Author: Cooper Sutton

By Mike Wolf

Writer

The volleyball team beat Holy Cross in four sets on its home court on Friday to clinch a berth in the Patriot League Tournament. In the final match of the regular season at home on Saturday, the team lost in three sets to Army.

Against Holy Cross, the Bison won the sets 25-18, 26-28, 25-12, 25-16, and clinched the fourth seed in the tournament, which will begin Saturday.

Kyleigh McAhren ’12 and Kristen Titley ’14 each had 14 kills. The Orange and Blue played well as a team and had an overall hitting percentage of .319, their best of the season.

Following a somewhat slow start in the first two sets, the Bison came out in the third set with offensive influence from Heidi Kamp ’11 and Ragin Jackson ’13. The team tallied 15 kills in the set.

In the fourth set, the Orange and Blue slowly nurtured a growing lead until they went up by seven midway through the set. Holy Cross could no longer make a move and the Bison won comfortably.

Rachel Rodriguez ’11 had 37 assists and 12 digs, while Leylin Marroquin ’14 added 13 digs. Katie Baumgarten ’12 and Emily Sawanobori ’12 also added 10 digs apiece in the match.

The team followed Friday night’s performance with one of its best-played matches of the season on Saturday. Though they lost 3-0, the Bison truly made it a tough match for a highly skilled Army team.

Both teams in Saturday’s match were set in their seeding for the playoffs so the game did not matter for the season. Army won the match 25-20, 25-21, 25-20. Baumgarten led the team with  nine kills and 12 digs and no other hitter had more than six kills.

The team continues the season on Saturday with a match against American University in Washington, D.C.  “Going in as the underdog is exciting because all the pressure’s on American,” Kamp said. A win in this match would take the Bison to the championship match against either Colgate or Army.

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The women’s basketball team began the season with a strong performance, defeating Rider 53-48 in their home opener.

““The game against Rider was an awesome start to the season,” Rachel Voss’ 13 said. “We were all so excited and it felt great to get our first win.”

The Bison had to fight back a late Rider rally to claim the victory. With 7:24 left as the score read 43-37 in favor of the Orange and Blue, but the game quickly took a turn for the worse as the home team missed the next five shots and had five turnovers over the next four and a half minutes. Rider eventually took a 44-43 lead.

But Joyce Novacek ’11, Lindsay Horbatuck ’13 and Voss would not let the Bison be defeated in their home opener. Novacek began the team’s resurgence, connecting on two free throws while Horbatuck and Voss followed suit with two layups. In the final moments of the game, Shelby Romine ’14 took the dagger to the Broncs as she buried two free throws with 53 seconds, putting the score at 51-44.

“After working so hard in the weight room, on the track and in the gym over the course of the preseason it was very exciting to win our first game,” Novacek said.

Romine, who scored 17 points in addition to five assists and two rebounds, was the leading scorer for the night. Romine scored the most points by a first-year in a season opener since 2003.

The Bison will have to try to clean up their number of turnovers in future games, as they had 24 over the course of this contest. Rider had 29 turnovers.

“One of our top goals on the season is to make one of the best turnarounds in the nation.  We are a different team this year and can’t wait to surprise more people,” Voss said.

The Bison will try to continue their resurgence as they tackle more teams in their packed regular season schedule, starting with a home game against Buffalo on Sunday at 2 p.m.

By Justin Cohen

Contributing Writer

In recent years,  big-name markets like the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies, Cardinals and Braves have dominated the October headlines and claimed postseason MLB success. That was not the case this year when the Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants played each other in the 2010 World Series. But although there were no big market teams this year, those who were looking forward to the 2010 World Series saw excellent pitching performances and games where every hit mattered.

The Rangers, a team littered with storylines, knocked off the Yankees in the ALCS to reach their first World Series in franchise history thanks to the help of their offensive production and Cliff Lee, viewed by some as the best postseason pitcher in history. The Giants used ace Tim Lincecum and a young and talented lineup to defeat the Phillies, who had what many claimed to be the best rotation in baseball.

