SPC) 8 I WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010 INFt H NCAA Basketball Weber State at Cincinnati 7 p.m., ESPN2 St. John's at Memphis 9 p.m., ESPN2 NBA New Jersey at Philadelphia 7 p.m., CSN San Antonio at Orlando 8 p.m., ESPN Milwaukee at L.A. Clippers 10:30 p.m., ESPN Pittsburgh at New Jersey 7 p.m., FSP To read full stories psucolleglan.com Champ's roster issue to benefit league With just three seniors grad uating, defending champion Lindenwood is sending recruits to other ACHA foes. Hurt captain Lozano aiding from sidelines Senior Marisa Lozano is con tributing as a coach after her collegiate career ended with an injury in the fall. N S. Journey to Barbados helps PSU prepare With the postseason nearing, the Ruggers traveled to the Caribbean over spring break for competition. Team full of youth ends year with hope Penn State lost two of three at nationals, but the team's young stars gave the Lady Icers promise for next season. Senior defender out remainder of season Coach Suzanne Isidor con firmed Tuesday senior captain Margo Josephs will miss the remainder of the season. The defender was recovering from an anterior cruciate liga ment (ACL) injury suffered last year, and she has decided not to jump in half-way through the year. Isidor hoped Josephs would be ready for the opener, and then expected her each week since. Don't count on Tiger winning the Masters Tiger's back, and it's The Masters. You knew there'd be no way the only golfer within reach of Jack Nicklaus' major wins record would skip this. Returning to a tournament more guarded than Penn State football steadies the media cir cus some, too. But Augusta is the wrong venue for Tiger Woods to return to golf at. One of the country's most challenging courses is too tough to tame having not played in months, even for the World No. 1. Expect Woods to miss the cut. TRIVIA NCAA BASKETBALL Q: How many times have Big East teams made the NCAA tournament? Tuesday's answer. Duke last made the Final Four in 2004. Bracket not Lions' focus By Audrey Snyder COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Monday around midnight, senior Nicole Arcidiacono checked her cell phone and found a text mes sa:e from Co I uese Washington. The message WOMEN'S was the type of con- BASKETBALL firmation the Lady Lions so desper- ately wanted. After waiting up to see if her team would be making an appear ance in the Women's National Invitation Tournament, Arcidiacono was relieved when Washington's text told her the Lions were in. Arcidiacono hurried off to bed and waited to view the rest of the bracket until after class Tuesday. When she first saw the bracket, the UP IN THE AIR Senior runner Fawn Dorr leaps a hurdle during practice Tuesday afternoon at the Nittany Lion Track. The indoor track season ended Saturday with the NCAA championships, and Dorr and her Lions teammates are preparing for their first outdoor event of the year, the Jim Thorpe Invitational on March 27 at Penn State. Pereira's energy aids Lions By Emily Kaplan COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER First, coach Mark Pavlik received letters postmarked from Brasilia, Brazil 4,359 miles away. Then, he received a highlight tape, followed by game MEN'S footage. Then VOLLEYBALL came the e-mails. The Penn State men's volleyball team didn't recruit Thomas Pereira. Pereira recruited the Nittany Lions. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter want ed to play collegiate volleyball in the United States. And he had his heart set on Penn State. Pavlik, who already finalized his recruiting class, couldn't offer any guarantees but told Pereira he Freshmen tandem contributing to offense By Tom Copaln COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER After Saturday's loss to Rutgers, Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel said his young attack ers have been thrown to the MEN'S wolve. Nick Dolik and LACROSSE Billy Gribbin's first five Nittany Lion matches have been just as much a maturation ceremony as they have been games. "Gribbin's done very well," Thiel said." Dolik's been hot-and-cold." senior was impressed by the teams in the field. "Looking through all teams I was like. `Oh they're not in the NCAA, they're in the WNIT?' " Arcidiacono said. "So it's going to be a really competi tive tournament, and it's going to be just as fun for us to Washington keep playing." With the Lions (17-13, 8-10 Big Ten) making their first postseason appearance in five years, Washington said she's happy to coach one of the 128 teams still playing. However, she said the level of competition in this year's WNIT will test her young team and called it a great learning experience. See WNIT, Page 10 should come to State College any way. So Pereira enrolled in classes in summer 2007 and after a tryout, the Lions invited him to walk on. Since the day he joined the team, Pereira has been a consistent source of positive intensity for No. 6 Penn State