Conference Races Taking Shape

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Seton Creates Distance in GGCL</em></strong><br>The Seton Saints improved to 11-0 following last week's results, which included three big wins starting with a tough non-conference match up versus a solid Roger Bacon squad last Saturday. They then defeated the defending state champs in Ursuline 3-1 followed by their most recent 3-0 conference victory over Mercy McAuley. The loss dropped the Wolves into second place. Seton continues to establish themselves as the GGCL's top threat on the statewide DI landscape as they are the only unbeaten team in the GGCL. They begin the second round of league play in their coming matches with Mount Notre Dame on Thursday with St. Ursula looming the following week. St. Ursula gave Seton their toughest match of the season so far as the Saints earned the win with a 16-14 fifth set score. Seton has some other key non-league games ahead including Gilmour Academy and the top teams in the GWOC and ECC in Centerville and Kings respectively. Seton has some of the best balance as the big arm of senior [player_tooltip player_id='114583' first='Alli' last='Kirch'] leads them offensively with 3.3 k/s on a total of 124 kills, good for fifth overall in the league. Right behind her is middle [player_tooltip player_id='435227' first='Maddie' last='Lambers']. Her upgrades in movement, production and efficiency may be the x-factor for their success as she is sixth overall offensively at 106 total kills. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='227615' first='Callie' last='Combs'] is their best all-around prospect as she contributes 1.9 k/s to place among the top 10 in the league as well. She is also second in total aces and third in total digs in the conference. Add in [player_tooltip player_id='152054' first='Daisy' last='Cluxton'], who contributes 1.8 k/s, and Seton is the only team in the GGCL with four attackers among the top 15 in total kills.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>ECC Results Show Parity Behind #1</em></strong><br>With a relatively easy 3-0 sweep of conference co-leader Lebanon last week, Kings slotted themselves as the lone team atop the ECC. Scores were 25-21, 25-16, 25-16 as senior setter [player_tooltip player_id='139272' first='Abby' last='Yoder'] (*pictured, #14) had a complete line with 28 assists, three blocks and three aces. She is the league's top setter in total assists as her two best targets in seniors [player_tooltip player_id='114565' first='Sydney' last='Barrett'] and [player_tooltip player_id='114584' first='Elise' last='Marchal'] had big weeks with 34 and 39 kills respectively across their three league wins. With a two-match lead over the next best ECC teams, Kings takes on Winton Woods in their next match. Another big ECC match this past week saw Turpin also take down Lebanon in their own 3-0 sweep over the Warriors to hand them back-to-back conference losses on consecutive nights. In their win, senior [player_tooltip player_id='139273' first='Lilly' last='Gillespie'] (*pictured; #18), a Depaul commit, led a more balanced Turpin offense with 15 kills while picking up 12 digs for the double-double. On Thursday, Kings then defeated Turpin 3-0 as Yoder, an Ohio State commit, had another big evening for the Knights with 36 assists and four aces. With Kings atop the standings at 9-0 in ECC play, Turpin, Lebanon and Anderson are next as each have two league losses. Anderson is led by junior [player_tooltip player_id='176098' first='Grace' last='Crider'] as she is currently second in the ECC in total kills with 149 and an average of 4.4 k/s.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Midwest League Powers Collide</em></strong><br>Last season's DIV state champ New Bremen overcame a big team effort from Coldwater on Thursday as the two teams battled to remain unbeaten in the Midwest volleyball standings. The Cardinals, 9-1 overall, got the typical output from senior [player_tooltip player_id='152118' first='Olivia' last='Heitkamp'] who had 24 kills to lead all attackers in the match. Senior Amelia Dammeyer added nine kills to go along with a team high four service aces. Setter [player_tooltip player_id='176090' first='Melina' last='Schrader'] had 43 assists to elevate the junior to 347 assists for the season. Defense was key in this match as the Cardinals bested Coldwater in total digs 66-55 and total blocks 6-4. Junior [player_tooltip player_id='152359' first='Keira' last='Steininger'] led the match with 27 digs. For Coldwater, their offense saw more balance as junior [player_tooltip player_id='289170' first='Spencer' last='Etzler'] had her best offensive performance of the season with a team high 20 kills. Two others earned double-figure kills as [player_tooltip player_id='494151' first='Madison' last='Wendel'] earned 18 while junior [player_tooltip player_id='289171' first='Morgan' last='Blasingame'] terminated 12. Etzler had a team high 16 digs as sophomore setter [player_tooltip player_id='227816' first='Mia' last='Knapke'] had a solid effort with match high 47 assists. These two teams arrived at the 2023 season with objectives towards a league title and a big run in the postseason. This was one of the first big tests as New Bremen handed Coldwater their first defeat of the season. New Bremen's lone defeat was earlier in the season by way of a tough 3-2 result to a solid Crestview team. A team that Coldwater defeated with their own 3-2 victory at the end of August. These are not the only teams with early results positioning them well in the current league standings as Fort Recovery is now tied with New Bremen 3-0 in conference play with an overall record of 8-0. They are led offensively by senior <strong>Tiegen Fortkamp</strong> and her 3.9 k/s. She helped guide her team to a recent conference win over St. Johns with 15 kills. Coming up this week is a big match pitting Fort Recovery against Coldwater.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->