Tag Archives: sports

October 13, 2010 · 11:23 pm

XAVIER GOLD RUSH NEWS!

The following courtesy of Xavier (LA) Sports Information:

NEW ORLEANS — For the fourth time this season, Xavier University of Louisiana‘s Matt Pieri is the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Runner of the Week in men’s cross country.
Pieri, a sophomore from New Orleans and a graduate of Brother Martin High School, ran 8,000 meters in a season-best 28 minutes, 15.31 seconds Friday to finish 18th out of 74 non-NCAA Division I runners in the Mississippi College/Watson Ford Invitational at Clinton, Miss. Overall he placed 36th out of 131 men.
Pieri is the second Gold Rush harrier to win the GCAC award four or more times in a season since its establishment in 2008. Mark Dotson won five times in 2009. Xavier has won all five GCAC men’s Runner of the Week awards this season — Ray Walston earned the other — and 12 of 14 since the start of the 2009 season.
Xavier’s next meet — its final one of the regular season — will be the Demon Invitational at Walter P. Ledet Track Complex in Natchitoches, La., on October 22. The women’s 6,000-meter race will start at 4 p.m., followed by the men’s 8,000-meter race at 4:30. Northwestern State is the host school.

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October 12, 2010 · 11:34 pm

TOP 25 LISTS ONE-LINERS

TO LIVEN UP THIS WEEK’S TOP 25 LISTS I’M INCLUDING A BRIEF ONE-LINE COMMENT (AS OPPOSED TO A LENGTHY ONE-LINE COMMENT) ON EACH TEAM

NAIA FOOTBALL

1. SIOUX FALLS COUGARS – How many of you will just plain throw up if I use the word “threepeat” one more time about USF?

2. CC FIGHTING SAINTS – No, not the Attacking Amish, the Fighting Saints who had a bye last Saturday.

3. ST XAVIER COUGARS – Kicker Tom “Tommy the Linchpin” Lynch was the Association’s Special Teams Player Of The Week, but Anthony “Crop-Man” Kropp and Mike “M Squared” Maher are still part of this super-team.

4. MORNINGSIDE MUSTANGS – The Mustangs are champing at the bit to take on Sioux Falls in a battle of the unbeatens which will also be this Saturday’s Victory Sports Network Game Of The Week.

5. MNU PIONEERS – As long as this team has QB Sean “How Bad” Ransburg at the controls you just know nobody wants to face them in the playoffs. (Yes, 1A football fans, the divisions covered by Balladeer’s Blog settle it all on the field)

6. LINDENWOOD LIONS- Last year the Lions gave reigning champs Sioux Falls almost more than they could handle in the Championship Game. One of the toughest schedules in the country may be all that prevents them from returning to Rome. (Not that one! Rome, GA, site of the NAIA Championship Game)

7. MCPHERSON BULLDOGS – The Bulldogs are slugging their way through the KCAC, ready to gnaw on any playoff opponents they may face in the post-season.

8. ST FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS – Yes, it’s a little-known federal law that 72% of the teams in the NAIA have to be called the Cougars.

9. DICKINSON STATE BLUE HAWKS – These boys have been kicking butts and taking names since the Thursday night start of NAIA football back in August. Many people want to know why they haven’t been a Cool-Named Team Of The Day yet.

10. MO VALLEY COLLEGE VIKINGS – 100% Brett Favre-free! Which means they play like a team and nobody makes excuses by dramatically clutching their elbow every time something goes wrong! Watch out for these Vikes!

11. OTTAWA (KS) BRAVES – The Braves started the season with a win in the Rivalry Renewed Game against Baker in this season’s debut VSN Game Of The Week and have been fighting like Saints (I’m kidding!) all season long!

12. WILLIAM PENN STATESMEN – Before the season started very few were giving this team any respect but they’ve done it the old-fashioned way like Smith-Barney and EAAAAAARRRNED it!

13. WALSH CAVALIERS – Ohio’s oldest team called Cavaliers are a force to be reckoned with and were even on my Top 20 College Sports Logos list months ago!

