Friday, September 23, 2005
Despite setbacks, Lions make improvements
By Mathew Turner
staff writer
This past week has been quite
hectic for the Behrend volleyball
team. They saw their winning
streak come to an end as they
competed in the Westminster
Invitational. They lost in the sec
ond place game 1-3 to Ohio
Weslyan, falling to fourth place.
Once they returned home, how
ever, the Lions were greeted with
good news. Senior Amanda
Evans was named to the all-tour
nament team. Evans had also
been named AMCC volleyball
Player of the Week. This marks
the second straight week that a
Lion has been honored with the
award.
When asked about Evans,
Coach Pisano said, "Amanda's
improvement over the course of
her career has been remarkable.
She now plays with much more
confidence and control and has
grown tremendously in her
Rob Fran
Freshman midfielder Lauren Samowski makes a move to get past an Allegheny defender in their loss
this past week. The Lions take on Penn State Altoona in their next match this Saturday at 6 p.m.
Women's soccer team amidst preparations
By Raechul Bowser
staff writer
The women’s soccer team is jam-packed with
energy, enthusiasm and the hope that this season
will lead to an advance to nationals. Though the
season has only begun, the team is preparing for the
AMCC (Allegheny Mountain Collegiate
Conference) battlefront with an overall record of 4-
2-1.
A cloudy Saturday, September 17 marked anoth
er victory for the women’s soccer team. The team
traveled to Alliance, Ohio for a match against Mt.
Union. With a score of 3-0, and an overall record
of 4-1 -1, the blue and white were victorious. Of the
goals, the first two were scored in the first half by
Holly Greiner and assisted by Kacie Bums and
Michelle Newland. The second half of the game
jump started with a goal completed by Kim
Chapman and assisted by Lauren Samowski.
Head Coach, Patrick O’Driscoll stated, “We
played quite well. We could have done better, but
a win is always nice.” O’Driscoll is proud that the
team was just ranked number nine in the Great
Lakes region. He adds, “We have a good squad
across the boards.”
Eleven of our finest lady Lions lined up for bat
tle, opposite the Allegheny Gators, on the Behrend
Fields, Thursday, September 22. Within the first
twenty minutes, Nikki Frisbee scored a goal assist
ed by Heather Crawford. In the remainder of the
first half, Allegheny scored three goals. “We gave
up a few goals that were preventable,” states
O’Driscoll. In the second half, however, the Lion
defense stopped the Gators from scoring again.
Freshman midfielder, Brittany Tonio states, “I think
we played better in the second half but we still
could’ve played better overall.”
knowledge of the game. \ou
can't say enough about how valu
able she has been to the program.
She's been a four-year starter, she
is already the all-time assist
leader in Behrend volleyball, and
in my opinion she's the best set
ter in the conference. On top of
all that, Amanda is an intelligent,
caring, good person who is just
going to be great at whatever she
does after graduation."
The Lions returned to action at
the Junker Center Tuesday night
against the Buffalo State
Bengals, eager to improve their
record. They made quick work
of the Bengals in three straight
games: 30-19. 30-20, 30-17.
The Bengals fell in a hole that
they could never climb out of.
Down 14-4 they called a time
out, which did little to stop the
powerful Lions. Buffalo State
never got within 10 points and
lost 30-19. In the second game,
the Lions roared again. Behrend
held the lead for the entire match
Though this non-confercncc game resulted in a
3-1 loss for Behrend, O’Driscoll is optimistic. He
states, “It is never pleasant to lose. This shows we
have some things to work on, but that’s a good way
to learn.” The women’s soccer team has been run
ners-up for the AMCC title for the past three sea
sons. From coming so close, the Lions are working
towards that title with full force. Tonio states, “We
still need to work on certain things, but that doesn’t
hurt our momentum.”
The Gators also had positive comments.
Midfielder, Kelsey Boivin states, “We were pretty
evenly matched.” Goalkeeper, Beth Van Parys
agreed, “It was a well fought game.”
This season’s squad is comprised of an array of
ages, including ten freshmen. O’Driscoll is secure
with the squad’s chance of victory. He said, “We
have six solid seniors and good younger players as
well so there’s good competition to get out on the
field. They mix together well, work hard at prac
tice and focus on their goals.”
Junior goalkeeper, Dara Nielson, has proven to
be a great element to the team. She has qualified as
AMCC and ECAC (Eastern College Athletic
Conference) Div. 11l Mid-Atlantic Region
Goalkeeper of the Week for the second week in a
row. Nielson made twelve saves in 200 minutes of
play against Carnegie Mellon on Tuesday,
September 13. In the September 22 match,
O’Driscoll was proud of Nielson’s effort. He said,
“She made some great saves!”
The next game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on
Saturday, September 24 at Penn State Altoona.
This is the first conference match of the season.
O’Driscoll hopes that “[the team] will win confer
ence and go on to nationals. Nationals will provide
a good experience for the team.”
r \
PORT
and won 30-20, with Junior Lisa
Wagner slamming live of her
game high 11 kills. Behrend fin
ished off Buffalo State in the
third game 30-17. They relin
quished the lead only once,
falling behind 4-3 early on. They
went on a 10-2 run and never
looked baek. With the win,
Behrend improved to 8-6.
