10 I Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010
leers looking to stay sharp heading into second half-:
By Anthony Barton
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
The Penn State leers need to
have a better second half of the
season in order to put themselves
in a good position
heading into the
leat.
playoffs.
Following a
lackluster first
half that saw the team lose five of
its 10 games against ranked oppo
nents, the No. 11 leers (12-5-0,3-3-
0 ESCHL) know to make the
ACHA national playoffs, they can
ill afford to get swept again by
ranked teams.
They were swept by Rhode
Island on Nov. 12-13.
Penn State has its final game of
the first half Friday against
unranked Niagara.
Following the game, the leers
Win
From Page 8.
who overcame a 3-of-14 night from
the field to score the Lions’ last
seven points. The Mountaineers’
Lamar Trice answered with a
funky shot, hopping on one foot
across the lane and nearly travel
ing in the process. The Lions then
held for one, setting up Battle's
late-game and potentially season
saving heroics.
"We just played so poorly and I
think with a lack of energy or emo
tion or whatever you wanna call
it," Battle said. "We just didn't
have it, and that carried over for
us making shots and defending.
"There’s no excuse for how we
played."
The Lions, playing without for
wards DJ Jackson and Billy
Oliver, didn't get off to a great
Respect
From Page 8.
and early ’6os? There was no one I
guess. We played teams like Army,
Navy teams like that which I
guess had lost their luster. There
was no one else in the East to go
along with us, to help carry the
load."
Penn State was able to shed the
inferior perception after 1973
Heisman Trophy winner John
Cappelletti, several bowl wins,
bulked-up schedules and two
national championships in the
1980 s before finally joining a con
ference the Big Ten in 1993.
.After several years of stepping
into the national spotlight, TCU
and Boise State have gradually fol
lowed suit. TCU will join an auto
matic-qualifying conference, the
D’Errico
From Page 8.
statistics. However, the coach said
her impact is “a very high one,”
which is evident by D’Errico’s trio
of rings and the 109 straight wins
she helped the program accumu
late from Sept. 21,2007 to Sept. 11,
2010.
“She brings a lot of leadership
as far as making sure everybody is
on the same page, and trying to be
energetic," said Arielle Wilson,
one of two other seniors going for
a fourth title and D’Errico's room
mate for three years.
"She has a big role, and means a
lot, especially in terms of leader
ship."
But even before she came to
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begin an extended winter break.
The break will span more than
two weeks and many of the Penn
State players will spend it concen
trating on staying in shape and
resting injuries.
Sophomore forward George
Saad said he knows the manager
of a local ice rink in Gibsonia, Pa.
and will use the connection to
practice there multiple times a
week
ICERS
“I definitely will try to get on
the ice as much as possible." Saad
said.
“Besides that, I plan on staving
in shape, rehabbing my knee and
getting back in the swing of things
so when we come back I'm on top
of my game.”
While many of the leers will
have similar breaks to Saad's. a
few won’t have to deal swith as
much time off.
“The only positive is we won a game down the
stretch.”
start, but they went into halftime
with a nine-point lead.
They shot a respectable 44.8
percent from the field in the first
half and out-rebounded the
Mountaineers, 22-11. Nine of those
rebounds were offensive.
But to start the second half, the
Lions couldn't hold onto the ball.
On five of their first seven posses
sions of the half, they turned it
over and watched their lead evap
orate. The Lions finished with 13
turnovers, 11 in the second half, to
just 10 assists.
After playing five games in 12
days, Battle said the team is
"fatigued" and looking forward to
Big East, starting in 2012 and will
play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl
on Jan. 1.
The Broncos defeated
Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl
following an undefeated 2006 sea
son and won six of its last seven
games against opponents from
BCS automatic-qualifying confer
ences, as has TCU. Earlier this
season, Boise State defeated then
lOth-ranked Virginia Tech, but the
Hokies lost only five days later to
FCS James Madison of the
Colonial Athletic Association
(CAA).
The Broncos only loss came on
Nov. 26 to then-No. 19 Nevada in
overtime. The perceived inferiori
ty left TCU out of the national
championship and Boise State out
of a BCS-bowl game.
