Avon Lake resident Katie Nowak was named one of 10 Missouri Valley Conference State Farm Good Neighbor Award.

The Avon Lake graduate has been a key contributor to the success of the Bradley women’s cross country team this season. She owns two top-10 finishes, including her first-career meet victory at the Bradley Open Sept. 11. Nowak received MVC Athlete of the Week and State Farm/Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors following her performance at the Bradley Open. With Nowak’s leadership, the Braves have two first-place team finishes and have been ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Midwest Regional poll for six consecutive weeks.

In an effort to honor model student-athletes, the Missouri Valley Conference has partnered with State Farm Insurance in creating the MVC Good Neighbor Award. In order to be eligible for the award, the student-athlete must be in good academic standing, must demonstrate good citizenship through good sportsmanship and significant community service and must participate in a sport during the season of recognition.

Nowak boasts a 3.97 cumulative grade point average in mechanical and bio-medical engineering and has volunteered in a variety of activities, including the Buddy with the Braves Program, Just Read and the Megan Fong Blood & Bone Marrow Drive. She is a three-year member of both the MVC and Bradley Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (2006-08) and was an MVC First Team Scholar Athlete in 2007-08.

By STEVE WALKER
swalker@MorningJournal.com

The Huron Lady Tigers pose for a picture after winning the OHSAA Division III State Volleyball Championship. SPECIAL TO THE MORNING JOURNAL

When the Huron volleyball team made it to the state tournament this season, it was head coach Don Wood's sixth time being there.

Having made five other appearances, including state championships in 1999 and 2002, Wood knew what it took to get there.

And win.

But this was a new class and this team was on a three-year drought of winning at regionals. His four seniors Jesse Miedema, Melissa Moberg, Adriana Deluca and Devon Koenig were freshmen the last time the Tigers were state champs, but didn't get the experience of playing on the big stage.

That didn't pose a threat as Huron made it look easy, sweeping Frankfort Adena, 25-17, 25-21, 25-21 at the Ervin J. Nutter Center in the OHSAA Division III state championship match on Saturday.

"It feels exactly like a dream come true," said Miedema, who will be signing her letter of intent today to play volleyball at Radford, a Division I college in Virginia. "I remember being a little freshman and watching our team go down to state and saying 'Wow, I want that so bad' and we just did it. Looking back I'm so happy. This season could not have ended on a better note. Especially my senior year, just to cap off my entire high school volleyball career is great. A complete dream come true."

Wood had been there before, but this championship is different.

"It's a pretty special one," Wood said. "Everytime we've made it down to Dayton, it's special in its own way, but there is something about this group of kids, the community and the students the way they followed us. It gave us a really nice feeling. Everything was just right. The fans were terrific. The students were the talk of the place. In fact, our student section made a name for themselves with their costumes and the way they followed us.

"We had a great parade when we came into town and a great crowd at the gym Saturday night. It was special. It was just the way you would dream of it happening."

Miedema led the Tigers with 12 kills, while junior Taylor Slauterbeck recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs. Junior Taryn Graham added 28 digs.

Adena had two more kills than Huron for the match (37-35), but committed 28 attack errors compared to just 17 for the Tigers.

"It was very exciting, very overwhelming," Moberg said. "It kind've came on to us like we're the big champion, we're the best in our division. Just that feeling is so amazing. This is definitely you want to end your senior season, just to know that you ended your senior season with a win and you couldn't get any farther than you went.

"A lot of our success is credited to the chemistry all of us girls had together and being able to focus toward one main goal and not having side distractions distract us from that goal."

Huron advanced to the championship match by knocking off Middletown Bishop Fenwick in a five-game semifinal. The Tigers punched their ticket to the championship match by winning the fifth-and-deciding game, 15-10.

The road wasn't easy for Huron, who also won a five-game battle with Archbold, who came in at 27-0, in the regional final after its come-from-behind win over Marion Elgin in the regional semifinal.

Huron had swept through sectionals without losing a game, knocking off Woodmore, Clear Fork and Margaretta to advance to regional play.

"They were well prepared in staying strong and staying focused from our regular season schedule," Wood said. "Our conference was no breeze this year. We had a couple five-gamers with Edison that we split. We played some tough tough teams so to even compete with some of them, we had to be mentally tough. That helped prepare them for the tournament run."

The Tigers, who finished the season 26-3, haven't lost since a 3-2 loss to Findlay midway through the season. Another loss was to Padua Franciscan, who won the Division II state title. The season started off bumpy as Huron had its 99-straight Sandusky Bay Conference match win streak snapped by Edison, causing many to think the Tigers weren't the kings of the conference or the area anymore. The loss, in Wood's eyes, seemed to be a wake-up call.

"The winning streak in the SBC wasn't something that we ever talked about, because number one we respect the heck out of everybody in our conference," Wood said. "I just never thought that was something that I should ever really talk about. Just the fact of losing that first conference game of the year and trying to defend the SBC title, that put 'em behind the eight ball early. I think it gave them a wake-up call. They really did work hard after that. If we had squeaked that one out at Edison, I don't know if we would've had that same urgency that I was able to get out of them."

Overall, Wood couldn't be more pleased with the play of his team.

Miedema had a tremendous offensive year, while earning All-Ohio recognition. Grendow set her teammates up well. Moberg did a great job serving. Defensively, Graham played excellent at libero and even recorded a regional-record 44 digs in the regional final win over Archbold. Deluca, Koenig, Slauterbeck, Katlyn Sommer and Erin O'Reilly were also keys to the Tigers' success. And state championship.

The State Cross Country meet will take place this Saturday at Scioto Downs in Columbus. The schedule is as follows: 11:05 A.M. D-III Girls, 11:50 A.M. D-II Girls, 12:35 P.M. D-I Girls, 1:20 P.M. D-III Boys, 2:05 P.M. D-II Boys, 2:50 D-I Boys. Admission is $9.

Two local teams and several individuals will run in the races.

The Elyria Catholic boys won the D-II Tiffin Regional Championship with 41 points. Senior Marty Coolidge finished third overall with a time of 16:07.61. He will be joined at state by his teammates senior Bryce Steindl, juniors Patrick Foreman, Dan Kuhman, Ryan Lynch, Matt Wiehe and freshman Greg Nagy.

The Bay Rockets finished third in that same regional. Senior Mike Brajdic won the race with a time of 15:42.14. Joining him at state are seniors C.J. Farnham, Jeremy Farver, Alex Meyers, Jacob Schreibman, Brian Zeuch and junior Nick Banks.

Qualifying as an individual in D-II was Avon junior Tyler Kvach who finished 8th overall. In D-I, Avon Lake teammates Jimmy Adams and Matt Link qualified for state. The team finished fifth and missed states by just three points.

The Avon girls team finished fifth missing a trip to states by one place. Bay sophomore Hannah Sterle was fourth overall in the D-II girls race and qualified as an individual. Sophomore Katy Link finished eighth in the D-I girls race and will run in Columbus.

The Magnificat girls won the D-I girls championship with 34 points. Avon residents Abby and Clare Fisher finished third and fourth overall.

It is the season for state tournaments. Soccer and Volleyball began sectional play this week. While tennis and golf are wrapping up their seasons.

The St. Mary's boys golf team qualified for the Division II state tournament and finished 10th. The team is coached by Matt Keech and playing at state for the Panthers were Senior Ian Fegedelem and juniors Jared Ebert, Collin Ebert, Evan Slattery and Connor Stark.

Participating in this weekend's D-I golf tournament will be Westlake senior Chris Nader and Avon Lake freshman Brendan Aussem.

Avon Lake resident Victoria Bello was the D-I Medalist - shooting an 81 miserable, wet, cold, and windy conditions at Heatherdowns in Toledo last week. The Magnificat senior golfer qualified for her third trip to state.

Three local girls are participating in the State tennis tournament this weekend. Avon Lake senior Nikki Chiricosta became a four-time state qualifier and Elyria Catholic seniors Morgan Baker and Emily Mueller advanced after winning both elimination matches last Saturday.

If you have any news to share about Lorain County high school athletes send tips to zdzurick@MorningJournal.com.

Westlake girls soccer defeated Olmsted Falls, 5-1 to clinch its second-straight Southwestern Conference title. Natalie Bechtel led the Demons with three goals and an assist, while Kristie Prendergast and Megan Dunlap also added a goal apiece. Westlake improved to 9-1-1 overall and 6-0 in the SWC.

In volleyball, Wellington beat Lutheran West, 3-1 with Katie Stumphauzer going 23-for-26 hitting with 11 kills and 6 aces. Trinity edged EC 3-2, but Zoe Zwegat helped the Panthers with 17 kills. The Lions of Lake Ridge took down Oberlin 3-1 in a non-conference match up. Southview was shut out by Mentor even though Shanique Ogle had a great day serving going 13-for-13 with 11 service points and an ace.

