WestChesterBuzz.com

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

Two Lakota West juniors and a Lakota East senior have recently made verbal commitments to play their respected sport in college.

Lauren Heger, who is a member of the Lakota West girls’ soccer team, has verbally committed to continue her athletic career at the University of Cincinnati.

As a sophomore, Heger started in all 18 games leading the Firebirds to a 6-0-3 record in the Greater Miami Conference. In those 18 games, Heger totaled 19 goals and 3 assists. In 2011, she was named to the all-GMC first team.

Fellow Firebird Gabby Blados has made a verbal commitment to play volleyball at Clemson University.

• WestChesterBuzz.com story on Gabby Blados

Blados, who is the daughter of former Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Brian Blados, is 6-foot-3 and is coming off a solid club season with the Cincy Classics. Prior to her freshman year, Blados had never played volleyball but was receiving attention from schools that represent the Big Ten, the Big East and the ACC.

At Lakota East, senior catcher Jarrett Rindfleisch decided to make a verbal commitment to play baseball at Ball State University. During the Thunderhawks’ state championship season, in the spring of 2011, Rindfleisch had a .348 batting average and a .459 on-base percentage. The spring of 2013 will be his last high school season.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Ball State baseball, Cincinnati soccer, Clemson volleyball, Gabby Blados, Gabby Blados Clemson, Gabby Blados Lakota West, Gabby Blados volleyball, Gabby Blados volleyball recruiting, Jarrett Rindfleisch, Jarrett Rindfleisch Ball State, Lakota East, Lakota East baseball, Lakota East High School, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West High School, Lakota West soccer, Lakota West sports, Lakota West volleyball, Lauren Heger, Lauren Heger Cincinnati, Ohio High School sports recruiting, Ohio preps recruiting, Ohio sports recruiting, UC soccer

Lakota West volleyball preview

Throughout its 15-year history, the Lakota West volleyball program has many accomplishments including four seasons of winning 20 or more matches, five district championships and five Greater Miami Conference regular season titles.

However, this fall, the program will be able to do something that it has never done before – play six seniors.

“We haven’t had that (depth) before. It definitely serves you well come tournament time,” said Tracey Kornau, who has been Lakota West’s only head volleyball coach in its history.

“I think it is one of those things that separates a good team from a great team.”

Leading the large group of seniors is outside hitter and Furman commit Annie Bierman, who finished second in the GMC in kills last season and was named to the all-GMC first team.

“They understand that they will all provide senior leadership, but one of them has to be the spokesperson on the court and Annie Bierman has assumed that role,” Kornau said. “She can flat out play. It is very easy to follow her example because she plays so well, but is also a good vocal leader.

“She is one of the best players in the city if not in the state.”

Bierman will be replacing last season’s senior leaders 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.”

Stewart and Muha, who Kornau believes will both be impact players in college, left a lasting mark on the Lakota West program – training their teammates last fall so that they would be ready to start in 2012.

According to Kornau, it wasn’t uncommon for Stewart to pull Delany Wilder aside or for Muha to coach up teammates Rachel Cogan (Sr.), Gabby Blados (Jr.) and Lexi Duello (Soph.) on how to play the middle and rightside hitter positions.

Wilder, now a senior, is competing with fellow classmate Sara Rudokas for the libero and defensive specialist positions. Returning players, Cogan, Blados and Duello are competing to play the middle and rightside hitter positions.

Blados, who is the 6-foot-3 daughter of former Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Brian Blados, had a productive club season and already has offers from Buffalo, High Point and Clemson.

Meanwhile, senior outside hitter Mandy Stanislovaitis and junior setter Allie Muha return as starters. Stanislovaitis will team up with Bierman to form a nice 1-2 punch on the outside.

“They are one of the most powerful duos, as far as outside hitters go, in the area,” Kornau said. “We won’t lose anything when one rotates out and the other rotates in.”

Also returning, senior Donna Street is extremely versatile and can sub in at middle and rightside hitter, as well as at setter. Kornau says of her senior backup, “on other teams she would be starter and a superstar.”