As the series began, the Giants lit up Cliff Lee for seven runs and cruised to an early 2-0 series lead. The Giants put up 20 runs in the first two games, despite the fact that most of their other contests in the 2010 postseason were decided by only one or two runs.

The Rangers were able to muster up a win in game three, in which all of their runs came off the long ball. The stars of the team, Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler and Michael Young, drove in the runs to cap an 8-3 victory.

The Giants then sent rookie pitcher Madison Bumgarner on the mound for game four. Bumgarner silenced his critics as he threw eight scoreless innings and only allowed three hits for the Giants to easily take the win and be one win away from clinching their first World Series Championship in over 50 years.

Game five gave the fans the pitching matchup they were expecting for Game one as Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum took the mound once again in a battle of aces. The Rangers went into the game knowing the Giants would return to San Francisco as champions if they did not win.

Through the first six innings, both pitchers performed as expected, keeping the game scoreless. But in the seventh inning Cliff Lee gave up a three run home run to Edgar Renteria to give the Giants a 3-0 lead. The Rangers responded with a run in the seventh, but Lincecum finished without any other trouble and reliever Brian Wilson delivered the final blow in the ninth, crowning the Giants the 2010 World Series Champions.  Renteria was awarded series MVP for his late game heroics and fans begged him not to retire as he had contemplated doing in the offseason.

The Giants celebrated their victory parade a week ago Wednesday, and the team received a key to the city from Mayor Gavin Newsom. It was the first championship for the city since the 49ers last won the Super Bowl in 1995. While most of the baseball world will be focusing on the free agent market and readjusting their rosters, the Giants can only build on this success and look to continue their winning ways in the seasons to come.

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The women’s swimming team continued its impressive start to the season, posting a 2-1 record against Patriot League foes Lafayette, American and Navy at Kinney Natatorium last Saturday. The Orange and Blue posted victories over American 224-66 and Lafayette 225-75 but lost to defending Patriot League Champion Navy 154-144.

The Bison posted seven first-place finishes, led by Emily Wright ’14, who won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.92 seconds. Wright also finished third in the 100 free in 52.39 seconds. Four other Bison finished in first place: Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 in the 1,000 free, Kelly Purcell ’13 in the 100 free, and Elizabeth Porcellio ’13 in the 200 IM.

“I think that having competition between the team members is beneficial to all of us, because we are really pushing each other and motivating each other more than competing against each other,” Goebel said. “Having multiple girls in an event shows how much depth we have and the strength of our team. We are a team first and foremost and we constantly encourage each other. It is exciting to see your teammates do well and it makes us want to push ourselves even more.”

In diving, Morgan Popple ’12 finished second in the one-meter board with 224.50.

The Bison women return to action Saturday when they host Colgate at Kinney Natatorium.

By Andrew Lichtenauer

Contributing Writer

Matthew Segar ’12 led the Bison in the pool on Saturday with two individual wins in the men’s swimming and diving team’s first home meet of the season. The Orange and Blue defeated American 208-76 and Lafayette 207-77 but lost to defending Patriot League Champion Navy 186-101.

Segar had two of the team’s three individual victories, winning both the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. He clocked in season-best times of 1:42.20 and 4:47.96, respectively.

“Navy has always been the top team to beat in the league, and all week my coach stressed that good teams race hard regardless of the competition. I just got really excited to swim them and wanted to see what I could do,” Segar said.

Captain Michael Volpe ’11 locked up the Bison’s third individual victory in the 100-fly, finishing with a season-best time of 51.82. Volpe beat out teammate and runner-up Taylor Harris ’12 in this race by more than a second.

“Being at home definitely had a huge impact on our performance. We didn’t have a bus ride to worry about or have to get used to a different pool,” Volpe said. “We had home ‘field’ advantage and used that to our benefit. Having parents and friends in the stands being loud was also a great contribution to our excitement,” he said.

