Vo~leyball
all-star team
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}i. MIKE WAULIGMAN Player of Year Elder Senior Region and state player of the year; 235 kills, 93 digs, 31 blocks as~ists, 40 aces
TOM SILBERNAGEL Coach of Year Elder State coach of the year; team has won 43 straight games.
JEFF SILBER Moeller Junior Setter/Hitter First team all- region and GCl; 200-ptus kilis and assists
PH.,IUP BANGE St. xavier Senior
Setter/Hitter Two-time first team all-state; 128 kifls, 164 digs, 31 aces
GARY BARNHART Princeton Senior ~etter/Hitter
Second team all-state; 96 percent serving, 155 kills, 115 assists
ALEXVOGT Elder Senior Middle/Outside hitter First team all-state; 216 !'ills, 71 digs, 48 solo bloci<S
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SCOTT MONROE Purcell Marian Senior Middle hitter 223 kills, 21 solo blocks, 35 assist blocks, 244 digs
CHRIS COLLE1T Sycamore Senior Middle/Outside hitter Honorable mention all-state
Wauligman gets taller; awards list .gets longer By Dave Schutte Tile 'Cinciimati Er.quircr
It was a year of firsts for Eld\!1¡ senior Mike \l'{auligman, a middle hitter for the Panthers' two-time statt' champion team. Besides leading Elder to a state title, Wauligman was a first team all-state selec-
lion and the state's player of the year. Wauliigman, an easy pick for the Enquirer's player of the year, also was the top player in the Southwest District and Greater Catholic League. He then picked up l\1VP honors in the annual North-South game played Sunday in
Columbus. "Mike grew a little and played in adult leagues during the offseason," coach Tom Silbernagel said. "He really improved and came on strong this season." In.itialJy, Ohio State didn't think Wauligman was tall enough to play in coUege
Honofo!ble Mention: Peter Corrigan, St Xavier; Mike Ryan, Purcell Marian; Brett Knapp, Princeton.
after watching him as a junior. But when Silbernagel informed OSU coacheshe had grovm two inches, they offered a scholarship. "Mike was our go-to player and leader," Silbernagel said. "He has a 38-inch vertical leap. Silbernagel is the Enquirer's coach of the year
after leading the Panthers to a 2:H> record. Elder has won 43 straight games. "We had 10 seniors back who had tasted success," Silbernagel said of this year's state title team.. "We were winning so easiiy and they finany realized that they were doing somdhing special."
Te·ams look for good net results .By Jason Norman t.( ... j Z.. iCB Brinkman wants teamwork out of this year's squad. Staff Reporter With the men's volleyball sea-_. "Just trying to get people to son upon us, Moeller High School work together as a team/' and Sycamore High School look Brinkman said. "You can't do it . to repeat the success they had last alone." . year in their respective leagues. Sycamore also will depend on Coaches from both 6chools seniors for the leadership the Avifeel they field competitive teams ators need to be successful this that can win their leagues. Both season. coaches also feel the experience First-year Sycamore volleyball of their seniors is a key part of coach Stan Kaniecki feels confi~ any winning equation. dent about this year's team and · Moeller is already off to a fast winning the Greater Miami Constart in the competitive Greater ference. , Catholic League. ' ."I feel pretty good about winTheir record-is 7-1 with their ning our league," Kaniecki said. lone loss coming against Elder "We have three returning starters High School. Moeller volleyball and a good amount of talent. If coach Tom Brinkman thinks they continue to work hard every experience will hold the key to a day to improve, then we should successful season. have a very good chance of being "Last year we were so young," successful."· Brinkman.said players have had Sycamore's record last year an opportunity to mature over a was 13-7, losing in districts. This year's time. "We still have a ways yea_r they are 1-2, with losses to go but that's what the season's agrunst Roger Bacon and Elder. about." · The strongest part of Sycamore's Coming off a successful sea- team will be its experience. son last year where Moeller lost "Probably our senior leaderin the regional finals to Elder, ·ship (will be the strongest), Brinkman feels his chances are Kaniecki said. "However, in the good of winning a competitive case of volleyball, I feel we have league. Moeller finished last year a strong hitting team and a good 23-5. . passing team. If we improve our "All the teams are stronger," blocking and defense~ we should Brinkman said. "Elder, St. X and • compete with anybody." Princeton - probably the best Some Sycamore players to three teams in the state. Those watch include senior middle hitgames are always going to be ters Chris Collett and Mike Roviinteresting." to. Some of Moeller's top players "Chris is just an all-around include junior center hitter Jeff excellent player in all facets of the Silber, junior outside hitter Chris game," Kaniecki said. "He does Pennekamp, senior center hitter everything." Kaniecki said Princeton High Ryan Ramstetter, senior outside hitter Adam Cherry, senior out- School will provide the stiffest side hitter/defensive specialist competition for Sycamore in the Scott Carlson, senior middle GMC. blo.cker/hitter A.J. Kramer and "They have some good talent coming back and they know how . junior middle hitter Joe Ryan .. ·
