Kevin Fiorenzo, Co-Sports Editor
my Frizzell, Co-Sports Editor
On Deck
Behrend
Athletic
Events
Saturday
Women's Tennis v.s. John
Carroll
1 p.m.
Men's Golf @ Pitt-Bradford
TBA
Men's Water Polo @ Salem
Invitational
2:30 p.m.
Men's Soccer @ W&J
Cross Country @ Allegheny
Invitational
10 a.m.
Sunday
Women's Volleyball @ La
Roche Tournament
9 a.m.
Women's Tennis @ Alfred
12 p.m.
Tuesday
Women's Tennis @ Thiel
4 p.m.
Men's Water Polo @ Gannon
8:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Women's Soccer @ Pitt-
Bradford
2 p.m.
Men's Soccer @ Pitt-Bradfor
4 p.m.
Women's Volleyball @ La
Roche
7 p.m.
Thursday
Men's Golf @ ECAC
9 a.m.
Friday
Women's Volleyball v.s. Penn
State Altoona
6 p.m.
Women's Tennis @
Waynesburg
3 p.m.
2p.m.
Cross country
continues to excel
This past weekend at the Behrend Invitational
the girls' cross country team placed third and the
guys fourth. After last week's double first place
finish at Thiel there was the possibility of
overconfidence, but both teams performed better
amid more competition.
In a field of 11 teams for the women, including
a traditionally national ranked Mount Union, the
girls held their own with three in the top 10
compared to Mount Union with four.
They defeated rival Grove City who in previous
years has had the depth to beat them. Team
captain Jessica Knapp lead the girls to the finish
with a fourth place time of 19:27, Jessica Sarver
came in eighth place with 19:46, and freshman
Leslie Gentile with 19:53 came in 10th place.
Claire Manelick finished 25th in 21:22 and
Bethany Crooks, a reluctant middle distance
runner from track, came in 46th in 23:10 to finish
out the top five. This is an improvement since
last year's finish of sixth place with no women
under 20 minutes.
Recruiting by coach Cooper has brought in a
number of freshman and a new assistant, coach
Barwin. Stren•th for both teams has been built
with help from the new recruits.
The men's team also ran the 8K well with good
competition from strong schools Mount Union
and local rival Grove City.
This is an improvement from last year in which
the men placed sixth. They lost to Grove City
by nine points.
Freshman Brad Ruffo took the lead spot again
for the men's team with a ninth place time of
27:48.
Team captain, Tim Schultheis finished 14th
with 28:06, Reuban Smith a freshman placed
twentieth with 28:25, Clayton Kirschner came
in 26th with 28:53, and the fifth man was
freshman Craig Davis in 28th place with 28:53.
The sixth man, Mark Surovick had an excellent
finish. The boys hope to prove themselves when
running against Grove City and Mercyhurst
(second) later in the season.
"Our team is even better than the results show,
we had a tough week, workout wise, and are
actually training through these races looking at
the big picture, winning the AMCC title," Tim
Schultheis said.
"This year not many Division 111 programs will
be able to challenge us [girls and guys) - our main
competition will come from Division II
programs," said Floyd Manic.
The same is true for the girls' team. The team
is training through meets or working hard right
up to the race and keeping a steady high mileage
with an end of season goal at AMCC.
The results of this strategy will show up later
on in the season against rival Frostburg at
AMCCs. This year the depth is there for both
teams to win the AMCC title, and do well in the
meets that mark the road to that goal.
Brad Ruffo both earned AMCC athlete of the
week honors for the second week in a row for
his performance at the Behrend Invite.
The team travels to the Allegheny Invite
Saturday, and will hope to improve on its success
after another week of training.
Voile
Senior, Danielle Bemis goes up for a spike
. . ,
Friday September 19, 2003
by Jessica Knapp
contributing writer
ball team hosts invitational
Women's
bounces
Freshman, Jenna Yankowski serves during practice
by Allen Lu
staff writer
The womens' tennis team faced a challeng
ing schedule this season with a stretch of 10
games in a row starting on Sept. 11 and last
ing till Sept. 21.
