10 The Daily Collegian Lady cagers tackle By PETER ZELLEN Collegian Sports Writer The women's basketball team will take on Temple tonight in Rec Hall and you might be advised to watch the inside game closely. Last month, the 11th-ranked Lady Lions (15- 6) beat Temple in McGonigle Hall with a con vincing 92-76 victory and hope tonight's game will help them bounce back from Saturday's one-point loss to Rutgers. One of the keys in the first game against the Lady Owls was Penn State's play in the paint. In reading the Lady Owls' match-up zone, center Kathy Phillips scored 23 points and backup Tina Henry had 12 points and four rebounds in just 10 minutes. In fact, the 6-foot-S-inch Henry has played well as of late. She had six points against Niagara last month, four points against Ohio State and three points and seven rebounds against Rutgers. However, she still isn't happy with her game. "I'm comfortable but I'm still not satisfied with my play," Henry said. "One day I might have a good defensive game and be horrible on offense and then it switches the next day. I can't seem Columbia hands loss to fencers By TED RIEDEL Collegian Sports Writer A rare yet exciting spectacle was beheld on the fencing strips of Temple University Saturday, as the Columbia Lions and the Nittany Lions battled down to a decision in their final two bouts. Columbia pulled out a 14-13 pressure cooker and dealt Penn State its only loss of the season —and its first in two years. The unusual event occurred during the second bout, after Penn State handily beat a very strong Navy team, 25-2. With Columbia leading 13-12 as the last two matches came to a close, Penn State lost its epee bout and won its foil bout almost simultaneously, sealing the Columbia's emotional victory. Despite closing out the season with the only blemish on their 13-1 tal ly, sullen and disconsolate faces were not to be found on coaches and team members at practice yesterday. "There is the sense that, 'Damn, they got away from us!' " Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "But not that the world has ended. Nobody's happy, but nobody's breaking their head off the wall." Kaidanov mentioned the factor of officiating mistakes, but refused to attribute the loss to those errors. He would not even label the blunders Its frustrating. "I wouldn't say the loss was unavoidable," he said evenly. "There were a few unfortunate officiating Mistakes, but I don't want to blame the loss on anything other than that rolumbia wanted to win the match more than we did. They were hungrier." Assistant Coach Wes Glon was reminded of the days when Penn State was a scrappy contender rather than the ruler of the collegiate fencing that it has become in recent years. "We were challengers for years," he said. "We were like hungry lions; we did everything possible to win. Now every team puts their maxi mum effort against us and is really out to get us. "Every victory and every loss is another experience," he said. "Further success is based on how you capi talize on the event." Both coaches agreed on two points: first, that good can come from the loss as long as the team learns from the experience, and second, that despite the loss, the match was thoroughly enjoyable and exciting. In the third match against Hay erford College, Penn State recov ered and posted a 20-7 victory. On the women's side, the Lady Lions eclipsed any expectations that were held for them against their most forbidable opponents of the year Temple and Columbia. ii "I must say that I have never seen he women as strong as they were against Temple," Kaidanov said. "They were so composed, so focused. Eheither mistakes of the officials nor : e excellent fencing of their - pponents could stop them." -: The women took down the high )y-touted Lady Owls 14-2, and then ',Sputtered momentarily bef -- e pulling way from Columbia witn a 10-6 sway The Lady Lions also out lassed Haverford, 15-1. Suzie Paxton, whose status for the ,competition had been questionable :lue to an ankle injury, put togeth *r what Kaidanov termed "an :excellent performance" en route to *a 6-3 day. He also had kind words :for the other fencers. "Olga Chernyak was unbeatable. Jennifer Prifrel and Katie Kowalski :were also very strong," he said. "They were all great." to get them together. I won't be happy until that happens." Meanwhile, Phillips is averaging a career-high 14 points per game and knows that Penn State will need to establish an inside game if they want to succeed against Temple. "We do have a height advantage with them and I think if you take control of the inside you'll control the