14. KANSAS WESLEYAN COYOTES – Cool name, cool logo, cool performances on the field from our 3rd Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference team on the list!

15. S DAKOTA MINES AND TECHNOLOGY HARDROCKERS – The Hardrockers have been playing with style in their farewell year in the Dakota Athletic Conference!

16. CUMBERLAND BULLDOGS – Their coach may be Bland (rimshot) but you can always count on Cumberland teams to shine on the gridiron and the diamond and at Pavanapalooza Events!

17. NORTHWESTERN (IA) RED RAIDERS – The Red Raiders convinced any skeptics about their legitimacy when they nearly upset the Sioux Falls Cougars in their 1st game of the season.   

18. MARIAN KNIGHTS – To toot my own horn I was dead-on in my pre-season predictions about how lethal this team would be this season!

19. MCKENDREE BEARCATS – Look for the Bearcats to draw motivation from being the latest victim of St Francis’ (IL) last-minute upsets last Saturday.

20. BENEDICTINE RAVENS – Balladeer’s Blog tagged them as a team to watch before they were ranked (Yes, I love patting myself on the back!) and you can just insert your own Poe joke here.

T21. MONTANA TECH OREDIGGERS – Anyone who thought they had the Frontier Conference figured out this year (beyond having the Fighting Saints in the driver’s seat) was quickly proven to be insane this season! Charley Oredigger is pleased to surprise anyone who doubted them!

T21. WEBBER INTERNATIONAL WARRIORS – The Warriors came out to plaaaaa-aaaaaayyyyy (bad movie buffs will get it), handing the mighty Azusa Pacific Cougars their 1st loss of the year and then taking down NCAA Division 2’s 17th-ranked UNC-Pembroke Braves in back-to-back weeks.

23. LANGSTON LIONS – If you like Langston Hughes you’ll LOVE the Langston Lions (fellow poetry geeks will get it) who are determined to roar their way into the post-season.

24. AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS – The team with the coolest helmets on the West Coast may have had a rough couple of weekends but are likely to bounce back in a big way!

25. FRIENDS FALCONS – “…And countrymen!” (Sorry) It seems appropriate to end the Top 25 list with yet another Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference team, doesn’t it?

I’ll do one-liners for D3 football’s Top 25 list next week. Here are links to the other Top 25 polls.

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October 12, 2010 · 12:24 am

LINDENWOOD NEWS NETWORK: WITH GUEST COMMENTATOR TIBBS

 This time my guest commentator is Tibbs, a cat who belongs to one of my other sisters – Debbie. Tibbs wants equal time for cats after my sister Rosemary’s dog Bogie (named after Humphrey Bogart, not a golfing term) acted as a Guest Commentator a few weeks ago. Tibbs thinks she would make a great mascot for a feline-named sports team so to underline that fact she wanted to do her guest stint for the Lindenwood Lions. Tibbs’ comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Balladeer’s Blog.

Tibbs: In women’s ACHA ice hockey, Lindenwood will host the Robert Morris (IL) Eagles this weekend. The Eagles and the Lady Lions have won the last 6 ACHA Hockey Championships.  Personally I like to hunt Eagles down and then deposit them on my Mommy Debbie’s front doorstep, but she’s too uncivilized to appreciate this gesture.

Tibbs: The 6th-ranked Lions football team will be hosting the Culver-Stockton Wildcats this Saturday afternoon for Lindenwood’s Homecoming Game. Since both teams are named after cats I’m torn on this game and will probably just root for individual stats like I did last week when the Lions played Baker. Speaking of last week’s game, Lindenwood’s QB “Phootball” Philip Stabek (My uncle, the guy who usually writes this blog, is forcing me to use that lame nickname) set a school record with 6 touchdown passes in that 48-14 win. Since Culver-Stockton is winless at this point, the 5-1 Lions should have another huge win to please the Homecoming crowd. 