Last season, Lakota West won its second consecutive district title and finished 18-8 overall and 8-1 within the GMC. The Firebirds will begin its season at home Tuesday, Aug. 28, against McAuley at 7 p.m.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Allie Muha, Annie Bierman, Annie Bierman Furman, Annie Bierman Lakota West, Delany Wilder, Donna Street, Gabby Blados, Gabby Blados Lakota West, Gabby Blados volleyball, Gabby Blados volleyball recruiting, Lakota West, Lakota West High School, Lakota West sports, Lakota West volleyball, Lexi Duello, Mandy Stanislovaitis, Rachel Cogan

Despite not playing volleyball until her freshman year, Lakota West junior Gabby Blados is already attracting the attention of recruiters from some of the biggest college conferences in the country.

Two summers ago, armed with only three lessons entering freshman volleyball tryouts, Blados was worried she wouldn’t make the team. After watching her play, her future varsity head coach Tracey Kornau described Blados’ game at the time as “something out of a backyard barbeque.”

“I went into tryouts just hoping that I would make the team and possibly just sit the bench all season,” Blados said. “I never thought I would be able to get game time.

“But, come the first game, they threw me out there. My teammates had to push me along, telling me where to go and where to start.”

Even though she had never played volleyball, Blados always thought she might end up playing the sport mainly because the daughter of former Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Brian Blados, who is 6-foot-5 according NFL.com, knew she was going to be tall.

Now standing at 6-foot-3 and having improved through lessons and by playing for her club team, the Cincy Classics, in the offseason – she is starting to attract the attention of many college programs.

“It was definitely overwhelming when I got my first letter from a school. I never, in a million years, expected offers from D-I schools,” Blados said. “I thought, maybe, I would be a long shot to play D-II or D-III, but I am very thankful for everything that has come to me so far.”

According to her mom, Amy Blados, Gabby has already received offers from Buffalo, High Point and Clemson. She has also received interest from various schools from the Big Ten, the Big East and the ACC. Cincinnati, North Carolina, Ohio State and Iowa are among a short list of schools that have shown extra interest in the junior.

“We were not expecting it – at all. We were just hoping that she would make a team and just have fun,” Amy Blados said. “A college scholarship wasn’t something that I thought was realistic, especially this soon.”

Blados is not the only Lakota West volleyball standout in the history of the program to receive the attention of college recruiters despite being inexperienced.

A few years ago, Florida head coach Mary Wise called coach Kornau about a player she saw in a newspaper photo. Wise wanted to know why no one was talking about a player named Amber Gray.

Unlike Blados, Gray did have the experience of playing in junior high and was recognized as one of the top players in the Greater Miami Conference. Gray, however, had a different passion and spent most of her time on the basketball court. She also never played club volleyball, where most recruits are discovered and critiqued.

As Wise enquired about Gray’s availability, the conversation ended once Kornau told the Florida coach that Gray had already committed to play basketball at Tennessee.

Gray would eventually transfer to play basketball at her current school Xavier, after surviving a stroke and brain surgery in the summer of 2009. Like Blados, Gray’s father, Carlton Gray, also played in the NFL.

But, despite his athletic genes, Blados’ father admitted he had little to do his daughter’s development on the volleyball court.

“Gabby did really well and had an interest in gymnastics. As she got taller, the evolution was going to go to this sport and she took to it pretty quickly. As far as my influence on that, no, I let her do whatever she wants,” Brian Blados said.

“It is just like doing homework for her. I haven’t touched her homework since sixth grade. She has passed me from sixth grade on. She has been a better athlete and smarter kid than I ever thought of being.”

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Brian Blados, Brian Blados Cincinnati Bengals, college volleyball recruiting, Gabby Blados, Gabby Blados Lakota West, Gabby Blados volleyball, Gabby Blados volleyball recruiting, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lakota West volleyball, Ohio High School sports recruiting, Ohio preps recruiting, Ohio sports recruiting

Led by junior Michelle Strizak, Mount Notre Dame handled Lakota West in the Division I regional semifinals at Tippecanoe High School Wednesday by the score of 25-15, 25-15, 25-21.

