Leßlanc teaches women's club soccer team from experience By DARREN STEELE Collegian Staff Writer He looked into all of their eyes with the intensity of a leopard waiting to pounce upon its prey. They looked on, eyes wide and minds open. He had the entire team raring and ready to go. Marlon Leßlanc, coach of the women's club soccer, once again was guiding his team with his heart. Most students at Penn State don't have to worry about coaching strategies. They don't have to balance their work and the responsi bility of being a leader for a group of talent ed young women. Most students don't have to worry about this, but one does. Leßlanc is a senior at Penn State majoring in econom ics. When he graduates, the Heightstown, student will take home with him the memo ries not only of being a part of this universi ty, but a part of a little magic as well. Leßlanc has coached the club team for two years, after taking over toward the end of the 1996 season. Leßlanc has been playing soccer since he was 5. He was named to the New Jersey Netwomen finish fall season at ITA East Regional Championships By GWENN MILLER Collegian Staff Writer The Penn State women's tennis team wrapped up its fall season this past weekend after competing in the ITA East Regional Champi onships at the University of Penn sylvania. The doubles pair of Rebecca Ho and Martina Kopacova posted a 2-1 record, and each finished with a singles record of 0-1. "It's a little disheartening when you get so close and lose 9-7 in a tie breaker," said coach Sue White side, referring to Ho and Kopaco va's close loss to William & Mary. "But they've had an outstanding fall season and have an exciting future." Kopacova and Ho defeated teams from both Fordham and Temple to advance to the third round. There they lost to the eventual champi onship team of Delphine Troch and Carolijn van Rossum from William & Mary. Van Rossum was also the eventual singles champion. In singles competition, Ho lost 6- 3, 4-6, 6-3 to Lindsay Sullivan of William & Mary, but her coach was pleased nonetheless. "Rebecca played very well," Whiteside said. "She's done a lot of great things as a freshman." Kopacova also lost her lone sin gles match, falling to Rebecca Can nom of Cornell. But Kopacova was pleased with the doubles play. "It was one of our best efforts," she said Teresa Whiteside and Kelley Margolis fell 8-5 to the No. 1-seed ed team of Cannom and Jodie Hur ley from Cornell in the first round of doubles competition. etwoman freshman learning how to adapt to college tennis By GWENN MILLER Collegian Staff Writer Being a freshman in college is hard enough. When a varsity sport at a Big Ten university is added to the equation it gets even harder. Just ask Rebecca Ho. Ho is a top player on the Penn State women's tennis team and a freshman planning to major in architectural engineering. "It's hard to balance academics and sports," Ho said. However, her performance on the court gives no hint to any out side pressures she may feel. Since September, she has participated in three national tournaments, includ ing the ITA All-America Tourna ment at UCLA. SVOBODA'S BOOKS FICTION SALE 20% off LITERATURE (AMERICAN & WORLD) SCIENCE FICTION MYSTERY *sale applies to all non-text books in stock NOVEMBER 1-30 &ODOM& 11‘ 461) _ The Corner of Beaver & Burrowes 227 W. Beaver Ave. State College, PA 16801 (814) 237-6171 / svobooks@aol.com Olympic Development Program (ODP) for four years in a row starting at age 13. The coach was named to the region I the northeast's region ODP team twice. He has played for some of the most famous coaches in the game today. All of his pre-college experience must have paid off because he is adored by his fel low coaches, players and friends. "He's probably one of the greatest coaches I've ever had," said senior Katie Stober. "He has confidence in us. We look at him with a lot of respect. We see how much time he puts into this team, and how much he loves it. That makes us work harder." His record is proof of that. Leßlanc has coached the team to an undefeated record this year, and his overall record is a stellar 31-5-1. The team fell a few goals shy of the national championship last year. "Winning the national championship would be a great achievement in my life," Leßlanc said. "Our school has never won a champi onship in soccer. What I would like to see most of all is for these girls to feel what it is like to win the national title. We have worked so hard for it." "Rebecca played very well. She's done a lot of great things as a freshman." Sue Whiteside Penn State coach Despite the loss, coach Whiteside was happy with the pair's perfor mance "They implemented a lot of good things that we worked on in prac tice," she said. For each of the four competitors, it was her first time playing in the ITA Championships, which is the culminating event of the fall sea son. "They were definitely ready," said Whiteside. "They put in a real ly good practice before the start of the tournament." However, the eagerness of Kopa cova and Ho was put to the test when they were forced to wait over six hours for their match to start Saturday. They were supposed to be on the courts at 3:30 p.m. but didn't begin competing until 9:30 p.m. "I think that the tournament had too many players," said Kopacova. "I had to wait long