If the blooming flowers and trees, not to mention tons of pollen, were not enough to indicate that spring has sprung, we can turn to high school sports and see the full complement of spring sports taking place.

Two games do not make a season and that is a good thing as the Lady 'Bucks lacrosse team stumbled out of the gate with losses to Elizabethtown and Manheim Township keeping CV winless.

The March 24th setback to E-town was a difficult one. Jamie Handwerger turned away 14 shots but that was not enough as the Lady Bears posted an 11-8 win. Sophia Hess paced the attack with five goals and one assist while Isabella Miller (1g) and Danae Ulrich (2g, 1a) took care of the remaining offense.

March 28th brought Manheim Township to town with the Lady Blue Streaks posting a 20-0 win. Handwerger had seven saves in the loss.

The boy's lacrosse team kicked off the season on March 21st, topping Central Dauphin 10-8. Soren Stoltzfus had seven saves in the win while Jeff Fisher led the offense with four goals and one assist. Noah Nolt and Tommy Perella added two scores each with Isaiah Sensenig and Hunter Silvaggio rounding out the scoring with one goal each.

Conestoga Valley remained outside the L-L for their March 23rd contest. The result was an 11-8 loss to Red Lion where another seven Stoltzfus saves were not enough. Fisher and Silvaggio netted two scores each with Fisher adding three assists. Nolt, Justin Carson, Tyson Zwaska and Bryce Zwaska all finished with one goal in the loss.

Up next was a March 28th trip to Neffsville that resulted in an 11-6 loss to Manheim Township. Stoltzfus faced near constant pressure, resulting in 19 saves. Fisher topped the offense again with two goals and three assists while Tyson Zwaska provided the backup with two goals and one assist. Nolt and Sensenig split the two remaining goals.

BASEBALL

Despite a small battle with Mother Nature, the Conestoga Valley baseball team has completed three games in the early going, posting a 2-1 mark with wins over Garden Spot and Octorara offsetting a loss to Cocalico.

The tiff with Mother Nature moved the Octorara game from March 24th to the 29th but the delay did not matter, CV enjoyed a 4-0 victory. Brendan Bossert moved to 2-0 with six scoreless innings while Jude Thompson covered the final inning, adding two strike outs to Bossert's seven. Evan Wilson paced the offense with two hits and three RBI while Evan Lapp went hitless but still pushed a run across for the Buckskins.

Bossert's first win of the season came on the 22nd in a relief appearance when CV topped Garden Spot by a 6-5 final. He covered the final three innings, taking over for Thompson who had relieved Owen Wilson after his four inning start. Bossert allowed just one hit to go with four K's while Fisher and Thompson combined for nine strikeouts and all five Spot runs.

Sandwiched between the two wins was an 8-6 loss to Cocalico on the 28th. Luke Landis took that loss after covering the final two innings and the last of the Eagle runs. Fisher got the start but was chased after three innings and six runs leaving Caden Miller to get the 'Bucks out of the fourth. Wilson, Lapp, Miller, Landis, and Jackson Esbenshade all finished with one RBI.

TENNIS

While CV's other spring sports are just getting started the boy's tennis team is roughly a third of the way through their season, sporting a 4-1 mark. That lone loss came to Lampeter-Strasburg back on March 20th and snapped a quick two match run CV had going. Those two wins came over Ephrata on the 15th and Elizabethtown on the 16th.

The Buckskins shook off the L-S loss with a 4-3 win over Warwick on the 22nd. CV did their heavy lifting in singles play with Yuji Wenger, Michael Horst and Nolan Miller all posting wins. Wenger and Horst also added a doubles win to help secure the team victory.

Conestoga Valley had no trouble with Governor Mifflin on the 24th, cruising to a 7-0 win. Fabian Heine and Boro Kristic joined Wenger, Horst, and Miller as singles winners. Wenger and Horst added another doubles win, as did Miller and Eli Lefever.

VOLLEYBALL

Moving over to the hardwood for volleyball, the Buckskins sit at 1-1 countering a loss to Warwick with a win over Wilson. The season opening win over the Bulldogs started well with a 25-15 win, but Wilson battled back and pushed CV in the second game leaving the 'Bucks with a slim 26-24 win. It was more of the same in the third game, but CV was able to close out the sweep with a 25-22 victory. Drew Hultstrand finished with 32 assists while Carson Hoover had 14 kills and seven digs.

The loss to Warwick on the 28th was by the same 3-0 final only CV ended up on the wrong side of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-15 finals. Hultstrand finished with 14 assists and Tardibuono six kills. Samson Pha added seven digs and two aces.

SOFTBALL

Back outside to the softball diamond, the Lady Buckskins are 1-1, following a season opening setback opposite Penn Manor with a win over Cocalico.

Rhiannon Henry was in the circle for both games, taking the hit in the 1-0 loss to Penn Manor on March 21st despite racking up 11 strikeouts. Henry did allow six runs over her seven innings on the 29th but her 16 strikeouts were more than enough to allow CV to slip out of Denver with a 9-6 win. Alexa Freeburn went 4-4 with two RBI while Tori Rhoads needed one hit to collect her two RBIs. Henry and Emma Wanger added one RBI each.