Dayton Sports Banquet

DAYTON - Sure, the Bulldogs wanted to go further .

The 2011 football would have loved to face WP in the playoffs this weekend instead of being knocked out early by the Ritzville Broncos.

The 2011 volleyball team had high hopes to go to district and return to the state playoffs as they did last year.

The 2011 soccer team would have been thrilled to win a few more games against a few more teams.

Yet all expectations aside, Dayton's 2011 fall sports season gave the Bulldogs every excuse, as volleyball head coach Shannon Turner put it during Tuesday night's fall sports banquet, to hold their heads high for all they accomplished and look forward to next year.

"It was fun to watch them grow," Turner said about her team of nine varsity players who earned the league title this year. "They have the potential to be the top team again next year."

Each of the team's players received special mention for what they contributed to their sport, their fellow players and their season.

The evening was about student athletes stepping up into big roles on their teams.

And instead of asking what their teammates could do for them, ask themselves what they could do for their team.

"I just love being a part of this soccer team," head soccer coach D.J. Frame said. "They never give up. They play all the way to the end."

Starting with the 2011 football team, the Bulldogs had its best season in more than half a decade, thanks to likes of captains Kroft Sunderland and Colton Bickelhaupt, co-captains Garret Turner, Joey Schlachter and Hayden Fullerton; Coaches' Award winner Isaiah Lambert; Most Outstanding Defensive

Player Sunderland (who also won the team's Most Inspirational award); and Most Outstanding Offensive Player Hayden Fullerton.

Bickelhaupt, Sunderland and Turner won all-league honors on defense, while Schlachter, Fullerton, Alex Naylor and Wyatt Frame won all-league honors on offense.

For the year, the Bulldogs logged 2,167 yards on offense, averaging 241 yards per game and divided between 1,341 rushing and 826 passing. On defense, the team gave up 1,330 yards rushing and 464 passing, but the most passing yards yielded in one game was 81, possibly the best pass defense in the league, head coach Dean Bickelhaupt said.

"We had a good season," he said. "I'm really proud of the boys."

The 2011 Bulldogs volleyball team became known for winning the league title after building up a head of steam during the regular season.

"The girls' hard work ethic earned them that," Turner said. "They were very coachable and always gave 100 percent."

Team award winners included captains Nicole Lambert and Shelby Smith, while Courtney Mings won Most Improved, Jessica Tate won Most Inspirational, McKayla Bickelhaupt won Most Valuable Player.

The Most Outstanding Defensive Player award went to Lambert, who also won All Conference along with Bickelhaupt and Tate.

The coed soccer team, which Frame described as a group of "thinkers," included Tim Ihle, who won Most Improved; goalie Willie Weppler who won Most Inspirational; Courtney Fuller and Gabe Garcia, who won a new "Team Won" award; and Keisha Philips, who was the unanimous pick for the Coaches' Award.

Cross country head coach Dan Nechodom spoke highly of all the members of his small team: Samura Miller, Jacob McCleary, Anita Jackson and Micah Yeater, who won for Most Inspirational.