Sunday, April 30, 2006 Tue POST PAGE 7 Sports Week SPORTS BRIEFS American Legion sets baseball tryouts The Back Mountain Junior and . Senior American Legion baseball teams will be holding sign ups and tryouts from 5-6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7 at the Dallas High School field. Senior Legion players (ages 16-19) and Junior Legion players (13-15) are eligible as long as they live in the Dallas or ake-Lehman school district oundaries. New players are asked to bring a copy of their birth certificate and players need to come to both tryouts. For more information, call 696-3979 or 714-2625. There is no cost to register and tryout. Fees for the year will be discussed at the tryouts. Fusion sets Ul tryout The Back Mountain Fusion U-11 girls travel soccer team will hold tryouts at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 1 at field behind the Dallas Middle School. The team begins its season in August. For more information, call Anne Marie Sutton at 696- 4503. ~~ Trap shoot set for May 6 The Noxen-Monroe Sportsmen’s Association will hold a trap shoot at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 6 at El Rancho on Stonetown Road in Noxen. The public is invited. Soccer camp taking registrations Penn State Wilkes-Barre is ac-- cepting registrations for its annual soccer camp, which will be held June 26-30 at the campus in Leh- man Township. Boys and girls in kindergarten through fourth grade will participate in the camp from 9 & a.m. to noon, while boys and girls in grades 5-8 will take the field from 12:45-3:45 p.m. The cost of the camp is $89. Emphasis will be on technical skills, such as shooting, passing, dribbling, trapping and heading, as well as game tactics including proper positioning, creating space, i attacking and defending. Goalie, . advanced defensive and advanced * offensive skills will be taught in . drills for all interested players. There are special discounts avail- able for teams bringing eight or more players. For more information or to regis- ter, contact Ellen Gregorio at 675- 9220 or e-mail her at wbsumme- ryouth@psu.edu. is Golf tournament seeks registrations ; The First Lieutenant Michael J. i = Cleary Golf Tournament will be _ held Thursday, June 1 at Irem Tem- ple Country Club in Dallas. The © captain and crew tournament is * being held in honor of Dallas High School graduate Mike Cleary, who was recently killed in action in i Iraq. The entry fee is $125 per player, which includes lunch, dinner and prizes. There will also be an oppor- tunity to win a new truck with on a hole in one, a $2,500 putting con- test and a $100,000 par 3 shootout. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the First Lieutenant Mi- chael J. Cleary Memorial Founda- tion. Registration forms are available at the Ranch Wagon on Route 309 in Dallas and Minuteman Press in Kingston. For more information, call Chuck Garnett at 675-6575. Golf leagues to be formed The Applewood Golf Course on Mount Zion Road in Harding form- ing leagues for weekday mornings and Friday afternoons. For informa- tion about joining a league, call the Pro Shop at 388-2500. HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Alyssa Pyros, right, of Dallas and Kelcey Cole of Lake-Lehman battle for the ball during a game between the rivals earlier this week. By DAVE KONOPKI Post Editor As the Wyoming Valley Confer- FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Getting an ‘A’ at midterms Lake-Lehman catcher Bill Hole- na shows the ball to the umpire after attempting ence passes the halfway point in the spring sports regular season, one thing has become clear. The roads to most of the championships are pass- ing through the Back Mountain. Of the six sports — baseball, soft- ball, boys and girls track and field, girls soccer, boys “1 think volleyball and ‘ _ boys tennis — be- were play ing played, a team ing well, from either Dallas ' or Lake-Lehman is but | don t at the top of the think hit standingsin five of ' : them. we've hit Ard 1 srmie our peak cases, it’s both. yet " At press time, . based upon scores Stacey Stack reported to the Lake-Lehman softball coach Times Leader, the Dallas athletic teams have posted a combined 38-8-1 record. The Mountaineer girls and boys track, baseball and softball squads find themselves atop the standings. The Dallas tennis team is near the top of the standings with a 7-1 record, while the volleyball team (5-3) is sixth out of 16 teams. The Lake-Lehman spring sports teams have compiled a 26-14 record. That mark is a little deceiving when one considers the school’s girls soc- cer team accounts for eight of