Similarly, two seasons after
beating Missouri, the 1971 Lions
play volleyball at Penn State.
D'Errico was no stranger to unde
feated seasons, winning streaks
and championships.
D'Errico helped her team win
the New York state championship
in each of her final three years at
Byron-Bergen High School. Her
team went undefeated in both her
junior and senior seasons, and
D'Errico finished her high school
career with 57 straight wins.
She attributes her winning ways
to being raised in a competitive
family. Both her parents. Cindy
and Dave, played volleyball at
SUNY Brockport and her older
sister, Brianna played volleyball at
Division 111 Ithaca College.
"Everything we did had to be
about who wins and who loses."
the senior recalled. "So when vou
SPORTS
Two leers, senior assistant cap
tain Tim O'Brien, the team’s lead
ing scorer, and sophomore for
ward Eric Steinour, will be part of
the United States. World
University’ Games team and will
travel to Turkey to compete at the
end of January.
During the break, three warm
up games are scheduled at the
end of December for the U.S.
team, including a final game
against Division I University of
Vermont.
O'Brien said having the warm
up games definitely changes the
way he will go about handling the
break.
"With the games, I’ll definitely
be in the gym riding the bike more
and try and get on the ice as much
as I can.” O'Brien said.
"It'll definitely be more work
than usual, but it will all be worth
today's dav off. The Lions now
have five days to prepare for I
Virginia Tech, who represent the \
Lions' last opportunity for a state-
ment non-conference win. !
However, this isn't exactly the
performance the Lions were look- j
ing tor going into one of their
biggest games of the season, j
There's only one positive that can
be taken from the game against
the Mountaineers, Battle said.
"The only positive is we won a
game down the stretch." Battle
said. "That's the only positive
thing we can take out of it.
!u e mail reporter: jpss226@psu.edu
team entered the Cotton Bowl
against No. 12 Texas with one loss,
a 31-11 setback to No. 11
Tennessee. Though Penn State
garnered respect after drubbing
Texas 30-6. Lou Prato author of
The Penn State Football
Encyclopedia said the Lions
subsequently lost it in the 1972
season opener, when Tennessee
beat them again, this time by a
touchdown.
"Even when the East Coast
teams won. nothing would ever
satisfy the critics." Prato said.
In 1969. there were 11 bowls,
and the top-two teams didn't meet
against each other in a consensus
national championship. Ohio State
was No. 1 and a perennial power
house before its final game
against Michigan. Penn State, an
independent at the time, chose its
bowl before the Ohio State-
have that childhood and you're
always fighting to be the best, I
think that gives you the attributes
to apply not only to athletics, but
academics and organizations. You
always want to do your best and
kind of be atop the pile when
everything ends."
Cindy D'Errico, who also
coached Alyssa's high school
team, has been coaching volley
ball since before Alyssa was born.
When Alyssa was younger. Cindy
would take her family to Happy
Valley for the East Coast champi
onships.
So at Ree Hall, the building in
which Alyssa will play a match for
the final time this weekend in the
NCAA Regionals. she first came to
when she was just 3 years old.
After being around the campus
it when I pull on that team USA
jersey.”
Coach Scott Balboni said what
his players do to prepare during
the break could decide how the
second half of Penn State’s season
goes.
“We send them home with a
conditioning packet in hopes they
will at least keep up their condi
tioning off ice,” Balboni said. "On
top of that, we hope they rest any
injuries they’ve been dealing with
throughout the season so that
they come back healthy and ready
to go.”
Sophomore defenseman Rich
O’Brien agrees the team needs to
be ready, noting their first games
back are a pair of road games
against No. 4 Ohio.
To prepare. Balboni said the
team will return to State College a
week before the other students.
Talor Battle
senior guard
finds a way to help us win the
game. And as a senior guard,
who has been through the w ars a
bunch, he's a special kid. a spe
cial player and found a wav to
win."
Battle said late in the second
half, he knew it just wasn't his
night. So he tried to draw fouls
by attacking the rim hard.
