johnnash@thestamfordtimes.com

STAMFORD — Stamford High School senior Karlie Tiscia was named the recipient of the 23rd Allyson Rioux Award, given annually to the most outstanding senior female athlete student-athlete in the city of Stamford.

The award comes complete with a $5,000 scholarship.

Tiscia was a member of the 2007 Stamford High field hockey team, which won the state Class L championship. A center midfielder, she dished out 20 assists as the Black Knights finished the year 17-4-1.

Tiscia will attended Bryant University in the fall, where she will play field hockey a program that will making the step up to the Division I level.

Westhill hires two new coaches; Del Torto for boys soccer, Walsh for v-ball

The Westhill High School athletic program has hired from within to fill two varsity coaching positions for next fall, according to athletic director Mike King.

Joe Del Torto has 3been hired as the new boys varsity soccer coach while Ali Walsh has been named the girls varsity volleyball coach.

"We've got two really good people and here and it's a really positive thing for the Westhill athletic department," said King.

Del Torto, who coached the boys freshmen team last year, takes over Mark Lukas, who built the Vikings program into a regional power and nationally ranked team.

"I think the players have a lot of respect for him," said King. "He'll have high expectations of the kids and if he has his way he'll build on what's already a strong program."

Del Torto could not be reached for comment before Wednesday's deadline.

Walsh, meanwhile, is a three-season assistant coach at Westhill who is stepping up into her first job. She was an assistant coach in volleyball and also has worked at the sub-varsity level with both the Vikings girls basketball and softball teams.

"She's done a great job with all three of her assistant positions," King said. "There was a lot of pull from the athletes for her. She's got a really strong rapport with a lot of those kids."

Walsh, 28, is excited to take over her first varsity program.

"I think this program has a lot of potential, so I'm very excited," she said. "I'm looking forward to starting. I know the they'll be hard workers and very dedicated. I had most of them through the JV program, so I know what kind of girls they are."

Westhill was once one of the stronger volleyball programs in the FCIAC, but success had fallen off over the past couple of years. Walsh's goal is to get the team back to being one of the league's most competitive programs.

"I'm taking this one step at a time," she said. "We want to bring some of that (success) back."

Walsh, who played three years of volleyball at Trinity Catholic before graduating from Stamford High School, is the daughter of legendary basketball coach Mike Walsh.

Another no-hitter for Trinity pitchers

The Trinity Catholic softball pitching staff, who have already fired three no-hitters this spring, combined to fire another one on Tuesday afternoon.

The Crusaders defeated Bridgeport Central 5-0 with Megan Demetros and Tina Boehn combining for pitch the no-no. Boehn, a sophomore, pitched back-to-back no-hitters in starts earlier this season while Demetros, a senior, had fired a single no-hitter.

Against Central, Demetros struck out 11 over five innings work before giving way to Boehn, who struck out two over the final two innings.

Demetros also helped her team's offense with two singles and a run scored.

City title dates set for track, golf

The dates for the 2008 city championships for golf and track have been set.

In golf, the three-way meet between Stamford, Westhill and Trinity Catholic will be held on Thursday, June 5, at the Woodway Country Club in Darien.

In boys track, meanwhile, a scheduling snafu will send all three teams to Fairfield to decide the title.

The meet, which will include both Fairfield schools — but be scored without them — will be held at Fairfield-Warde High School on Tuesday, May 20.

The girls city championship was decided on Thursday, May 15.

Vikings almost skunk Bears

The Westhill High School girls tennis team moved its record to 9-5 on the season with a 7-0 win over Norwalk.

Even more impressive, though, was the fact the Vikings only lost four games the entire match.

Vanessa Petrini, Liza Smeraldi and Allison Pomerantz all won at 6-0, 6-0 in singles play while the double team of Lane Shamsky and Molly Carson also took a double bagel win.

Julie Becker won 1-1 in her singles match while Molly Siebert and Suzanne Cohen joined forces for a 0-1 win as did Victoria Druehl and Jenna Carroll.

39s lead TC golfers to win

Trinity Catholic golfers Peter Ballo and Steve Custardo both fired 39s in the Crusaders' 167-184 win over Westhill last week.

Chris LaPolice added a 41 for the winners, who are still looking to sneak into the FCIACs.

KLHT softball loses, eyes playoffs

The King & Low-Heywood Thomas softball team suffered its first loss of the 2008 season when Holy Child earned a 7-4 win over the Vikings back on May 8.

KLHT, now 13-1, responded with two wins, outscoring their opponents by a 42-2 margin.

The Vikings closed out their regular season on Thursday against Rye Country Day and play in both the WNEPSEA and Fairchester Athletic Association tournaments next week.

The Vikings should be the No. 1 seed in the WNEPSEA tournament and will be home on Saturday and, with a win, on Sunday, for the title game.

On Monday, the FAA playoffs start with a home game against an opponent still to be determined.

Stamford baseball fifth in latest poll

The Stamford High School baseball team, now 15-1, was ranked fifth in the state, according to the most recent state poll.

The Black Knights had 304 points, putting them just behind Xavier (11-2) and just ahead of Plainville (10-1).

Fairfield Ludlowe (13-1) was eighth, the only other FCIAC in the top 10 while Westhill also received votes.

Seymouth (14-0) was ranked first with all 15 first-place votes.