Author: Cooper Sutton

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Sports

Women’s tennis wins two in league play

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

The women’s tennis team had a busy week of play, losing to Army at home on Saturday (0-7), and then sweeping Lafayette at home on Sunday and Lehigh on the road Tuesday afternoon, both 7-0. The Bison finished off Patriot League play with a record of 3-2, and are 9-10 overall.

The Orange and Blue put up a fight but ultimately fell to the Black Knights. In doubles play, Dara Dwojewski ’11 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 were the only Bison pair to win more than one game, but lost 8-2. In singles play, Courtney Casey ’12 and Lauren Lucido ’11 each forced their opponents into a third set, but neither was able to clench the point.

“Although we suffered a tough loss against Army, everyone on our team put out a strong effort and all the matches were close,” Casey said. “This shows us that we have the potential to win the Patriot League Tournament if we put all our nerves aside next weekend and go out there and play our hardest.”

The Bison rebounded from their loss on Saturday to sweep the Lafayette Leopards at home on Senior Day. Lucido, who was recently named Patriot League Women’s Tennis Player of the Month, did not allow a single game to her foe, defeating Allie Serranko in first singles 6-0, 6-0.

Fellow seniors Lauren Rottkamp and Dwojewski, who were honored before the match with Lucido, also won third and sixth singles, respectively.

The Bison traveled to Lehigh on Tuesday to continue their winning streak, defeating the Mountain Hawks 7-0.  Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 and Lucido took first doubles, Daria Tuzhikova ’13 and Casey won second doubles, and Dwojewski and Vidrascu took third.

The Bison also dominated singles play against Lehigh, where Lucido, Iepuras, Rottkamp, Casey and Dwojewski each won in straight sets.

Although the Lehigh competition wrapped up regular-season Patriot League for the Bison, they will compete against Georgetown and Bloomsburg before traveling to Annapolis, Md. where Navy will host the Patriot League Tournament April 22-24.

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Sports

Men’s tennis takes down two league opponents

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The men’s tennis team continued its march through the Patriot League at home last weekend with a dominating 6-1 win against Lafayette  and a tooth-and-nail victory over Lehigh 5-2 as it heads into the tournament.

On senior day against Lafayette, Mark Malloy ’11 and Anton Kovic ’11, the Bison’s dynamic duo, continued to show their ability to lead the Orange and Blue to the best campaign since 2008.

The Orange and Blue started the match by taking the doubles points with wins from the first and third pairings.

The Bison continued with brilliant play from Gregg Cohenca ’12, Evan Zimmer ’13, Kyle Rosen ’14, Malloy and Josh Katten ’13 in singles play. Even Kovic, falling at the second singles position, lost an extremely tight match 7-5, 5-7 (10-3). The day overall was completely dominated by the Bison.

“The cold weather does make it hard for our team to compete with other Patriot League opponents who do have indoor facilities,” Katten said. “While it does impede our practice, our guys have done a great job of making use with the hand that we have been dealt.”

Uncharacteristically, the Orange and Blue fell behind early as they dropped the doubles matches to Lehigh, allowing them to take a 1-0 lead.

“After losing the doubles point, we came out strong in singles,” Malloy said. “It just shows that no matter what happens at the beginning of the match, if you continue to play your game and have confidence in the team, we will come away with the win.”

Kovic was the first to secure a victory for the team, taking care of his opponent handily in straight sets. Next, Malloy retired his opponent also in straight sets to put the Bison back on the right side of the scoreboard.

Rosen, Zimmer and Cohenca rounded out the scoring for the Bison, helping to shut the door on any  of a Mountain Hawk comeback.

“This definitely builds confidence in that we know we can win close matches. It also teaches us not to take anyone lightly, too,” Morque said.

The next and possibly most important event for the Orange and Blue this season will be the Patriot League Tournament held at Lehigh University. The Bison will battle perennial foes Navy and Army in hopes of securing an NCAA berth.

“This year, the Patriot League Championship is up for grabs. The gap between all the teams is very tight, and on any given day, any team can come away with the win,” Malloy said.

