16—The Daily Collegian Friday, March 1, 1996
Laxers to
On March 6th the only thing
that will separate the Penn State
and North Carolina lacrosse teams
will be the fabric of their uni
forms and a few insignificant
white lines.
But in terms of NCAA tourna
ment experience and lacrosse his
tory the two teams are light years
apart.
The Tar Heels have appeared in
the tournament 18 times and have
won four NCAA titles, most
recently in 1991. Although the
Lions have no such statistics a win
over the Tar Heels next Wednes
day in Chapel Hill, N.C., would go
along way in helping propel them
into their first national tourna
ment.
"A win would be a big plus for
our program," Lion coach Glenn
Thiel said. "It would open up alot
of eyes in the lacrosse world
because those kinds of things
don't happen too often."
And don't think the players
don't realize it either.
"If we beat UNC we would be a
lock for the tournament," said
attackman Chris Killoren. "But
that would mean we couldn't take
all of our other opponents for
granted and lose a game we were
supposed to win."
For the Lions, Thiel said the key
will be keeping control of the pace
of the game. With a team like
North Carolina Thiel said Penn
State can ill afford to run up and
down the length of the field.
This means the Lions will need
to control the ball and keep it in
their sticks as much as possible he
said.
The Tar Heels are led by tri
captain Brendan Carey who was
second on the team last year in
scoring with 26 goals, attackman
Merrill Turnbull who led the team
in scoring with 34 goals and cur
rently leads the team after one
game with three goals and three
assists.
Rounding out the Tar Heel scor
ing attack is attackman Spencer
Deering who leads the team in
goals this season with four which
puts him in second, right behind
Turnbull, on the scoring list.
As for Villanova the one thing
that worries Thiel is that his team
does not experience a letdown
after their big game against the
Tar Heels.
"I hope our kids don't think they
absolutely must beat UNC," he
said. "I don't want them to think
they're stepping off the end of the
world if they lose, if we lose it
isn't the end of the world."
by Don Wagner
kick it with 'Heels; Lady sluggers trek to Florida
Karolyn Peterson
Lady Lion outfielder
Lady sluggers hope to
expand on solid start
The Penn State softball team
travels to Florida looking to capi
talize on last weekend's 4-1
record.
The Lady Lions lead off the
week with the Florida Atlantic-
Tournament at Boca Raton, Fla.,
followed by individual games
against South Florida, Central
Michigan, Oklahoma State and
Indiana State. They will close out
the week by competing in the
South Florida Classic in Tampa,
Fla.
In looking at the week's hefty
schedule, Fillipp is concerned
with Central Michigan and Okla
homa, but South Florida is no
stranger to the Lady Lions. Last
year, the Lady Lions came back
from a 5-0 deficit to win the game
8-7.
"We really want to beat those
two teams," sophomore outfielder
Karolyn Peterson said. "They
were in the finals in last year's
tournament, so we really want to
make a good showing against
them."
The Lady Lions did not make a
good showing against Indiana last
year and in this year's South Flori
da Classic they will meet them
before their Big Ten schedule.
Last year the Lady Lions went
1-4 against Indiana and Fillipp
said that playing them this early
in the season is somewhat unusu
al.
"It's kind of unusual because in
the past one Big Ten team wasn't
in the same tournament with the
other."
s time for
ur ads in before
iarly deadline:
day, March 1 is the
r Tuesday, March 12
.11
Collegian
Fillipp questioned whether or
not the Lady Hoosiers' pitching
staff will be successful this year.
Their senior pitcher Gina Ugo
pitched about 75-80 percent of
their games last year according to
Fillipp.
"They only have two pitchers,"
Fillipp said. "I'm thankful that I
have four pitchers that I can go to
anytime I want to. I also question
whether or not the other Big Ten
teams have four pitchers. And if
they do, can they count on them? I
don't think so."
by Matt DiFebo
Spikers to face top
foes at Hall of Fame
The Penn State men's volleyball
team wants to start its climb back
into the Top 10 with a big showing
this weekend, but it will have to
face a tough task on Saturday.
The No. 13 Lions want to get a
big boost by taking a first place
finish as they travel to Spring
field, Mass., to battle in the annual
Hall of Fame Classic tournament.
The only problem is that the Lions
must face either their long-time
nemesis No. 9 Ball State, or the
No. 2 team in the nation, Long
Beach State.
But first, Springfield College,
the second ranked team in Divi
sion 111, will await the No. 13
Lions at 8 p.m. tonight. They have
faced Penn State before, and have
fared well in past tournaments.
"Our team usually plays well in
the Hall of Fame tournament,"
Springfield coach Joel Dearing
said. "We're capable of competing
with them, it's just the matter of
being able to handle their size."
On Saturday, win or lose, the
situation gets tougher.
Last weekend, Penn State went
through the Garden State like a
Weedwacker after defeating two
New Jersey teams with out losing
a single set. "I feel we played very
consistent volleyball this week
end," Lion coach Mark Pavlik
said. "It was the first week we put
all of the phases of the game
together, offensively and defen
sively."
Penn State knows Ball State (10-
4), and Ball State knows Penn
State very well. They have
already met twice this season,
with the Cardinals winning each
match in straight sets. In the Out
rigger Hotels Invitational in Janu
ary, junior Phil Eatherton ham
mered home 14 kills to led the
team. "Phil is a guy who works
hard and so long on little things,
he would stay all night to prac
tice," Cardinal coach Don Shon
dell said.
