Lakeland’s basketball teams have hit the courts running and are both off to strong starts.
     The men’s team, which went into the season intending to build on the strong defense that it established last year, has done that and more.
     The team is 3-1 and they are using their strong defense to create offense.  In the team’s three victories, they are averaging 103 points offensively, but only giving up 54 points a game.
     The team’s loss came at the hands of Oakland Community College, which came into the contest ranked 11^th in NJCAA Division II.  The Lakers hung with the Raiders, but shot poorly from the free throw line, missing 27 shots of their 51 shots; and losing the game 108-86.
     This weekend the Lakers will host the always strong team from Genesse Community College.  The Cougars will come into the contest at 3-0, including two overtime victories from their own season top-off tournament.
     The Lady Lakers are 4-1, including a 79-52 victory over Oakland’s women’s team, which came into the contest ranked 23^rd nationally by the NJCAA.
      Freshman SirShawna Dowdy has come up big for the Lakers, leading the team with 36 and 23 points respectively against the JV teams of Notre Dame College and Cleveland State University.  
     While Hicks should have eight players available this week, the schedule doesn’t get any easier.  The Lakers will host Genesse Community College this weekend.  The Cougars are currently ranked 13^th by the NJCAA.

CONGRATULATIONS to KARISCA CHAMBERS.  This two year starter on the Lakeland Community College volleyball team has surpassed 1,000 career assists with three matches left in her season.

Last year she posted 351 assists while the team played an offense that featured two setters.  This season, she is frequently the lone setter on the floor and has 656 assists to date.  She posted that 1,000 assist on October 21^st in a home match against Owens Community College, where she had 26 assists in the match.

          The young Lakeland volleyball team seemed to turn the corner during the seventh annual Shannon McBride Memorial Volleyball Tournament. 

Their season had gotten off to a rocky start, but they had a fine showing in the tournament that they host each year in honor of Lakeland police Chief James T. McBride’s daughter, Shannon.

The tournament field included Schoolcraft College and Vincennes University, two schools that had garnered attention in the national polls.  Vincennes cracked the top 20 after winning the Shannon McBride.  However, the victory did not come without a challenge by the young Lakers. 
        The Lakers were the only team to really challenge Vincennes during the entire tournament.  They were the only squad to take the Trailblazers to a three game set, and the Lakers did it twice.
        The home team knocked off Vincennes in pool play with a balanced front row attack.  They dropped the first set 16-25, came back to take the second 25-22, and took the tie-breaker 15-12.
        Ellen Snyder and Cidalene Henry each had four kills in the match, while five teammates contributed three kills each.  The powerful hitters from Vincennes were thwarted by the strong back row play of Leona Oani and Karisca Chambers who had 23 and 10 digs respectively.
        The Lakers finished pool play with a perfect 4-0 record to gain the second seed in bracket play.  After knocking off Sinclair Community College in the first round, the Lakers had to face Vincennes in the semi-finals.
        The Lakers again dropped the first set, losing 15-25.  They came back strong in the second set (25-21) to tie the match.  They fell behind early in the third game, but pulled within two at 7-9. 

Vincennes then pulled ahead 14-9, but the Lakers battled strong on Elaine Bowen’s serve, picking up three points to force a Vincennes time-out at 14-12.  Unfortunately, Vincennes came out of the time-out and took the game winning point.
        Vincennes went on to defeat Schoolcraft for the championship 25-16 and 25-22.
        The Lakers are a young team, carrying only one sophomore in setter Karisca Chambers, who was named to the All-Tournament team.

They played in two tough tournaments to start their season and were 2-11 with all road games, before the McBride Tournament.  When finally given the opportunity, they played with much confidence on their home floor.

September 9, 2009
     The Lakers are now 3-1 after tallying six goals against Lorain Community College this afternoon.
     Juan Aquinaga led the charge for the Lakers, scoring three goals and adding an assist.  Dean Miller, Manuel Conde and Miro Pezer each scored a goal, with Miller and Conde adding two and three assists respectively.
     The defense was solid and new goal keeper Antons Trifonovs only had to defend three shots on goal.
     This weekend the Lakers host their annual soccer tournament.  Delta, Kellogg and Cuyahoga Community Colleges will participate.  Here is the game schedule:
SATURDAY – SEPTEMBER 12
Lakeland vs Cuyahoga @ 1:00 pm

Delta vs Kellogg @ 3:30 pm

SUNDAY – SEPTEMBER 13

Delta vs Cuyahoga @ 10:00 am

Lakeland vs Kellogg @ Noon

     The Lakers notched their first non-tournament victory of the season when they traveled to Mercyhurst NE, and took three straight from the Saints.
     Angela Gagliano led the Lakers with consistent straight-to-the-floor spikes that allowed her to notch 12 kills in her 14 attacks.  Elaine Bowen added seven kills and 15 assists; while Karisca Chambers had 16 assists.
     Defensively, Amanda Rhodes played a strong front row, contributing seven blocks; while Gagliano contributed five blocks.
     The scores from these three games were 25-22, 25-22 and 25-18.
     The Lakers opened this season at a Labor Day weekend tournament at Owens Community College, where the young Lakers went 1-6 defeating Mott Community College.
     The team is now 2-6 and will travel to Benton Harbor, Michigan to compete in the Lake Michigan Tournament on September 11 and 12.

     The soccer team opened its season with a split at the weekend tournament at Delta Community College. 
     In their opener the Lakers defeated Ancilla College by a 3-1 score.  Dean Miller scored two goals while Mario Duvnjak scored the third.  Assists were posted by Juan Aquinaga and Miro Pezer, and Miller assisted on Duvnak’s goal.  Goalie Sebastian Rodriguez posed eight saves.
     The Lakers dropped their second game 2-1 to Delta.  Pezer scored an unassisted goal.  Rodrigues has six saves.
     The Lakers host the JV team from Hiram on Wednesday.

FALL 2009  --  GOLF TEAM SCRIMMAGES/ACTIVITIES

The golf team’s home course is Quail Hollow Country Club in Concord Township.  In addition to playing that course this fall, the team will also participate in the following events.

Wednesday, September 2 @ 1:00 @ Little Mountain Country Club in Concord Township.
Wednesday, September 9 @ 1:00 @ Forest Hills Country Club in Elyria.

Saturday, September 12 @ 8:30 Shotgun Start @ the Great Lakes Invitational at Blackbrook Country Club in Mentor.

Wednesday, September 16 @ 1:00 @ Little Mountain Country Club in Concord Township.

Saturday, September 26 @ 1:00 the team will host a Challenge Hole during the Lakeland Community College Athletic Department Golf Outing at Quail Hollow Country Club in Concord Township.

LAKERS LEAD OCCAC IN ACADEMICS
     Lakeland Community College led the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference with twelve student-athletes receiving conference academic awards.
     Soccer led the way with six academic honorees that include:  Manuel Conde, Luke McCullagh, Kwesi Peterson, Damir Kuduzovic, John D’Antonio and Juan Aquinaga.
     Our other top student athletes were:  Ben Detrow, William Couchenour and Kyle Arroyo (Baseball); Zipporah Tidwell (Basketball); Samantha Dean (Softball); and Ryan Ausperk (Golf).