BEACON SPORTS Women’s volleyball set to open AMCC championship tournament By Matt Waronker stall' u nicr Penn State Behrend women’s volleyball head coach Phil Pisano has always had a strong philos ophy of focusing on one game at a time. With the team riding the momentum of a nine game win ning streak, however, it has become increasi: MEW lh Lisa Wagner goes up for a kill during a recent volleyball match HOUSING AND FOOD SERVICES ATHLETE OF THE WEEK NAME: Jenny Bailey Cross Country SPORT: CLASS: DATE: Jenny Bailey (Corry/Cotiy) has been named the Housing and Food Service Athlete of the Week. Bailey, a sophomore standout for the blue and white, paced the field of 55 runners and finished first at this Saturday's AMCC Cross Country Championships. Due to technical difficulties Bailey's time has not yet officially been reported. During her freshman season Bailey placed second overall at the championship event in 24:20. Behrend finished as Wund the champions of Frostburg State. FSU posted M Behrehd's 39. Housing and Food Service Athlete of the Week is selected by the' Sports Information Staff. Sophomore October 30,2006 »v':£ e - easy to loose that focus “At a certain point a few games back we real ized that we were focusing on our record too much.” said Pisano. "We realized we needed to slow down and focus on each game as it came. We needed to focus on going 1-0 right now.” The team’s revived focus has paid off as they sit in a comfortable • >sition as the num ber one seed and host of this year's AMCC current CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Tournament which will be held Friday November 3rd and Saturday November 4th in the Junker Center. The Lions closed out their second consecutive sea- Women’s soccer makes This is what all the training has come down to. Wednesday is judgment day for the Penn State Behrend women’s soccer team. The Lady Lions will compete in the AMCC Championships. The women face Frostburg State in the AMCC finals on Saturday. In the Semi-finals, Katie Ritchey booted in two goals, including the game winner, in a 3-1 effort over Laßoche. The Frostburg State Bobcats knocked out Hilbert to set up the fourth straight meeting between the Lions and the Bobcats. The Blue and White are looking to reverse the outcomes of the past three years and bring a championship back to Behrend. The winner of the finals will go onto the National Championships. Head coach Patrick O’Driscoll says his favorite part of the job is getting the players to be successful. “The best part of coaching is getting a chance to be around people, thinking positive, helping athletes improve, and winning.” according to Coach O’Driscoll. The Lady Lion’s posted a 12-5-1 regular season record, going 8-1 in the AMCC. The team’s lone loss was to Frostburg State. The women.are looking to avenge that loss, win the AMCC championship title and make it to the National Conference. contributed photi The women worked hard all season to get to this "Women’s soccer team huddles before heading on to the field earliei tournament. Practicing between and hour and a half this season . and two hours a day, the team members worked on strength training and fitness work, improvements in their plays and ball handling skills, and adjusting to their opponents. The women also worked over the summer to get ready for the competition. “This season you could ttll that the girls were prepared for the season; you could see it when they played. They all wanted to be on the field. They love the sport as Mi 1 I *v <d' son undefeated in conference play, an honor that earned them the AMCC regular season title. At 26-2 overall Behrend enters the tournament as heavy favorites to compete this Saturday for the AMCC Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Blue and White will be attempting to earn back-to-back AMCC titles. The Behrend women will kickoff the tourna ment with a semifinal match against fourth seed Lake Erie at 6 p.m. on Friday. The Lions have faced Lake Erie twice this season, shutting out the Storm in both matches. The Storm defeated Pitt-Greensburg 3-1 in first round action this past Tuesday and look to upset the top seeded Lions. “It’s important not to overlook Lake Erie,” noted Pisano. “Right now we feel like everyone has been gunning for us. Lake Erie will give us good competition so we need to focus our energy on our first match.” In other semifinal action, second seed Penn State Altoona will battle third seed Frostburg State at Bp.m. on Friday. In first round play By Heather Heenan staff writer Frostburg State defeated Pitt-Bradford in three straight matches. Although the Lions are focusing their attention on one opponent at a time, the team will still occasionally look ahead a few dates on the calen dar. “Winning the AMCC Championship and earn ing that automatic bid to the NCAA tournament is something we’ve been talking about all year,” said Pisano. “Ultimately, we try to balance focus ing on our next opponent while still looking at our goal’s for the year and getting to the NCAA tournament has been one ot our goals.” The Lions were defeated in the first round of the NCAA Division 111 tournament last season, and a return to the tournament this season is still a few games away. “Right now we need to focus on going 2-0 to even have a chance.” said Pisano. “But hopefully we’ll get to play some more." much as I do,” O’Driscoll said, According to coach O’Driscoll the team is looking for; championship. He says he believes that all the ladies havi done their job this season and their best efforts are all tha can be asked for. The Lady Lions kickoff in Frostburg at 2 p.m. 01 Saturday. The Behrend Beacon I 10 Friday, November 3, 2006 it to finals
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