game," Phillips said. The Lady Lions can send in the 6-foot-3-inch Phillips, Henry and 6-foot-l-inch Susan Robin son while the Lady Owls counter with center Jennifer Olexy and forward Roxey Hildebrand (both 6 feet 1 inches tall) and 6-footer Sonya Perry. Temple Coach Charlene Curtis realizes Penn State's height advantage and believes that her team will have to work the ball outside instead of constantly fighting under the basket. "We're starting to get better play on the outside," Curtis said. "It's going to be a matchup of Penn State's inside game and our perimeter game." On her end of that battle, Coach Rene Port land will try to concentrate on perimeter defense because Temple can thrive off its guard play. "I think a certain concern of ours will be (Chantel) Adkins and the play of their guards Temple Owls Coach John Chaney speaks to the media after his team charge at Temple for 10 years, is a strict adherent of the Temple beat the Lions 73-72 in double overtime. Chaney, who has been in slogan, "Winning is an attitude." Big John Candid Chaney rules Owls' By PETER FAGGEN Collegian Sports Writer At Temple, winning is an atti tude. The Phoenix Suns' Tim Perry breathed it when he played for the school on Broad Street. The Sacramento Kings' Duane Caus well tooted it for the Owls in 1990. And most Penn State basketball fans can identify with former All- America guard Mark Macon, who now breathes the Temple fire with the Denver Nuggets. Those three examples prove that the "attitude" slogan has mean ing. In fact, the Owls (12-8) have been winning with the attitude for years. And they've owned the Lions. Including Sunday's 73-72 double David Muir spikes over a Cal-State Northridge defender. Penn State (5- 5) goes against the University of Manitoba tonight in Coatsville. Sports 'We are successful in what we do. People dislike us. It's like us against the world." overtime victory, they have won 16 out of the last 18 meetings between the teams. `We are successful in what we do," said Owl Coach John Chan ey. "People dislike us. It's like us against the world." That hatred creates rivalry Temple is to the Penn State men's basketball team what Pitt is to the football team. But this season, the rivalry has gone with the wind of indepen- Temple because that has shown marked improvement from the time we played them before," Portland said. Adkins, a freshman, has 30 treys this season and Dallese Jackson is averaging 8.1 points and 7.5 assists per game. In their first meeting, the Lady Lions scored 40 points in the paint while holding Temple to 24. Then-starting center Nalisa Clark was held scoreless and Hildebrand scored 14 points on mostly outside shots. For tonight's game, Curtis will start Olexy for just the fourth time this season and bring Clark and Hildebrand off the bench for both extra height and scoring punch, as they combine for over 10 points and eight rebounds a game. "They'll both come in a lot and Clark will be a factor in the game," Curtis said. Against Temple, the Lady Lions will keep up the same defensive pressure that they have used all season with constant assignment switches. These switches worked well in the Rutgers loss and Phillips believes that the Lady Lions will be in good shape if they can succeed on offense as well. "It's just a matter of playing our own game and running our own offense and concentrating on what we want to get done and we'll be suc cessful," Phillips said. roost with successful attitude • John Chaney Temple men's basketball coach So, when the two schools talked about a possible game, neither head coach wanted to play the other on their team's home floor, and understandably so. "I just said that I would never play them up in Happy Valley," Chaney said. "We sure weren't going to play them at McGonigle Hall," said Penn State's coach of nine years, Bruce Parkhill. So, they decided to meet each other halfway in Hershey, in what Spikers look to conquer .500 By FRANKLIN BERKEY Collegian Sports Writer After squandering a two-game lead in Saturday's contest against Cal-State Northridge, the men's volleyball team faced a turning point. Tied at 2-2 entering the fifth and decisive game, the Nittany Lions were in a position they knew all too well. However, demonstrating signs of maturity, the Lions gathered their composure and captured the final game to win their second match in a row. The 2-0 weekend performance at the Hall of Fame Classic has given birth to a new sense of conifdence and team unity. Against the University of Manitoba tonight in Coatsville, the confident Nittany Lions (5-5) aim to extend their winning streak to