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Sports

Bison Athlete of the Week : Alison Ford ’11

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

Allison Ford ’11

Biography

Position: 1B/3B

Class: Senior

Hometown: Suisun City, Calif.

Major: Early Childhood Education

 

Stats

Hits: 7

At Bats: 12

BB: 1

RBI: 5

HR: 2

(with a 2B)

 

In four games over the past weekend, Alison Ford ’11 hit two homeruns to move into a tie for third place in Bison softball history with 12 dingers. In her 13 plate appearances, she hit .583 with a .615 on base percentage.

Along with her efficiency in getting on base, she also hit for a lot of power. Her homers were also accompanied by a double to give her an impressive slugging percentage of 1.417.

Ford was integral to her team’s success this weekend, her five RBIs accounting for 42 percent of the Bison runs over the weekend series. Unfortunately, the Bison only took one of the four games, but her contributions significantly increased the level of her team’s play.

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Sports

Men’s golf finishes second in invitational

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The men’s golf team put together a balanced team attack en route to a second place finish at the Wilmington University Spring Classic Frog Hollow Golf Club in Middletown, Del on Saturday.

The Bison finished with a team total of 582 for the 36-hole tournament, while first-place Wilmington complied a score of 564. Joe Szmadzinski ’13 and Dan Bernard ’13 led the Orange and Blue with scores of 144 each, good for a tie for fourth place.

“About the tournament itself, the course wasn’t particularly long on paper but the windy, cold weather conditions made it play quite a bit longer,” Szmadzinski said. “Being able to hit shots that stayed under the wind and taking advantage of the reachable par fives were both key to shooting low scores out there.”

Will Bachman ’12 was close behind at 146, placing him in a tie for ninth overall.

“Overall, the Wilmington Invite was a big step in the right direction for our team, and I think we all gained a great deal of confidence and momentum heading into the home stretch of our championship season,” Szmadzinski said. “Hopefully we can continue to compete at a high level this weekend at Penn State and have our hard work translate into success at Patriot Leagues.”

The men return to action starting today to compete in the Penn State Invitational this weekend in State College, Pa.

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Sports

Women’s rowing finishes second across the board

By Thomas Walter

Contributing Writer

In their two matches this weekend, the women’s rowing team’s openweights finished second in all races in New Rochelle, N.Y., and the lightweights traveled to Princeton, N.J. where they also finished second against Princeton and MIT.

The Bison openweights struggled to find a win in either of their races against Columbia. The varsity eight finished 10 seconds behind Columbia, while the second varsity eight finished less than a second behind the Lions. The varsity four finished seven seconds behind their opponent. In the second varsity four event, the”B” boat took second place, nine seconds behind Columbia, and the “A” boat took third place, nine seconds behind the “B” team.

“We rowed well into a strong headwind and against the current, making it more difficult and causing times to increase,” Ally Rivard ’14 said.

The lightweights had a similarly challenging day, finishing in second place in both of their races. The varsity lightweight eight finished 16 seconds behind Princeton’s lightweights but 24 seconds in front of MIT. The second varsity eight finished just over 10 seconds behind Princeton. MIT finished third.

Next up for the Orange and the Blue is another split meet when the lightweights will row at the Knecht Cup, and the openweights will head to Griggs Reservoir in Ohio.

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Sports

Ford ’11 moves into tie for third on all-time homer list

By Lindsay Regruto

Staff Writer

Alison Ford ’11 now stands tied for third in program history with 12 home runs after the softball team’s four-game series at home against Lehigh last weekend. The Bison went on to drop the double header to Lehigh on Saturday but managed to split on Sunday.

Despite dropping the first game 2-1, Ford’s first home run of the day put the Bison on the scoreboard first in the second inning. Bridget Gates ’13 sent all three batters back in order in the first three innings to hold the lead. The Mountain Hawks found success in the fifth inning, scoring both runs to take the lead. The Orange and Blue put players on base in the next innings but could not bring them around.