times to play." Coach Whiteside said the sched uling of the matches was an extra obstacle for the players. "It is difficult to wait because they have to plan when they must warm up, eat meals and be mental ly prepared." The next scheduled event for the Lions is not until Feb. 13 when they play West Virginia. "She has displayed great compo sure," said coach Sue Whiteside. "Rebecca is very mature for a freshman." It was exactly that composure that led Whiteside to recruit Ho in the first place. "We saw a video of her and saw that she had good, basic fundamen tals," Whiteside said. "She had no glaring weaknesses and was very composed." That composure quite possibly could come from her years of play ing experience. She first picked up a racket at age 6 and has been play ing ever since. But her road to Penn State was a little different than that of most other athletes. Ho was born in Hong Kong and moved with her parents to Canada Leßlanc's team always has worked hard. It seems to be a tradition ever since he start ed coaching. "I was a referee at one of their games, and they asked my to come workout and train with them," Leßlanc said. Leßlanc took a position as an official after his playing days ended with the Penn State varsity team. "Things just didn't workout," he said of his Nittany Lion playing days. "I almost left to play somewhere else. I just couldn't pull myself away, though. I love Penn State, I really love this school." Leßlanc's love for the school is evident in his emotional coaching methods, and the team feeds off that emotion. It creates a bond that any squad would envy. "Marlon is a tremendous player himself," said Carissa Lawson, an All-American senior defender. "He came to the team my sopho more year. He has so much energy. He has a great mind for this game." The excitable coach gives a good reason for the team's unity. "I hope these girls really respect what we're trying to accomplish," he said. "They Teresa Whiteside gets ready to rip a forehand shot earlier this season. The Lady Lions finished the fall season at the ITA East Regional Championships. when she was 9. Over the years, her parents have helped with her decisions about school and tennis. Canadian high schools do not have interscholastic tennis programs, which meant that Ho had a private coach until college began. "My parents encouraged me to play," Ho said. "They were a big part of my decision to go to Penn State." Ho looked at other Big Ten schools, including Michigan and Minnesota, but found that Penn State had the most to offer as far as academics and sports. "The academic programs were a major part of my choice," she said. "There is definitely an advantage to being an athlete here. The school is very supportive." Ho has won the support of her teammates as well. "Rebecca is doing very well as freshman," said junior co-captain Pilar Montgomery. "She has a good head on her shoulders. She is very strong, I've played her, and she has a strong forehand." Whiteside also praised Ho's strength on the court, both mental and physical. "Rebecca is an extremely tough competitor and hits the ball hard. She is definitely strong from the baseline," Whiteside said. "She has good mental composure and it is important to be mentally tough." Ho's composure has led to a suc cessful first season of intercolle giate athletics, and it has been a learning experience. In singles know when I'm serious and when I'm goof ing around. It's been great for both of us. We have had no problems with chemistry. I attribute that to Phil (Gouker, the assistant coach) and myself picking a hell of a team this year. We picked players that would get along with us, and with each other." The coach realizes things will come to an end when he graduates. "After this team is gone, I will have a big void to fill in my life," he said. "I will have a lot of time to fill. I truly believe that I want to coach sometime in the near future." That might be inevitable. After Merrill Lynch the corporation for which the coach interned for five years recently laid off 3,400 workers, Leßlanc realized coaching may soon become a more realistic future for him. "It's time for me to figure out what I want to do with my life," he said. "I spent most of my summer working with Barry Gorman, the men's coach. "We participated in coaching at a lot of soccer camps. I'm starting to lean towards coaching as something I want do. It's becom ing a realism for me." Collegian Photo/Wendy Zeller competition, she has advanced to the semifinals in many tourna ments. She and doubles partner Martina Kopacova have an 8-3 record and recently upset the No. 4 and 5 seeds at the All-America Tourna ment. "I'm surprised and pleased with my play so far," Ho said. "I didn't expect to have as much opportuni ty to play as I as do." So far, Ho has survived the gru eling task of balancing academics and a varsity sport. She said she is less nervous with every match and is close friends with her team mates. "I had to adjust to college life pretty quickly," she said. "I really like it here." FRIES WITH ANY CHEESESTEAK CHICKEN OR BEEF DOWNTOWN LOCATION ONLY SIEMENS Westinghouse This is your time, your chance to pull ahead You've never had this much power before. Here's how you can make the most of it... 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