Sports BEHREND BEACON 9
January 22, 2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Graves sets records as Behrend beats Altoona at hunker
AMANDA STETZ
~ t.nu)t tern OP(
Domination is the only way
to describe Behrend's current
run.
The Lions Men's and
Women's Swimming and Div
ing teams continued their suc
cess streak into the new
semester hosting Penn State Al
toona.
Both the Men's and Women's
team defeated Altoona with
scores of 100-81 and 107-82, re
spectively.
Divers junior Krystal Kovach
and senior Stephen Graves as
tounded the crowd in both the
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Lady Lions trounce Franciscan
ALEC ITALIANO
The Penn State Behrend
Lady Lions bullied the Francis
can Barons en route to a 78-43
victory.
The win evens Behrend's
record to 7-7 overall and 5-5 in
the conference.
After losing in a tight five
point loss to La Roche College
in the Lions' previous game, the
ladies put in 40 hard working
minutes to take down the Fran
ciscan Barons in a televised
game in the Rinker Center.
"It is very important to come
out and see how your character
is after a tough loss," said
Behrend's head coach Roz
Fornari. "This was a really good
test for us.-
Freshmen Aly Eagle came off
the bench strong for Behrend
and put up five quick points
and helped the team to an early
15-7 run. Eagle, who recently
came off of an ankle injury that
has prevented her from playing
for most of the season, ended
the game leading the Blue and
White with sixteen points that
included four baskets from be
yond the arc in 23 minutes of
play.
An aggressive full court press
that the Lions kept up all game
long coupled this earls' run.
Behrend's greatest lead of
the first half was a 22 point
lead, 32-11.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Behrend men
stunned at home
ELESE MERKOVSKI
Behrend's six-game unde
feated home streak was
shattered in a 67-64 nail
biter against the Franciscan
Barons.
The Lions (10-4, 7-3)
started off hot, quickly gain
ing an 8-0 lead in the first
two minutes. A fast-paced
passing game helped
Behrend put a solid lead on
the Barons (3-11, 2-8). With
Adam Potter and Nick
Colella both shooting well,
the team took a comfortable
29-19 lead at half time.
It was not until the second
half that the Baron's put real
pressure on the Lions. Fran
ciscan scored on seven out
of the team's first eight pos
sessions to cut Behrend's
lead to one point.
Behrend and the Barons
teetered back and forth with
hot streaks through the sec
ond half. At one point
Behrend held an 11-point
lead over Franciscan, but
the Barons scrapped to
gether ten three pointers to
be at a one-point deficit with
44 seconds to go.
After junior guard Justin
Kovac hit one of his two free
throws, 27 seconds re
mained on the clock when
Franciscan's Josh
Ducoulombier sank one out
side the paint to give the
Barons a 65-64 lead. Kovac
lm and 3m diving events. Each
diver qualified for NCAA com
petition. Kovach earned a score
of 260.85 in the
lm event and a
score of 290.4
in the 3m event.
Graves raised
excitement in
the Junker
Center when he
broke the pool
records for the
1 m event, in
which he had a
score of 292.95
as well as the 3m event, earning
a score of 294.90.
Kovach has made NCAA qual
"I look forward to
facing Altoona
again in the
championships."
"We always come out and put
up a full court press all game
long. It is just how we play,"
Fornari said. "Players love the
full court press and when we
don't press it is always a lull
like the end of the first half. We
need to play aggressive."
After succumbing to a late
11-2 run by Franciscan late in
the first half, the Lions were
able to combine their full-court,
aggressive style defense and a
physical offense by working the
ball in the paint to build the
lead back up to 24 with seven
minutes to go in the second
half.
Behrend guard Amy Oldach
led the Lions' defensive charge
for an accumulated five steals
and six rebounds. Oldach
scored 14 points and led the
team with five assists.
The Lady Lions struggled
early from the charity stripe
shooting only 36 percent in the
first half. Behrend came back
sturdy in the second half and
made nine of 13 free throws, as
Franciscan slipped into bonus
early in the latter 20 minutes.
Behrend's bench players
played a significant role and
put up 30 of the total 78 points
for the team and amassed 64
minutes of playing time. Other
top scorers for this game in
clude junior Kelly Nowacinski,
who scored 15 and senior
Christine Krankota tacked on
ten more points.
appeared to regain a one
point Behrend lead on a lay
up, but the basket was
waived off for goal tending.
The Lions made a desperate
three-point shot in the clos
ing seconds, but missed to
record the team's first home
loss of the season.
Individual performances
of Behrend players Adam
Kaiser, Potter and Colella
showed the strength this
team possesses. Potter had
an impressive 24 points and
12 rebounds. Kaiser scored
ten points . Colella brought
a real spark to the game and
put up 15 points while play
ing aggressively on both
sides of the floor.
"I really just want to con
tinue to give a spark off the
bench and help my team
win games," Colella said.
Though the loss was hard
for Behrend, the team is
looking ahead to upcoming
games and is continuing to
use their practices to im
prove. This relatively young
team holds a close bond and
continues to be competitive
in the conference.
"We have to put the loss
behind us, because we know
that each game is very im
portant," Colella said. "Al
though young, we have very
close in friendships and be
lieve in each other."
Behrend plays its next
games on the road against
Mt. Aloysius on Jan. 23.
ifying scores before and is ex
cited to return to the same path
as last year. This is the first
time in Graves'
college diving ca
reer that he has
earned a NCAA
qualifying score.
