Both of those players will return for their senior years. Ford will be mindful that the loss to Tower Hill was the Vikings only one of the year while the Hillers went undefeated.

There is no reason to think that both of these teams couldn't return for a rematch this year. Both teams will be loaded once again. Returning for Tower Hill will be the Sackovich twins, Beth and Jane, along with Hillary’s younger sister Paige. Maggie Giddens and Kerry Sallee provide senior leadership at midfield and back respectively.

The Vikings might be the more athletic team of the two. Junior Amanda Warrington is all that and a bag of chips as is the highly regarded Ford. Sophomore Nicole Rhoades returns to the goal and senior forward Casey Cahill and back Lauren Mazzotta will provide the Vikings with enough tools to build a road to the state tournament.

The Caravel Buccaneers might be one team to trip one of the above teams up on the way to a championship. Having lost only two seniors, for a change the Bucs will be an "old" team with senior Sarah Mills leading the way. There are a lot of those softball team members on this team as well, including Nancy Tokar in goal, Jackie Homiak, Alexis Niggebrugge, Erin Bilbrough, Emily Irish, and Stephanie Campbell who all know how to win.

St. Marks will return all-staters Michelle Huynh-Ba, and Carly Falgowski to a team that reached the semifinals before falling to Cape.

Wilmington Christian loses Danae Chambers and Sarah Raniszewski of note, but return senior Jenna Schwind who will lead this team in scoring in her final high school year. The Warriors will also have a senior heavy squad, so they would stand a great chance to go deep in the tournament again.

The Delmar Wildcats only lose five seniors, but will only have three or so this year. One of them is Brittany Elliot, an all-stater. Juniors Rebecca Gum and Danielle Twilley provide offensive support.

Indian River could provide more thrills for their loyal supporters this year. Returning key players are seniors Brittany Croll and Leslie Morin along with sophomore Leighann Ambrose. The Indians smoked Caesar Rodney in the first round last year before also falling to Cape Henlopen and finishing 13-3-1.

In the Blue Hen Flight A, the battle should be between Brandywine and William Penn. Dani Unflat is the Colonials all-state scoring threat, and for the Bulldogs. Our own Dana Anderson returns for her senior season on defense seeking to move two rungs up the ladder from the honorable mention roll from a year ago. Bulldog head coach Willy Miranda is hoping to build on the lacrosse team’s success from this past spring to improve on their 15^th seed in the state tournament.

Here are the returning players from last year’s all-state teams:

First Team: Maren Ford, sr, Attack, Cape Henlopen; Jane Sackovich, sr, Midfield, Tower Hill; Brittany Elliot, sr, Attack, Delmar; Jackie Ciconte, sr, Attack, Tatnall; Hillary Schmidt, sr, Attack, Tower Hill; Caitlin White, sr, Goalkeeper, St. Marks.

Second Team: Beth Sackovich, sr, Midfielder, Tower Hill; Dani Unflat, sr, Attack, William Penn; Casey Cahill, sr, Attack, Cape Henlopen; Sarah Mills, sr, Back, Caravel; Sarah Schmidt, jr, Attack, Friends; Amanda Jacobs, sr, Goalkeeper, Tatnall.

Honorable Mention: Michelle Huynh-Ba, sr, Attack, St. Marks; Dana Anderson, sr, Back, Brandywine; Carly Falgowski, sr, Back, St. Marks; Caitlin Meara, sr, Attack, Concord; Courtney Abbott, sr, Attack, Caesar Rodney.

So, with some of that in mind, here is our preseason field hockey top ten.

1- Tower Hill

2- Cape Henlopen

3- Delmar

4- Indian River

5- St. Marks

6- Caravel

7- Wilmington Christian

8- Brandywine

9- Tatnall

10- Smyrna

All of our preseason rankings are now posted in the top ten section.

Our new website Diamondstatesports.com is now up and running. We have posted our Top 25 list on that website and will be using that site for some other things we are planning.

We’ll be at the opening volleyball game of the season at Ursuline Academy Saturday evening as the Raiders play host to the Padua Panda with their new coach Angel Payne. It might have been more dramatic if this game had happened a few games later, but it should still be interesting to watch the emotion in the Raider gym as Payne returns after a long stint as an Ursuline coach.

I’ve spent some time with the Wilmington College volleyball team taping them for a preview on the TV show and a recent interview on the radio show also. The Wildcats now are fully comprised of Delawareans having lost their two out-of-staters to transfers.

Head coach Steve Lenderman has beefed up his schedule this year and will be playing about 45 matches in 60 days. This team has four seniors in Jen Pruitt, Rachael Potter, Michelle Hoosty, and Lynn Pabian. Potter was actually red-shirted last year, but is a senior academically and this still could be her last year. Without a single junior on the roster, this might be a critical year in terms of post-season playing time.

Pruitt (Christiana High) is co-captain and the team’s setter. She helped lead Christiana to the state final in her last year in high school and is clearly the most important part of this team’s offense this year. Potter (McKean) and Hoosty (Newark) are outside hitters. Hoosty is presently the best outside hitter on the team and also is one of their top defenders. Potter will be splitting time on the outside with freshman Lindsay Miller (William Penn) who is comfortable in her usual position but is still learning the other intimate details of the other positions she will need to fill to land herself increased playing time.

Lynn Pabian (Padua) is the player Lenderman says has improved the most in the past two years. The DE Tech transfer stands just 5’7" but is the middle hitter for the Wildcats and a surprisingly capable one at that. Her unimposing size standing in that position leads to points for Wilmington due to the lack of respect early on in games against opponents.

The other middle player is Lauren DiSabatino (St. Elizabeth). At 5’11", she is the tallest on the team. Originally, Lauren was slated to play on the outside along with Miller and Potter, but the Wildcats lost their middle Candice Bowman from a year ago, who decided not to continue with her volleyball career any longer.

The last freshman on the team is Jamie Santo (Christiana) who will be a defensive specialist.

The sophomores on the team inculde Aleesa DegliObizzi (St. Marks) and Lauren McNulty (St. Marks). Aleesa is an outside hitter primarily used as a passer and McNulty is the back-up setter who is being groomed to lead the Wildcats for the two years after this one.

Teri Mangini (Glasgow) is back for Wilmington as a defensive specialist as well as Jackie Picciotti (Mt. Pleasant.)

The lack of height on the Wildcats is the major concern for Wilmington. The second will be the progression of Miller and DiSabatino who will be thrust into starting roles right away.

Michelle Hoosty, Potter, and Pruitt will need to lead this team on the court and off of it. Should they prove to be solid leaders, and drag the young ones along successfully, they’ll get a chance to reclaim their division championship in the CACC.

The Wildcats open up on the road Friday against Bridgeport CT. Their first home match will be September 13 against Bloomfield, the conference champions from 2000.

The match we will head over to shoot first will be the Goldey-Beacom match on the 18^th over in Pike Creek.