Tibbs: The Lady Lions volleyball team is ranked #21, sports an 18-11 record and this weekend hosts the Lindenwood Invitational. Before that event they face the MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers and then in the Invitational will face the Avila Eagles, the Oklahoma City Stars and the Olivet Nazarene Tigers among others. I’m really going to “dig” this tournament! Get it? I “kill” me! Volleyball term jokes: I’ve never met anyone who DOESN’T love them!

TIBBS: The Lindenwood men’s soccer team is also ranked #21 and is off to a 9-3 start. This coming Saturday they play at the #14 Benedictine Ravens. Insert your own “Cat mascot devouring a bird mascot” joke here since I already used one above.

TIBBS: The men’s ice hockey team is still ranked #1 and is 5-1 so far in its non-conference slate. This week they travel to Indiana, whose team is currently 3-3. Last year the Lions crushed Indiana by scores of 12-0 and 9-1 so Lindenwood can definitely say “Hoosier” Daddy? to Indiana.

Well, that wraps up my turn as a guest commentator for my uncle. To tell the people at Lindenwood to just photoshop a lion’s mane on to my picture and use me as their new mascot click here: http://www.lindenwoodlions.com/

 

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October 11, 2010 · 3:44 am

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM – XAVIER (LA)

XAVIER (LA) GOLD RUSH/GOLD NUGGETS

Location: New Orleans, LA

Division: NAIA

Conference Affiliation: Gulf Coast Athletic Conference

Major sports: basketball, tennis, volleyball, cross country 

Site: http://www.xula.edu/athletics/ 

Comment: In the opposite of what you might think, it’s the women’s teams that are called the Gold Nuggets while the men’s teams are the Gold Rush. An interesting fact is that since 1996 the Gold Nuggets basketball team has fewer home losses than Pat Summit‘s Lady Volunteers!  

For past Cool Helmets that weren’t on the Top 20 List click here: https://glitternight.com/category/cool-helmets/

For Cool-Named Teams that weren’t on that Top 20 List click here: https://glitternight.com/category/cool-names-and-cool-logos/

For the NCAA Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/      

 For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/ 

 For The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/ 

 For The 20 Coolest Football Helmets In NCAA Division 3 click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/08/23/the-20-coolest-football-helmets-in-ncaa-division-3/    

 For the 20 Coolest-Named Sports Teams In NCAA Division 2 click here: https://glitternight.com/d2-20-coolest/  

 Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions.   

 © Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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October 10, 2010 · 4:26 pm

NOTEWORTHY RESULTS FROM OCTOBER 9TH’S GAMES

MVC VIKINGS TIE NAIA RECORD – As hyped here yesterday the 11th-ranked Missouri Valley College Vikings had a chance to tie the NAIA record for total football victories at 560 and, as luck would have it, were playing against the team that had a 1-win edge over them: the William Jewell Cardinals! As this “What are the chances?” game unfolded, the Vikings actually trailed at half-time 13-10 but went on to win by a score of 40-23. Congratulations to MVC and it will be interesting to watch the Vikings and Cardinals jockey to see who gets to hold the new record week by week. 

Hurlin’ Hewitt Enters The Record Books – In a game played Friday night, Johns Hopkins Blue Jays QB Hurlin’ Hewitt Tomlin became the all-time wins leader for Blue Jays quarterbacks as JHU crushed the Dickinson Red Devils 44-10. Tomlin also had a personal best 4 td passes in the game  and threw for 271 yards. Next week the Blue Jays take it on the road against the 5-0 Ursinus Bears, who currently sit at the top of the Centennial Conference standings. 

Top 25 Upsets – NAIA – Thursday night the unranked Georgetown (KY) Tigers pulled off an upset over the 25th-ranked Campbellsville Tigers 52-21 … In a minor upset the #9 St Francis (IN) Cougars defeated the 8th-ranked Walsh Cavaliers 20-14 … The 12th-ranked McKendree Bearcats were also upset, losing to the unranked St Francis (IL) Fighting Saints 28-24 in the final seconds, with last-second upsets being a Fighting Saints specialty of late … Both the other teams tied for 25th lost to unranked opponents: the Hastings Broncos fell to the Midland Lutheran Warriors 35-23, Midland’s 2nd straight win over a ranked team and the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves upset the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers for the Tigers’ 2nd straight loss to an unranked foe. 

