Playoffs can
end hooters'
frustrations
Penn •State's soccer teams have
written a long-lasting success stork that
'few teams on the collegiate level can
equal.
For the past seven seasons, the Lion
booters have participated in the NCAA
post-season playoff tournament a feat
achieved only by St. Louis, a perennial
contender for the national title.
.. Yet, it seems safe to say that the Lions
'have experienced a measure of
frustration, at least in the last three
'years.
In each of the past three seasons, Penn
State has been knocked out of the
playoffs in the first round. In 1974, the
Lions outshot Bucknell by an incredible
margin of 56-6 but lost 1-0. In 1975,
Philadelphia Textile edged State, 4-3.
And again last season, Textile beat the
Lions.
•,*: That frustration could very well end
',this year.
7 . , This year's team, once again coached
by Walt Bahr, just might be the finest
Penn State has fielded since the un
.iiefeated teams of the World War II era.
It certainly has some impressive
,records to its credit most wins in a
,season, most goals scored, fewest goals
given up and most shutouts.
, Bahr has done a masterful job of
',coaching his squad a quick, explosive,
,well-balanced, tight-marking team if
:ever there was one.
"I think this is the most balanced team
I've had at Penn State," Bahr said, his
,eyes scanning the poster-covered wall of
his office in Rec Hall. "It's lived up to all
-my expectations. It's a good team. If we
win a couple more games, it will be a
great team."
Rick
Pinsattuiso lol 4 Weber
A speedy, high-scoring front line, a
hard-working midfield, and a tight
marking, experienced defense have all
contributed to the. Lions' 12-2 regular
season mark.
Last year, Penn State had good speed
in its front line with Rich Reice and Jim
Stamatis. The addition of freshman Ray
Patrick, a walk-on from Trinidad, .has
given the Lions great speed.
Stamatis has been providing the bulk
of the scoring punch. The sophomore
tallied 18 goals and added five assists to
lead the team in scoring during the
regular season. _
Not enough can be said about Reice, a
second-team All-American last season
and a sure bet for at least the same
honor again this year. The senior winger
ended his regular-season career as the
third highest scorer in Penn State
history and is no doubt one of the best to
ever don the blue and white soccer
uniform:
' "Itichie has played outstanding at
Venn State," Bahr said. "He has
qualities that you just can't teach
quick acceleration and change of
direction."
At midfield, Herb Menhardt, Kevin
Costello, Ken McDonald and Bob
;Ehrlich have given Bahr a large dose of
confidence.
"They're good, solid midfielders,"
I3ahr said. "They're hard-working
players who give an honest 90 minutes of
play, plus they are all offensive threats.
And those kids aren't afraid to make
contact."
A tight-marking, fundamentally-sound
defense composed of Bill Klauberg, Matt
Bahr, Dave Lloyd and Sal Bommarito
has frustrated nearly every opponent
this season.
But the real steadying influence has
been provided by Lloyd, who sat out last
season with a broken leg.
"He's not a spectacular player," Bahr
said. "Half of the people who come and
watch the games wouldn't know Dave is
►n there. But he's done an excellent job.
He deserves a lot of credit for the suc
cess of the team."
And who could forget about goalies
Dan Gallagher and Jeff Helmer, whO
have combined for a school record nine
'shutouts?
There's something special about
Bahr's players beyond their obvious
talents they're very close. -
"They like one another and pal around
'in the off-season," Bahr said. "I don't
sense any problems with any player on
the team. It's a well-adjusted team.
"'They have confidence and aren't
second-guessing me or each other. They
'feel they can go out and compete with
anybody."
The Lions will get the chance to prove
it in the next week as the playoffs get
'underway. Bids for the four playoff
berths in the eastern region come out
later today and Penn State is virtually
Ilssured of holding on to, its No. 1
'position. Speculation is that the Lions
will host Penn at Jeffrey Field early next
week.
"Our kids are really anxious to get into
the playoffs," Bahr said. "I won't have
to do much to have them prepared
mentally "
Don't sell the Lion booters short.
Talent, confidence, solid coaching and a
home field advantage can take a team
pretty far. -
Maybe as far as the NCAA finals in
California. Who knows?