The Bison’s fourth win came in the 200 free relay, where Harris, Christian Treat ’13, Bryce Suchomel ’13 and Eric Sokolosky ’12 took first place for the Orange and Blue, beating runner-up American by more than 2.5 seconds.

As the men look ahead to Patriot League championships in February, they have used their first few meets to determine expectations and goals for the rest of the season.

“The first few meets of the season are used as stepping stones for Patriot Leagues,” Volpe said. “As training gets more intense, we use early meets as a gauge of where we are and how we are progressing toward our goals for the end of the season. These meets give us a way to measure against where we were last year and at previous meets and see how much we’ve improved.”

The Orange and Blue will be back in the pool to host Colgate at 1 p.m. Saturday in Kinney Natatorium.

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

The Bison field hockey season came to an end Friday when the team lost to second-seeded Lafayette 3-2 in the Patriot League Tournament semi-finals in Washington, D.C. Despite the loss, Kelly Bruvik ’11 and Corinne Raczek ’11 were named to the Patriot League Field Hockey All-Tournament team.

About eight minutes into Friday’s game, Bruvik assisted Mallory Smith ’12 score her first goal of the season, giving the Bison an initial lead of 1-0. The Leopards responded two minutes later with an unassisted goal and, after deflecting a shot after a penalty corner, pulled ahead with a 2-1 lead. Bruvik tied the score for the Bison before halftime with a goal assisted by Rachel Misko ’14.

Despite an evenly matched second half, the Leopards executed on a penalty corner, and that made all the difference. A score of 3-2 sent the victorious Leopards into the Patriot League Final, where they ultimately lost to the American Eagles 6-2. The Bison finished the 2010 season 7-12.

Goalkeeper Sarah Zargarpour ’12 made eight saves.

“It was a hard loss to take because, as a team, we work so hard throughout the year, and then it all comes down to 70 minutes of play. For them to score with only four minutes left was really hard. Also, we really wanted to get to the finals for our seniors, as it would be the last time they would have a chance to play,” Zargarpour said.

“Playing Lafayette is always a battle and unfortunately, it didn’t end in our favor this time,” Christine Weiss ’11 said. “We played some great hockey and had some fantastic opportunities that just didn’t go in.”

In addition to Bruvik and Raczek receiving all-tournament team picks, five members of the Bison field hockey team made All-Patriot League teams. Bruvik and Weiss were selected for first-team and Morgan Kauffman ’11, Misko and Tayler Siegrist ’13 were selected for second-team.

Misko also received the Patriot League Rookie of the Year honor, and Weiss was named the Patriot League Field Hockey Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The women’s soccer team’s season came to an abrupt end at West Point, N.Y. last Friday when the team suffered a tough 1-0 loss in a Patriot League semifinal matchup against Lehigh.

Both teams relied heavily on their back lines to anchor their game plans. Throughout the first half both the Bison and the Mountain Hawks had opportunities but neither team could bury the ball in the back of the net. At one point it appeared Lehigh would take a 1-0 lead, but an offside flag negated a prospective goal.

In the second half the Bison mounted assaults on Lehigh continually and almost scored when the Mountain Hawk keeper appeared to fall back into her own goal after catching the ball. This attempt was waved off when a Bison player was called for a push.

“This game was going to be tight throughout. We knew we had to keep the pressure up in order to try and gain the upper hand,” Jules Harris ’11 said.

But a Lehigh attacker ripped a shot from the top of the 18 in the 60th minute for the one and only score.

The Bison out-shot Lehigh 13-5 in the second half, but the Lehigh goalie was able to deter all shots by the Bison, and the Orange and Blue swallowed the loss.

As the Bison heard the final whistle blow, seven seniors said their goodbyes to four years that may have been some of the best in Bison soccer history. Amanda Citron, Kelliann Doherty, Harris, Caitlin Holtz, Kelsey Johnson, Christa Matlack and Brooke Stokes completed their time at the University with 39 wins. They finished the regular season twice in first place and twice in second place.

“It was a pleasure to play with each and every one of my teammates; we will always cherish our time playing together,” Citron said.