to utilize it," he said. "That's what makes them successful. They know how to get the ball to the players that can do something with it." This being Kaniecki's first year as Sycamore's volleyball coach, he thinks Sycamore can compete with GCL teams. "I am just ttying to make the Sycamore program as successful as possible," Kaniecki said. " We have the talent to compete with the GCL schools, who in the past have usually dominated boys volleyball. I am hoping to give my team a chance to end that streak and be able to compete and be!lt the teams in the GCL." ·
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Elder shows No.1 form 10 lettermen return for defending champ BY BEN WALPOLE Enquirer contributor
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· Area coaches voted the Elder boys volleyball team No. 1 • in the Enquirer's preseason poll, and just two weeks into the season, the team already has ' gone a long way toward proving it's worthy. The defending state champions opened the season two weeks · ago with a straight-set win over Centerville in a rematch of last year's state final. . · "I wanted to make sure we refocused on what we had to do this year," Elder coach Tom Silbernagel said. "I wanted to see where we stood compared to last. year, because I knew · they (Centerville) had a pretty good team coming back." Silbernagel thinks being the favorite can be a positive. . "No doubt, we've got a target on our backs," Silbernagel said. "But I think in the long run it may be a good thing. It may help us to keep our focus." The Panthers, who have had six straight winning seasons, return 10 lettermen from last year's 26-1 squad, including senior setter Nick Gergen, who i was MVP of last year's state tournament. All-state hitters Alex Vogt and Mike Wauligman also are back. /- Here's a look at the rest of · th(! top 10: ,--... 2. St. Xavier: Philip Bange, a 6-foot-4 senior alli state setter, leads four return: ing starters looking to improve I"
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Coaches' poll 1. Elder (7) ...............,............ 96 2. St. Xavier (2)..................... 89 3. Moeller (1) .........................84 4. Princeton ........................... 62 5. Purcell Marian ................... 58 6. Sycamore .......................... 47 7. Roger Bacon ...................... 37 8. Lebanon ............................ 34 9. La Salle ............................ .-14 1·0. Lakota West... ................. 11 Others: Kings 8, Lakota East 5, McNicholas 5. · on last year's 18-6 record. "We're a very strong hitting and blocking team," coach Donna Mechley said. "We don't have a complete game yet. Hopefully by tournament time, we will develop gooq defensive and passing skills." . ' ~ 3. Moeller: The Crusad·ers won 20 games last season for the fourth straight year, despite playing primarily sophomores and juniors. They have five starters returning this season. ll> 4. Princeton: Two start· ers from last year trarisfered, but the Vikings have one of the area's best trio of. seniors in Gary Barnhart, Brett Knapp and Sean Day. ll> '5. Purcell Marian: The defend-ing GCL-North champ return seven lettermen, including all-region seniors Scott Monroe and Mike Ryan. ll> 6. Sycam~re:. First-year coach Stan Kamecki has a senior-dominated roster. Chris Collett, Mike 'Rovito and Noah Juran are all returning starters. ll> 7. Roger Bacon: Sally
Steve Shaffer for the Cincinnati Enquirer
All-state hitter Mike Wauligman heads the list of key returnees for defending state champ Elder this season. Veatch takes over as head coach after 16 seasons as- an assistant for the Spartans girls volleyball team, and she inherits a young but talented group that went 11-11 last year. ll> 8. Lebanon: Despite early-season injuries that have shelved several starters, the Warriors are off to a 6-1 start, showing the team's depth. \. Junior setter Joey Williams recorded 121 assists in the first
Volleyball .5·- 17- o- <S Moeller High School defeated Lebanon High School15-7, 15-10 in the boys volleyball Divisi6h I district semifinals May ll. The Crusaders play St. Xavier May 19 at Elder fc:>r the district championship. The winner advances to the regionals May 20 to play for a berth in the state Final Four over Memorial Day weekend.
five games this year but fra-ctured his elbow in a game against Roger Bacon, leaving his status for the rest of the season in question. · ll> 9. La Salle: Coach Bob Wood has La Salle off to a 3-2 start in the _program's first season. ll> 10. Lakota West: West hopes to .overcome a lack· of experience with its athletic ability and height. Five players are at least 6-2.