the losses. The record among the other Mark Covert is one of the reasons the Dallas tennis team is among the best in the WVC. sports is a combined 24-6. The Black Knights softball team is tied with Dallas with a 7-1 record in Division II, while the girls track and field team is undefeated. The Lake-Lehman and Dallas boys and girls track teams square off Tuesday afternoon at Lake-Lehman. After losing its first two games, the Black Knights baseball team has a record of 4-3, including a thrilling 12-11 win against rival Dallas. The Lake-Lehman volleyball team, un- der first-year coach Noah Pickett, has an 8-1 record and sits in second place. “I think we're playing well, but I don’t think hit we've hit our peak to make the tag on Dallas player Mike Race. Race was called safe. Lake-Lehman goalkeeper Shannon Bird stops a Dallas shot on goal. yet,” said Lake-Lehman softball coach Stacey Stack, whose team’s only loss was a 1-0 setback against Dallas. “The loss to Dallas has been a motivator for us. We still have to play them and Nanticoke again. We've been practicing hard each day.” “Black Knight softball pitcher Sheree Horvath has been dominant this season, throwing three perfect games in eight contests. But Stack See MIDTERMS, Page 8 COLLEGE CHOICE Hannah Sorber taking off to the wild blue yonder By VAN ROSE For The Post LEHMAN TWP. — Hannah Sorber has never been one to back away from chal- lenges. The Lake-Lehman volleyball star proved that by striking fear into the hearts of opposing players in the Wyom- ing Valley Conference for the last two seasons while leading the Black Knights to back-to-back playoff berths. So it’s not surprising that she decided to take the high road in college. The 5- foot-11 senior setter will continue her vol- leyball career at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. Sorber was recruited by other Division I schools, but jumped at the opportunity to attend the elite military academy. “I really want to go forward,” said Sor- ber, 18, who received her appointment April 7. “I'would like to be a doctor in the military.” She began applying to the Air Force A- cademy during her se- nior season at Lake- Lehman, and im- pressed the Falcons’ volleyball staff while playing in two national tournaments for the Al- lentown-based Court Authority club team Hannah Sorber this spring. “They liked my attitude, aggressive- ness and physical capabilities,” said the daughter of John and Crystal Sorber, of Harveys Lake. Sorber is the complete package. She can do just about anything, whether it’s setting up a teammate for a perfect kill or taking a match into her own hands. Her 19-inch vertical leap enables her to play above the net, and she’s an awesome blocker. She’s an excellent hitter who can beat you with a wicked slam or by tipping the ball over the net. She’s a great passer and an excellent server, with the uncan- ny ability to keep the defense on its heels. Perhaps most important, Sorber pos- sesses superb leadership skills. She in- timidates opponents with her serious style of play. She takes the meaning of in- tensity to a new level—something she takes pride in. “I have an intense personality and vol- leyball is an intense sport,” said Sorber, who also owns a 3.95 grade-point aver- age. “Volleyball has just become a pas- sion.” Sorber posted a combined 288 kills, 869 assists, 108 blocks and 78 aces in her last two seasons at Lake-Lehman. She led the Black Knights to a 15-3 record in 2005 and earned first-team all-state honors. “Hannah’s a natural leader,” said Lake- Lehman coach Noah Pickett. “She had a huge impact on our team’s success. She'd push everyone and she made everybody play at a high level.” Pickett is confident Sorber will enjoy a successful career at the Air Force Acade- my. “You have to credit her for taking the hard route,” he said. “She actually had a full ride to two other schools, but chose the military. She definitely has the men- tal toughness to handle it.” Sorber credits much of her success to Pickett and former Lake-Lehman coach John Baranowski, who coached her as a junior. “John Baranowski is the world’s great- est coach,” she said. “Noah did a great job of following in his footsteps. I would not even have thought about playing volley- ball in college without them.” Air Force is a member of the Mountain West Conference. Sorber is one of 12 in- coming freshmen and expects to step in- to the Falcons’ lineup right away. She’s al- so excited about the prospect of her par- ents being able to see her play. “Some of our games will be on Direct TV, and that’s pretty neat.”
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