Chillicothe’s Alyssa Oates was named SEOAL Volleyball Player of the Year in a recent vote of league coaches.

The 6’ senior middle hitter for the Cavs had an 89% serve percentage, with 77 aces with 268 kills.

Joining Oates on the All-SEOAL Team, the Cavs’ Maddi Glendenning and an honorable mention for Parisa Bennett.

The Cavs (14-8, 8-2) finished second to Warren in the SEOAL Volleyball race this season and had their season cut short in a straight set loss to Canal Winchester in the Central District tournament last Saturday.

(See the player stats for Oates, Glendenning and Bennett below.)

2011 ALL-SEOAL VOLLEYBALL TEAM
Player - School - Grade - Pos

Maddi Glendenning, Chillicothe, 11, OH
Alyssa Oates*, Chillicothe, 12, MH
Heather Ward, Gallipolis, 12, L
Haley Rosier, Gallipolis, 12, MH
Sarah Martin, Jackson, 11, S
Abbie Hughes, Logan, 11, S
Devon Shaw, Logan, 11, L
Brandie Rogers, Warren, 12, OH
Ally Spence, Warren, 12, S
Kasey White, Warren, 12, MH/OH
*—Denotes previous All-SEOAL honors.

Player of the Year: Alyssa Oates, Chillicothe
Coach of the Year: Tammy Fisher, Warren
Honorable mention: Parisa Bennett (junior), Chillicothe; Kassie Shriver (sophomore), Gallipolis; Meredith Harless (senior), Jackson; Ashley McCort (junior), Logan; Kasey Simpson (senior), Portsmouth; Emma Ryan* (junior), Warren.

Team was selected in a recent vote of league coaches. Each team received one automatic All-SEOAL honorable mention selection.

Alyssa Oates: 73 total games played / 316 serve attempts 77 aces serve % is 89%/ 570 attack attempts 268 kills / 44 solo blocks / 24 digs.

Maddi Glendening: 73 total games played / 226 serve attempts 13 errors for 94% serving accuracy and 24 aces / 453 attack attempts 174 kills / 74 digs.

Parisa Bennett: 70 total games played / 146 serve attempts 13 errors for 92% serving accuracy and 19 aces / 227 digs.

The Chillicothe Cross Country teams failed to qualify for Regional tournament action Saturday. Both teams ran in the Central District races at Watkins Memorial.

The Boys team placed 13 overall. Ben Haller was the top CHS runner placing 65^th. Five other boys finished  within 15 places of one another. Jacob Johansen was 74^th, Mark Hirsch 81^st, Seth McGuire 82^nd, Brandon Mingus-Harris 83^rd and Xavier Newsome was 87^th.

Audra Metzler was the highest placing Chillicothe runner for the Girls, placing 62^nd.

Chillicothe's tournament run was cut short by Canal Winchester in the Columbus East Sectional Final, 25-22, 25-21,25-15.

Coach Bret Wrightsel was happy with the teams offense, but felt defense was what hurt the Cavs Saturday.

"All three games, we just felt like our defense broke down. The block wasn't getting there, the middles weren't getting there to help the outside... our offense was there, but our defense broke down.'

Wrightsel was quick to point out he was proud of the effort Chillicothe's four seniors gave his team this season.

"All four of them were great ". Sam Claytor, Marissa Webb, Madison Moss and Alyssa Oates were playing their final match for the Cavs.

The Cavs finish the season 14-8 and a second place in the SEOAL.

Hear Dan Ramey's post match talk with coach Bret Wrightsel:   10-22-11 Bret Wrightsel

The Lady Cavs defeated Marietta 4-2 to win the D2 Girls Soccer Sectional title at Mt. Logan’s McVicker Field Thursday.

Chillicothe’s Lindsey Schobelock got the Cavaliers on the board first and Casey Crow added another goal with just over two minutes remaining in the first half for a 2-0 lead at the intermission.

The Cavs scored twice in the second half off the feet of Bailey Stark and another by Crow to post a 4-0 lead before allowing two Marietta goals in the final 15 minutes.

#1 seeded Chillicothe will head to Jackson High School for a District Semi-Final match this Tuesday with SEOAL foe Warren. The Warriors were 3-1 winners over Washington Court House Tuesday. The Cavs beat the Warren 5-1 and 6-0 in September.

First kick for Tuesday’s match has yet to be announced.

