Top High School Performances - December/January

Love Strikes Surplus of Aces to Opponents

By Bob Herman


"What is love? Oh baby, don't hurt me. Don't hurt me, no more."

Opponents of Southfield (Michigan) High School freshman volleyball player Amanda Love might have been singing this popular Haddaway song from the movie "Night at the Roxbury" all season long, as she leads the nation with 224 service aces (third-most all-time) as of November 5.

"Any kid can service an ace, but her focus, strength and determination for what she does is continual," said Alisha Love, the Southfield head volleyball coach and mother of Amanda. "Her mental stamina is tremendous, especially for such a young kid."

Her .494 ace percentage, which essentially means that she tallies an ace on almost 50 percent of her serves, is the highest among any female high school volleyball player with at least 400 service attempts this year – and she's done this while only committing 39 serving errors. She also averages more than three kills a game and has a .914 serve percentage.

"Amanda is a tremendous athlete," Alisha said. "She has to ability to adjust and adapt, and she's a thoroughbred on and off the court. She does not look down on anyone and looks to help anyone in a positive way.

"I would consider her to have these qualities even if she weren't my daughter."
Although Alisha coaches her daughter, she said there has never been a problem with the coach/child relationship.

"It isn't hard to coach her at all, and it's a blessing," she said. "I don't show any favoritism, and I'll get on her tail just as fast as anyone else's."

Amanda's precise and efficient volleyball skills are only part of her high school success. She holds a 3.55 grade-point average, wants to be involved with Business Professionals of America, assists the Southfield football team as an athletic trainer in training and plans on trying out for Southfield's basketball and track squads.

"She has three older brothers, and she's tough as nails because of them," Alisha said.

Southfield is third in the Oakland 3 League with a 5-3 record, which is a big improvement from years past, thanks in part to Amanda's solid serving.

"She's made a great impact," Alisha said. "When you have a kid with that kind of focus, it rubs off on the other players. We went from eighth or ninth in the conference up to third - it focused the team."

California high schools exhibit offensive football explosiveness

By Bob Herman


When it rains, it pours. And for the Princeton (California) High School eight-player football team, it was a full-fledged maelstrom.

On October 13, Princeton and Herlong (California) High School unleashed their offenses, resulting in an 82-40 win for Princeton. But at halftime, it was only 27-26, in favor of Princeton.

"In the first half, we struggled a little bit with our pass coverage, which made it close at halftime, but I was impressed they got past it in the second half and played much better," Princeton Athletic Director Bryan Lex said.

Guillermo Rodriguez of Princeton rushed for 319 yards and had eight total touchdowns. Seven of those were rushing touchdowns, which is tied for eighth all time in eight-player football, according to the NFHS National High School Sports Record Book.

"The line opened the holes for Guillermo," Lex said. "He is an all-around talented athlete. He reads the holes well, has good feet and has good vision. A couple moves he made were exciting to watch."
Mike Evans of Herlong set some records of his own as he had 11 receptions for 356 yards (second-most all time) and six receiving touchdowns (tied for second all time).

Princeton kicker Rafael Arias made things even more interesting as he nailed eight extra points - tied for the national record – for a team that hasn't had a kicker in a long time.

"It was fun to watch Rafael," Lex said. "We haven't had a kicker in years because we traditionally have to go for two."

Eight-player football is played at high schools with small class sizes (16,103 students at 739 high schools nationally), and both Herlong and Princeton fit the mold. Herlong has approximately 100 students. Princeton has about 70 students (that's nearly 1.2 points per student from this game, in case you were keeping track).

Hemphill cracks 200-win mark

By Bob Herman

Only four coaches have surpassed 200 career victories in Delaware high school football history.

Now make that five.

Joe Hemphill, the head coach of the Wilmington (Delaware) St. Elizabeth's High School football team for 36 years, reached the 200-win plateau November 4 after defeating the Delaware Military Academy, 42-0.

He joins George Kosanovich, Bruce Reynolds, Butch Simpson and Bob Tattersall with 200 career football wins.

Hemphill also has two state titles under his belt. St. Elizabeth took home the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association Division II state championship in 1994 and 1996.

Hemphill continues to add on to his 202-156-13 lifetime record, which is also the Delaware record for most high school football games coached.

"I do see myself coaching until it is no longer fun, and I don't see that happening any time soon," Hemphill said. "When you have great kids to work with, it makes going to work a pleasure."

Cheshire girls swimming team establishes record

By Emily Cerling

Coach Ed Aston and the Cheshire (Connecticut) High School girls swimming team stayed out of the limelight in anticipation of capturing a national record, but on October 15, they were thrilled. That night, the team set the national mark with its 235th straight dual-meet win, defeating Branford (Connecticut) High School, 122-48.

The previous national record was held by Elkhart (Indiana) Central High School with 234 straight wins from 1980 to 1994. Although the Cheshire swimmers went about their normal routines before the meet, many were eager about breaking the record.

"We really kind of downplayed it until the few weeks prior to October 15," coach Aston said. "We didn't want anything to go wrong."

More than 200 supporters crammed into the dome of the Cheshire Community Pool to witness the record-breaking event, and to cheer on the Rams. Once the record was set, all of the girls and Aston leaped into the pool to celebrate the accomplishment.

Since the victory, the team has received national coverage, bringing a sense of pride and accomplishment to the community.

Now with the record behind it, the team has had to focus on the rest of the season.

"Emotionally, they are a little spent - we just have to get back into it now. We've just got to keep trying to move forward," Aston said. "I hope we continue to work and do what we've been doing. We just have to see what happens at the end of the season."

The winning streak began in 1986 when Cheshire defeated Branford, 96-76, in the last meet of the regular season – before any of the current team members were even born. Since then, Cheshire has created a dynasty covering three decades and involving 278 swimmers.

Bob Herman is a fall semester intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. He is a junior at Butler (Indiana) University, majoring in journalism (news editorial) and minoring in Spanish.

Emily Cerling is a fall semester intern in the NFHS Publications/Communications Department. She is a senior at Butler (Indiana) University, majoring in integrated communications.