20-21 League Previews- Central Buckeye Conference MRD

The Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division consists of Ben Logan, Graham, Indian Lake, North Union, Northwestern, Urbana. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif;"><strong>5 Players to Watch</strong></span> Lynzee Cronkleton, 5-9 2022, Ben Logan Abby Yukon, 5-7 2023, Graham [player_tooltip player_id="32585" first="Journey" last="Blevins"], 5-11 2021, North Union Samantha Rooney, 5-11 2021, Urbana Kyleigh Huffer, 5-6 2021 Indian Lake <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif;">5 Sleepers to Watch</span></strong> Stephanie Altstaetter, 5-10 2023, Indian Lake Alainee Risner, 5-7 2023, Northwestern Amber Waters, 5-9 2023, Northwestern [player_tooltip player_id="93550" first="Allison" last="Kinney"], 5-10 2023, Indian Lake Maleah Murphy, 5-3 2022, Urbana Kenna Ruhl, 5-11 2022, North Union <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif;">4 Thoughts</span></strong> Graham is looking for improvement with Abby Yukon returning this season, but an injury on opening night slowed her progress. The Falcons lost their all-conference player Katelyn Nash to graduation, but hopefully Yukon is a player who can see her game improve. With two wins last season, the Falcons are looking to improve. Another team who looks for improvement is Urbana who finished 5-5 in the conference but 1-12 outside of the Mad River Division. One kid who is among the top players in the division is Maleah Murphy, a 5-3 junior who is considered likely as the top defender in the league. Indian Lake is aiming to dethrone North Union, and despite losing several talented players including 65% of their offense to graduation, they do have a solid nucleus of younger players returning to lead the way. Indian Lake will be starting three sophomores among their starting five, and four of their starters are 5-8 or taller. North Union remains the biggest challenge for everyone in the league. [player_tooltip player_id="32585" first="Journey" last="Blevins"] is going for her third consecutive Player of the Year award, and is clearly the best player in the MRD. <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif;">2 Big Games</span></strong> Indian Lake @ North Union Ben Logan @ Indian Lake <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif;">2 Fun Fact</span></strong> Geoff Springer takes over at Northwestern after coaching stints at both Wayne and Bethel. Springer has also coached tennis at Northwestern. Blevins is a very highly touted volleyball player and can play either sport at the next level. <strong><span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: ’arial black’, sans-serif;">1 League Champion</span></strong> North Union