By Cort Reynolds
DELPHOS - Two Bluffton High soccer players and two coaches received top Northwest Conference honors in voting by coaches this week. Below are soccer and volleyball all-conference stories.

• Reagan Mittendorf was named girls’ NWC player of the year
• Jonathan Schriner was named boys’ NWC player of the year
• Jared Byers was named girls’ NWC soccer coach of the year
• Steve Smucker was named boys’ NBWC soccer coach of the year

Girls soccer
Reagan Mittendorf of league champion Bluffton led eight Pirate girls soccer players who earned All-Northwest Conference notice in voting conducted recently by the league coaches.

Mittendorf was named NWC Player of the Year, and was one of three Pirate girls named to the first team.

High-scoring senior Laykin Garmatter and classmate Bella Basinger were also named first team All-NWC.

Pirate seniors Olivia Setzer and Brenna Kindle, and Allison Diller each made second team all-league.

In addition, senior Clara Matthews and keeper Julia Mehaffie earned honorable mention all-league notice as Bluffton dominated the All-NWC voting.

Seniors Basinger, Kindle, Garmatter and Matthews served as Pirate team co-captains this season.

The Lady Pirates captured the NWC title at 6-0, and won their last 12 matches of the regular season to finish 13-2-1. 

Pirate mentor Jared Byers was named NWC Coach of the Year by his peers.

Boys' soccer
Senior striker Jonathan Schriner of league champion Bluffton was named Northwest Conference Player of the Year in boys soccer by the league coaches.

Schriner led the Pirates to an undefeated regular season (14-0-2), and to a sixth straight league title as they extended their NWC win streak to 30 matches.

Three other Pirate boys made first team all-league. Junior striker Jude Spallinger, senior midfielder Collin Oglesbee and senior MF Simon Derstine also were named to the 12-player first team.

Pirate senior MF Tayton Kleman, senior keeper Nic Essinger and senior defender Eli Lemley were all voted second team All-NWC. 

Bluffton senior defender Josh Mehaffie, senior MF Thad Mittendorf and junior striker Kaden Basil were each named honorable mention all-conference as well. 

In all, 10 Pirate players earned some sort of All-NWC notice. Featuring 13 seniors, the Pirates were voted first in the final Div. III regional poll by the area coaches as well.
 
Steve Smucker was also again named NWC Coach of the Year after leading Bluffton to a 5-0 league mark.

Volleyball
Three Bluffton spikers were named to the All-Northwest Conference volleyball team.

Athletic junior Kylie Stackhouse was voted to the eight-player All-NWC first team. She led the Lady Pirates in kills, and was among the leaders in digs and blocks. 

Versatile senior Taylor Schwab was named to the seven-player second team all-league squad. She was second on the Pirates in kills, and was among the team leaders in digs, blocks and aces.

Junior setter Skyler Scoles was named honorable mention all-league. She topped Bluffton in assists, and was a top digger and server.  

Bluffton finished 4-4 in the NWC, good for a fourth-place tie with Allen East in the deep nine-team league. 

Hitter Kendall Bollenbacher of league champion Lincolnview (8-0) was named NWC Player of the Year. Lancer mentor JaNahn Evans was also named NWC Coach of the Year.