Lady Eagles win Athens Invitational

THE PLAINS — It took a total of eight games and three well-played matches, but the Eastern volleyball team was able to outlast the competition on Saturday at the 2009 Athens High School Volleyball Invitational by knocking off Warren, Gallia Academy and host Athens for the team championship.

The Lady Eagles (5-1) had their shortest match of the day against the Lady Warriors, winning in straight games by a 25-22, 25-20 margin. In the second match, EHS traded games with the Blue Angels at 25-22 and 22-25, then rallied in Game 3 for a 25-20 victory and the match.

The Green and White met the Lady Bulldogs in the championship, where they stormed out to a 1-0 lead after winning Game 1 by a 25-19 margin. AHS responded with a 25-20 win in Game 2, making the final game of the day the most important one.

The Lady Eagles were up to the challenge, posting a 25-19 victory in that finale to bring home the 2009 title. EHS — a Division IV program — also defeated three Division II schools in collecting the hardware.

Lauren Cummings led Eastern’s service attack over the three matches with 15 points, followed by Jamie Swatzel with 14 points and Beverly Maxson with 12 points. Karissa Connolly, Britney Morrison and Sami Cummins all added 10 points to the winning cause, while Brenna Holter and Whitney Putman contributed seven and four points, respectively.

Kasey Turley led the net attack with team-highs of 25 kills and 13 blocks, followed by Swatzel with 16 kills and six blocks. Maxson had 14 kills, Holter added 13 kills and Morrison chipped in 11 kills. Connolly also had two kills and two blocks.

No other information from the Athens Invitational was availble at presstime.

GAHS golf downs Trojans, Redmen

PORTSMOUTH — The Gallia Academy golf team had little trouble at Elks Country Club on Thursday, posting a 14-stroke victory over host Portsmouth and Rock Hill during a non-conference matchup in Scioto County.

The Blue Devils fired a team score of 164, finishing well ahead of both the Trojans (178) and Redmen (220).

Jordan Cornwell led the field with a 2-over par round of 38 for medalist honors, followed by Corey Hamilton with 41 and Nick Saunders with 42. Boeing Smith rounded out the team score with an effort of 43.

Rob Canady and Corey Arthur also had respective rounds of 45 and 53 for GAHS.

Evan Sommer led PHS with a 40, followed by Mitch Gower with 44 and Cody Minton with 46. Ian Rowland rounded out the scoring with a 48.

Levi Porter and Joey Amburgy also had efforts of 53 and 64 for Portsmouth.

Joe Yanko and Cody Cox both paced RHHS with matching 54s while John Schob had a 55 and Austin Kidd a 57. Heath Markel (59) and Drew Kidd (60) rounded out the Rock Hill scoring.

EHS golf knocks off Miller

GLOUSTER — The Eastern golf team remained unbeaten in league play last Wednesday after posting a 62-stroke victory over host Miller in a Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division matchup at Forest Hills Golf Club in Athens County.

The Eagles (4-0 TVC Hocking) had all six starters fire rounds of 45 or lower, led by Christian Amsbary with a medalist round of 37. Tyler Carroll was next with a 39, followed by Craig Jones with 40.

Both Chris Bissell and Jay Warner shot matching 41s and Jordan Wood rounded things out with a 45.