OXFORD — The Talawanda varsity volleyball team looks to build off of last season’s success and has six returning players, including five starters, to help them do just that.
The Lady Braves 2015 season included a 21-game win streak and a Southwestern Ohio Conference championship (12-0). Head coach Ruchelle Dunwoodie looks for more of the same from this year’s group.
“We have five returning starters from 2015 season. The Lady Braves look to continue that momentum in 2016 and will return several players from last season’s roster in its quest for another conference crown,” Dunwoodie said.
Talawanda graduated six seniors and will miss the contributions of middle blocker Morgan McCracken and outside hitter Elena Ferriboseski. Top players returning from last year’s squad include Jordan Chase (Sr.); Olivia Lauer (Sr.); Gabriella Lindley (Sr.); Katlynn Woodruff (Sr.); and Valerie Green (Jr.).
The Lady Braves opened the season with a 3-1 (22-25; 25-18, 25-20, 32-30) win over Milford on Saturday, Aug. 20, part of a stretch of four games in five days. Key performers included: Katlynn Woodruff, 47 assists and 12 digs; Valerie Green, 24 kills on 44 attempts and 11 digs; Jordan Chase had seven kills on 19 attempts with zero hitting errors and eight digs; and Gabriella Lindley had 26 digs.
After an off-day on Sunday, Talawanda was scheduled to play three straight games facing Springboro, Princeton and Taylor. The Lady Braves dropped their first match of the season on the road at Springboro, 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17). They bounced back strong on Tuesday with a dominating win over Princeton, 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-12).
Highlights from these games and scores from the Taylor matchup were not available at press time.