According to the Pulse Journal, Strizak, who is committed to play volleyball at the University of Illinois, had a game-high 16 kills and 28 digs.

“Strizak. She’s one of the best players in the state and she did a great job with them, but it’s also because she has a wonderful cast of players in support,” Lakota West head coach Tracey Kornau told the Pulse Journal.

“They were able to mix things up and free her up. And they don’t have a weak spot in their defense. There’s no chink in their armor that we could try and go after. We tried to frustrate them, but they played very well. We wish them well.”

For Lakota West, the loss ends what has been an impressive run for a team that graduated five standouts last spring in Taylor Anderson, Lexi Dannemiller, Shannon Breen, Liz McMahon and Morgan Jones, who all combined for 18 years of varsity experience.

Two of those players, Dannemiller (University of Michigan) and McMahon (University of Illinois), were actually considered to be among the best in the nation.

This season, Lakota West relied on the development of its younger players and the leadership of its two seniors in Mel Stewart (Northern Kentucky University) and Corri Muha (Georgetown College) to win a district title and finish second in the Greater Miami Conference.

Next season, the Firebirds will have another group of strong seniors led by juniors Annie Bierman (265 kills), Mandy Stanislovaitis (241 kills) and Rachel Cogan (183 kills), who all were ranked in the top 10 in the GMC in kills this season.

Sophomore setter Allie Muha, who was third in the GMC in assists with 630, will also return as well as 6-foot-2 sophomore Gabby Blados, who should continue to develop as a player after participating in the sport for the first time last season.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Allie Muha, Corri Muha, Delany Wilder, Gabby Blados, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lakota West volleyball, Lexi Dannemiller, Liz McMahon, Mandy Stanislovaitis, Mel Stewart, Morgan Jones, Ohio regional volleyball tournament, Ohio state volleyball tournament, Rachel Cogan, Shannon Breen, Taylor Anderson, Tracey Kornau, volleyball

This past school year, Lakota West head coach Tracey Kornau saw five of her most experienced players graduate from her back-to-back Greater Miami Conference championship team. Those standouts, Taylor Anderson, Lexi Dannemiller, Shannon Breen, Liz McMahon and Morgan Jones, combined for 18 years of experience.

Two of those players, Dannemiller (University of Michigan) and McMahon (University of Illinois), were actually considered to be among the best in the nation.

>>>FEATURE STORY ABOUT DANNEMILLER AND MCMAHON<<<

“Losing five, in general, is a huge number and losing the five that we did … definitely hurts,” Kornau said. “That is going to take a bite out, but if there is any lesson into last year’s season was that we learned to play without them (injuries to Dannemiller and McMahon), so that helped a little bit.”

However, this year’s team is lacking varsity experience and will have to rely heavily on the leadership of seniors Mel Stewart and Corri Muha if it intends on winning its third consecutive GMC title this fall.

“I have always been the baby because we have always had those seniors with us. Now that they are not here, you almost feel like someone is missing,” Muha said of the five standouts, who graduated in 2011.

>>>PHOTOS OF LAKOTA WEST VOLLEYBALL PRACTICE<<<

Due to a pair of knee surgeries over the summer, the normally quiet Muha has had to take on the role of “coach.”

“Now that I am not going to be able to be on the court, I am going to have to be more vocal and instructing more,” said Muha, who is expected to miss at least the first week of the season. (more…)

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Allie Muha, Corri Muha, Delany Wilder, Donna Street, Gabby Blados, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lakota West volleyball, Lexi Dannemiller, Lexi Duello, Liz McMahon, Mandy Stanislovaitis, Mel Stewart, Morgan Jones, Rachel Cogan, Sara Rudokas, Shannon Breen, Taylor Anderson, Tracey Kornau, volleyball