The 49ers (9-2) boast a talented
group of veteran players. Oppo
site hitter Tom Hoff will be a
tough person to stop, averaging
7.22 kills per game last year. The
transfer from Ohio State is part of
a formula that, according to Long
Beach State coach Ray Ratelle,
will turn into one result. "National
championship," Ratelle said.
by Chad Washington
After big wins, netmen
look to avoid letdown
Often times in sports, the lull
after a storm of good play leads to
a team letdown before the thunder
and lightning can kick in again.
But after upsetting Penn and
Northwestern last weekend, the 5-
2 (2-1 Big Ten) Penn State men's
tennis team will hope to avoid that
letdown when they travel to Ohio
State, Harvard, and George Wash
ington over spring break.
The Ohio State Buckeyes (4-5, 0-
1 Big Ten) play host to the Lions
in Columbus at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
Coach John Daly's squad is head
lined by sophomore California
native Vo Chu, and 1995 All Big-
Ten team member Jason
Homorody.
Lion coach Jan Bortner said his
team uses a modest approach to
stay within themselves after
impressive wins like the ones last
weekend.
"We try to take each match one
at a time. If we have a good win,
we don't celebrate too much."
Bortner said. "We gotta be ready
to go after that next one."
The Lions next trek to Cam
bridge, Mass., March sth to do
battle with the Harvard Crimson.
Harvard coach David Fish has his
team off to a 5-1 start and ranked
No. 1 atop the Northeast Region.
The Lions wrap up their compe
tition over the break with a show
down in the nation's capital on
Saturday, March 9th against the
undefeated (6-0) George Washing
ton Colonials.
Coach Joe Mesmer's squad, led
by No. 16 Rolex Region I player
Yuval Karutzy, is out for revenge
after last year's 5-2 loss to Penn
State.
Senior captain Chris Cahill said
the Lions can't afford a let down if
they want to earn the respect of
their upcoming opponents.
"I think it is important that we
keep it up," Cahill said. "We don't
want people to think that it was a
one weekend thing."
by Jordan Hyman
Greyhound makes it so easy to get there with low fares everyday
on every bus. Just walk up and buy your ticket. We can take you
to over 2400 destinations around the country. To find out about
low fares and convenient schedules, call 1-800-231-2222
Jan Bonner
men's tennis coach
Duo eyes revitalization
during netwomen's trip
After winning the tennis dou
bles' tournament championship
last year, Tricia Lehman and Olga
Novikova had high hopes for this
year's Princeton's Invitational.
But a pair of Pirates and a couple
of Crimson put an end to any
dreams the duo from Happy Val
ley possessed, as Lehman and
Novikova lost to Kristin Downing
and Kaire Poldman of Seton Hall,
7-5, 6-7, 7-5, then to Ivy Wang and
Julie Kim of Harvard, 7-6, 7-6.
The two will try to change their
luck next week, when the women's
tennis team travels to Orlando,
Fla. during spring break for
matches against Boston Universi
ty (March 4), Temple (March 5),
James Madison (March 7) and
West Virginia (March 8).
"To be honest Trish played well
and is playing well," coach Sue
Whiteside said. "Other coaches
were saying to me how much she
improved. She was like the talk of
the tournament ... She's got a
great attitude. It's really nice to
see her shine."
But the Lady Lions are counting
on something else other than
Lehman to shine next week. For
the first time since the fall, the
team will compete outside
something that might not seem
like a major adjustment but actu
ally is.
While at Princeton, Whiteside
said that tiredness and exhaustion
played a factor with her two play
ers. She said playing inside, espe
cially at Princeton's facility, can
cause a player to become dehy
Low
Lots
Every Day.
From State College, PA to
Harrisburg $l2
//Go Greyhound.
and leave The dnving to us.
http://www.greyhound corn
© 1995 Greyhound Lines. Inc Prices subject to change Some restrictions and linutalgns may apply
drated easier than playing out
side.
"They're a good doubles team,"
Whiteside said of Lehman and
Novikova. "It was probably more
of a fatigue thing."
As a result, Whiteside said her
team needs to have some solid
days of practice to condition and
focus themselves on playing four
matches in five days. But the
Lady Lions are not going into the
week blindfolded. Doubles player
Shannon Etzweiler said Penn State
has seen and played those teams
before and knows what to expect.
"It's not going to be any sur
prise," Etzweiler said of the other
teams' strategies.
Nonetheless, the Lady Lions
have had time to rest since its last
match against Georgetown on
Feb. 20, something that might help
prevent any kind of fatigue prob
lem next week.
"I think it's playing to our
advantage," Etzweiler said.
"Everyone's had a chance to rest
... I think everyone is playing well
right now."
Lady laxers set for
Virginia scrimmage
The women's lacrosse team will
test its strengths and weaknesses
against other Div. I and Div. 111
schools at the William & Mary
Invitational this weekend in
Williamsburg, Va.
The Lady Lions and the rest of
the teams involved will each play
at least 10 games this weekend,
each lasting about 30 minutes,
according to coach Julie Williams.
There are no winners or losers at
the games, rather the coaches just
get to take a look at their teams in
game situations.
"(The players) will use this
tournament to see where they
need to improve before the start
of the season," Williams said.
A lot of the younger players on
the roster will be getting some
much-needed game experience
during the invitational to help
themselves get ready for the sea
son. The invite will also let
Williams play out different sce
narios and see what strategies will
work when the team opens its sea
son at home against Loyola on
March 13.
"You try to look at different
combinations and see what
works," Williams said. "We'll see
what the kids who are vying for
the last couple spots do under
pressure."
Prices
Of Places
Philadelphia $22
by Rob Amen
—by Jim lovino
J \
-
j
(