Top 25 Upsets – NCAA Division 3 – The #17 Eau Claire Blugolds got pummeled on the road by the unranked Platteville Pioneers 35-14 … The 19th-ranked Wabash Little Giants (Am I the only one who thinks they should be called the Wabash Cannonballs instead?) also lost on the road, to the Washington (MO) Bears 24-20 … Completing our Trifecta of ranked teams losing on the road to unranked foes are the St John’s Johnnies, who fell to the Bethel (MN) Royals in a 17-14 Instant Classic.

Top 25 Upsets – NCAA Division 2 – The 22nd ranked Winston-Salem State Rams, in their 1st year back in D2 after moving down from Division 1, suffered their 1st loss of the year to the St Augustine’s Falcons 40-35 … The #23 Tusculum Pioneers also fell at home to the Newberry Wolves in a 63-56 Mega-Shootout … As proof that “Rock beats Fighting Scots”, the 24th-ranked Edinboro Fighting Scots lost at The Rock of Slippery Rock 28-14 and the #25 CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves fell to the Colorado Mines Orediggers by a score of 19-16.   

Webber International and Concordia (AL) Rule The World – Two NAIA teams logged wins over Division 2 opponents yesterday. The Webber International Warriors, 1 week after handing the Azusa Pacific Cougars their 1st loss of the year, brought down the UNC-Pembroke Braves, who were ranked #17 in the D2 Poll, by a score of 26-13. Meanwhile, the Concordia (AL) Hornets won on the road against D2’s Stillman (Yawn) Tigers in an 18-17 Instant Classic. Congratulations to the Warriors and the Hornets and here’s wishing that half the college teams called Tigers would be required to change  their names to something less over-used.  

“At Least Put A Color In Front Of Tigers” Dept – D2’s 18th-ranked Tuskegee Golden Tigers were road warriors yesterday, traveling to take on the 20th-ranked Morehouse Maroon Tigers and pulling off a 31-15 win.

It’s A Cliche, But Someone’s “0” Will Go – The NAIA’s Top-Ranked Sioux Falls Cougars (raise your hand if you’re sick of me mentioning that they’re trying to Threepeat as National Champs) won handily yesterday, mauling the Briar Cliff Chargers 66-21. Meanwhile, 1 of the few teams to play USF tough in recent years, the 4th-ranked Morningside Mustangs, obliterated the Dordt Defenders by a score of 71-0. This means both teams go in to next week’s meeting at USF with 6-0 records, adding even extra spice to the matchup in what is sure to be a memorable Victory Sports Network Game Of The Week. “Getcher popcorn ready” as a certain locker-room wrecking wide receiver once said.   

We Went To A Football Game And A Baseball Game Broke Out- This week’s entry for this category would be the game between the Shenandoah Hornets and the Maryville Scots, both from D3. The Hornets won 7-6 in a game where Bud Selig for once didn’t have to worry about bad umpiring.

Lindsey Wilson College Wins Again – Like the Notre Dame College Falcons, the Lindsey Wilson College Blue Raiders are in their 1st year of intercollegiate football. Yesterday the Blue Raiders got their 2nd win  by defeating the Pikeville Bears in an offensive supernova, 59-52.

Bearcats Tie Their Own Record – The Northwest Missouri Bearcats, ranked #6 in the D2 Polls, tied their own record for consecutive conference wins at 41 by defeating the Missouri Southern Lions 49-21. Coach Tjeerdsma’s boys try to set a new record next week against the Emporia State Hornets.

“Our Division Can Beat Up Your Division” Dept – In this week’s round in the rivalry between the NAIA and NCAA Division 3 things ended in a stalemate. The NAIA’s Southern Virginia Knights kicked around D3’s Guilford Quakers 36-21 but then the Lewis And Clark Pioneers from D3 evened things up by defeating  the NAIA’s Menlo Oaks 31-10. 

