Section 2 Wednesday, March 27, 1996 Dallas could be king of the courts By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer DALLAS TOWNSHIP - Last year the Dallas tennis team re- ceived a taste of what it feels like to continue play into the postseason and they want to ex- perience the feeling again. Len Matysczak's Mountaineers fin- ished second to Wyoming Semi- nary by posting a 10-1 record in the Southern Division before drop- ping a 6-1 decision to Abington Heights in the first round of the NEPTC playofls. “We're looking forward to the playoffs this year and hope to get there with a stronger team” said Matysczak. “Last year we were kind of lucky. We pulled out five 4-3 wins and had no depth. No one got hurt until we had to play Abington.” This spring a few coaches are pointing at Dallas to possibly break Seminary’s eight year reign as champions of the Southern Division. The Mounts are strong anddeep, and return all four start- By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer LEHMAN - It should come as no surprise that the Lake-Lehman boys’ volleyball team is consid- ered among the league's elite in the Wyoming Valley Conference. The 1996 edition, however is po- tentially dangerous. With seven seniors leading the way, the Black Knights can just about fill two starting lineups with experienced players. “With seven seniors we're a little more top heavy,” said head coach John Baranowski. “We have some depth this year and that’s some- thing we've been striving for.” ers from a season ago. Brian Blase stepped into the number one singles spot as a freshman and lived up to his prom- ise, finishing 8-3 during the regu- lar season before upsetting Tom Brogan during the match with Abington. Blase won a battle that lasted 2 1/4 hours, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. “Brian was impressive and beat some of the Eastern Division's best players,” said Matysczak. Seniors Quinn Kavanaugh, Dave Germick and Tim Risch have been in the starting lineup since their sophomore years, but that has changed, at least for the early going. Kavanaugh and Germick are set while freshman Mike Cleary begins the season at the number four singles position. See DALLAS TENNIS, pg 10 Black Knights loaded The key phrase is potentially dangerous. With the spring prac- tice season now in it's third week the Black Knights haven't looked sharp at all. For a harmonious group loaded with experience, they've looked rather rusty ac- cording to Baranowski, a coach always willing to hand out credit to a youngster - after they've earned it. Mounts' coach sets districts as their goal By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer DALLAS TOWNSHIP - Dallas first year volleyball coach Kevin Straka managed to accomplish what he set out to do last season. He stressed fundamentals, taught his players to approach the game seriously and with pride, improved the team's record and began to establish a quality program. This season he has the Dallas GAME NOTES Recently 1 was typing my monthly reports and was trying to think of a field note to submit when the phone rang. It was the regional office dispatching me toa call concerning a fox at the Wilkes- ‘Barre Post Office. In 30 minutes, I ws in center cily to find a crowd gathered around a postal truck. A gray fox had apparently jumped under the truck and disappeared. With net and snare in hand, we opened the hood of the truck to find a very upset fox, which jumped out, avoiding both net and snare, and ran through the enclosed parking lot, dodging cars and people, A Wildlife Conserva- tion Officer not so close behind. Soon, a local T.V. station's mobile camera team was there to witness the sly fox outsmart a W.C.O. while another station's camera team hovered overhead in a helicopter. I will no longer think too hard about a field note! The fox was apparently displaced by the recent flooding in the Wyo- ming Valley. WCO Joseph G. Wenzel, II. See GAME NOTES, pg 10 I ¥ boys reaching for and believing they can attain a more lofty goal. “We're shooting for districts,” said Straka. “This team comes See DAL. VOLLEYBALL, pg 10 The Dallas Post Sports\Week Brian Blase lofted a backhand return to Lake-Lehman's Jay Sudhakaran during Monday's rained-out match between the number one players. The match will resume Thursday. With less than a week to go before the season opener Baranowski isdispleased with the team’s movement patterns and the blocking, especially the block- ing technique. “We do have a pretly complete team that can come together” said Baranowski. “Once that happens, we should fair out pretty well.” This potentially dangerous group is lead by three returning first team all scholastic players. Setter Jeremy Baranowski placed second in the league MVP race last year. The senior is not only one of the best setters the confer- ence has seen the past [ew years, but is equally adapt at playing the with senior talent back and front rows. Versatile as well as vocal, Jeremy is one of the leaders of this group. A couple ofseniors, R.J. Brooks (outside hitter) and Phil Snyder, See L-L VOLLEYBALL pg 10 Dallas volleyball players are, from left, first row: Joe Dreier, Don Holdredge, Justin Hoover, Matt Sowcik, Erik Steltz. Second row, Amro Najib, Jared