Westlake shut out Olmsted Falls, 3-0. Alex Chernosky had a pair of goals to propel the Demons to the SWC win.

In West Shore Conference action, Bay remained undefeated with a 2-0 shutout over Fairview. Avon defeated Midview, 4-1 and Rocky River blanked Vermilion, 2-0.
Oberlin blanked Lutheran West, 4-0 and Buckeye beat Keystone 7-3 in Patriot Athletic Conference action. Also in PAC action, Wellington routed Brookside, 10-0. Eight Dukes scored in the effort.

Katelyn Greear was two-over par 40 to lead Avon to a tri-meet win over Bay and Vermilion at Willow Creek.
Avon (16-0) scored a 179, while Bay had a 202 and Vermilion notched a 229.
Rounding out the Eagles top four were Katlin Neumann (43), Mary Dickson (48) and Chelsea Plzak (48).
Sarah Balch (42) led Bay, while Taylor Fortner (48) led Vermilion.

In boys soccer, Jimmy Filko scored two goals to lead Open Door past Avon Lake, 2-1.

NiiArmah Hammond scored a pair to help the Phoenix beat Keystone, 4-1.

Wellington beat Brookside, 5-1. Chris Cokur had a hat trick in the effort and Dan Grodek scored the Cardinals only goal.

Courtney Echstenaamper scored two goals to lead Wellington past Brooklyn 6-0.

Sarah Borrhello scored two goals, while her sister Paige added another, as Columbia topped Brookside.

Avon Lake defeated Olmsted Falls 4-0 in Southwestern Conference action. Tani Lopez and Ali Kenny scored a goal each.

In tennis, Oak Harbor beat Perkins 4-1, Ashley LaFountain defeated Dalal Hamad in straight 6-0 sets.

Elsewhere, Clyde swept Edison 5-0, with doubles team of Mariah Bloom and Shelbe Gibson handled their match, 6-2 and 6-0.

- Matt Lofgren

In girls volleyball, Amherst took the Norwalk Invitational by storm, beating Beaumount and Norwalk to get into the final. There, the Comets beat Lexington in straight sets to win the tournament.

In non-conference play, Avon beat Medina Highland 3-0 with the help of Sara Ladegaard who had 17 kills, and 9 digs.

Admiral King played in a tri-match, defeating Euclid, but falling to Columbia. Deidre Noble had a combined 15 kills and 2 blocks in the matches.

The Keystone-Margaretta match went the distance, ending in a 3-2 Margaretta victory. Alyssa Stechow of Keystone put up 10 blocks, while teammate Casidy Gregory was 35-for-39 hitting with 13 kills.

Finally, Firelands went 2-0 in a tri-match with Oberlin and Open Door.
In boys soccer, Green beat Avon Lake, despite a good effort by goalie Logan Crist.
North Olmsted routed Canton McKinley, 11-0. Adam Koehler and Mike Grazia each had a hat trick and Josh Sandoval scored two.

Oberlin and Norwalk had a scoreless tie with the help of Josh Kocsis of Oberlin in front of the net. Kocsis had fives saves.

Westlake and Rocky River also ended in a tie while no players scored.

Wellington edged EC 1-0 with a goal by Nick Dowdell, assisted by Kyle Bartolovich.

Norwalk controlled Admiral King, 7-1. Michelle Bailey scored the Admirals only goal. Lisa Patusky led the Truckers with four goals.

Elsewhere, Firelands beat Oberlin, 4-0, while Trinity blanked Brookside. Melanie McCowan saved 18 shots on goal for the Cardinals.

The Chris Green Invite cross country saw the likes of girls from Seneca East, Perkins, Bellevue, Oregon Clay. Seneca East took home a 1st place trophy with the help of Brittany Stockmaster 19:08. Samantha Jarrett of Perkins finished in 21:05 which was best in the area. At the Ashland invitational, Amherst took 1st with a score of 58. Five Amherst girl’s runners finished in the top 25. EC took 9th place at the Bucyrus Elks Invitational. Alexa Rick finished a team best 6th place with a time of 20:45.

The Chris Green Invite also was for boy’s cross country teams. Sandusky took 3rd with a score of 82, beating 4th place Perkins and 7th place Margaretta. Billy Fry finished an area best 5th place with a time of 16:42. Finally, EC boys got a big win thanks to a first place overall finish by Marty Coolidge who posted a time of 16:07.

- Matt Lofgren