The following takes place between seven pm and eight pm.
All right, Yon, we go our number two, seven h seven on seven hundred WLW back on RNL Carrier Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chervale. I'm lancemcalister. Thanks for hanging out on a Friday night. Stick Around Xavier basketball plays here. Joe and Byron set it up bottom of the hour. I like cool stories. This is a really cool story. This past Sunday, you see Claremont College volleyball won the USCAA Division two National championship in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. It's the
program's second national championship since twenty twenty one. You see Clarmont College located in Batavia. I said, I need to know more about this, so lo and behold.
We're going to the phones.
Let's welcome in the head coach of the Division two national champs. That would be Josh Hammer. Coach Lance Bacallister. How are you?
I'm doing well? Lance? How are you?
I'm fantastic? How does it feel what I say? Division two national champions? Oh?
Man, you can't say it enough. It's great feeling for sure.
How second title in five years? I mean that's dynasty stuff. How did Batavia become the epicenter of Division two volleyball.
Well, I don't know. I like to think I had a little something to do with that. I took over the program back in twenty fifteen, and I guess since twenty seventeen was the first year we made the tournament, and we've made the tournament every year since then. Wow, we won in twenty one. We got a couple third places in there as well, which I don't like to
talk about those. But and then this year was just, you know, this year was just it's probably the best team we've ever had, and it was just a really great year.
Well that was going to be. That's a good segue to my next question, because I was going to mention you entered the bracket as the top seed. I think you were twenty and two during the season. So the preseason thought was you had a national champion caliber roster. Is that true?
That's true.
Yes, You've got a couple of seniors I'd love to ask you about. One was your the tournament MVP and now a three time All American. Tell me about Caitlyn Finnegan.
Caitlyn's a great player. She played middle forest. She like you said, she's a first team All American Player of the Year. I refer to her as a unicorn, and she came into our program. She's got, you know, top tier talent, top tier attitude. She's a great leader. She's a big part of what we've done here in the past couple of years.
Tell me about another local product. She also from Turpin High School. She was a tournament team performer. Tell me about Ashley Kaminski.
Yeah, Ashley, And it's funny, Ashley actually brought Caitlin to our program after her freshman year. Yeah, Caitlyn had they played together in high school and Katelyn had gone off to Akron College and didn't like it. Came back home and Ashley said, Hey, I got this friend, like to put her on the team. What do you think, I said, Well, tell me about her. Oh well, she's six foot one place middle, she's pretty good. I said, yeah, bring her on. And yeah, the rest is history.
I mentioned both are from Turp And you also have a Milford grat Hanna Daniels, who made the All Tournament team. I mean, the quality of high school volleyball around the area, Tell me about it, because it's got to make for a nice pipeline of talent, doesn't it.
It really does.
The Tri State area is really really loaded with volleyball talent for sure. That doesn't mean I mean it's a nice pipe line, yes, but it's also very competitive to get these players.
Sure, tell me on this level, kind of explain to the average listener right now. May not know the workings of it in terms of recruiting or scholarships or how does any of that work in assembling a team.
Yeah, so we don't have athletic scholarships. You see, Claremont College is a great value. Our average tuition is six thousand dollars a year, and then all students, not just athletes, but they can get merit scholarships their first two years as well, and pretty much if they get any fasts at all, they get their their tuition paid for. But
you know that's my that's kind of my recruiting spiels. Hey, great education, very low cost, you know, great athletic program, a chance to play for a national championship.
You mentioned, I believe it was twenty fifteen you arrived at you see Claremont. Kind of trace the path. How what's the journey been like for you to get to this.
Point, Well, in twenty fifteen I took over. They had a couple players graduating, a couple of players that didn't want to come back because they would they were attached to their old coach and you know, they didn't want to spend their last year with a new coach and all that kind of thing. I only had eight players when I walked into the gym, and I did a lot of recruiting, called some tryouts. Wound up getting like
fifteen players my first year. But you know, the difference in the player talent then versus now is a lot different, obviously, So it took about three or four years to kind of get the word out about, you know, a great program, a great experience. But you know, after that, it's been it's been a lot easier obviously.
