The women’s tennis team battled through a shivering start to their season in Fairfax, Va. on March 22 with a 4-2 win over George Mason. Unfortunately, on the following day in Annapolis, Md. the Bison were unable to pull a repeat performance in their first Patriot League match, falling 7-0 to Navy. On March 27, the ladies hit the court again against Mount St. Mary’s, emerging with a 4-3 victory.
Abbreviated by the cold against George Mason, the Orange and Blue had a tricky task in singles play. Stephanie Pino ’16 was the first Bison to strike victory with a 6-3, 6-4 final score. Lydia Colvin ’15 followed Pino’s lead with her own 6-2, 7-6 win. Maria Cioffi ’16 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 struggled in their matches, splitting sets and ending both their matches with super tie breakers. Cioffi and Vidrascu eventually came out on top with Cioffi securing the match’s decision in favor of the Orange and Blue with her 10-6 victory in her tiebreaker.
The next day’s match against Navy did not end in another victory for the Bison. Vidrascu and Cioffi once again played a key role in the match as the Bison’s only win of the day, an 8-7 triumph in the No. 1 doubles match. Navy took the lead in all singles matches and didn’t allow another Bison win. In singles play, the strongest performance was given by Colvin, who lost 7-5, 6-2 after almost taking the first set.
“We normally have really tight matches against Navy. Everyone played well in their matches but it didn’t come out in our favor. If we had to play them again though, I think we’d have a good chance,” Cioffi said.
The women’s tennis team swung back with a victory against Mount St. Mary’s. After falling behind 2-1, singles wins by Cioffi, Colvin and Pino gave the Bison a small 3-2 lead. As the temperatures on the cold day plummeted, the doubles matches got underway, with the match on the line. Victories by Pino/Colvin (8-1) and Jen Bush ’15/Sam Madnick ’16 (8-3) gave the doubles point and the match to the Bison.
The women’s tennis team will return to the court again on April 2, to play against St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia.
The baseball team dropped three consecutive one-run games to the Delaware Blue Hens last weekend, with the first two games on the road and the final game at home. The Orange and the Blue lost 13-12 in game one, 4-3 in game two and 5-4 in game three. The Bison also split two home games against Binghamton.
The first Delaware game proved to be a heartbreaker for the Bison. Pitcher Bryson Hough ’15 was lit up for 10 runs in 5.2 innings, and the Orange and the Blue went into the top of the eighth inning facing a 13-2 deficit. In a stunning comeback attempt, the Bison scored two runs in the eighth and then unloaded for eight runs in the ninth, but fell excruciatingly short with the bases loaded and could not complete the rally.
In the second game, the Bison entered the eighth inning with a 2-2 tie, but Delaware scored two in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. The Orange and the Blue got one back in the ninth, but once again were stopped short by one run.
Game three seemed like the Bison would finally reverse their bad fortune. Trailing 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Bison rallied for two runs thanks to RBI hits by Corey Furman ’14 and Carter Bumgardner ’13 to knot the score 4-4. After trading zeros in the 10th, the Bison once again fell behind on a wild pitch, and this time could not tie it up as they suffered their final loss to Delaware.
Furman hit in all three games and was able to extend his current team-leading six-game hitting streak. Bumgardner also performed well, going 7-13 in the three games with the Blue Hens. Bumgardner scored a pair of runs in game one, and had a clutch RBI in game three to complete a two-run rally and send the final game in this series to extra innings.
Things began to get a little better as the Orange and Blue won the first game versus Binghamton 3-1. Behind strong pitching from Andrew Andreychik ’16 and RBIs from Robb Scott ’13, Rob Krentzman ’15 and Brett Ashley ’14, the Bison were able to break their seven-game losing streak.
In game two, the Bison again came back from a deficit as they erased a three-run Binghamton lead in the sixth inning, only to cough up the lead in the seventh and drop another one-run game.
The Orange and Blue will head into Patriot League play this weekend on the road against Holy Cross.
The men’s tennis team faced three tough competitors this past week, with two road matchups last weekend against George Mason and Navy and a home match against Mount St. Mary’s on March 27. After the matches, the Orange and Blue improved their overall season record to 8-5 with a 4-3 victory over George Mason, a 5-2 loss to Navy and a 5-2 win over Mount St. Mary’s.
The Bison clinched the win over George Mason on March 22 thanks to the doubles team of Octavio Canibe ’15 and Aidan Lynch ’14. They pulled out a 9-7 win, claiming the doubles point that won the overall match.