Dukas, Samuel Mikolaichik, Walter Davis, James Gavin, Peter Redmond. Blast U-12 takes top spots indoors at Wilkes The Back Mountain Blast boys’ U-12 travel team, divided into two squads to meet roster requirements, captured first and second places in the Wilkes University Indoor Soccer Tournament January 14 at the university's Marts Center. Both squads defeated Saint Thomas More of Allentown, Pine Grove and Back Mountain Lightning. The championship game consisted of both Blast squads playing one another for the title. Back Mountain Blast members are, front row from left: Ryan Love, David Walters, Andrew George, Chip Harrison, Tim Faneck, Ricky Branco and Drew Suszko; back row from left: Brian McMahon, Ryan Martin, Jason Mahle, Jamie Rhodes, Wally Karl, Andrew Dale, Adam Burkland and Aaron Moyer. By LEN KRYESKI Sports Writer LEHMAN - Last spring the Lake-Lehman tennis team had not only aspirations, but the talent to finish above .500 and perhaps play a spoiler role in the Southern Division of the NEPTC. Although it didn't show in the standings, the ‘95 edition proved to be an admirable team, but the Black Knights lost four 3-4 decisions, en route to a 4-7 mark. The losses included a couple of heartbreakers to Hazleton and Wyoming Valley West, before the Knights rebounded to win three of their last four league meets. The strong finish was the re- sult of inexperienced players com- ing along and meshing with talent at the top of the lineup. This spring, coach Cathy Edwards is facing the same dilemma. Time and good weather for practice will be needed for the younger and inexperienced players to develop their skills. Twelve players dot the roster and, like last year, there's a couple of seniors testing their tal- HB School news HM Classified BW Calendar Black Knights have a strong 1-2 punch ents at tennis for the first time. “Thus far we haven't had a whole lot of time for our kids to get used to one another,” Edwards said adding that doubles players need to learn one another's ten- dencies as well as strengths. One doubles team got familiar in a hurry last year. Avesh Jain transferred to Lehman from a Florida school to team up with Lehman's most experienced player, Jay Sudhakaran. The duo earned All-Scholastic honors, fin- ishing the regular season 11-0 before being eliminated in the third round of district doubles. Both are seniors and will be the number one and two singles play- ers again. Sudhakaran posted a 9-2 individual record, Jain fin- See LEHMAN TENNIS, pg 10 Lake-Lehman volleyball players are, from left, first row: Mark Steele, Ryan Bombick, John Mendygral, Jeremy Baranowski, Dave Rogers, George Frank. Second row, ass't coach Dave Davis, Charles Snyder, R.J. Brooks, Jeff Castellano, Dave Milunic, Phil Snyder, Brian Smigielski, Mike Tribendis, head coach John Baranowski. West Side Tech shooting for .500 season mark PRINGLE - With seven return- ees from last year's squad, the Titans figure to be a much-im- proved volleyball team in 1996. In addition to experience, West Side Tech has some decent height this season as well as a good setter in junior J.T. Tomascik. “We're hoping to build on this season and be a competitive .500 team,” said coach Bill Kane. “We should be able to win six of the 12 games.” Kane's main concern is to build interest in the program. Besides baseball, volleyball is the only sport offered to the boys dur- ing the spring. Other top players include Brian Ford and B.J. Reese. There are no Back Mountain players on the roster. Strikers advance to regionals Thirteen elementary Noxen Striker wrestlers will advance to AAU Regionals Fri., April 5 at Shamokin. They are: BANTAM: Rick Bower, 44 |b., Ist place; Josh Ross, 44 1b., 3rd place; Adam Sulenski, 52 Ib., 3rd place; Mike Stolaric, 60 Ib., 1st place; Ken Miller, Unl., 2nd place. MIDGET: Brian Goeringer, 66 Ib., 2nd place; Matt Dragon, 80 Ib., 3rd place. JUNIOR: John Houssock, 58 Ib., 1st place; Perry Coolbaugh, 78 1b., 2nd place; Todd Jones, 86 Ib., 1st place. INTERMEDIATE: Mail Melz, 851b., 2nd place; Louie MacMillan, 1201b., Ist place; Rich Maciejczak, 136 lb., 3rd place. Other wrestlers who will ad- vance are: ADVANCED: Jason Maciejczak, 120 Ib., 2nd place; Sam Saylor, 1401b., 1st place; Lynn MacMillan, 152 Ib., 1st place. ELITE: Mike Metz, 124 Ib., Ist place; Eric Maciejczak, 140 Ilb., Ist place; Pat Rogowski, 171 Ib., Ist place; Mick Konigus, 189 Ib., 3rd place. OPEN: Mike Rogowski, 177 1b., 3rd place; J.J. Konigus, Unl., 1st place. Spaghetti dinner for Dallas swimmers The second annual Dallas Swimming and Diving Team Spaghetti Dinner will be held March 30, 5-7 p.m. at the Dallas Middle School. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children under 10 years old, and are available [rom any team member or at The Field House in Dallas. Fashion show will aid LL Football Club A "Celebration of Fashion" is set for April 1 at 7 p.m. in the Lake- Lehman High School Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the Football Club, and Lake-Lehman football players and cheerleaders will model fashions for the evening. Tickets are $3 for adults and $1 for students, available al the door. Proceeds benefit the Football Club. iA | - - EE ——
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers