DARKE COUNTY – A volleyball player who has excelled throughout her high school career and a soccer player who is just starting to show his potential are this week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week.
This week’s Daily Advocate athletes of the week are Franklin Monroe boys soccer player Brydon Diceanu and Arcanum volleyball player Elle Siculan.
Siculan, Arcanum’s setter, is a four-year starter for the Lady Trojans. With her guidance the Trojans have gotten off to a 10-4 start to the season.
“We look to Elle for leadership on and off the court,” Arcanum volleyball coach Macey O’Dell said.
The Arcanum senior leads Darke County with 26 aces this season, and she’s also second in the county with 260 assists. Teammate Camille Pohl has benefited from Siculan’s sets and leads the county in kills.
“She runs a 5-1 and does an excellent job at getting to every ball and making sure our hitters have the best set possible to get the kill,” O’Dell said.
Siculan also is second on her team with 13 blocks, third on her team with 41 kills and third on her team with 95 digs.
“She works extremely hard and is a player that any coach would want on their team,” O’Dell said.
Diceanu has gotten hot as of late, scoring seven goals in the Jets’ past three games.
“The last couple games he has caught fire,” Franklin Monroe soccer coach Danny Diceanu said. “Really ignited our team and our style of play here the last three games.”
The Franklin Monroe sophomore had hat tricks against Newton and Troy Christian, leading FM to a 4-1 win over state-ranked Troy Christian.
“That was huge,” Coach Diceanu said. “It’s our second win of the year. It was a huge, huge win.”
This season Diceanu leads the county with seven goals and is second with two assists. Early in the season he was doing everything right but just wasn’t getting the breaks that are finally starting to go his way.
“He’s not doing anything different now,” Coach Diceanu said. “He’s just gotten better results.”
And Diceanu has enjoyed a lot of success this season despite the fact that he’s been playing with an injured toe after having his foot stepped on during a game against Yellow Springs.
Last year Diceanu led Darke County boys soccer players with 11 goals, but this year he’s showing more composure, which is leading to even better results.
“He’s going to need to (continue to play well) because we rely on him to carry us a little bit offensively,” Coach Diceanu said.