On Sept. 6, Behrend hosted a invitational,
were three teams competed against Behrend;
Fredonia, Bethany and Alfred. The Lions took
all three as losses.
"The team is still pretty young. Their miry-,
weakness is that they need experience,'' 444,44;
head coach, Jeff Barger.
"This year, my top six players are probably
as good as the best I've ever coached. Their
main problem is that they need to be consis
tent with their game. Right now, the kids
would do really well in one game, but then go
down hill the next game and then come back
for another win. What I want is for them to
gradually get better and become more consis
tent in their wins."
Co-captains this season are sophomore Am
ber Weckoski and junior Christine Leininger.
Also returning to the line up is sophomore
Amy Frizzell and Jenny Zhang. With fresh
men Mindy Calvert and Jenna Yankowski,
junior Micha Archer and senior Cassie Willey
rounding out the newcomers.
The women had their first AMCC match
Sept. 14 against Frostburg. After a tough
struggle, the Lions lost by one match with a
score of 5-4. They were able to pull out with a
comeback the following game on Sept. 16 at
Fredonia with a score of 6-3.
"We have a good group this year with four
The Lady Lion's volleyball team held
it's first invitational this past weekend
at Behrend.
Their first game versus Medaille
ended with a win for Behrend. With a
score of 3-2.
That same day, Behrend played W &
J. However, that game ended with a loss
for Behrend; the score was 3-1.
On Sept. 13, Behrend played Bethany
and lost 3-0.
That same day, Behrend matched
Medaille once more, only this time,
Behrend ended with a losing score of 3-
The Lady Lions have not gotten dis
couraged, from the losses they've had.
Since the beginning of the season, all the
girls have been excited and eager to win.
Also, the volleyball team has brought in
some tough new freshman to fill the po
sitions needed.
Returning players include: junior,
Ashley Ordy and sophomores, Trisha
Adams, Amanda Evans, Elizabeth Bello
and Erin Bennett.
This season, Behrend will play 11 con
ference matches along with three tour-
The Lions will play a total of six conference
matches against Chatham, Frostburg and Penn
State Altoona. The AMCC championship is
scheduled to take place at Penn State Altoona
on Oct. 18.
"It is still early in the season and the team
will get more experience," said Barger.
"I plan to send as many players as I can into
the conference. The more players we have at
the conference, the more chances we have at
winning," said Barger.
The Lion's next match will be their second
conference match against Chatham College on
September 19 at 4:00 p.m. Adding to the busy
schedule will be two more matches the follow
ing the day on September 20, against Penn
State Altoona at 10 a.m. and John Carroll
University at Ip.m.
by Amy Hiles
staff writer
The Behrend Beacon
tennis
back
returning players from last year and two solid
freshman," said Barger.
"The team gets along very well and I think
that's a very important factor. They can't be
successful when there busy pulling each other's
hair out. Our singles players are also very
strong this year too."
The only weaknesses the team seems to have
is of experience and consistency. The doubles
teams are also weak this season but hope to
improve with practice
naments
So far, the season was started off with
a trip to Colorado for first tournament.
From there, it begin to pursue their wins
all season long.
"I feel it's going to be a good game
for us all. It's our first home game for
us and we are starting to play better to
gether as a team. All in all, I think we'll
play well," said freshman Paige Payer.
"Our defense is getting a lot better and
we're working together more as a team.
Thursday's game is going to be fun be
cause we're going to go out there and
try and win." said freshman Rae Ann
Sherred.
The girls have been optimistic.
"They have been pretty tough," said
"We have really been doing drills to
get us quicker on our feet but we are
getting better. I would have to say that
every practice, we get a little bit better."
Sherred also said, "They have been
working really hard. We have been fo
cusing a lot on the defense but it has defi
nitely paid off."
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