He hit two free throws to kick
off his seven point stretch in the
last two minutes.
Aside from a nine-point per
formance in a blowout of Central
Connecticut State - where
many bench players saw signifi
cant playing time Battle had
been averaging close to 22 points
Michigan and Texas Arkansas
games both important ranked
matchups at the time.
Ohio State was not bow l eligible
because of the Big Ten s no-repeat
rule, keeping the Buckeyes from
the Big Ten-affiliated Rose Bow!
because they had been to it a year
before.
Ohio State subsequently lost its
last game to Michigan, and Texas
cemented itself as the No. 1 team
after beating Arkansas.
Penn State wouldn't have a
chance to play the Longhorns in
the Cotton Bowl after already
accepting a bid to the Orange
Bowl in anticipation of Ohio State
being national champions.
"‘lf we could have waited until
after the ninth game of the season
and picked, we probably w'ould've
chosen to go play [Texas] down
there and could've played for the
from a young age. it was always
Alyssa's dream to wear blue and
w'hite. However, no one could've
predicted that dream would
evolve into three national titles,
with the chance for a fourth.
"I don't think she ever envi
sioned being part of that type of an
opportunity," her mother said.
"Tradition has certainly been very,
very strong at Penn State. Even
participating in one championship
is a feat that is unbelievable. And
then to win it three years in a row
is a phenomenal feat."
But the Byron. N.Y. native never
let all of the winning get to her
head.
"You always have to fight to get
better," Alyssa said. "There's
always something you can get bet
ter at. You're never the best.
Battle
From Page 8.
DeChellis said. "And then he
made the big plays at the end ...
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With no classes, the leers will,*
spend extra time watching filing
and fine tuning their skills in timeS
for their games against the. j
Bobcats. '
Balboni said during a team J
meeting Monday he stressed the, 1
importance of finishing strong, but,'!
believes this year’s second half is !
even more important to the sue- ;
cess of the season. ]
He said the team can’t stumble ’•
because of the games they already''
dropped.
"I still think positively we can
end up with a decent ranking and
get into Nationals with some
home-ice advantage,” Balboni'-
said.
"But to do that we have to win
some big hockey games in the sec?
ond half"
To e-mail reporter: acbsls2@psu.edu.
per game. Tuesday night,
though. Battle scored just two
points in the first half.
"It was just the kind of night it
was." Battle said. "I couldn't hit
anything."
Yet the senior said he hopes
most of those memories will be
erased with his late-game hero
ics. Because for that shot that
one moment he felt like his,
normal self. • 1
Battle wasn't the only one who
tell confident with two seconds
left.
Freshman Taran Buie —►
Battle s half-brother said he'
had faith when he saw the ball in
Battle's hands.
"He's our go-to-guy on the
team." Buie said. "There was
nobody else that was going to
take that shot"
oeof : exkso49@psu.edu.
national championship" Pittman
"Things just didn't work out"
The Orange Bowl decision stig-'N
matized Penn State.
"They're constantly being'
accused o! ducking Texas." Prato
said. "Thev didn't duck Texas."
Though now a newer version. •
the bowl system did the same to '
Boise State and TCU. as the BCS
forced then 1 , to play each other in .
their previous two postseason
games the Fiesta and j
Poinsettia bowls - allowing >
debates of the mid majors' legiti- [
macy to continue. •
"You have the weak teams inM
the First." Prato said. "You have
the weak teams in the West. You -
have the weak teams all over the
countrv."
To e-maT mro-ieo bjmsl46@psu.edu
Whether it be internationally,
whether it be eollegiately. there is
always somebody that's going to
be training harder than you. play
ing better than you."
Ultimately. D'Krrico isn't think- >
ing about the three titles she won ]
in high school or the three she has i
already won at Penn State (28-5). '
She’s focused on the potential of :
helping her team to four more .
wins and. she hopes, finishing her
career with another victory in a
national championship match.
'I don't really care about the •
win streaks. I don't care about the ,
amount of wins that I've had." •
D'Krrico said. ]
"I'm worried about the ones
that are ahead of me."
specter jyksl42@psu.edu