It made this meet
an emotional one
for Graves.
"Getting a
NCAA qualifying
score has been
Kaiti Vann Epps
Junior/Captain
since freshman
year," Graves said. "I got a
seven on one of my hardest
dives. I will never forget look-
Jon Klein / The Behrend Beacon
Junior guard Kelley Nowacinski works it inside the paint against
Franciscan University's 6'l" freshman forward Sarah Clemente.
When asked about the rest of
the season, Coach Fornari said,
"With Aly Eagle coming back to
play after her ankle injury and
the other players really coming
along well, I am getting very
excited for the rest of the sea-
Men's Basketball Game Leaders
Points Adam Potter (PSB) - 24
Matt Leidel (Franciscan) - 16
Chris Saltzman (PSB) - 10
Adam Potter (PSB) - 8
Mike Feuz (Franciscan) - 5
Josh Ducoulombier (Franciscan) - 4
Matt Leidel (Franciscan) - 4
Mike Fuez (Franciscan) - 3
Mike Fuez (Franciscan) - 36
Sam Titus (Franciscan) - 34
Matt Leidel (Franciscan) - 2
Justin Kovac (PSB) - 1
Adam Potter (PSB) - 4
Connor Flanagan (Franciscan) - 3
Rebounds
Assists
3 Pointers
Minutes
Steals
Turnovers
ing at the score board and see
ing my final score."
Not to be outdone, the swim
mers pulled together in the
events and were able to outdo
Altoona, one of the few
younger teams on average that
are competing at this level than
the Behrend team. Altoona
does not have any competitor
older than twenty.
Both the men and women
were able to dominate in the
freestyle events. Senior
Danielle Wilson finished first in
the 200 m freestyle for the
women, while freshmen Brian
Mong finished first in the 200 m
free for the men.
one of my goals
The Lady Lions go on a road
trip for the team's next couple
of games.
The first stop the Lions will
take is Mt. Aloysious for a con
ference showdown Saturday.
Freshmen John Kelley and
junior captain Kaite Van Epps
finished first for the men and
women in the 1000 m freestyle.
"The victory was big because
Altoona is in our conference,"
Van Epps said. "It is just an
other win for us. I look forward
to meeting them in the champi
onships."
Other outstanding perform
ances include freshmen Frank
Sullivan's first place finish in
the 100 m free, sophomore Julie
Cook's first place in the 50m
freestyle and freshmen Andrew
Opalewski's first place in the
50m freestyle.
"1 don't pay attention to the
4') a$
Steve Graves
diving head first
RACHELLE THOMPSON
During his junior year in high
school, Steve Graves began div
ing, and he was terrible at it. At
his senior year in college, he is
breaking records.
Graves is a senior diver for
the Behrend Lions Swimming
and Diving Team. This week he
was awarded the Enterprise
Rent-A-Car Athlete of the Week
Award.
Not only has he earned this
title, he broke two school
records in the I m and 3m dives
within the same week, but he
also posted NCAA qualifying
scores, all in his senior year.
When Graves was nine years
old he beginning his swimming
career. Several years later in
high school he took on the
sport of diving.
"That year we didn't have any
guy divers, so I decided to try it
out. At first I was absolutely
terrible," Graves said. "I could
barely fall in the pool back
wards let alone even dream of
doing any sort of back flip."
He continued both sports for
several months until realizing
he could not continue with the
demanding schedule. With a
hard decision to make Graves
went with his heart and contin
ued the sport he developed a
passion for.
had to make an extremely
hard decision. I took a risk and
chose diving. It was something
I loved doing and I have yet to
regret it."
When asked what he consid
ers to be his strengths and
weaknesses in the pool are, he
said, "I have the physical ability,
but it wasn't until very recently
that I have been able to truly
overcome my fear of diving off
of the 3 meter."
Before most athletes get
ready for events, he or she typ
ically has their own pregame
"ritual." Graves makes the com
petition all about him. Playing
score," Sullivan said. "It is a
payoff for our hard work."
Senior swimmer Alyssa Baran
finished the best out of her fel
low swimmers in the 100 m
freestyle.
"It was a very exciting match;
our team is pretty developed
and it was not really an unex
pected win," said Baran. "I
swam pretty well and I am anx
ious to swim in the champi-
onships."
The Behrend Swimming and
Diving team,will be on the road
for the next three meets.
The team's next meet is
against Chatham University on
Friday, Jan. 22.
nuns efilt(ll
Steve Graves holds the men's 1 m and
the song "Lose Yourself" by
Eminem. he tunes out every
thing, thinks about nothing,
and basically clears his mind. "I
let my body take over"
At the beginning of this year,
Graves came across another
hard obstacle. He had to decide
between school, finding a job or
sticking with the sport he loves
most.
Feeling that diving had noth
ing left to offer as a student
athlete, Graves felt that
spending his time focusing on
school and finding a job would
be best.
"I talked to one of my profes
sors, and she made the point
that diving won't get me a job.
But this is my last chance to
ever compete," Graves said. "I
took her advice and decided not
to quit. Within the first few
meets I found myself perform
ing better than I ever have."
The Lions' swimming and div
ing teams will be on the road
for their next three contests.
They will travel first to
Chatham University in Pitts
burgh on Friday. And the fol
lowing night the team will be
against the Washington and
Jefferson Presidents.
The team ends the road trip
on Jan. 29 at Grove City against
the Wolverines. The swimming
and diving team finally comes
back home against Mt. Union
in the Junker Center.
3m diving records.