College notebook: Volleyball, soccer athletes successful
12/22/2000You can't accuse northwest Ohio of lacking quality college athletes.
The evidence comes from the numerous athletes from this area winning all-league honors this past fall.
Last week we chronicled a number of area football players who were honored in the fall; today we'll look at some of the award winners in volleyball and soccer.
Two of Behnfeldt's teammates made the second team - setter Holly Foster and middle hitter Bridgett Hamilton. Hillsdale also had a pair of second team performers in middle hitter Jennifer Cook and outside hitter Stephanie Dulz.
Saginaw Valley State's Bree Hickman, an outside hitter who hails from Bedford, also was named to the second team.
Forward Cheri Shields was named the league's freshman of the year after becoming the only freshman to earn a spot on the All-HCAC first team.
And coach Tim Rickabaugh was named the league's coach of the year. He led the Yellow Jackets to an 8-10 record, the most women's soccer victories in school history, as well as a 3-3 mark in conference play.
Other Defiance players named to the second team were midfielder Tiffany Caudill, sweeper Michelle Morgan and goalkeeper Eric Bishop.
Bluffton's Katie Kanter, a junior midfielder, also earned a berth on the All-HCAC first team. Teammates April Leu, a sophomore forward from Archbold, and Rachel Mack, a sophomore defender from Defiance, were named to the second team.
Both Bluffton and Defiance had a pair of players named to the all-league squad. Midfielder Mark Stutzman and forward Diego Rodriguez from Bluffton were honored, while goalkeeper Phil Schneider and defender Aaron Butler from Defiance were so honored.
In volleyball, Bluffton's Mandy Pequinot and Betsy Hook were named first team All-HCAC, while sophomore Amy Koenn of Defiance earned a spot on the second team.
Among those named to the second team were goalie Ryan Mack of Heidelberg as well as three players from Ohio Northern in defenders John Murphy and Brendan Thompson and midfielder Matt Ellis.
Paul Habrecht, a St. John's Jesuit graduate who is a senior at John Carroll, was named first team All-OAC at goalkeeper. Among those receiving honorable mention was Central Catholic product Josh Bates, a freshman defender at Heidelberg.
In women's soccer, Ohio Northern's Melissa Swabb and Kristin Welk both were named All-OAC first team, as was Katie Prophater of Heidelberg. The Polar Bears' Marguerite Barth and Lori Wickstrom earned berths on the second team, as did Julia Rose and Molly Thornton of The 'Berg.
Sarah Bryan, a freshman defender at John Carroll who is a product of St. Ursula, was one of only two freshmen named first team All-OAC.
The first team all-league volleyball team features two juniors from Ohio Northern in setter Brandi Stover and middle hitter Megan Earley. Their teammate, sophomore Tara Anderson, was named to the second team.
Jen VonDeylen, a Springfield native who is a senior at Mount Union, also was named to the second team.
Toska was one of four Siena Heights players to earn academic all-league honors.
Saints coach Craig Vliestra was named the league's coach of the year.
The men's soccer team at Siena Heights had four all-league performers, including seniors B.J. Horn and Clement Irushibandi as well as juniors Andy Power and Sam Skeels. Both Horn and Skeels are Adrian natives.
Jason Whitacre, a senior who hails from Maumee, was one of four Saints named to the academic All-WHAC team in soccer.
The women's team also had four players earn all-conference honors: Dawn O'Neil, Traci Stewart, Nicole Tobin and Lacey Wilmot.