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The Greater Miami Conference recently honored many Lakota student athletes for their success on the tennis and volleyball courts. Two of the honored students were selected as athletes of the year in their sport.

Lakota East's Zach Mueck plays in the OHSAA state tennis tournament Saturday, May 26, 2012, in Columbus. Photo taken by Jay LaPrete.

On the tennis court, Lakota East senior Zach Mueck was named the GMC athlete of the year. Mueck won a district title before losing in the state finals. It was the third straight year that Mueck finished as the state runner-up. The senior will continue his tennis career at Xavier University.

Mueck’s teammates, senior Mitchell Noufer and freshman Boris Menninger, were selected to the all-GMC third team.

In volleyball, Lakota West senior Alex Vohland was named the GMC athlete of the year. He was also named to the all-state first team.

Vohland led the GMC with 374 kills and helped lead the Firebirds to a 22-3 overall record an 8-0 mark in the GMC. Lakota West also advanced to the state semifinals.

Senior teammate, Brian Fintel, and junior Kalen White of Lakota East were also selected to the all-GMC first team. Also honored by the GMC were senior Alex Baker and junior Curtis Johnson, both of Lakota West, as well as senior Kyler Finnerty and sophomore Tyler Harsh from Lakota East.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Alex Baker, Brian Fintel, Curtis Johnson, Kalen White, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East tennis, Tyler Harsh, Zach Mueck

The Lakota West baseball team advanced past its first-round postseason game by defeating Woodward by the score of 18-0 in three innings on Tuesday, May 10.

At the plate, senior Brandon Dowty (2B), junior Zack Farmer (2B), senior Ryan Oltorik (2-for-2), junior Troy Dombart (2-for-3, two 2Bs) and junior Kenton LeVay (2-for-2) led the Firebirds.

The win advances Lakota West (13-10 overall, 9-9 in the Greater Miami Conference) to the next round of the district tournament. The 8th-seeded Firebirds will now have to play the 4th-seeded Anderson Redskins (16-2 overall, 12-2 in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference) this Friday at Anderson at 5 p.m.

Softball – Lakota East 12, Sycamore 1 – After winning a postseason game on Monday, the Lakota East Thunderhawks played a regular season conference game against Sycamore on Tuesday. The Thunderhawks won that game by the score of 12-1 in six innings. Senior pitcher Sara Pearson improved her record to 17-2 and struck out 10 batters. On the year, Pearson has 194 strikeouts in 116 innings and a 0.30 earned run average. Lakota East will be back playing in the postseason today, May 11, when it hosts Stebbins (Dayton) at 5 p.m.

Volleyball – Lakota West def. Fairborn – The Lakota West boys’ volleyball team snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating Fairborn by the score of 25-8, 25-7, 25-15 on Tuesday. Sophomore Curtis Johnson (four service aces, 15 assists), senior Robert Hasselfeld (10 kills) and senior Rio Onuki (seven kills) led the Firebirds. Lakota West will begin postseason play May 19 at Centerville at 6:30 p.m. and will face the winner of the Beavercreek/Northmont match.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: baseball, boys' volleyball, Brandon Dowty, Curtis Johnson, Kenton LeVay, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Rio Onuki, Robert Hasselfeld, Ryan Oltorik, Sara Pearson, softball, Troy Dombart, volleyball, Zack Farmer

In Lakota West’s last baseball game, junior Zack Farmer was the losing pitcher in a 4-1 loss to Lakota East on Thursday, April 21. Yesterday, April 26, afternoon, Farmer broke a 2-2 tie with a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to a 4-3 win against the Lakota East Thunderhawks.

The win moves the Firebirds (10-6 overall, 7-5 in the Greater Miami Conference) into a two-way tie with Mason (9-5 overall, 7-5 in the GMC) for second place in the GMC. Meanwhile, despite the loss, Lakota East (11-5 overall, 8-3 in the GMC) remains in first place in the GMC.

Senior pitcher T.J. Belieu improved his record to 4-1, while senior Jared Schroeder led the Firebirds at the plate by going 2-for-3.

Senior J.D. Whetsel went 2-for-3 and senior Mitch Geers hit a double for Lakota East.

Both teams will host GMC opponents this afternoon. West will host Hamilton (4-10 overall, 3-9 in the GMC) at 5 p.m. and East will host Sycamore (6-5 overall, 6-5 in the GMC) at 5 p.m.