The meeting began with singles matches, with Evan Zimmer ’13, Josh Katten ’13 and Nick Bybel ’16 all claiming victories for the Bison. At first, the Bison led the singles matches with three points to the Patriots’ sole point, but George Mason managed to gather a couple of points to tie up the score leading into the doubles play.
The Patriots kept the momentum leading into doubles. On the No. 2 court, they defeated Kelly Morque ’13 and Zimmer 8-3. But the Bison were able to claim the last two doubles matches to win the overall match. At No. 1 doubles, Bybel and Katten won with a score of 8-6. Finally, the Orange and Blue claimed the winning point at No. 3 doubles (9-7).
“George Mason was a pretty crazy match. We played in 40 degree weather and we’re in a battle with the wind as much as we were our opponents. Although it came down to the doubles point, this was an exciting win for our team. Getting a win under the unusual circumstances in a true battle is great and helps motivate our team. It was exciting being the last match on with everything coming down to Octavio [Canibe] and I winning or losing. I’m glad we came out on top,” Lynch said.
Unfortunately, the Bison were not able to the take the momentum from the George Mason win into their first Patriot League match of the season against Navy. Bybel recorded a singles victory and partnered with Katten for an 8-6 doubles victory. Kyle Rosen ’14 recorded the only other singles win with a score of 6-2, 6-3. Bybel’s singles win against Navy tied him for most singles victories this season on the team, but it was not enough as the Bison remained winless in 37 tries against Navy.
Against Mount St. Mary’s, Zimmer proved to be the hero by securing the match-winning point with victories in both singles and doubles, with Lynch as his partner. Bybel and Katten also won their doubles match, while Bybel, Canibe and Morque recorded singles wins.
The next game for the men’s tennis team will be on the road against Saint Joseph’s on April 2.
Raffi Berberian | The Bucknellian Joe Willman ’13 (center left) scored a career high of 20 points against Butler in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but unfortunately it was not enough to clinch another Bison victory.
Eric Brod
Senior Writer
A magical season for the 2013 Bison men’s basketball team came to an end on March 21 when the Bison, seeded 11th in the East region of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, fell to sixth-seeded Butler 68-56 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. The Orange and Blue finished the season with an outstanding 28-6 record, the most wins by a team in Patriot League history.
Making the sixth tournament appearance in program history, the Orange and Blue got off to a sluggish start offensively, scoring just 14 points in the opening frame. The hero for the Bison in the first half was Joe Willman ’13, who scored eight of the 14 points en route to a career-high 20 points on 10-16 shooting. Willman explains how he was able to get open looks throughout the game.
“Butler hedges ball screens really aggressively and keeps two guys on the ball so I was able to get to open space for open shots,” Willman said. “The guards did a really good job at making passes out of the ball screens. Also, Mike generates a lot of attention so his man was reluctant to leave him, leaving me open.”
Mike Muscala ’13 was stifled throughout the half by Andrew Smith and the Butler defense, limited to nine points for the game on 4-17 shooting. Muscala was still able to grab 10 rebounds. Despite struggling shooting-wise in the first half, the defense, which has been stout all season, held Butler to just 21 points, keeping the deficit at seven heading into the half. Cameron Ayers ’14 discusses what head coach Dave Paulsen’s message was to the team at the half.
“He told us that shots would fall in the second half and that we just need to step up and hit shots,” Ayers said. “We were playing well defensively and only held them to 21 points, so just to keep the defensive intensity up as well.”
Butler extended its lead to 29-18 with 16:35 left in the second half, but the resilient Bison would not go away and staged a comeback. Ignited by a three-point play by Muscala, the Orange and Blue went on a 19-2 run to take a 37-31 lead. The run featured a key jumper by Willman and a transition three by Ayers, who finished with nine points on 3-10 shooting for the game. Butler responded with a run of their own, but Ryan Frazier ’16 came back with a huge three-point play to take back the lead at 40-39.
Butler would take control for the rest of the game as they outscored the Orange and Blue by 12 en route to the third round of the tournament, where they would lose 64-62 to three-seeded Marquette. Ayers discusses what made Butler such a tough matchup for the team.
“They are a very physical team and they don’t make too many mistakes and won’t beat themselves,” Ayers said. “They are very disciplined on defense and make you run your offense to perfection.”
After being inserted into the starting lineup just last month, point guard Steven Kaspar ’15 continued his strong play with six points, six assists and six rebounds in a career-high 32 minutes of action. He also helped lead the defense in holding Butler to just 36 percent shooting, which came into the game shooting 45 percent for the season. The Bulldogs’ defense was also strong, limiting the Bison to just 37 percent from the field.