Many of the Lions contributed
to the victory over the Bengals.
Freshman defensive specialist
Brittany Hcnnessy had 13 digs
and three key service aces.
Senior setter Amanda Evans
played solid as usual. She
accounted for 32 assists that
went along with eight digs and
seven kills. Junior outside hitter
Lisa Wagner tallied 13 digs.
The Lions begin a road trip
this weekend that includes the
Lycoming College tournament
and then at Pitt-Bradford.
Behrend returns home on
September 29 when they will
face Grove City.
Tiffany Ma. ..HHRFND BHAC'ON
Junior outside hitter Lisa Wagner gets ready to attempt an overhead serve. Wagner and the rest of
the Lions’ squad is getting ready to travel to the Lyeoming College Tournament this weekend.
Men’s water polo rises above challenges
By Heidi Weismiller
staff writer
Penn Slate Behrcnd men’s water polo team
took three unfortunate loses this past week in the
pool. '‘We have a fairly young team," said head
coach Joe Tristan, who pointed out that only one
senior will graduate this spring.
On Saturday the seventeenth they left Slippery
Rock University with a 15-5 loss. “This was our
starting point for the next few games," said
Tristan. He attributes his team's loss to a few
very critical errors. "It could have been a close
game," he said. All five Behrend goals were
scored by sophomore Anthony Spoto. Behrcnd
goalies had a very productive game with junior
Leandro Azevedo saving five shots by the Rock
and sophomore Connor Powers saving six.
So far this season the men’s water polo team
has played 11 games. Tristan feels that his play
ers are beginning to come together and work
well. "We started to play very well as a team,”
he said. He feels that "when we play them later,
wc will have a much better game.
Just one day later, Behrend lost to Washington
and Jefferson on the road in a very competitive
game. “It was in interesting game,” said Tristan.
Behrend had a strong 4-2 lead in the game in the
first quarter. In the second quarter, however,
three of Behrend’s starters were ejected from the
pool for having too many personal fouls. “Wc
Practice pays off for women's tennis
By John Bigus
staff writer
Penn State Behrcnds Women’s
Tennis team was warming up before
their match last Tuesday, September
20th before playing their ninth game
of this season. Amy Frizzell,
Women's co-Captain, projected vic
tory in the Allegheny Mountain
Collegiate Conference (AMCC).
“I expect good things because
we’re already 6-2. We beat both con
ference teams 9-0. We only lost two
players to graduation last May. We
have good momentum.” Last year
saw the women's team win the 2004
championship after a season with a
record of 14-3 and a conference
record of 6-0.
Speaking about Tuesday's game
against Fredonia Amy said, “We
beat Fredonia last week 6-3, so I'm
[going to] say we're not underesti
mating their abilities but we're going
into the match pretty confident.”
Practice paid off when they won 5-4
with fans and friends standing in
support around the courts and in the
bleachers.
The Women’s team played three
matches in the last week, and will play three
more back-to-back this weekend. They also
played the the Behrend Invitational immediately
before, on Saturday, September 10.
Complimenting their effort has been stand-out
Allison Mudrey, who was named AMCC
women's tennis player of the week. She was also
the 2004 AMCC Player of the Year, and she
shows no sign of slowing down. She is a sopho
more this year, and is majoring in business.
The team practices for two hours every day on
at least three non-match days per week during
the in-season. Weeks and weekends are dedicat
lost our number one shooter and two top defend
ers for the rest of the game,” said Tristan. As a
coach. Tristan is proud of his team for rising
above the challenge presented. "We were still
able to come back and score seven more goals,”
he said. Both goalies had some good saves
throughout the game: Powers with 11 and
Azevedo with six. Goals were scored by Andre
Pranckcvicius who had six, Spoto, Steve
Schleicher, Rody Acelor, Roy Cho and Mike
Hughes. “Overall wc played well as a team,”
said Tristan.
On Wednesday. Behrend was inched out by
Gannon University in a 12-10 loss. “This was
one of our best games as a team." said Tristan.
The score was close throughout the game and
was tied in the last two minutes. "It was one of
the best team efforts I can ask for." said Tristan.
Goals were scored by Justin Thoresen. two;
Pranckcvicius, four; Acelor, two; Spoto and
Cho. Once again, both goalies played well.
Powers had four saves and Azevedo had seven.
Tristan believes that the team did not capitalize
on a few opportunities that could have turned the
game around, but he was proud of his team and
said, "It was a great game all around."
The men's water polo team has an important
game coming up this week at home in the Junker
Center Pool. They play on Saturday September
24 against Washington and Jefferson. The game
will be played at 7 p.m.
Kathryn Carslater/THF. BEHREND BEACON
Sahiba Warrich, women’s tennis team, sets up for a serve.
ed to the sport, and they travel hundreds of miles
constantly. The farthest they travel is Frostburg
State is in western Maryland. Their 6-2 record
has seen them play all competitors except John
Carroll and Altoona.
This weekend, they arc playing Westminster,
Frostburg and Penn State Altoona in that order,
one per day, from Friday, September 23rd
through Sunday, September 25th. Be sure to
catch your Women's tennis team at their next
home game on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 11 a.m. All of
their home games are played at the courts across
from the Lilley Library.
The Behrend Beacon I