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September 18, 2003 |
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Volleyball team wins 1, loses 2 The YSHS volleyball team trounced Xenia Christian in straight sets last Thursday, using finesse and consistency to finish the Ambassadors off in less than 30 minutes. The Lady Bulldogs had a bit more trouble on Saturday taking Xenia Nazarene, 2–1, but falling to Cedarville, 1–2. On Monday YSHS also lost in two games to Troy Christian. The Lady Bulldogs are now 7–3 overall. Thursday’s game began with Yellow Springs on defense, but the momentum quickly changed hands when Xenia started a string of long spikes and sets. First up for the home team, Evin Wimberly served the Lady ’Dogs to a 3–0 lead with two deep overheads and one low ace, prompting the team to cheer themselves on with a rhythmic “stomp-clap-stomp, stomp, stomp-clap, ace!” At 7–3, Arla Smith popped up a return from the back, Wimberly set a high ball and Megan Lents tipped it gently over to the open space across the net. The next point Sarah Finn leaped to block a Xenia spike, but the team couldn’t stop the next cross-court hit to the floor, costing YSHS a point. Xenia scored on several more aggressive points at net, but the Lady Bulldogs stayed their course and sought out the gaps on the other side of the net. With YSHS up 13–6, the Ambassadors looked like they might stage a comeback during a flurry of spikes and digs. But the Lady Bulldogs quickly hedged the attempt and took the next 2 points to close out the set. YSHS sprung to another early lead in the second set when Trisha McLinden slammed a ball to the floor, making the score 4–2, and the Lady ’Dogs just kept on rolling. Lents served a low ace to make it 10–4, then Alecia Walker-Garrisson set an easy ball that Heather Wagers spiked for a score. Then again, it looked like Xenia might attempt to tip the balance when a player blocked a Yellow Springs hit and Xenia served a few strong balls to win the next 4 points. But the Lady Bulldogs tightened the reins and took the score to 13–9, when Walker-Garrisson made a dive to save a return on her own serve and then rushed the net to push a third return over for the point. The second set ended 15–9. “Our thing is to swim, dive, fly or float, do whatever we got to do to get that ball,” coach Shirley Martin said. At one point in the second game, the Lady Bulldogs lost their concentration and let Xenia gain the momentum. “The aliens came,” as Martin put it, “and sucked all our brains out!”But apparently the extraterrestrial visitors did not stay long. Wagers, Walker-Garrisson and Lents each had two spikes. Wimberly played critical defense, with nine digs and one block. Finn had five blocks and two digs. Katie Lovering gave the YSHS net game a chance with seven digs, while Lents had eight. XC boys place 6th at Bellbrook The YSHS cross country team faced six wide and muddy creek crossings, racing to a strong finish at the Bellbrook Invitational on Saturday. The Bulldogs finished first among Division III schools and 7th out of the 16 schools, and all five teammates mucked their way to their fastest times of the year. Kettering Alter won the meet with 62 points, narrowly beating Bellbrook, the host squad, who finished with 75. Springboro took third with 92 points. Running against more than 90 boys, Carey Dixon finished in sixth place in 17:45. David Warren and Sam Borchers finished close behind in 11th and 12th places, respectively. Borchers broke the 19 minute barrier for the first time in his life, finishing in 18:19. Matthew Maretta improved his time to finish 77th, and freshman Zach Reichert had an outstanding four minute improvement over his previous best as he came crashing through the woods to place 84th in 25:45. In the girls competition, Tina Peters and Hillary Livingston both posted their best times of the season and got the traditional post-race hot fudge sundaes for their achievement. Out of 87 girls, Peters finished 14th in 22:32. Livingston also went out aggressively and finished 69th in 27:28, a two-minute improvement over her past times. The Bulldogs compete this Saturday, Sept. 20, at 11:30 a.m., in the Friendship Invitational, at John Bryan State Park. YSHS originally said that this would be an away meet. Springs now 2–0 FC Springs traveled to Brookville Sunday for a 6–2 victory to improve their record to 2–0. Both teams created scoring opportunities at the start, but neither could finish their chances. Finally, 21 minutes into the game, Brock GunderKline dribbled the ball in from 40 yards out to launch a 20 yard shot over the Devils’ keeper and into the goal for the lead. Then it was Zac Katz-Stein blasting his shot through the keeper’s hands off of a throw-in from Ethan Brown. Ten minutes later Ryan Phillips dropped a back-pass (the bangu) to Ben Armstrong who hit a full-volley shot and put the Springs up 3–0. Yosef Johnson closed out the first half knocking in a cross from Armstrong. Back on the field, Brookville’s goalie dropped Jesse Rothman’s shot, and Sheets scored on the loose ball. Sheets returned the favor a moment later, getting the ball to Rothman, who drilled his shot inside the left post. Brookville got back two goals near the end of the contest, but it was too little, too late, as the Springs rolled to their second win in as many games. FC Springs hosts the Warriors SC Thunder Sunday, Sept. 21, 1 p.m., on the field behind Yellow Springs High School. Grade school girls basketball clinics Girls basketball clinics will be held on Saturdays, Sept. 27, Oct. 4 and Oct. 25, 2–4 p.m., at the Bryan Community Center gym. The clinics are for girls in fourth, fifth and sixth grades, and will consist of instruction, drills and scrimmage (e.g., 3-on-3 games). Girls with experience and girls who are just learning the game are encouraged to attend. It is also an opportunity to learn more about playing in the Kenton Trace Conference, for fifth- and sixth-grade girls, which runs from mid-November through February. For more information, call Rich Miller at 767-2049. Golfers lose three The YSHS golf team had tough times in bad weather last week as the Bulldogs lost to Greeneview, Miami Valley and Troy Christian. On Wednesday, Sept. 3, the YSHS team traveled to Sebastian Hills, Greenview’s home course, to battle both the Rams and the wet weather. The soggy ground shortened tee shots because the ball could not roll, which fouled up at least the Yellow Springs players. Greeneview edged the Bulldogs, 179–193. The Bulldogs played well and scored 178 against Miami Valley on Monday, Sept. 8. But they could not crack the league champs’ score of 165. Rory Hotaling led YSHS with a 39, while David Warren shot a 42. Troy Christian narrowly defeated the Bulldogs, 175–178, last Thursday. It was an off day for several key players, but Francis Gayek led YSHS with a 38, and Alex Visbal shot a solid nine holes. The Bulldogs’ Sept. 2 match was rained out. YSHS is now 8–5 this fall. YSHS plays its last match of the regular season tonight (Thursday) against Cedarville at Locust Hills. The Bulldogs battle six other schools during an 18-hole match for the Metro Buckeye Conference title Saturday, Sept. 20, 7 a.m., at Locust Hills. The sectional tournament starts Thursday, Sept. 25. A Homecoming loss for Bulldogs The Yellow Springs High School football team lost 33–3 to Marion Catholic last Friday. The team played hard during the YSHS Homecoming game, despite the fact that several key players were injured and could not contribute on the field. The Bulldogs were able to move the ball around fairly well. Anthony Brandon rushed for 32 yards on nine carries and quarterback Jake Fulton rushed for 41 yards on six carries. Fulton was 9 of 19 in the passing game for 117 yards and two interceptions. Brandon also racked up 100 yards on two kickoff returns. Aaron Zagory put the team on the scoreboard on his second field goal attempt of the night when he made a 34-yard field goal. The defense was led by Miguel Visbal, who had 10 tackles, and Cody Johnson, who had nine tackles. |
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