Despite the loss, the Orange and Blue completed arguably the most successful season in program history. The senior class of Bryson Johnson, Muscala, Willman and Colin Klebon won 92 games in their career, the most in the history of the program. Muscala finished his career as the Bison’s all-time leading scorer (2,036) and second in rebounds (1,093). Johnson, who finished with nine points in the Butler game, leaves as the Patriot League’s record holder for three point baskets in a career (323).
“We are proud of a lot of things over the past four years. We are proud to have won as many games as we did along with setting the records we did with a great group of guys, playing for unbelievable coaches,” Willman said.
While the Bison are losing much of their veteran core from this year, the future looks bright for the program in the years moving forward. Players such as Ayers, Kaspar, Frazier, Dom Hoffman ’16, Ryan Hill ’14 and Chris Hass ’16 will have the Orange and Blue competitive for next year.
“I’m looking forward to another good season next year with a great group of guys. It is going to be extremely difficult to replace the seniors, obviously because they were a huge part of our success on and off the court, but we are going to have to do it collectively,” Ayers said. “This summer and next fall we all are going to have to improve individually but once we all get back together I think we will surprise a lot of people and have a successful year.”
The women’s lacrosse team scored 17 goals this past weekend, but the Bison were unsuccessful in both of their contests, falling to Duquesne 18-9 at home on March 26 after suffering a 14-8 road loss to Lehigh on March 23.
Against Duquesne, the Bison were down 9-2 at halftime with Madison Hurwitz ’13 scoring the only two goals for the Orange and Blue. After the Dukes opened the scoring in the second half, the Bison went on a 4-1 run with goals from Sam Rickels ’16, Ryan Wenk ’13, Katelyn Miller ’14 and Sophie Kleinert ’14. It would not be enough to stop the offensive attack of Duquesne, as it scored six unanswered goals to put the game out of reach.
Hurwitz had a season-high four goals, while Miller added two goals and an assist for the Bison. The Dukes outshot the Orange and Blue 27-17 in the game. Goalie Caroline O’Neill ’15 finished with five saves.
At Lehigh, seven players registered goals for the Bison, including two from Emily Kookogey ’15. The Orange and Blue also had a 24-23 shot advantage, but a 5-0 second half run led the Mountain Hawks to victory.
Kleinert scored the initial goal at the 27:19 mark of the first half, but Lehigh answered with five straight goals. Kookogey’s two goals, along with scores from Rickels and Wenk were part of a 4-2 Bison run that trimmed Lehigh’s halftime lead to 7-5.
Cori Thielemann ’15 capitalized on a free position shot and scored her first goal of the match to make it a two-goal game, but the Bison were held scoreless for nearly 25 minutes, as Lehigh scored five more straight goals. Emily Becker ’16 ended the game with a goal of her own off an assist from Hurwitz.
Adrienne Wendling ’13 finished with four ground balls and forced two turnovers, while Rickels registered four draw controls.
The Bison look to pick up their first conference win when they travel to Washington, D.C. to face American on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Scott Waters | The Bucknellian The varsity eight of the men’s crew team trained during the team’s winter break training trip in Orlando, Fla.
Billy Tyler
Assistant Sports Editor
The men’s crew and women’s rowing teams will begin their seasons this upcoming weekend at the Murphy Cup Regatta. Both teams are coming off highly successful seasons; the women’s team is the defending Patriot League Champion and the men’s team won the silver medal at the ACRA National Championships.
The women’s rowing team has very high expectations for this season. The seven-time defending Patriot League champions have been ranked first in the league’s Preseason Poll. Additionally, the team looks to repeat as overall team champions in the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta and improve its performance at the season-ending NCAA and IRA regattas.
The team has a difficult road ahead of them en route to an eighth straight Patriot League title. The team’s challenging schedule features dual races against Drexel, Penn, Columbia, Georgetown Lightweights, Princeton Lightweights and Delaware, as well as the Knecht Cup, Dad Vail, Patriot League Championship and IRA Lightweight regattas.
“The women have been working very hard and we have a challenging racing schedule so it will be great to see the team in action soon,” head coach Stephen Kish said.
The men’s crew team also has high expectations after coming off a historic season, which concluded with silver medal performances at both the ECAC and ACRA National Championships. The team has been training hard over the winter in preparation for the season.
