Leaving Saint Vincent- Saint Mary in the gutter is not the most chivalrous of ideas, but it was the hope of the Knights last week at Bill White’s Lanes in Akron.

The Knights, coached by Dennis Holodnac and Brian Bajenski, faced a disappointingly close loss to their cross town Irish rivals.

Even with the loss, the team is confident about the remainder of the season with strong returning members as well as a several promising new bowlers.

Senior Lindsay Cajka is optimistic about the season, but acknowledges the obstacles the team will have to overcome.  

“We lost a lot of seniors from last year but we have enough spirit to keep going and succeed this season,” Cajka said.

No one can accuse the Knights of lacking spirit, personality or positive attitude when watching them interact with each other and opposing teams. 

First-time senior bowler Alexa Reymann credits the atmosphere of the team for her decision to join. 

“People are awesome and that’s why I like bowling,” Reymann said. 

Assistant varsity Coach MattBajenski, known to the team as B-ry, is looking forward to the upcoming Christmas tournament.

“Midway Lanes is always completely packed for the Christmas tournaments.  Coaches have to snake through all of the people just to get to the players and their different lanes,” Bajenski said.

This season’s team is full of fresh, new bowlers along with its returning members.  

Junior Elizabeth Green, a returning varsity member and strong bowler, is confident that these new additions will help rally the team.

“We have a lot of new bowlers this year but with more experience 

we can pull off a successful season,” Green said.

Results of last night’s match against Ellet High School at Great Oaks Lanes were not available at press time.  The Knights take on Firestone at Midway Lanes this Monday at 4:30 P.M. 

Boys Bowling

With a roll of the ball and strike of the pins, the boys bowling season is under way.  

The season opened last Monday in a match against St. Vincent-St. Mary.  The Knights lost 2229-1981 at Bill Whites Lane in Akron.  The top scorer for varsity was Cory Sailer, who bowled a game high 184 and a match high 341 for Hoban.  

Coach Dennis Holodnac knows he has a young team, but also knows that they can improve as the season moves along.

“We have a lot of new bowlers on the team this year,” he said.  “They are gaining experience with every match, so I know we can stay competitive all year.”

The Knights have four seniors: Nick Bajenski, Sean Clark, Tim Flanagan and Zach Wichman lead the way this year.  Two are returning starters.  Also contributing on the varsity squad are sophomore JaVonte Carter and freshman Cory Sailer.

“I think that JaVonte and Cory are both going to have breakout seasons because they have done very well in the scrimmages to start the year,” Holodnac said.

Holodnac wants to prepare his team well for this season, hoping it can roll its way districts.

“Getting to districts with this young team would be a very big accomplishment for this program,” he said.

The Knights played Ellet Monday and their next match is on Monday, Dec. 15 against Firestone at Stone Hedge Lanes at 4:00 P.M.