How Long, Oh Lord, How Long? – The Marathon Game Of The Week Award goes to the matchup between the Methodist Monarchs and the Ferrum Panthers. The game wound up as a 51-45 win for the Panthers in Triple Overtime.  

Generals Exterminate The Wasps – Insert your own Dalek joke here following that title. The Washington and Lee Generals defeated 1 of the teams that has given them the most trouble over the years, the Emory and Henry Wasps, 45-24. The Generals had 2 backs run for over 100 yds, Luke “The Lambaster” Heinsohn (130 yds; 1 TD) and “Bullet” Brett Murray (121 yds; 2 TD) and a 3rd, Harrison Hudson, “The Hawk” himself, had 95 yds. QB Charlie Westfal, Official Balladeer’s Blog nickname, “The New Canaan Nuke”, was 6 of 9 for 66 yds and 2 TD and added 65 yds and another TD with his legs. (His kidneys had just 11 yds rushing) Washington and Lee is 2-0 in conference play and still hoping to win their 1st Old Dominion Athletic Conference title since 2006. The Generals get to try exterminating another insect team next week as they face the Randolph–Macon Yellow Jackets.

We Went To A Football Game And A Basketball Game Broke Out – With Midnight Madness just around the corner, this category doesn’t seem as unusual as in past weeks. This week’s entry is the 84-55 win the Union Bulldogs had over the Bethel (TN) Wildcats.

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October 8, 2010 · 11:21 pm

COLLEGE GRIDIRON PREVIEW FOR THIS WEEKEND

 The NAIA’s Top-Ranked Sioux Falls Cougars are 5-0 and going on the road to take on the Briar Cliff Chargers.  The Chargers are coming off their 17-7 win over the Dordt Defenders but are 2-3 overall. Cougars receiver Jon “Mountain Lion” Ryan was named the Great Plains Athletic Conference Player Of The Week on offense and must be champing at the bit to get his hands on the ball again this week, considering the fact that last year USF beat the Chargers 41-8. Will the Cougars move to 6-0, or will Briar Cliff catch them looking ahead to next  Saturday’s game  against the Morningside Mustangs, one of USF’s toughest foes of late? Plus there’s the continuing drama of the Cougars trying to threepeat as NAIA football champs!

 The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays take the field Friday night, October 8th, hosting the Dickinson Red Devils. The Blue Jays will be trying to put last week’s game, in which their gutsy comeback attempt versus the Muhlenberg Mules fell short, 30-27, behind them. Some individual Blue Jays will also be playing for the record books. QB “Hurlin'” Hewitt Tomlin will have his 2nd try at becoming the all-time wins leader for a Johns Hopkins starter. Meanwhile, WR Tucker “The Trapster” Michels needs 114 more receiving yards to become the 7th Blue Jay to reach 2,000.

 And speaking of records and the like, the 6th-ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats can match their 41-game conference winning streak with a win Saturday evening against the Missouri Southern Lions. The Bearcats have won 15 straight against the Lions and lead the overall series 17-4. Northwest comes in with a 3-1 record, Southern with a 2-3 record. The conference the 2 play in is the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association. 

 A week after making Head Coach Frank Miriello the winningest coach in program history, the Washington and Lee Generals take on the Emory and Henry Wasps. The Generals are hoping to improve to 3-2, but the Wasps have been a tough hive to crack for the Washington and Lee football team. Emory and Henry leads the all-time series 28-11 and have won the last 2 in a row including last year’s 23-16 Instant Classic in Emory. Just as Rutgers is remembered as the site of the 1st ever college football game in 1869,  Washington and Lee is remembered for playing the Virginia Military Institute in the 1st college football game played in the south, way back in 1873. 

 The 2-2 Wingate Bulldogs take on the 3-2 Carson-Newman (Insert your own “Hello Newman” joke here) Eagles tomorrow. Bulldogs Head Coach Joe Reich (Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: “Joe”) will be playing gridiron chess against the Dean of South Atlantic Conference coaches, Ken Sparks. Look for incumbent SAC Special Teams Player Of The Week Timmy Rogers (Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: “Tigershark”) to have another big game.    

