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

Norwalk remained perfect in the Northern Ohio League with its 25-11, 25-10, 25-11 sweep over Upper Sandusky. The Truckers were led by Celeste Duncan (12-for-15, seven kills) and Kayla Freriks (10-for-11, four kills) hitting attack. Taylor Smith led setting with 15 assists (35-for-35), while Mackenzie Hall added five assists (15-for-15). Norwalk improved to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the NOL.

In Sandusky Bay Conference action, Edison swept Oak Harbor on the road, 25-11, 25-15, 25-3, improving to 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the SBC. Emily Stewart led the attack with nine kills, while Brittany Moyer added 13 assists and five digs. Amanda Blodgett led from the service line with 17 points and seven aces. Stewart also added six points and five aces.

Also in SBC play, Huron swept Perkins, 25-17, 25-16, 25-15 led by Jesse Miedema, who went 28-for-32 hitting with 12 kills. Devon Grendow went 33-for-34 setting with 15 assists. Adriana Deluca led from the service line, going 14-for-15 with three aces.

Amherst improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the Southwestern Conference with its 25-4, 25-5, 25-19 win over Midpark. Deme Morales continues to impress. Morales led hitting (14-for-18, nine kills), serving (seven aces), digs (seven) and blocks (nine), while Marissa Harned went 45-for-45 setting with 16 assists.

Avon and Vermilion went five sets with the Eagles coming out on top. The scores were 19-25, 25-23, 25-10, 21-25, 25-11 in Avon’s favor. Allison Lieghty led Avon with 17 kills, while Sara Ladegaard added 15. Kenzie Berkheimer led Avon’s setting, going 49-for-49 with 19 assists. Julia Clark led Vermilion with 14 kills, while Andrea Rini led Vermilion’s setting, going 110-for-113 with 29 assists.

Keystone swept Wellington, 25-7, 26-24, 25-15 in Patriot Athletic Conference action. Casidy Gregory went 28-for-32 hitting with 13 kills to lead the Wildcats. Ashley Lenzer went 30-for-30 setting and added 13 assists, while also serving 18-for-19 with three aces.

Admiral King evened its record at 4-4 and 2-0 in the Lake Erie League with its 25-20, 25-9, 25-10 sweep over Bedford. Ashleigh Neely went 11-for-11 with six kills, while Tierra Thompson led setting with nine assists (27-for-28). Asia Chishom led from the service line, going 16-for-16 with three aces.

St. Paul swept South Central, 25-11, 25-3, 25-13 in Firelands Conference action, led by Amber Welfle, who led the attack with 13 kills (19-for-22). Kaylee Bundschuh went 67-for-69 setting and added 39 assists.

Amherst lost the first game, 25-18, but came back to defeat Olmsted Falls, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19 to stay undefeated in Southwestern Conference play. The Comets improved to 3-0 in the SWC, 6-1 overall.

• Deme Morales led the Comets’ attack with 24 kills. She also notched six aces from the service line and 15 digs defensively. Marissa Harned led setting with 51 assists.
  

• St. Paul improved to 3-0 in the Firelands Conference (5-1 overall) with its win over Mapleton, 25-11, 25-5, 25-5. Emily Nickoli (13 kills) and Amber Welfle (8 kills) led the Flyers’ attack. Kaylee Bundschuh went 58-for-58 setting with 33 assists.
  

• Admiral King swept Shaw in Lake Erie League play, 25-11, 25-6, 25-6 led by Diedre Noble (8 kills) and Tierra Thompson (25-for-25, 23 assists). Asia Chisholm led AK’s serving, going 18-for-19 with 10 aces.
  

• Norwalk remains undefeated in Northern Ohio League play with their four-set win over Fostoria. Norwalk won the first two matches, 25-19, 25-15, but dropped the third match, 19-25, before winning the final match, 25-12. Kayla Freriks went 26-for-33 hitting with 12 kills. McKenzie Hall went 114-for-115 setting with 37 assists. Hall also served 27-for-27.
  

• Wellington swept Black River, 25-13, 25-13, 25-16 in Patriot Athletic Conference play. Megan Auble went 21-for-24 hitting with 13 kills. Rachel Cook went 30-for-30 setting with 12 assists.
  

• Huron defeated St. Mary, 25-12, 25-23, 25-22 in a tightly-contested Sandusky Bay Conference game. Devon Koenig led Huron’s hitting with 18-for-21 with 10 kills, while Taylor Sauterback went 24-for-26 with nine kills.
  

• Firelands won the first match, 25-23, but Bay won the next three as the Rockets beat the Falcons, 25-19, 25-9, 25-15 in West Shore Conference play. Bay’s leading hitter was Sarah Vick with 16 kills, while Firelands’ leading hitter was Morgan Mastellone with five kills. Bay’s Bridget Doughty went 103-for-103 setting with 41 assists.
  

• Midview swept Vermilion, 25-17, 25-18, 25-22 in WSC action. Danielle Herwig went 13-for-15 hitting with 10 kills. Angela Bayus went 89-for-89 setting with 35 assists, while also serving 11-for-12 with an ace. Arrianna Cumberledge led digs with 20.

Saturday prep round up
By Matt Lofgren

It was quiet Saturday for the most part in area high school sports, with many teams taking off the labor day weekend.

In 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 against Columbia and Euclid. The Admirals beat Euclid, but fell 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 team mate Casidy Gregory was 35-39 hitting with 13 kills. Finally, Firelands went 2-0 in a tri-match with Oberlin and Open Door.