Tennis – Mason def. Lakota East – The Thunderhawks boys’ tennis program lost its second match of the season when it fell to Mason by the score of 3-2 on Tuesday. Lakota East won its No. 1 singles match and its No. 1 doubles match, but lost all three of the other matches. The loss gives the Thunderhawks a 9-2 overall record and a 7-2 mark in the GMC. Mason improves to 11-1 overall and 7-1 in the GMC. Lakota East will host Loveland at 4 p.m. today.

Volleyball – Lakota West def. Lakota East – The Firebirds handed Lakota East its first loss of the season when it defeated the Thunderhawks by the score of 25-16, 18-25, 25-15, 29-27 on Tuesday night. Junior Alex Vohland (19 kills), Sophomore Curtis Johnson (23 assists) and junior Brian Fintel (five blocks) led Lakota West. The win moves Lakota West (8-6 overall, 6-1 in the GMC) into first place in the GMC. Lakota East (12-4 overall, 4-1 in the GMC) remains near the top of the conference standings. Lakota West is scheduled to host Wayne tonight at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, Lakota East’s next match will be played at Middletown (3-15 overall, 1-6 in the GMC) on Thursday, April 28, at 7 p.m.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Alex Vohland, baseball, boys' tennis, boys' volleyball, Brian Fintel, Curtis Johnson, J.D. Whetsel, Jared Schroeder, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Mitch Geers, T.J. Belieu, tennis, volleyball

Lakota West scored the game-winning run in the eighth inning Wednesday, April 13, when junior Jake Wagner singled in junior Nick Billman to make the score 2-1. The Firebirds would hold on to the lead thanks in part to senior starting pitcher T.J. Belieu, who threw a complete game. Belieu improves his record to 3-0. He also has 19 strikeouts in 20 innings and an ERA of 1.40 this season.

The win improves Lakota West’s overall record to 5-4 and its record within the Greater Miami Conference to 4-3. The Firebirds will visit Oak Hills (5-3 overall, 4-3 in the GMC) this afternoon at 5 p.m.

Baseball – Lakota East 2, Middletown 0 – Earlier this week, Lakota East had two games against Middletown postponed before finally beating the Middies by the score of 2-0 on Wednesday. Senior pitcher Evan Hills earned the win, improving his record to 3-1 on the season. Senior Brian Evans went 2-for-4 at the plate and drove in both runs. The win moves Lakota East into a two-way tie with Mason (7-2 overall, 5-2 in the GMC) atop the GMC standings. The Thunderhawks (6-3 overall, 5-2 in the GMC) will visit Fairfield (6-4 overall, 3-4 in the GMC) this afternoon at 5 p.m.

Softball – Lakota East 10, Sycamore 1 – The Thunderhawks won its 11th straight game on Wednesday when it defeated Sycamore by the score of 10-1. Sophomore pitcher Lea Buckenmyer improved to 3-0 this season. She also has 24 strikeouts and a 1.05 ERA in 20 innings this season. Senior Kelly Hardison homered for the fifth time this season and drove in four runs. Lakota East (12-1 overall, 7-1 in the GMC) will visit Fairfield (8-0 overall, 8-0 in the GMC) this afternoon in a battle between two of the area’s top teams.

Tennis – Centerville def. Lakota West – After winning five straight matches last week, the Lakota West boys’ tennis team has lost all three of its matches this week. The latest loss was against Centerville, which defeated the Firebirds by the score of 4-1. No. 3 singles player sophomore Nick Lang won his match for Lakota West. The Firebirds will visit rival Lakota East (7-1 overall, 6-1 in the GMC) this afternoon at 4 p.m.

Volleyball – Centerville def. Lakota West – The Elks defeated Lakota West by the score of 25-19, 25-19, 25-16 on Wednesday. Junior Alex Baker led the Firebirds with nine digs. Senior Rio Onuki had four kills and sophomore Curtis Johnson added two kills in the loss for Lakota West. The Firebirds (4-4 overall, 4-0 in the GMC) will visit Oak Hills (8-1 overall, 3-1 in the GMC) tonight at 7 p.m.

Volleyball – Lakota East def. Fairmont – Lakota East defeated Fairmont by the score of 25-16, 26-24, 25-18 on Wednesday. The win improves Lakota East’s overall record to 10-3 this season. The team is also 3-0 within the GMC. East will host Princeton tonight at 7 p.m.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Alex Baker, baseball, boys' tennis, boys' volleyball, Brian Evans, Curtis Johnson, Evan Hills, Jake Wagner, Kelly Hardison, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lea Buckenmyer, Nick Billman, Nick Lang, Rio Onuki, softball, T.J. Belieu, tennis, volleyball