To The Edge Intramural Calendar DEADLINES February 23 - 4 v 4 Volleyball (Coed) Play begins around March 13 March 2 - 6 v 6 Volleyball (Men’s, Women’s, and Coed Divisions) Play begins March 19 March 23 - Whitewater Rafting at Ohiopyle on April 28 March 30 - Swimming Individual (Men’s and Women’s Divisions) Swimming Team (Men’s, Women’s, and Coed Divisions) Behrend Sporting Events February 17 Men’s Tennis at Westwood R.C with Mercyhurst/Al legheny 7:00 PM Women’s Basketball vs Lake Erie 6:00 PM Men’s Basketball vs. Lake Erie 8:00 PM February 21 Men’s Basketball AMCC Tournament Women’s Basketball AMCC Tournament Februar-24 Women’s Basketball AMCC Tournament Men’s Basketball AMCC Tournament PENN BEHREND LIONS Head coach Roz Fomari discusses strategy with Kate Costanzo and Erica Mozdy in the Lions’ win over Frostburg State on Satur day, February 10. Lions stay on track for AMCC tournament by Bob Polivoda staff writer In front of another televised audience, the Lady Lions (overall 16-6, conference 9-1) once again showed Erie its determination to host the AMCC playoffs. The women’s basketball team hosted a game against Frostburg State (overall 6-15, conference 3-8) last Saturday winning by a score of 67-56. Erie came into the game winning two of its last three games (the loss being its first conference). The importance of a win in this conference game for the Lady Lions was crucial in keeping them on track for home court advantage in the playoffs. Not paving a golden road for the Behrend women, Frostburg came out with intentions of making the match-up difficult. Frostburg stayed close with Behrend throughout most of the first half. However, Frostburg’s faint flame of victory would not last as the Lion’s passion and Men’s basketball team gains momentum with big win by Mike BeUo staff writer As the basketball season comes to a close this weekend against Lake Erie College, the Behrend men find themselves in position to capture second place in the AMCC standings. The Lions (7-3 AMCC record, 11-11 overall) just need the win in their games against Pitt-Greensburg on the 14th and at home against Lake Erie this Saturday, February 17, and to have Pitt- Bradford defeat La Roche on Wednesday, and second place will then belong to the Behrend Lions. La Roche (7-3 conference record) would also have to go through Frostburg State this Saturday in order to capture second place, highly unlikely considering La Roche has lost to both teams already this season by at least 13 points each game. Behrend on the other hand has defeated Pitt-Greensburg and Lake Erie this season by a combined 39 points. The Lions put themselves in position for second place by defeating Frostburg State at Erie Hall on Saturday by a 75-64 score. The Frostburg Bobcats gave Behrend a run for their money, trailing by only six points heading into the half. Frostburg was able to gain a two point lead Sport playoff visions overcame. Sinking a 3-pointer at the buzzer, to end the first half, was Behrend’s own Lisa Sanders. This basket put the women up by nine points. Sanders’ buzzer beater carried momentum for Behrend over into the second half as the Lions began to run away with the game. Coming within 15 points nearing the end of the game, Frostburg’s run gave the Behrend women a little scare. Behrend’s coach, Rosalyn Fomari commented, “they went on a run. We were rotating some people through and they got hot for a few minutes. Our defense was not executing at the time. We survived it and did a nice job at the end of the game.” The Lady Lions did manage to end Frostburg’s run and pull out a victory wiln a score, 67-56. Remaining on fire for the Lady Lions, junior Erin Philips lead in scoring with 25 points. Following Philips was Kate (Jostanzo sinking 7 with a little under 11 minutes to play in the second half, but the Lions were able to hold the ‘Cats without a field goal for the next nine minutes of play and secure the win. Behrend converted over 53% of their shots, including 11 of 22 three pointers, in their second win over Frostburg this year. On the night, junior Matt Keith had 19 points, his season best. He converted five 3-pointers, including a few during Frostburg’s second half scoring drought, to lead the Lions to victory. Senior Ashley Orris added 13 points and a team high six rebounds, while James Curren and Steve Merrill each contributed 11 points for the Lions. The win was more important in that it gave Behrend the tiebreaker advantage over Frostburg. If both teams finish out the season with identical 9-3 conference records, a strong possibility, then Behrend would be awarded second place based on the fact they defeated the Bobcats twice this season. One major improvement that has helped Behrend come along this year has been the play of the bench. Through the first five games of the season the bench averaged 11 points per game, but during the last five games the bench has been averaging almost 19 points per game. According to head coach Dave Niland, Steve Merrill has been a big part of the bench’s contributions to baskets to give her a total of twelve points. Coming off the bench for the Lady Lions was Christine Charnock totaling ten points for Behrend. Since the tragic loss of Jen O’Lare to