In boy’s soccer, Green beat Avon Lake, despite a good effort by goalie Logan Crist. North Olmsted destroyed Canton McKinley, 11-0. Adam Koehler and Mike Grazia both had a hat trick and Josh Sandoval scored 2. Oberlin and Norwalk played to a scoreless tie with the help of Josh Kocsis of Oberlin in front of the net. Kocsis had 5 saves. Westlake and Rocky River also ended in a scoreless tie. Wellington edged EC 1-0 with a goal by Nick Dowdell, assisted by Kyle Bartolovich.

Girl’s soccer had a plethora of non-conference games. Norwalk did a good job of breaking down the Admiral King’s defense. The Truckers got 7 goals past the Admirals, compared to one lonesome Admiral King goal by Michelle Bailey. Norwalk’s Lisa Patusky had 4 goals. Elsewhere, Firelands beat Oberlin 4-0 with a team effort by the Phoenix’s. Trinity blanked Brookside despite a solid 18 saves by Melanie McCowan.

The Chris Green cross country Invite 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. Elyria Catholic’s boys took first place and the girls took ninth 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 boy’s also took to the course at the Bucyrus Elks Invitational looking for a win. The Panthers got a big win thanks to a first place overall finish by Marty Cooledge who posted a time of 16:07.

Basketball season will be before you know it and fans of the Lorain County Holiday Basketball Classic should know that this year's boys tournament is tentatively scheduled to take place at Sandusky High School while the girls event will be contested at Admiral King. The tournament annually features the teams from Admiral King, Sandusky, Elyria and Vermilion.

The cross country season gets under way for real Saturday when the 32nd Annual Avon Lake Early Bird Cross County invitation will take place at Lorain County Community College.

While I have not seen the final list of entrants in this year's event, this event annually attracts the best teams in the area. Not only do the fine people at Avon Lake run a fantastic event every year, but teams also want to come and test themselves on the LCCC course that will host the boys and girls Division I and II sectional races in October.

Fans and parents also have to be early birds to catch the action Saturday, as the first race gets under way at 8 a.m.

By Matt Lofgren

Norwalk swept Fostoria, 5-0, led by No. 1 singles player Olivia Kasten in Northern Ohio League action. In Sandusky Bay Conference action, Perkins beat Edison by a final score of 4-1. Dalal Hamad had a strong showing by beating Perkins’ Taylor Stoll in straight sets 6-0, 6-0. Elsewhere in the conference, Oak Harbor tamed Huron, sweeping them 5-0. The doubles team of Kristina Blatt and Hannah Signedson dominated Paige Peiples and Morgan Griffin 6-2, 6-1.

In boys soccer, Amherst took down Southwestern Conference rival Avon Lake, 3-0. A team effort came together well for the Comets as Connor Kekota, Jake Stark and Alex Obbey all scored goals. North Olmsted topped Midpark 2-0, also in SWC play. In the West Shore Conference, Avon made a big statement, beating the Rangers of North Ridgeville, 7-0. In non-conference play, EC beat rival Elyria 3-1 led by David Elwer, who scored all three goals. Finally Lutheran West and Columbia ended in a deadlock tie at 2.

In girls soccer action, Keystone edge Wellington 1-0 in Patriot Athletic Conference action, thanks to an unassisted goal by Alyson Broschk. In the Southwestern Conference, Amherst took out Avon Lake 2-0. Westlake romped Berea 8-0 with a solid team performance. In the West Shore, the Eagles trounced a solid North Ridgeville squad 6-0. Bay had a scoring fiasco on Midview, defeating them 7-0. Opposite of the scoring fiasco has to be a 1-0 barn burner at Fairview, as the Warriors edged Vermilion. Adrian Bendo of Fairview scored the lone goal over the Sailors. Rocky River topped Firelands 4-1, with the help of Vitou’s pair of goals. Oberlin and Brooklyn also played in a Patriot Athletic Conference match, ending in a 2-2 tie.

Edison dominated boy’s and girl’s cross country, winning at Huron’s Fabens Park. The top runners were Nick Lowery of Huron for the boys, posting a time of 18:12 and Abbi Plunkett of Edison for the girl’s with a time of 21:24.

In girls golf, North Olmsted outperformed Amherst and Midpark at Springvale Golf Course. Carly Babinec shot a match low 43.
Avon beat Rocky River and North Ridgeville in a WSC tri-match. Jenna Getner of Rocky River shot the lowest score of the day, 42.

The Avon Eagles shot a school record 165 at Bob-O-Link, Par 36 on Tuesday in its tri-match victory over West Shore Conference opponents Vermilion and Fairview. Not only did the team set a school record, but Katelyn Greear also set the school record as she shot a 37. Also contributing to the record day was Kaitlin Neumann (41), Emily Wallace (41) and Mary Dickson (46). The Eagles are 6-0 overall and 4-0 in WSC play.

Tuesday was also the opening night for conference play in volleyball with a few close and exciting matches.

• Powerhouse Elyria began their season with a 3-1 victory over a tough Solon team. Kristen Boros had 15 kills for Elyria, while Shelby Regiec was 128-for-131 in setting with 43 assists.

• Vermilion remained unbeaten as they came back to defeat Fairview in four games. Vermilion dropped the opening match 24-26, then reeled off three straight wins. Julia Clark led the Sailors with 13 kills. Andrea Rini also had a big night for Vermilion as she scored 26 points and served five aces.

• The best game of the night might have been Edison and Hudson. The Sandusky Bay Conference rivals battled through five matches with Edison coming out with the win. Each team alternated wins before Edison took the final match 15-13. Jesse Niedema had a big for Hudson as she went 62-for-66 in hitting with 21 kills. Not to be outdone were Edison's Emily Stewart and Cami Shine who had 21 and 16 kills respectively.