“Throughout winter training, our freshmen and sophomores pushed our upperclassmen on the ergs and on the water, which had created a great on-water racing dynamic. I expect this trend to continue with young talent taking seats in the top two eight’s and those two eight’s to vie for medals at our championship regattas,” head coach Al Monte said.
The team recently returned from a Spring Break training trip in Columbia, S.C. and is ready to kick off its spring schedule, which is filled with tough competition and includes dual races against Hobart, Drexel, Williams and Holy Cross and regatta appearances at the Murphy Cup, San Diego Crew Classic, Knecht Cup, ECAC Championship and the ACRA National Championships.
The Murphy Cup Regatta will be held Saturday on the Cooper River in Camden, New Jersey.
The men’s wrestling team concluded its season at the NCAA Championships this past weekend in Des Moines, Iowa. The only Bison competing at the event was Joe Stolfi ’15. Corey Lear ’13 acquired an at-large berth to the meet, but had to withdraw due to injury.
Stolfi, representing the Bison in the heavyweight division, went 3-2 in the tournament and was one win shy from becoming only the sixth wrestler in program history to earn All-American honors. After opening the meet with a loss to No. 6 Bobby Telford of Iowa, Stolfi won his next three matches. He first defeated Bloomsburg’s Justin Grant by decision, and went on to avenge a regular season loss to Adam Chalfant of Indiana by pinning his opponent in 6:38. This win was followed by a 6-2 decision victory over Benjamin Apland of Michigan.
The victories put Stolfi in a matchup against Central Michigan’s Jarod Trice for All-American honors. These two had met during the regular season, with Trice winning by decision 15-8. Unfortunately, Stolfi was unable to get the win over the three-time All-American Trice.
Despite this loss, Stolfi finished the season with a 26-16 record, winning 16 of his last 19 matches prior to the NCAA Championships, and not losing back-to-back matches since Jan. 6.
As many of you may know, the Facebook page “Bison Confessions” has recently been established to offer students a chance to anonymously admit secrets, thoughts and feelings that they’d rather not have attached to their names. While there are some who find this immature, infantile and indiscriminately idiotic, I must confess that I quite enjoy “Bison Confessions,” not just for the blunt, honest and sometimes shocking things that University students will say under pretense of anonymity, but also because I support the philosophical underpinnings behind the page.
I do hope that “Bison Confessions” will continue its policy of leaving the majority of comments uncensored (if not loosening it even further) and ensuring the privacy of those who submit confessions. It is this sort of protection for those who cannot otherwise bring forth their opinions (usually due to social pressures of holding certain views) that is sadly needed to open up conversations about drinking, Greek life and issues such as depression or loneliness.
Yes, there are confessions and statements that are outright offensive and rude. But people are different and are going to think different things, and naturally some of those thoughts are going to come into conflict. By censoring comments that are offensive or rude, you censor the legitimate expression of difference. If you only allow “correct” opinions to be stated, you erect a systematic groupthink that shuts down the the inherent instability of conversation and renders true dialogue impossible.
If you have an aversion to the implications of the word instability, this might actually sound like a reasonable course of action to you. However, this would show that you fail to realize the consequences of your thinking. It is through instability that innovation arises. New ideas are formed out of not only the chaos of the mind, but also through the dynamic froth and pitch of uncensored conversation. When you shut down the ability to speak freely, you shut down the ability to not only propose new ideas, but also the ability to think of new ideas in the first place.
To elucidate my point, suppose someone makes a racist remark on “Bison Confessions.” Most people (including myself) would find such a thing offensive, but if you censor it and forbid it from being posted, then you shut down any avenue of thought that could spring from this remark. If you post it, you incite a flurry of activity. You can kick off discussion on the evils of racism or how to overcome it. You can converse on why people are racist. Is it the result of intentional indoctrination or just the result of not having a diverse friend group? Is it media portrayals of certain issues or is there a biological component to the psychology of racism? Such discussions would obviously be controversial and at times would no doubt get offensive, but through the debate, common understandings could be reached, new ideas on the subject could be put forth and everyone could be made a little wiser and a little better off.
Sometimes the beliefs other people have make us uncomfortable. In avoiding things that make us uncomfortable, we shut down our potential. Facing discomfort is how we grow and develop. You will never meet a professional athlete, Nobel Prize winner or political leader who didn’t have to endure things that made them uncomfortable. If something makes you feel uncomfortable or offended, that’s a sign that you should and face it, not run from it. By censoring “Bison Confessions,” you wall yourself off from the world and the thoughts that are in it. Anyone who lives like that has no other destiny but to end up immature, infantile and indiscriminately idiotic.
