from a 23-19 deficit in the first game before rolling to comfortable wins to close out the match.

Evans, an outside hitter, has played varsity all four seasons along with setter Anna Starr and middle hitter Ali Lake. Defensive specialist Madeline Garda, outside hitter Carlie Haddad and Fleming are in their third varsity seasons.

Lake is out for the season with a torn ACL but the Thunderhawks have talented depth. They have lost this season only to top-seeded and state No. 1-ranked Mount Notre Dame and second-seeded Lakota West.

“They came in their freshman year and you knew they were a real strong class,” said Lakota East coach Casie Garland, a 2001 graduate of Lakota East. “These seniors have redefined the program. I seen it throughout the years and this is probably the top it’s been. I think we’re up there with the elite and we have a shot to go as far as we want.” (more…)

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Ashley Evans, Ashley Evans Lakota East, Ashley Evans Purdue volleyball, Carlie Haddad, Casie Garland, danielle fleming, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East volleyball, Lakota East volleyball photos, Madeline Garda

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