Collegian. s-,J,*.:,:•:.*':,...•:'.--',.s
the
daily
Everything looks to be up in the air as Pitt tries to block
Syracuse's Dave Jacob's field goal. Pitt's chances in the
d; h g e Collegian scoreboard
National Hockey League
WALES CONFERENCE
Norris Division
%V L T Pts
7 4 3 17
7 4 2 16
5 4 2 12
3 8 1 7
2 8 1 5
Adams Division
8 2 1 17
6 2 2 14
5 6 1 11
4 5 3 11
Montreal
Los Angeles
Detroit
Pittsburgh
Washington
Buffalo
Toronto
Cleveland
CAMPBELL CONFERENCE
Patrick Division
8 2 1 • 17
6 4 3 15
4 3 5 13
5 7 1 11
Smythe Division
2 5 15
3 3 11
8 0 10
6 2 8
10 2 4
Philadelphia
NY islanders
Atlanta
NY Rangers
Chicago
Colorado
Minnesota
Vancouver
St. Louis
Monday's 'Results
Minnesota 5. Montreal 3
Late game not included
Yesterday's Games
Los Angeles 5, Washington I
Vancouver at Colorado
Today's Gaines
Buffalo at NY Rangers
Cleveland at Pittsburgh
Toronto at Atlanta
Washington at Detroit
Minnesota at Chicago
Vancouver at St. Louis
Intramural scores
VOLLEYBALL Northampton 15-3, 15-12; Bradford def
DORMITORY Poplar def. Bethlehem 15-4, 15-7
Aliquippa 15-6, 15-7; Behrend def. INDEPENDENT
Altoona 4-15, 15-7, 15-11; Freedom def. A.P. Aces 15-9, 15-9
Panther disks fool volleyballers;
Lady Lions lose in straight sets
By RICII TABIN ...
Daily Collegian Sports Writer
Although the Penn State women's
volleyball team has already received a
bid to the Eastern regionals, regular
season matches still remain on the
schedule.
Coach Tom Tait had hoped last night's
contest against Pitt at Rec Hall could be
a warmup for the playoffs. Instead, the
Lady Lions were burned in straight sets,
10-15, 6-15, 10-15, and lost the best-of-five
match to the highly-rated Pantherettes.
On Pitt's victory, Tait said there was
"no doubt about it."
"We started the match well, but then
we let them run their offense and gave
them points," he said. "We have to run
our own ballgame if we're going to win."
Zisk first agent
ARLINGTON, Texas ( AP) The
Texas Rangers, who openly had courted
baseball free agent Larry Hisle, an
nounced yesterday they had wooed
Richie Zisk of the Chicago White Sox into
signing a long-term contract at a
reported $250,000 per year.
Rangers owner Brad Corbett, whose
team had been investigated by Com
missioner Bowie Kuhn for alleged
tampering with Hisle while the Min
nesota player still was negotiating with
the Twins, said Zisk was the man he
always wanted.
"I'm pleased to be playing for Texas,"
Zisk said through his agent, Jerry
Kapstein. "They are an outstanding
team with great fans. I'm going to do my
best to put a world championship pen
nant over the ball park in Arlington."
'y .
'4
1. 0 , •
to
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
W L
6 3
4 4
4 5 •
1 7
1 7
Central Division
New York,
Philadelphia
Buffalo
New Jersey
Boston
7 1 .875
7 3 . .700
6 3 .667
5 4 .556
5 6 .455
3 4 .429
WESTERN CONFERENCE
• Midwest Division
7 4
5 4
6 5
• 4 '4
5 6
3 5
Pacific Division
7 1
6 5
4 5
4 6
2 10
Atlanta
Cleveland
New Orleans
Houston
San Antonio
Washington
Chieigo
Milwaukee
Denver
Detroit
Kansas City
Indiana
Portland
Golden State
Phoenix
Los Angeles
Seattle
' Yesterday's Games
New York 123, San Antonio 117
Chicago 117, Houston 104
Denver 111, Milwaukee 101
Kansas City at Portland, n
Today's Gam es
San Antonio at Boston
New York at Buffalo
New Jersey at Philadelphia
Houston at Detroit
New Orleans at Denver •
Indiana at Golden St.
As in their first meeting earlier this
year, Pitt's size advantage once again
ended up dominating the front line pldy.
But the match didn't start out that way.
In the first game, Penn State jumped
to an early 2-0 lead by containing the
Pantherettes' top spiker, Ingrid Mueller,
with alert blocks and digs.