Josh Head, have you did you? Are you from the area? Had you been around here in various coaching capacities to ultimately get to UC Claremont. What was that like?
Yeah? Yeah, I grew up in northern Kentucky and you know, just started coaching a couple of my nieces in a recreation volleyball and that led to middle school, that led to high school, that led to college. My first college job was Cincinnati State, which no longer has athletics, but I was there for two years, and then I coached Xavier's men's club team for a season, and then I got the job in twenty fifteen at U see Claremont.
But I've been coaching for twenty eight years AAU club volleyball, so I've been in it for a while.
Man, it is so great catching up with you tonight. You know, I'm thinking two titles in five years. I think maybe, what do you think? Lifetime contracting your own parking spot? How does that sound?
That sounds good? That sounds good.
Hey, congratulations on this. It's so cool. I was able to track you down and you were willing to come on. Congrats on the success, not just this year and what you've built. Best of luck, keeping it rolling and enjoy all this all right?
Yeah, I will thank you. Thanks for having me on.
You got to take care coach, all right, there you go, Josh Hammer. Two times, two national championships in five years. You see. Claremont College volleyball located in Batavia. Every time I think of Batavia as a kid, my grandma lived in Batavia, so when we were kids, and we would visit Grandma.
One.
She was the manager of it's no longer around the Green Valley in Batavia, and it was always a big deal when we were kids and we visited, spent the weekend with Grandma. We would go to Moonlight Chili. Oh, I remember how cool it was. We were living large
going to Moonlight Chili. I haven't been. We were in Batavia a couple of months ago, because they've got a really cool coffee shop right on the corner of Bean and Brew when you come into town, and it is directly across the street from where the old Green Valley used to be. That my grandma was the manager years ago. So congratulations to UC Clermont College Volleyball, the Division two national champs for the second time since twenty twenty one.
All right, good, that was fun. Let's head down the stretch. Got some college football to squeeze in, some college basketball to squeeze in. I gotta do all that before Joe and Byron. They are warming up and they'll deliver Xavier pregame before the Musketeers and the Hawkeyes that coming up at seven point thirty. We continue for now with Rnel Carrier Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevelet seven hundred ww EAS.
Taylor versus Tumlin in the Steel City, the Bengals look to toss the Steelers into the recycling bin. There's a lot I can say about Pittsburgh, but none of it can be seven the Radio, the Bengals slug it out with the Steelers Someday. Coverage begins at nine am. Stream for free on the new and improved iHeartRadio app four on seven hundred WLW, home of the best Bengals coverage.
Hey, all your faith at NBA players are back in DraftKings sportsbook and official sports betting partner, the NBA is the place to bet on NBA stars this season. With more markets open for more of the game. DraftKings, the number one sportsbook for live betting, is live when others aren't. Speaking of stars, how about Wemby and the Spurs tonight against Steph and the Warriors. Another good matchup seventy six
ers in those red hot Pistons. New customers bet just five bucks and get three months of NBA League Pass plus score three hundred dollars if your bet wins paid in bonus bets. Download the DraftKings Sports book app and use code seven hundred WLW. That's code seven hundred WLW. Bet five bucks and get three months of League Pass plus get three hundred dollars in bonus bets if your bet wins. In partnership with DraftKings, the Crown is yours.
Gambling problem called one eight hundred Gambler twenty one plus Ohio only. Eligibility and restrictions apply. Bet must win to receive bonus bets, which expire in seven days. Minimum mods required, NBA League Pass, Autoy News until canceled, additional terms at dkang dot co, slash Audio limited time offer.
She said, Johnny, the kids didn't come home last night.
Along the Central Texas Plains, teens are dying, suicides that don't make sense, strange accidents, nothing like that. It ever happened in Weatherford before. In what seems to be a plot ripped straight out of Breaking bad drugs, alcohol, trafficking of people