October 12, 2017 Bulldog Sports Round-up
- Published: October 12, 2017
Cross Country
The Bulldogs competed Saturday, Oct. 7, in Xenia at the Legacy Christian Invitational. Head coach Isabelle Dierauer noted that the team performed excellently, considering that this race was part of intense preparations for the upcoming Metro Buckeye Conference meet.
The YSHS Boys ran their best race of the year on the most difficult course that our harriers will see this year. The young men finished in 7th place out of a field of 16 teams. Mark Bricker ran a controlled race and finished in a season best, 12th place out of 155 competitors. Zach Lugo ran a tough race with a 25th place finish, followed by senior Kaden Boutis (49th). The team’s depth showed with strong finishes by juniors Raven Campbell (65th) and Eli Capasso (70th). Our final four spots were captured by Jackson Bleything (130th), Gideon Naziri (140th), Griffin Roberts (146th) and Parker Bleything (152nd).
Our dynamic duo of high school runners Jude Meekin (15th) and Ivy Tebbe (27th) showed exceptional fortitude and grit in running in the upper echelon of competitors (89 runners) as they ready themselves for the league meet.
The McKinney girls continued their season-long top-5 finishes, finishing in 5th place. Seventh-grader Cheyan Sundell-Turner, for the second time in three weeks, led the girl’s squad with a 14th place run. Lily Rainey ran to a top-20 finish by coming in 20th place, and Avery Reeder complemented her fellow runners with a solid 35th finish. Maggie Knopp came in 39th, while teammates Josie Dewine (51st), Rosemary Burmester (69th) and Carina Basora (81st) showed incredible depth out of the 115 competitors that toed the line.
The McKinney boys ran to a determined 14th place finish, led by seventh-grader Krishan Miller who finished strongly in 28th place. Fellow seventh-grader Ethan Knemeyer ran a fine race with a finish in 54th place. Another seventh-grader, Josh Clark, sprinted to a 92nd finish and was complimented by Leif Walters (101st), Jason Knemeyer (103rd), Luka Sage-Frabotta (104th), Maddox Flatt (106th) and Liam McClean (125th). There were 152 runners!
McKinney Volleyball
The McKinney volleyball team has had an exciting season. The Bulldogs defeated the Golden Angels Club both away and at home. Despite strong play, McKinney went down to both Dayton Christian and Troy Christian. Both matches were close, and displayed the continual improvement of the McKinney squad. The Bulldogs defeated Middletown Christian in a tight three-set match, and followed that up with a close loss to Legacy Christian. The match against Legacy Christian was an exciting exhibition of skill and heart: a true nail-biter! The final two regular season matches resulted in wins for McKinney over Emmanuel Christian and Stivers. The players have fought and worked hard this season, and will carry that spirit and fight into the Metro Buckeye Conference Tournament this Saturday, Oct. 14, at Troy Christian.
JV Volleyball
On Tuesday, Oct. 3, the Junior Varsity Lady Volleyball team hosted the Emmanuel Christian Lions. The JV Bulldogs defeated EC in two close sets: 25–22, 25–20. Kayla Brown helped defeat the Lions with 5 aces, 3 kills and 8 assists. Annlyn Foster had her season high: 7 kills and 4 digs in the match. On Thursday, Oct. 5, the Bulldogs traveled to Chaminade Juiliene. They were defeated in the first set, 11–25, but came up only two points short in the second set, losing 23–25. Amani Wagner scored with 4 kills and 2 blocks, while Olivia Snoddy had 6 digs. The JV Bulldogs traveled to Stivers High School to take on the Tigers on Saturday, Oct. 7, in the last JV volleyball match of the 2017 season. The Bulldogs fought hard to hold off the Tigers in two sets: 25–16, 25–22. Raven James had 5 aces, 8 digs, 3 kills and a block in the match. Annlyn Foster had 4 kills, 4 digs and 5 aces. The JV Lady Volleyball team ended the season with a record of 10–5.
Volleyball
The Bulldogs hosted conference rival Emmanuel on Tuesday, Oct. 3, in the conference championship showdown. The Lions came to Dog Pound looking for revenge after the Bulldogs beat them on their home court for the past two years to grab the conference championship.
Both teams came out hard and strong with a battle beginning with the first point. The Bulldogs took the first set, 25–21, with the Bulldog fans supporting the team with loud cheers. Emmanuel was not going to lay down; they came out fighting in the second set. The Bulldogs took an early lead, but the Lions fought back to take the set, 20–25. Going into the third set, the Lions had the momentum and the Bulldogs just couldn’t get it back. Dropping the third set 17–25 was more than enough to wake up the Yellow Springs team for the fourth set. The fourth set was “battle royale.” Going point for point, the Lions were finally able to jump out at the 21–23 mark. Miscommunication between the Bulldogs resulted in game point for the Lions. The Lions had a killing error, which gave the serve back to the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs’ serve was just long, which gave the set and the match to the Lions for the Metro Buckeye Conference Championship.
The Bulldogs put up a great fight with Tyler Linkhart smashing 18 kills, putting up 14 assists and digging up 17 balls. Alex Ronnebaum had 2 kills and 10 blocks. Kelsie Lemons put 8 points on the scoreboard with Payden Kegley adding 7 (4 aces) and 26 digs. Emma Ronnebaum put up 18 assists and had 6 blocks.
“This was a heartbreaking loss,” according to coach Chris Linkhart. “Both teams fought hard and both deserved the win. Unfortunately, the scoreboard only shows one winner. We are already looking forward to next year’s match against Emmanuel.”
On Thursday, Oct. 5, the Bulldogs traveled to Chaminade Julienne to the Eagles in a non-conference matchup. It was a very evenly matched game between the two teams, but the Eagles were able to pull off the win in four sets, 18–25, 25–19, 14–25, 23–25. There were long rallies with amazing hits and digs by each, with neither team giving up easily. Elle Peifer pulled out some of her tricky serves to put 10 points (1 ace) on the board for the Bulldogs. She also had 2 kills and 8 digs. Tyler Linkhart contributed 7 points with 6 of those points being aces, 12 kills, 12 assists, 12 blocks and 14 digs, while Alex Ronnebaum also had 7 points (2 aces), 11 kills, 8 blocks and 6 digs. Payden Kegley added 3 points (2 aces) and 30 digs in the match. Kelsie Lemons served 6 points, put down 2 kills and had 5 digs“It was a fun game to watch. These two teams were very evenly matched and despite the score in the third set, it didn’t feel like a loss,” coach Linkhart said.
On Saturday, Oct. 7, Yellow Springs traveled to Stivers for another non-conference match. The Bulldogs, again, took control early, easily beating the Tigers 25–19, 25–13, 25–19. Early in the third set, the Tigers had a serving run of eight points, but the Bulldogs wouldn’t give up and came back with some heavy hitting by Tyler Linkhart and Alex Ronnebaum. Linkhart put down 17 kills and had 16 assists, while Ronnebaum had 10 kills and 3 blocks. Emma Ronnebaum added 6 kills, 11 points (4 aces), 2 blocks and 16 assists. Elle Peifer was able to place some hard-to-return serves for 9 points, while Raven James came out strong with 15 points (5 aces) against the Tigers. Once again, Payden Kegley was a digging machine, denying the Tigers 31 kills with her digs.
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