But Pitt's size advantage soon became
obvious as the Lady Lions began an
ticipating spikes and left themselves
open to soft hits and dinks, which
eventually cost them the opening game.
The second set was almost a repeat off
the first, except that Penn State failed to
shut down Mueller as effectively this
time around. Pitt never relinquished its
lead in winning the game, 15-6.
"I think that we dug too much but, we
The Rangers had drafted Lyman
Bostock, Zisk, Hisle and .pitcher Doc
Medich in the re-entry draft last week
after Corbett said that Kuhn's office had
indicated to him that there would be
reprisals if the Rangers picked Hisle.
Corbett drafted Hisle in the fifth
round, then announced he was offering
him a 10-year contract at an estimated
$3 million.
Then yesterday, he said he had signed
Zisk, "our No. 1 man all along. We just
didn't want to broadcast it."
Corbett said that in Zisk the Rangers
were getting the long-ball hitting player
that might make the difference between
their second-place finish in the
American League West last season and
the pennant.
"With the addition of a slugger of his
bowl bid race are also up in the air, but things should fall
into place come Nov. 19.
Pct.
.667
.500
.444
.125
.125
875
545
444
400
167
Hot Dogs def
in bag
if •-•
• • • I am sure he ( Zisk) got a take-it
or-leave-it offer that was probably
exhorbitant," Seghi said.
Fa .abK
p it" "
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O'Brien moves
to cut violence
NEW YORK ( AP) In an effort to
reduce violence in the National
Basketball Association, Commissioner
Larry O'Brien announced yesterday the
formation of a study group involving
players, coaches, management and the
league office
"The group will study the rules and the
conduct of our game," O'Brien said in a
statement. "It will review the potential
that exists for illegal physical conduct
and fighting and consider, what can be
done to reduce such incidents.
"Violence in professional basketball is
a rare occurrence in comparison to some
other sports, but in my view, any
violence is too much violence."
Foster National League MVP
NEW YORK (AP) Cincinnati's
George Foster, who hit more home runs
than any National League player in 12
years, was named the NL's Most
Valuable Player for 1977 yesterday,
edging Philadelphia slugger Greg
Luzinski.
Foster, the good-field, all-hit slugger
of the Reds, received 15 of a possible 24
first-place votes and 291 points in
balloting by members of the Baseball
Writers Association of America.
Luzinski, whose powerful bat carried the
Phillies to the NL East title, was
awarded the other nine first-place votes
and wound up with 255 points.
Outfielder Dave Parker of Pittsburgh
finished third with 56 points, followed by
were working for a good hit," said a
disappointed Cindy Pruner, one of Penn
State's key players. "They have a good
spiking team and that's what we were
looking for. That's why we didn't play
very good defense, we couldn't read
them on their dinks."
In the third set after falling behind 3-9,
the Lady Lions battled back to a 10-10 tie
but again made mental errors and lost,
winding up a frustrating night.
"We started out well, but we didn't
play well individually, so we didn't play
well as a team," Pruner said.
"We're not giving up on the season,"
said a determined Tait. "If they're going
to beat us at regionals, they're going to
have to earn their points."
stature, Texas becomes a strong
possibility to win the Western Division
championship, the American League
pennant and the World Series. With the
exception of Steve Garvey, of the Los
Angeles Dodgers, he is the most con
sistent right-handed hitter in baseball,"
said Corbett.
Zisk, 28, batted .290, with six triples, 17
doubles, 30 home runs and 100 runs
batted in for Chicago last season. He
previously played for Pittsburgh.
Phil Seghi, general manager of the
Cleveland Indians who had drafted Zisk
as their No. 1 choice, said he was
disappointed his team did not get a
chancd to negotiate
Bowl
`-t=~~'t 1
;.'
continues;
favored over Pitt
By Christopher C. Hopl, Editor of the
Pitt News
For The Daily Collegian
PITTSBURGH The bowls won't
even be allowed to hint of an official
invitation to college football teams for
another ten days, but then a supposed
rule against meaningful • public
statements is neither applicable nor of
concern to the demands of writers, so a
two-week speculation Season promises
to provide a great deal of amusement to
many football followers.
But the current bowl outlook, which
has Pitt looking to be out of a major bowl
bid, won't be a cause of amusement to
those associated with the Pitt football
program.
Already, the Orange, Cotton, and
Sugar pairings have been decided in
newspapers from Pittsburgh to New
Orleans and San Francisco. And Pitt
does not receive one of the three major
bowl berths available to the in-
dependents in any of the rumors.
