Late Season Notes: Volume 2

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Lake Catholic Can Clinch Crown Title Tuesday</em></strong><br>With two conference matches remaining, the Lake Catholic Cougars can clinch the Crown Conference championship with a win over current second place team Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. The Cougars have a two match lead over the Lions in league play. With the win, Lake Catholic will secure the league title with one conference match left on Thursday versus the Beaumont School. The Cougars last faced off versus NDCL in September earning a convincing 3-0 win. In that match junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='169125' first='Katie' last='Sowko']</strong> led Lake Catholic with 13 kills and 13 digs. She is averaging a team high 4.3 kills per set. Junior setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='169128' first='Hannah' last='Pattie']</strong> (*pictured) dished out 36 assists and averages 11.5 assists per set as one of the state's assists-per-set leaders. Senior libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='114514' first='Emma' last='Briganti'] </strong>had 15 digs in that win over NDCL and is averaging nearly four digs per set to go along with her team high 33 total service aces. <strong>Natalya Bergant</strong>, a 6'0 sophomore, also deserves some recognition as this team's second best offensive option at 2.8 kills per set. Lake Catholic has held the #1 ranking in Ohio for all five weeks of the Division III state poll.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Midwest Conference Log Jam</em></strong><br>With Coldwater's recent 3-0 win over previously league-unbeaten Marion Local, the Midwest Conference has a solid triad of quality teams tied atop the league standings, all currently sitting at 6-1 with two conference matches left this week. Coldwater, 16-4 overall, is currently ranked #4 in the state's Division III poll and are led by a quality tandem at the outside hitter position in senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='169519' first='Jenna' last='Leugers']</strong> and sophomore <strong>Spencer Etzle</strong>r as both are averaging 3.3 kills per set. Sophomore middle <strong>Morgan Blasingame</strong> contributes 2.6 kills per set as junior middle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='494151' first='Madison' last='Wendel']</strong> adds 2.3 kills per set and while hitting a team best .332. New Bremen and Marion Local are currently ranked #1 and #2 respectively in the Ohio state Division IV poll. The versatile attacking of junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='152118' first='Olivia' last='Heitkamp']</strong> results in 4.8 kills per set to lead New Bremen as middle <strong>Lindsey Koenig</strong> leads Marion Local offensively with 3.0 kills per set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Badin Earns Greater Catholic Coed Title</em></strong> <strong><em>with Roger Bacon Showdown on Thursday</em></strong><br>At 9-1 in league play (18-1 overall) the Rams have been crowned as the GCC champions for 2022. Currently ranked #2 in the Ohio state Division II poll, Badin's only loss (3-0) came at the hands of league foe and runner-up Archbishop McNicholas early in the season. Since then the Rams have handled both conference and non-conference opponents often in convincing fashion as they have lost only eight sets this entire season. With three non-conference matches left to play this week, their biggest remaining test will be from DII #8 ranked Roger Bacon this Thursday to round out the regular season. The Rams are led by seniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='141723' first='Sarah' last='Newberry']</strong> and <strong>Lauren Trusock</strong>. For Roger Bacon, Ohio's 2021 DII state runner-up, look for them to get big production on the pins from an athletic sophomore in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='179022' first='Mariah' last='Gaines']</strong> and a savvy and experienced junior in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='114590' first='Kelsey' last='Niesen']</strong>. Senior middle <strong>Mariya Montgomery</strong> leads the team in hitting efficiency at .357 while terminating 2.4 kills per set. She also leads the team in total blocks with 61. This match will feature two DII postseason hopefuls that each have big strengths on both sides of the ball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->