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October 8, 2010 · 1:49 am

THE FEEL-GOOD STORY OF THE FALL CONTINUES

 The Indiana University Southeast Grenadiers volleyball team continues their movie-like turnaround. At 1 point the ladies were a very glum 1-7 and are now boasting a 13-9 record. The Grenadiers’ latest victory came over the Oakland City University Mighty Oaks, who are sure to be featured as 1 of my Cool-Named Teams Of The Day sometime soon. IUS won in 4 sets, by scores of 25-20, 25-13, 18-25 and 25-18. Appropriate for a team called the Grenadiers the ladies had a total of 47 kills in the match. For some noteable stats from the IUS players, complete with their official Balladeer’s Blog nicknames, just read on:

Lindsey “Aces Wild” Maymon had a match-high 13 kills (and 21 wounded – rimshot) while her teammate “Judex” Julie Roeder had 11 kills of her own. (Insert your own “A Kill-Count Of One’s Own” joke here) “Stormin'” Lauren McCartin contributed 3 kills, 3 assists and 7 kills. McCartin normally plays at the “short-stop of volleyball” libero position but for this game was replaced in that role by Emily “Starry” Knight.

The Grenadiers next travel to the Pikeville Bears this Saturday and will be back in New Albany, IN on Tuesday, October 12th, hosting the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders. Tickets for IUS volleyball matches are $7 for adults. If you tell them you read about the team in Balladeer’s Blog they’ll pay YOU $7.00! (I’m kidding!)

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October 7, 2010 · 12:07 am

THE COOLEST HELMETS IN THE KANSAS COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Team: TABOR COLLEGE BLUEJAYS

Division: NAIA

Site: http://www.taborbluejays.com/

Comment: Yes, as a “Confidential Source” revealed to Balladeer’s Blog back when I did the 20 Coolest College Sports Logos, Tabor has gotten rid of the boring “TC” helmets and brought back an even cooler version of the Bluejay profile helmets! These things are great looking and are guaranteed to produce additional wins all by themselves!

For past Cool Helmets that weren’t on the Top 20 List click here: https://glitternight.com/category/cool-helmets/

For Cool-Named Teams that weren’t on that Top 20 List click here: https://glitternight.com/category/cool-names-and-cool-logos/

For the NCAA Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/      

 For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/ 

 For The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/ 

 For The 20 Coolest Football Helmets In NCAA Division 3 click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/08/23/the-20-coolest-football-helmets-in-ncaa-division-3/    

 For the 20 Coolest-Named Sports Teams In NCAA Division 2 click here: https://glitternight.com/d2-20-coolest/  

 Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions.   

 © Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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October 7, 2010 · 12:06 am

PALM BEACH ATLANTIC SAILFISH RETURN TO THEIR WINNING WAYS

 

Courtesy of Palm Beach Atlantic Sports Information. The parenthetical remarks are purely my fault.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- With sophomore Mariela Quesada (Official Balladeer’s Blog nickname “The Q”) leading the way with 18 kills, the Palm Beach Atlantic University volleyball team shook off a recent two match losing streak on Tuesday evening by handing St. Thomas University a 3-0 loss at the Rubin Arena. Despite battling team-wide injuries the Fish managed to earn solid victories over the Bobcats to drop STU to 10-3 on the season and interrupt their recent seven match winning streak.

After starting the season 11-0, the Fish were tripped up their previous two matches with losses versus Lynn University (The Fighting Knights, to distinguish them from all those Pacifist Knights out there) at home (3-0) and a heartbreaking loss of 3-2 versus Florida Tech (The Panthers. I’m trying to talk them into changing their name to The Pink Panthers but no luck so far.)in Melbourne (Florida, not Australia, as I learned after arriving Down Under to cover the game) last week. Tuesday evening would be a different opponent and a different outcome as PBA (Palm Beach Atlantic, NOT the Professional Bowler’s Association) dominated with 25-13, 25-21, and 25-13 victories to cruise to their 12th win.