#3 seed Unioto also advanced with a 5-1 win over Logan Elm. The Shermans will face Circleville in the other District Semi-Final at Jackson. Circleville defeated #2 seeded Hillsboro 1-0.

Hear Dan Ramey's post game talk with Coach Zach Breth:  10-20-11 Zach Breth

Photo by Dana Cousins\wbex.com

Purchase Photos at www.cousinsphotography.smugmug.com.

VOLLEYBALL: The Lady Cavs Volleyball team will face Canal Winchester Saturday at 4pm. Canal took three of four sets from Lancaster, 25-17, 24-26, 25-20 and 25-20. Saturday's match is scheduled for Columbus East High School.

GIRLS SOCCER: Chillicothe will try to put last week behind them when they take to the pitch tonight at Mt. Logan's McVicker Field. The Cavs suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season, first at Unioto and then last Thursday with Zane Trace. Tonight is another Chillicothe-Marietta matchup, only this time it's for a Sectional championship. First kick is 6pm.

VOLLEYBALL: The Lady Cavs Volleyball team used a marathon five set match to outlast Central Crossing 3-2.

Chillicothe dropped their first set 25-22 then took the second set 25-18. The third set went to the Cavs 33-31 and Central Crossing stayed alive with a 25-18 score to even the match at two sets apiece. The fifth set went to Chillicothe 18-16.

Cavs coach Bret Wrightsel said it was a “Super effort by everybody. I can think of so many plays where somebody stepped up and made a play. It was truly an all-around team effort.”

Alyssa Oates was a force in the match with 25 kills on 43 attempts with only 3 hitting errors. Maddi Glendening and Kali Kight had 10 and 7 kills respectively. Madison Moss had 25 assists and Hayley Robinson 15. Senior Marissa Webb was 23/26 from the serve line with 7 aces and she had 5 kills.

Wrightsel said Central Crossing was a very similar team to Chillicothe in terms of size, athletic ability, and volleyball skills “It was a fun match to watch. It always feels good to go to Columbus and win against the big schools.”

Central Crossing has nearly 250 more girls in its enrollment than Chillicothe.

With the win, the Cavs advanced to Saturday’s 4pm Sectional Final at Columbus East High School.

BOYS SOCCER: The Cavs' season came to a close at Marietta for a fifth consecutive year. The Tigers kept Chillicothe scoreless in a 4-0 decision in the Division 2 Sectional Semi Final.

The Cavs finish the season 2-9-4.

Waverly defeated Jackson 3-0 setting up an all Tigers Sectional Final Saturday aftrernoon.

GIRLS SOCCER: The Lady Cavs Sectional Final first kick has been changed for THursday night. Chillicothe will play Marietta at 6pm. THe OHSAA pushed the game time back one hour.

Chillicothe juniors Parisa Bennett and Liann VanVolkinburg have been selected All-SEOAL in Girls Tennis. Bennett and VanVolkinburg were 1^st & 2^nd Singles players for the Cavs this season. The Doubles team of senior Chantel Lowe and junior Courtney Berry were selected All League in Doubles.

“It's really great to have over half the team make All League” an ecstatic coach Janet Disbennett told WBEX Sports.

It’s Bennett's third All-League mention. “Her only losses in the league (league 3-2 overall record 10-8) were to Miller.  Ali is a very good player.  She puts the time and work in to get to that next level of play.”

Disbennett added Miller will likely be a state qualifier.

For Van Volkinburg, it’s her first time being All-League.  “She played 2nd singles all year.  Her only league losses were to Caroline Khoury once in 2 set and the second time in a close 3 set match.” (SEOAL record was 3-2, overall 7-10)

The Doubles Team of Lowe and Berry were 5-0 in 1^st Doubles SEOAL play. It’s a first time mention for Lowe and second for Berry.

The 2^nd Doubles Team of Jessi Pentecost and Ellen Schmitt were Honorable Mention and were also undefeated in SEOAL action.

2011 ALL-SEOAL GIRLS TENNIS 

Singles Players

Parisa Bennett**, Chillicothe (11)

Liann VanVolkinburg, Chillicothe (11)

Caroline Khoury, Portsmouth (12)

Ali Miller*, Portsmouth (10) 

Doubles Teams

Chantel Lowe (12)/Courtney Berry* (11), Chillicothe

Sarah Raies (11)/Allison Raies (9), Portsmouth

Player of the Year: Ali Miller**, Portsmouth 

Coach of the Year: Amy Keating, Portsmouth

Honorable Mention: Ellen Scmitt/Jessi Pentecost, Chilllicothe; Hannah Hollback, Jackson; Ambir Myers/Laci Stivison, Logan; Leda Daehler**, Portsmouth

VOLLEYBALL: The Lady Cavs wrapped up their regular season 13-7 following a split in their tri-match with Waverly and Unioto.

