Sidelines: St. Ursula, Central, Perrysburg among top volleyball squads

In an informal preseason poll of volleyball coaches, St. Ursula,

Central Catholic and Perrysburg were picked as the top teams in

the area.

Last year the perennially strong Arrows reached the Division I state

semifinal where they lost just their second match of the year.

Of the returning players, junior Emily Florian and senior Hayley

Wiemer made the all-district team for coach John Buck, who was district coach of the year.

Central Catholic will be led by juniors Ellen Herman, Mallory

Strall and Liz Steedman. All three were all-district, with Herman on the first team.

We have five juniors who have been on the varsity since their freshman year, Central coach Denise Wiczynski said. We definitely

have some height, so we are concentrating on defense and limiting

errors.

After eight years as an assistant at Perrysburg, Jeff Beck takes

over the Yellow Jacket program. Perrysburg, which won a district

title in 2003, will be led by senior Kate Fissel, who is the school s alltime kill leader and has committed to play at Central Michigan.

I have four starters that are 5-11 or taller. We will rely on attacking

and blocking due to our height advantage, Beck said.

Also getting votes as top teams were Notre Dame, Bowling Green,

Findlay, Maumee, Northview, Archbold and Cardinal Stritch.

Some of the top players in the area are Anthony Wayne s Callie

Miller, Bowling Green s Kristen Barr, Ashley Rucki of Clay and

Mikki Sutherland from Maumee.

Key games for St.Ursula:

■ Sept. 4 St. Ursula Invitational, 9 a.m.

■ Sept. 8 vs. Clay, 7 p.m.

■ Sept. 18 Tri-meet at Vandalia, 11 a.m.

■ Sept. 20 at Notre Dame, 7 p.m.

■ Oct.. 2 Tri-meet at Huron, 11 a.m.

■ Oct.. 4 at Central Catholic, 7 p.m.

■ Oct.. 20 at Perrysburg, 7:30 p.m.

Key dates for Central Catholic:

■ Sept. 4 at St. Ursula Invitational, 9 a.m.

■ Sept. 18 Central Catholic Invitational, 10 a.m.

■ Sept. 20 vs. Clay, 7:30 p.m.

■ Oct. 4 vs. St. Ursula, 7 p.m.

■ Oct. 6 vs. Notre Dame, 7 p.m.

Key games for Perrysburg:

■ Sept. 9 vs. Maumee, 7 p.m.

■ Sept. 11 Tri-meet at Perrysburg, 10 a.m.

■ Sept. 16 vs. Bowling Green, 7:30 p.m.

■ Sept. 18 at Central Catholic Invitational, 9 a.m.

■ Sept. 21 at Northview, 4:30 p.m.

■ Oct. 9 Tri-meet at Perrysburg, 10 a.m.

■ Oct. 12 at Bowling Green, 7:30 p.m.

■ Oct. 14 vs. Northview, 4:30 p.m.

■ Oct. 20 vs. St. Ursula, 7:30 p.m.

BIG SEASON FINALES

The handful of top boys soccer teams in the area will be tested

just before the postseason in a host of intriguing regular-season finales.

St. Francis travels to St. John s on Oct.. 7. The next contest for both

teams is a sectional opener.

The Northern Lakes League title may be decided when

Northview plays at Perrysburg on Oct. 12. The contest also will serve

as good preparation for the sectional tournament.

Key games for St.Francis:

■ Sept. 2, vs. Perrysburg, 7 p.m.

■ Sept. 9 vs. Anthony Wayne, 7 p.m.

■ Sept. 22 at Findlay, 7 p.m.

■ Sept. 30 vs. Southview, 7 p.m.

■ Oct.. 7 at St. John s, 5 p.m.

Key games for St. John s:

■ Sept. 9 vs. Northview, 5 p.m.

■ Sept. 11 at Southview, 3 p.m.

■ Sept. 21 vs. Central Catholic, 5 p.m.

■ Sept. 23 vs. Perrysburg, 5:30 p.m.

■ Sept. 28 vs. Findlay, 5 p.m.

■ Oct.. 7 vs. St. Francis, 7 p.m.

Contests to watch in the NLL:

■ Aug. 31, Anthony Wayne at Perrysburg, 6:30 p.m.

■ Sept. 7, Southview at Northview, 6:30 p.m.

■ Sept. 14, Southview at Anthony Wayne, 6:30 p.m.

■ Sept. 18, Northview at Southview, 7 p.m.

■ Oct. 5, Northview at Anthony Wayne, 7:30 p.m.

■ Oct. 5, Perrysburg at Southview, 6:30 p.m.

■ Oct. 12, Northview at Perrysburg, 6:30 p.m.

FAHIM SELECTED

Christopher Fahim has been appointed athletic director at Cardinal

Stritch.

Fahim, who has been at the school since 2000, has taught social

studies and theology and is the head football coach and head girls

track coach.

He graduated from Central Catholic in 1996 and from Bowling

Green State University in 2000.