A service trip was never something I would have envisioned for myself. I was always someone who did not like getting their hands dirty or any kind of discomfort that would ruffle my feathers. We couldn’t flush our toilet paper down the pipes! This spring break challenged me and it was a beautiful, exhilarating experience that I would repeat in a heartbeat. I was lucky enough to be a part of the B.A.C.E.S. group that travels to the Dominican Republic during spring break. This was not the typical spring break by any stretch of the imagination. The sun was the same, the air was the same and yet the purpose was entirely different.
Upon arriving we were greeted by a fantastically choreographed procession. The children, who lived around the compound where we were staying, performed a traditional dance for us and that set our week off wonderfully. The following day we were at a medical drive that only happens once a year. People walked from as far as six miles to reach this service because they had no other means. There was consultation, medication and dentistry set up. I have never seen anything so raw in my life. We had to hold the heads of people as their teeth were being pulled out.
The next day we visited a school that the organization had built. We interacted with children ages nine to 19. We taught them English and played games with them while we were there. They were extremely athletic and competitive and enjoyed all sports, especially basketball, which was just as well for my group and I. The next day we returned to paint a wall of the school and a mural on the third floor playing area. It was fantastic because we were able to sign the wall, an indelible mark of our service work there and a creative addition to the school.
Thursday we had a food drive. This was the hardest day for most because the people receiving food were starving and some had physical disabilities. It was difficult because we did not know when these people were going to next to receive food after our drive. It hurt to know that the community right around us was in such despair, but it was great helping them and seeing the gratitude on their faces after being fed. We also visited many other neighborhoods to see how they lived and interacted with the locals. It was moving because they had so little but they looked so happy at the same time.
The last day I met a man named Ruben who is the head of a non-governmental organization (NGO) and is helping the poor of his nation. He has built homes for many people and has taken many off the streets into his own home. The main focus is to develop his community and help his nation grow through his foundation. We walked all over his farm and were able to cut down banana trees with machetes.
The final day was for travel and it was very emotional. I am extremely blessed to have been born into this life. My break was inspiring and it makes me want to do more to help those in need. It was a motivation for me and it was refreshing. It reminded me why I need to work hard and study at the University.
University receiving large amount of media attention thanks to NCAA berth
The men’s basketball’s fantastic season has garnered much attention for the University, and many pundits are quick to take notice. While some experts are already labeling the Bison as a possible Cinderella story and a trendy upset pick in the NCAA brackets, others are expressing confusion over how a small, little heard of mid-Pennsylvanian school even managed to make its way into the Big Dance. Here are just a couple of stories about the Bison in the national media.
In the annual March Tuition Madness bracket, created by The Awl, the 64 schools are pitted against each other to see who has the highest tuition. After Georgetown won in 2012 with an average tuition of $40,920, Bucknell claimed the crown this year with a whopping average tuition of $45,132. The Bison claimed this “victory” over second place Notre Dame, who averaged $42,464 in tuition this year.
In perhaps more welcome news, the Bison also placed high in graduation rates for their basketball teams, with a perfect 100%. According to Tidesport, Bucknell is one of only 11 teams in the tournament to have a 100% graduation rate for all of their players. As the popular chant/taunt goes, “2, 4, 6, 8–all our players graduate!”
The Bison’s 28-5 record and impressive leading ensemble of Mike Muscala ’13, Joe Willman ’13, and Bryson Johnson ’13 have many people thinking that the Bison could go far in the tournament. Many sources are predicting that the 11th seeded Bison have what it takes to knock of 6th seeded Butler, largely in part to Muscala. Patrick Stevens of USA Today Sports comments that “[Muscala] is a ruthlessly efficient post presence, establishing position effectively and then delivering high-percentage shots. Yet he can also step outside and connect on mid-range jumpers and (on rarer occasions) 3-pointers. Bucknell wisely is built around his talents, and his skills amplify the abilities of some capable complementary pieces.” Other analysts also laud Muscala, stressing his importance in the Bison’s attempt to pull off an upset against Butler.
Of course, if Muscala isn’t enough, maybe having a cool-sounding name will do. Bucknell’s fame has risen as far as the Jimmy Kimmel Show, where Kimmel’s cousin Micki picked “Buck-null” to win it all. Micki’s motivation for choosing the University? In her own words, “I think it’s important in life to support the underdogs, and the most important thing is [to] go with your gut, and not your head.” Well said Micki, well said.