Quesada (“The Q”) and the Fish (The Sailfish) came out firing in game one as the 5’9″ outside-hitter produced eight kills (and left several seriously wounded) in the team’s first set while also mixing in as a setting option in games two and three.

Hitting .378 for the match, Quesada led the Sailfish hitting efforts with her 18 kills (In honor of Quesada’s nickname they should call them “Quills” when she gets them) while also adding in 10 digs for yet another double-double. As a team, Palm Beach Atlantic finished with a .344 team hitting percentage while four players hit at least .333.

Senior Jennifer (“Eldritch”) Eldridge produced six kills as did freshman Paige (“The Rage”)  Mitchell and junior (“Jumping”) Janeen McCormick. Mitchell and McCormick also produced well on the block as Mitchell led the team with four block assists and McCormick chipped in with a solo block and block assist.

(“J-Way” herself) Jessica Way (I was going to call her Jessica “Curds And” Way but thought better of it.) managed 33 assists in the win while also adding in four kills on four attempts for a perfect hitting percentage. Allie Warren (Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: “The Lethal Libero”) produced 15 digs to lead the way defensively while Eldridge and Quesada joined Warren with double-digit totals in digs with 10 digs each. (But did any of them remember to “Call before you” dig?)

The Bobcats were led on the night by Betina Schmidt who came away with a team-high 11 kills. The Brazil native managed a .219 hitting percentage but had only two teammates with at least four kills. STU connected for a .030 team hitting percentage but were held to negative hitting percentages in set one and three. (Courtesy of that potent Sailfish defense! I’ll say it even though their release is too modest to!)

PBA (This time it DOES mean the Professional Bowlers Association, oddly enough) will have the next few days off from game action while they prepare to host the Pepsi Bash at the Beach Tournament on Friday and Saturday, October 8-9 at the Rubin Arena.

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October 6, 2010 · 12:27 am

WOMEN’S TENNIS: ALVERNO INFERNO FINISHES THEIR FALL SEASON

 MADISON, Wis. — The Alverno College tennis team concluded its season at the  2010 Northern Athletics Conference Individual Championship this weekend at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

Sophomore Abigail Kohal (Wauwatosa, Wis./West) advanced the furthest in
the singles play, reaching the semifinals of the B-flight tournament before falling to Aurora University‘s Elizabeth Pfaff in two sets, 7-5, 6-3.

Kohal’s three wins in the tournament doubled her season win total,
finishing up 2010 at 6-12 in singles play.

“Abigail played the best tennis she’s played all season,” Alverno head
coach Erin Felber said.

Gabby Allen (Milwaukee/Bay View) made it to the quarterfinals of the
B-flight tournament, also losing to Pfaff. Allen won the first set 6-2,
before dropping the second set 7-6 on a 10-5 tiebreaker, and then being
edged out in the third set 7-5.

With her two tournament wins, Allen finished the season with a team-best
singles record of 9-7.

Senior Sherquila Riley (Milwaukee/Washington) was the only other Inferno
player to pick up a win in singles play. Riley won her first match of
the C-flight tournament, 8-5, over MSOE‘s Marguerite Wellstein before
falling to eventual runner-up Emily Hereford of Dominican University,
8-0, in the round of 16.

Riley closed out the season at 7-9 in singles play.

In doubles action, Kohal teamed up with Andrea Derrick (Greenfield,
Wis.) and received the B-flight tournament’s top seed. The duo advanced
to the semifinals, before falling to Marian University‘s fourth-seeded
team of Rachel Brotz and Rebecca Hezcko, 8-2.

“Andrea and Abigail played great together at doubles. They worked and
communicated well with each other and they fought hard until the end.”

Alverno–in just its second season of intercollegiate
competition–finished the season with a 5-9 overall mark, and was tied
for eighth at 4-7 in the NAC standings, just a win back of making the
NAC team tournament in the spring.

“I’m very proud of the improvements we made throughout the season. We’ve
come a long way from last year and the Alverno tennis program is headed
in the right direction.”

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