Tuesday, November 15th, 2022
Cavaliers choose colleges
Rismiller to play hoops at Dayton; Leugers playing volleyball at Findlay
By Gary R. Rasberry
COLDWATER - The road to college will bring separate paths, and sports to play, for two Coldwater standouts.
Riley Rismiller will head south to the University of Dayton, signing to play college basketball for the Flyers after being courted by a number of Division I programs.
Jenna Leugers, Rismiller's teammate in both volleyball and basketball, will head north to the University of Findlay to continue her stellar volleyball career Division II Oilers.
Dayton perfect fit for Rismiller
Photo by Gary R. Rasberry/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Riley Rismiller, seated middle right, will attend the University of Dayton and play basketball for the Flyers. Seated with Riley are her sister Emily Rismiller, mother Maggie Rismiller and father Darren Rismiller. Standing in back from left are Coldwater assistant coach Toby Siefring, brothers Sam, Tate and Eli Rismiller and head coach Amy Meyer.
Rismiller's constant improvement for the Cavaliers and her AAU team made the 6-5 senior a highly-touted recruit the last several seasons. Schools from the Big Ten, Atlantic 10, ACC, Big East and American Athletic Conference expressed interest.
In the end, a good meeting with first-year Flyers coach Tamika Williams-Jeter proved to be the catalyst for Rismiller trading her orange and black for the Red and Blue of Dayton.
"I think when I first visited, we instantly connected," said Rismiller, who is looking to major in sports communications. "I'm someone who takes a little bit to open up to people, but I remember leaving that first visit thinking 'Wow! I really want to come back here and visit again.' "
Williams-Jeter, the 1998 Ohio Ms. Basketball at Chaminade Julienne who went on to play at UConn and later seven seasons in the WNBA, took over a Flyer team that finished 26-6 and 14-1 in the A-10 last season and reached the NCAA Tournament. Dayton is 0-3 out of the gate this year.
"They lost a lot of seniors from last year," said Rismiller. "I knew it would be a hard year this year."
Rismiller averaged 16.5 points and 10.8 rebounds for the Cavaliers last season, shooting 51% from the floor and 70% from the foul line. Rismiller was a first-team selection for both all-MAC and all-district and was special mention all-Ohio last season. Rismiller is closing in on becoming just the seventh Coldwater player to score 1,000 career points, tallying 918 heading into the season opener.
"It's been a while since we've made a run in the tournament," said Rismiller. "We're just working together to build a better team."
Leugers joins talented Oiler squad
Photo by Gary R. Rasberry/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Jenna Leugers, seated center, will attend the University of Findlay and play volleyball for the Oilers. Seated with Jenna are her parents Jill and Dennis Leugers. Standing in back are team assistant Cole Etzler, assistant coaches Mike Etzler and Megan Winner and head coach Nikki Etzler.
For Leugers, the trip up I-75 to Findlay seemed a natural choice.
"Academically, it was just the perfect fit," said Leugers, who will major in exercise science. "I've always had that school in the back of my head. I got to visit there in the spring. It felt like home right away. Talking to the coaches are great. Everything just gelled very well."
Leugers will have some teammates that are familiar to her next season. Marion Local grad Alana Pohlman had a strong freshman season this year in earning All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference honors. St. Henry graduate Hannah Bruns will be a senior next season for the Oilers, which went 18-14 and 14-4 in the G-MAC this past season before losing in the G-MAC quarterfinals to Walsh.
"It's super awesome to have a lot of local girls from our area up there. That will make it that much more home-like," said Leugers. "It'll be nice to be able to compete on the same team with them this time rather than against them."
Leugers led the Cavaliers with 3.4 kills per set as Coldwater reached the Division III state championship match for the first time since 2017. Leugers was first team all-MAC and District 8 and earned third-team all-Ohio honors.
"I think I will take my love and passion for the sport and bring it every day at Findlay," said Leugers. "I love the sport so much. That's why I want to continue to play in college."