Chillicothe handed Waverly its second loss of the season 25-23 and 25-16, but dropped their match with Unioto 25-16 and 25-17.

Thursday night, Chillicothe finished SEOAL play with a straight set victory over Portsmouth 25-14, 25-12, 25-7.

The Cavs begin post season play at Columbus East High School Tuesday night with Central Crossing.

GIRLS SOCCER: This week, Chillicothe suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season. Both coming against local rival teams.

After dropping a 6-1 match at Unioto Tuesday night, the Cavs had let a 1-0 halftime lead slip away to Zane Trace 2-1 on Senior Night.

Read the Chillicothe Gazette account here.

Chillicothe begins post season play this Thursday night at McVicker Field at Mt. Logan with the winner of Tuesday’s match between Jackson and Marietta.

CROSS COUNTRY: Senior Audra Metzler and freshman Rachel Conaway finished the regular season with All-SEOAL status following their league meet performances at Jackson High School. The Cavs Girls team placed 4^th and the Boys 5^th. No individual times were reported.

The Chillicothe-Unioto battle for the Ross County Cup trophy was all Lady Tanks.

The Shermans reached the Regionals last year and Unioto's Morgan Gumm says a return trip would suit her fine. "We want to do what we did last year, try to win Regionals."

Tuesday night against Chillicothe, Unioto looked like the form they had last October before having their season end in Fairborn, Ohio.

The Cavaliers entered the contest 11-1, outscoring their opponents 48-8. The Shermans were 7-2-3 with their losses coming to state powerhouse teams from DeSales and Bishop Hartley.

Jenny Campbell found the back of the net at 27:19 in the first half to break the ice and Unioto rolled to a 6-1 victory.

Campbell's goal was followed up just 3 minutes later by Morgan Gumm's long distance shot from about 25 yards out for a 2-0 lead.

The Cavaliers, who hadn't allowed a goal in six straight matches, were playing on their heels most of the first 40 minutes. In fact, Chillicothe failed to make a shot on goal for nearly 9 minutes.

The Cavs had an opportunity with 24 seconds remaining on a penalty kick by Casey Crow which was stopped by goal keep Ashley Flautt.

Prior to that though, it was all Unioto. Kyleen Muirhead put in a header at 1:39 and Campbell chipped in another shot at :51 and the Shermans closed out the half with a 4-0 lead.

"I'm pretty disappointed." said Cavs coach Zach Breth. "We came out and didn't play our style of play, we weren't patient, we were just a different team tonight."

Chillicothe started the scoring less than three minutes into the second half when Lindsey Schobeloch kicked in a ball that got through Flautt on a corner kick from Crow.

Then came what Breth called the "ol' after goal let down". Freshman Kaylah Peele popped a point blank goal to put Unioto back up by four, 5-1.

"That fifth goal was just fantastic..." said Breth, "it was the kind of goal, that should be scored. We had momentum, we had the ball, we started to play our style of play, we scored the goal, and then they came right back at us."

As for the quick start, Shermans coach Mark Williamson hopes his kids find that kind of magic again.

"Historically we're kind of a slow team, we build up, get confident and play better as the game goes on. Tonight we were forunate to get some in early and finish it off."

Unioto has battled injury from the start of the season, losing their leading scorer Erin Bane with a knee injury. But Williamson adds "We came in to it with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, I'll be honest with you... We lost Erin Bahne our leading scorer in the second game of the season. We had some kids step up tonight, Kayla Peele scored a goal, she's a freshman Emily Corcoran played a lot of good minutes for us, and Claire Bechie... it's coming together, and all the adversity we've been through, they're using that to their advantage."

"This is a really big game on our schedule for us." said Flautt. "It was really important for us to win this game tonight."

Unioto (8-2-3) will head to Lancaster Thursday night and finish the regular season with Jackson Saturday.

The Cavs are home with Zane Trace Thursday. The Pioneers, who tied Unioto earlier in the season, are ranked 9th in the Division 3 standings.

CLICK HERE to see the photo gallery by Dana Cousins\wbex.com.

Hear post game interviews below.

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