Talawanda volleyball, tennis teams start season off with wins
After having an 18-5 season last year, Talawanda's volleyball team started this season off with two wins. The girls tennis team also won its first two matches and is now sitting at 3-2 for the season so far.
Talawanda High School’s girls volleyball team had a strong start to the season this year, winning its first two matches this past week.
The team played its first match of the season against Indian Hill on Aug. 17, winning all three sets.
Junior Elise Olenick led the team with 16 kills, while junior Callie McCullough followed with 8. McCullough also scored 9 digs, good to tie with junior Elise Olenick and just below senior Anna Warner’s 11 digs. Junior Abby Noga contributed 30 of the team’s 38 assists.
By the end of the team’s second match against Edgewood Aug. 20, Olenick’s total kills this season had risen to 31, while Noga rose to 66 assists. The team again won all three sets.
Last year, the volleyball team started its season with a nine-game winning streak ahead of an 18-5 season overall. The team’s first shot at conference play this year will be an away game against Mount Healthy at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5. Last season, Talawanda’s volleyball team came second in the Southwest Ohio Conference (SWOC).
Talawanda’s girls tennis team also won its first two matches of the season against Princeton and Badin Aug. 12 and 13. The team lost against Seton 4-1 on Aug. 14 but bounced back for a 5-0 win against Middletown the next day. Talawanda lost against Little Miami in its most recent game on AUg. 19 for an overall record of 3-2 so far this season.
Both girls doubles teams have won seven out of eight games so far this season, including three wins during a pre-season tournament which the Talawanda team won overall. Juniors Alyssa Hornsby and Layla Fritzsche compete in first doubles, while senior Emma Lake and junior Nazla Walsh compete in second doubles.
The team’s first singles athlete, junior Abbie Curry, has a 6-2 record so far this season, while captain and second singles athlete Julie Page, a senior, has played 4-4 so far, as has senior third singles player Dani Peters.
Both the boys and girls soccer teams had less luck in their first matches of the season, failing to score. The girls team lost to Taylor 2-0 on Aug. 20, while the boys team lost to Monroe 6-0 on Aug. 19.