three matches and eclipse the .500 mark for the first time in over two weeks. "The team stuck together through it all," Assistant Coach Mark Pavlik said. "When they lost the third and fourth games against Northridge, our guys could have easily fallen into six individuals with each one want ing to get it back, but they stuck together and played as a team in the fifth game." Manitoba, the reigning Canadian national champion, plays a straightforward power game. It was power, not finesse, that gave the school last year's Canadian Championship. In the Hall of Fame Classic, Manitoba struggled in its first-round loss to Cal-State Northridge. Rebounding Backup Tina Henry (above) and starting center Kathy Phillips will try and control the inside game as the Lady Lions face Temple tonight. turned into the Great Temple-Penn State Compromise. Sunday, however, it seemed like nothing had changed. It was an Atlantic 10 flashback before the game Parkhill and Chaney exchanged pleasantries, like they were meeting at the altar for a second time. Bringing back memories of a rivalry that has caused Penn State convulsions over the years. However, a tournament game last year at the Palestra stands out, as Parkhill's quiet Lions beat Chan ey's hooting Owls 52-50 in the A -10 semifinals. But Chaney's squad bounced back from that loss to beat Purdue, Richmond and Oklahoma State in the NCAAs they missed the Final Please see CHANEY, Page 18. Tuesday, Feb. 11, 1992 Netmen zip Akron, Mercyhurst By CRAIG OSTROFF Collegian Sports Writer Although the results suggest otherwise, Men's Tennis Coach Jan Bortner is somewhat worried. The team appeared to have opened its dual-meet season with two strong road wins. On Saturday, the team defeated University of Akron, 6-0. Sunday, the Lions breezed by Mercyhurst, 9-0, without losing a single set. But looks can be deceiving. "Coming into the meets, I don't think we were (very) intense, and that worried me," Bortner said. "A couple players didn't start out quickly, but they started to respond when the matches got close. "We have to try to get off to a quicker start. Some of the guys have to realize they've got to get up for the match early. They can't coast through the first couple games they've got to get on top early. They can't save it for the big matches. If we want to hang in against North western (Feb. 22), it's imperative to get off to a good start." Eduardo Abril said the slow start may have been a result of faster courts. "When I went home for the win ter break I only played on clay courts, which are slower," he said. "Their courts were fast and I think it took a little while to adjust." Bortner said another deceiving factor was the quality of the tea ms. Mercyhurst, typically a tough team for the Lions, was not as tal ented as it has been in the past. And the University of Akron coach was very unhappy with the way his team played. Despite the lack of intensity early in the matches, Bortner was not unhappy with the play of the team. He noted Greg Gaunt for his intensity and said some players and the doubles teams performed well. "Considering the emphasis in practice has been on singles play we looked pretty good," he said. "We dominated the middle, and that's what you try to do in doubles." The team did not play doubles against Akron. Against Mercy hurst, the team of Gaunt and Marc "The team stuck together through it all." Mark Pavlik assistant men's volleyball coach from the defeat, the Bisons dominated the consolation game against Springfield College. "They are real good at making adjustments," Pavlik said. "They are a real good blocking team with a great coach who has a real good feel of what is going on in the game. They have pretty solid blocking, scrappy defense, and they find ways to keep the ball off the floor." In the series, which dates back to 1986, Penn State holds a 3-1 lead. In a December preseason tourna ment in Manitoba, the Lions split two matches with the Bisons. The key to the Lions' success this past weekend was the team's crisp and accurate passsing. As in tonight's game, the quality of passing could make or break the team's postseason success. To improve their skills, the team members have spent up to four hours a day on passing. ■ Following tonight's contest, Penn State returns home to host No. 2 Pepperdine Thursday night in Rec Hall. The Lions are in the midst of six matches in 10 days. After facing Pepperdine, the Lions hit the road again, this time destined for the Buffalo Classic in New York. Collegian Photo/Jim Farrugia Please see NETMEN, Page 18
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