injury, Behrend faced many challenges. Players faced position changes and rookies have been asked to step up. The team now seems comfortable and ready to face the AMCC playoffs. “We are starting to gel with our offense and are learning how to be effective without O’Lare in there,” reported coach Fomari. Penn State Behrend travels to Pitt- Greensburg on Wednesday February 14, to play at 6:00 PM. If Penn State wins this game, they will clinch their conference thus giving them home court advantage in playoffs. Behrend then hosts its final regular season game against Lake Erie on Saturday, February 17, at 6:00 PM. each game. “When players get injured [Keith’s slow-healing high ankle sprain] it forces other players to step up. I think Steve Merrill has really come into his own as a player. He’s been a key part to what we’ve been doing. If you asked anybody on the team, they’d tell you he’s probably one of the hardest workers on the team, because his work ethic is just tremendous. My hope is that other players see that he would not be denied, that he has worked himself into the lineup.” If Behrend does capture second place then their first round opponent would most likely be Lake Erie (1-9 AMCC record) on Wednesday, February 21. Pitt-Bradford, who has locked up first place, would get a bye the first round and so seeds 2-4 would play 5-7. On January 24 Behrend defeated Lake Erie by a score of 73-60, and with only six wins this season, the Storm should be easy to weather come playoff time. Remarked Coach Niland, “because we had so many young players I didn’t know what to expect with this team. I want our team to learn how to work hard, MEN’S BASKETBALL continued on page 3B James Curren battles past a Frostburg defender. Swim team splashes towards Grove City Invitational Penn State Behrend had a tough meet as they took on Penn State Altoona. The Behrend women lost a close race 77 to 93, however, the men won the meet 101 to 90. The most valuable swimmer for the women was Hollie Stash. Stash set two new team records and personal best times in the 200 yard free style with a time of 2:08.50 and in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 105.94. Adam Demarco had the most impressive meet for the men and also set two new team records and two personal best times in the 200 yard free style with a time of 1:52.94 and in the 500 yard free style with a time of 5:15.23. Coach Heynes said, “both swimmers had amazing drop times, and so did the rest of the team.” The highlights of the day were the first victory the men have had in an aquatic event. “The men were excited and were expected to win,” said Heynes. Other highlights included the fast times the rest of the swimmers did in their individual events. The men on the swim team definitely improved a significant amount throughout the season. This meet showed how the men were able to dominate. Mark Ostrzenic came in first place in the 50 free with a time of 23.27. Jon Harding also came in first place in the 200IM with a time of 2:17.16 and the 100 Fly with a time of 58.09. He improved his time by -4.64 in the 200IM. Allen Haywood placed second in the 100 back with a time of 1:12.55 and improved by -5.06 seconds. Ben Atkins also placed well with a third place finish in the 200 Free with a time of 1:59.63 and Dario Kis swam well by placing third in the 2001 M and having a time of 2:44.98. The women were also consistent in their performance in helping Behrend to improve and dominate over the competition. Betsy Voigt placed second in the 50 free with a time of 29.62 and she improved her time by -0.99. She also placed second in the 100 fly with a time of 1:10.92 and improved her time by - 1.51. Lindsay Spiegel also placed well with a first place finish in the 100 breast with a time of 1:18.72 and had a second place finish in the 100 free with a time of 1:01.91. Kristin Campbell placed third in the 50 free with a time of 30.53 and improved her time by -1.29. Amanda Brown placed first in the 500 free with a time of 6:28.92 and improved by -5.55. As the team prepares for the Grove City Invitational on February 15-17, Coach Josh Heynes sees the team doing very well. With the three day intense meet coming up, the Penn State Behrend swimmers are preparing themselves both physically and mentally, resting, shaving down and getting psyched up. This is the most important meet of the year for most of the team. The Grove City Invitational is very important because this is the meet where some Penn State Behrend swimmers may qualify to go on to Nationals and ECAC championships. “I feel very confident we will see some amazing times and more new records being set for our team,” said Heynes. Practices have been cut down, and there is more emphasis being put on quality practices than yardage being done. Heynes said “based on the times last week, and the excitement and energy level of the team this week, I feel we will hold our own against all the teams at the Grove City Invite. This is the meet we have been gearing up for all year. Plus, this is put up or shut up time, as they say in swimming!” FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2001 by Kate Levdansky Petrikis staff writer
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