whether it be in the practice gym or on the sideline. In last Saturday's upset of then- No. 6 Long Beach State, the junior was given his first career start. He tallied a team-high nine digs and provided energy that Pavlik said "really helped spark the guys." The Lions will be looking to that dedica tion and passion to help propel them in the second half of the season. See PEREIRA, Page 10 Penn State is focused after its spring break trip. I SPORTS, Page 12. But the two the team lead in young attackers goals (16) and are finding a role points (18), in Thiel's young Gribbin is second attack core and in in both with 11 doing that, Dolik goals and 14 and Gribbin are points. Dolik has producing beyond contributed as their years. Dolik well, with six goals Gribbin "It's really at a and eight points, point where we fourth on the team. play not thinking as freshmen," And playing up front with Dolik said. "We've kind of grown up Mackrides early in the season has and try not to think of being fresh- allowed the two freshmen to learn men anymore. Trying to take a big from someone who was in their role in the offense." shoes last year and is Penn State's While Matt Mackrides has taken go-to attacker Senior Night flop could be redeemed When the four Lady Lion sen iors suited up Feb. 25 at the Btyce Jordan Center for Senior Night against Wisconsin, everything that could possibly go right, went right for the Badgers. A sloppy game all around by Penn State, the four seniors were tamed from the opening whistle as Wisconsin dominated every facet of the game en route to a 71-39 vic tory Safe to say, it wasn't the way the seniors wanted to go out. Thomas Pereira rides an exercise bike at practice Tuesday. Pereira has provided energy to the Lions since arriving in 2007. By Alex Angert COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER THE DAILY COLLEGIAN But Monday night, those four seniors found out they would get a second chance. For the first time in five years, the Lions will be playing in the postseason, as Penn State hosts Hofstra on Thursday in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament at the BJC, giving the seniors at least one more game on their homecourt. "They were like, Tesss, we can get a chance to redeem ourselves, so to speak.' " coach Coquese Washington said. "I think that will be good for them to get a chance See SENIORS. Page 10. Alden readies for run By Mike Still COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Brian Alden has swam in the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships before but he's never done it alone. Asa freshman MEN'S last year, Alden SWIMMING earned honor able mention All-America sta tus at the 2009 NCAA champi- onships in College Station, Texas, with teammates Vincent Ald en Reydams, Patrick Schirk, Jason Goldaer and Basil Kaaki This year Alden will travel to Columbus, Ohio, as the only Nittany Lion competing in the 2010 NCAA championships start ing March 25, and he's doing all he can this week to prepare. "This last week we've cranked up my pace a little bit, and it's been paying off," Alden said. "We'll probably start taking it down today and tomorrow and take it easy the rest of the week." He'll compete in the 50- and 200-yard freestyle events, having posted the 22nd-best time in the nation in both events, as well as the 100 free, posting the 43rd best time in the country. Alden took fourth in the 100 free and fifth in the 50 free at Big Ten championships this season. "Big Tens was a pretty big stage, and that'll prepare me well for NCAAs," he said. "I think I can go faster than I did at Big Tens." Despite Alden being the only swimmer Penn State will send to Columbus, his teammates are confident he'll perform to his potential. Kaaki, who swam with Alden to a 14th-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay last year at NCAAs, knows what Alden can achieve. "Brian came in as a freshman and really stepped it up," Kaaki said. "It's not anything new for him." Alden will continue to rest up and stay fresh until next Tuesday, when he'll leave for Ohio State. He knows he'll need to focus on his own without the help of his teammates there by his side, but he's excited for the challenge. "I wish I had some teammates there with me," he said. "But I'm gonna do what I can to represent Penn State as best as possible." To e-mail reporter massB6o@psu.edu "Matt's definitely an established good player, great player," Gribbin said. "So we definitely look up to him and try to do things that he does and look to him for advice in the attack part of the offense and everything." Mackrides has obliged, whether it's helping them transition from high school to college life or taking Dolik and Gribbin to shoot around, and as Dolik said, work on things as a three-man attack unit. In return, Dolik and Gribbin each have seen things in Mackrides' game they look to See FRESHMEN, Page 10.
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