That's untortunate for Jackie Sherrill,
possessor of a fine football team with one
blemish too many on its record the
team Sherrill hopes he can convince
bowl selection committees to wait for.
A week's wait would be fine with
Sherrill, but not with , the selection
committees.
"It's a panic," a bowl spokesman said.
"It's going to come down to a six-hour
period that will begin at 3 p.m. next
Saturday. And those six hours will he
pure panic. No one's going to wait. They
can't afford to. "
That panic will force the bowls to
gamble Nov. 19 on games that will
continue until Dec. 3. According to the
most widely circulated and reliable
rumors, here's what Pitt fans can look
forward to ( or fear) Nov. 19.
The Cotton Bowl, searching for a
national championship game and aware
that no one has the draw of the Irish, will
bet that Notre Dame can defeat Miami of
Florida Dec. 3.
The Sugar Bowl, which would like to
see how a Big Ten team can do in New
Orleans and Alabama coach Bear
Bryant, who is scared of the un-
outfielder Reggie Smith of the NL
champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers,
112 points, Philadelphia pitcher Steve
Carlton, 100, and first baseman Steve
Garvey of Los Angeles, 98.
Foster, nicknamed "The Launcher"
by his manager, Sparky Anderson, was
the most dangerous hitter in the league.
He slugged 52 homers, drove in 149 runs
and scored 124 runs all league highs
for 1977. He also batted .320, fourth in the
NL.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sur
prised," said Foster, adding he's been
worried about publicity surrounding
Luzinski, the man he considered his
chief competitor for the award.
Foster said he decided he'd go for
'
"
•
414,111",.'
Wednesday, November 9, 1977-9
Analysis
Penn State's Nancy McLaughlin (12) rises up to block a spike attempt by a Pitt
player in last night's volleyball match at Rec Hall.
bid banter
predictable, explosive Eastern teams,
will select a big, slow Big Ten runnerup.
The Orange Bowl, which has professed
a preference for Notre Dame, will in
stead take Penn State over Pitt because
of the Lion's better record and slightly
more difficult schedule.
And, in a striking example of two
things can change in twelve months,
Pitt, which last year had every bowl
more than twelve inches in diameter
begging, will take a Gator Bowl
Invitation and then wrestle with second,
guessers who will note that Pitt got
$250,000 for moving the Penn State ganic
but lost a chance at the Orange's $1
million in the process.
All this speculation is based on the
assumption that Penn State, Notre
Dame, and the Big Ten runnerup will not
lose this week. Notre Dame, playing
Clemson, will have the toughest
assignment.
One way Pitt could have a chance for a
major bowl appearance would come
through a Nov. 19 package deal among
Pitt, Penn State and a couple of bowls.
According to this theory, it would be
agreed that the winner of the Nov. 26
game at Pitt Stadium would accept an
Orange Bowl bid and the loser would go
to a lesser bowl almost surely the
Gator.
"I think Pittsburgh would go for that
in a minute," Laferty said, perhaps
tipping his influential hand toward Penn
State. "But the schools would have to
agree to that."
"If Penn State were crazy enough to
go for that they wouldn't be where they
are today," an official from another
bowl said, who understandably asked
not to be identified. "And even then, it
wouldn't be able to be discussed until the
deadline and no major bowl is going to
balance its year on such a shaky
proposal. There wouldn't be enough time
to work it out."
Each of the big bowls is not willing to
chance offending any school still having
the same basic list of one "wanted"
teams-. _
.•
"We keep them aware of our in
terests," one bowl spokesman said,
"because we have past, present, and
future relations to consider."
more runs this year after the Reds lost
the batting talent of Tony Perez.
"With Tony gone, it was up to Jonny
Bench and Ito hit for power."
The 28-year-old outfielder became
only the fifth National Leaguer to hit
more than 50 homers.
Luzinski, the bull-strong outfielder of
the Phillies, also had a super season. He
slammed 39 homers, drove in 130 runs
and batted .309.
Sluggers filled eight of the first 10
positions, with only Carlton and
Chicago relief ace Bruce Sutter (No. 7)
spoiling the hitters' domination. Ron Cey
of Los Angeles, Ted Simmons of St.
Louis and Mike Schmidt of Philadelphia
rounded out the top 10 finishers.
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Photo by Dan Polack