Two Talawanda High School athletes signed letters of intent for college in a ceremony last week.

For volleyball player Rachel Vidourek, it was just a formality since she had verbally committed to Marquette University in her sophomore year, but she signed the letter and made it official Wednesday, Nov. 14.

Also signing his letter of intent was baseball player Nate Lynch, who is headed to Wright State University next year.

Vidourek made a campus visit to Marquette during her sophomore year and accepted their offer just days later. The coach told her they had seen her play in the club nationals in Orlando, Fla. With that decision out of the way two years ago, Vidourek said she focused on volleyball at Talawanda and her club team.

“Everything was just fun,” she said. “I just worked hard and had fun, basically.”

Vidourek played for three different high school coaches in three years of varsity play. She was a freshman at Badin High School and transferred to Talawanda, requiring her to sit out her sophomore year. Then Tammi Waite resigned as coach after her junior season and Ernie Gilbert came in as coach this past year.

“It’s weird,” she said. “They all had different coaching strategies and they all taught me a lot.”

The highlight of her high school career was her two years at Talawanda when the Braves went undefeated in league play and won two league championships.

“I loved all my teammates,” she said. “I could not have done this without them. We all won together. We all lost together. We all cried together. We all bruised our bodies together.”

She plans a major to train as a physicians’ assistant, which is a five-year master’s program.

Her coach this past season, Ernie Gilbert, praised her hard work.

“It was my complete honor and privilege to coach this young lady for the briefest of time — one year,” Gilbert said. “In 40 years of coaching at the college and youth levels, I have my All-Ernie team. There are about 40 players and she is one of them. She could have said (when I came in as coach), ‘I’m doing well, I don’t need to listen to you,’ but she asked me what she could to.”

Lynch said one big factor in his choice was the fact that Wright State is only an hour away for family and friends to see him play.

“Other teams in the conference are close, too, so they can see me play,” he said.

It’s the baseball at the school that is the strongest draw, however.

“Wright State is not really well-known but baseball is on the rise,” Lynch said. “Last year, they were about 50-10 and I like the coaches a lot. They are recognized in the area and I felt right about it. They have a nice complex. I like the campus a lot.”

Lynch plays center field and said he is working hard in the off-season to get better as he prepares for this senior season of high school baseball next spring.

He said he likes his coaches and praised head coach Pete Maus as “a great coach,” adding, “He does everything he can for us. He is a great leader and proud of all of us.”

Lynch was all-conference each of the past two seasons and was second-team all-state last spring and earned honorable mention his sophomore year. He also was the team’s MVP last spring.

He has had some outstanding games, but last spring’s win over Hamilton stands out as one of the most memorable.

“We beat them 4-2 and I pitched a nine-strikeout game. We had not beaten Hamilton in a long time,” he said.

The Braves were 18-9 this past season, finishing third in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference’s West Division with a 9-5 league slate.

He said he hopes to improve on that showing next spring as the team plays in the new Southwest Ohio Conference for the first time.

“We only lost two players last year, so we should be strong,” he said.

Lynch plans to major in pre-med at Wright State with an eye toward becoming an orthopedic doctor but said he also has an interest in accounting.

Maus was not able to attend the signing ceremony, but assistant coach Don Gloeckner spoke of Lynch’s drive to be a better player.

“Nate is all baseball. In every aspect of the game, he worked his butt off,” Gloeckner said. “I knew him in Little League. When games or practice were over, everybody was packing up their stuff, but his dad would show up with a bucket full of balls and a tee. He is sitting here because of hard work and because of his character.”