“As far as this past weekend goes, I think our bats are starting to come around, and we were able to get an important win against Lehigh,” Ford said. “They are a tough opponent, and the win against them in our last game of the weekend will give us good momentum to take on Colgate this weekend.”

The Orange and Blue came up short in their second game falling 7-5 to the Mountain Hawks again. Lehigh was the first to put a run on the board early in the first inning. Mary Horton ’13 and Lauren Fry ’11 both singled to get on base and were later brought in by another home run by Ford. The Orange and Blue’s lead was cut short with Lehigh scoring again to take a 4-3 lead over the Bison. In the bottom of the fifth, the Bison offense rallied to close the gap to 7-5 but could not bring enough people around by the seventh to grab the win.

The Orange and Blue dropped a close game 3-1 on Sunday to the Mountain Hawks in the first game of the double header. Lehigh took a 1-0 lead early on, and the score remained at a standstill until the sixth inning. Ford scored off a two out RBI-double by Elyse Colmenero ’11 to tie the score, tying Colmenero for 10th all-time in the program. Later in the sixth, Leigh managed two runs off the Bison to give them the lead and the win.

The final game of the day proved successful for the Bison as they defeated the Mountain Hawks 5-3. The game remained scoreless until the second inning when the Mountain Hawks put their first two runs on the board. The Orange and Blue started off the fifth inning with a run of their own. A two RBI-double by Kara Sullivan ’11 to left center resulted in a tie score. It came down to the last inning with score still tied. Fry reached based on a fielder’s choice, and Ford’s double put her into scoring position. A fielding error off Mallory Lyons ’14 brought both girls around to give the Bison the win.

The game on Tuesday against Coppin State was postponed due to weather. The Bison will be back on the field tomorrow and Sunday in Hamilton, N.Y. against Colgate.

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Baseball drops four of five in homestand

By Chris McCree

Writer

The baseball team dropped four of five to Marist and Lafayette in a homestand last weekend, with three of the losses coming against its Patriot League rival.

During the weekend’s four-game series, the Orange and Blue were outscored 24-to-21 by Lafayette and quickly fell to a League record of 1-3. To add to the struggles, the Bison fell to Marist 13-1 to finish up their five-game home-stand. Against the Red Foxes, the Bison never found their groove, going through eight different pitchers and serving up 16 walks.

“Obviously this week did not go the way that we wanted it to g,o as we are trying to repeat as Patriot League Champions,” Trey Frahler ’11 said. “We made too many mistakes, and they were able to capitalize on them.”

The Bison got off to a slow start, losing 11-5 during the first of two games on Saturday. The team fell behind 7-0 after the top of the fourth, but pulled within two before the Leopards tacked on four more insurance runs.

Game two was a completely different story as the Bison recorded 11 runs of their own and received an impressive pitching performance by Ryan Ebner ’12 to record their only win of the week 11-2. Ebner continued his string of impressive outings by going seven innings and allowing just two runs to claim his fourth victory of the year. Offensively, the Bison outhit the Leopards 15-5 thanks, in large part, to impressive individual performances by Bob Donato ’12 and Matt Lamore ’12 who combined for seven hits and six RBIs.

The Orange and Blue followed this strong offensive performance by outhitting the Leopards 17-16 during Sunday’s doubleheader, but still lost both games. During game three’s 5-2 loss, Gerry Runyan ’12 had a team-high three hits, but the team fell behind early and never fought their way back. Similarly, in game four, the Bison couldn’t overcome an early four-run deficit and lost 6-3.

“As much as it is tough to start going 1-3, we have not lost our confidence,” Frahler said. “We know now that we have our work cut out for us. One of our goals was to win every series in the regular season and post-season, but now we are going to have to work even harder to come dig ourselves out of this hole.”

The Bison will continue Patriot League play this weekend as they travel to Holy Cross for an important four-game series. Although it is still early in Patriot League play, a loss to the last-place Crusaders would be a serious hit to the Bison’s title chances.

“Our team in the past few years has done a great job at rebounding after tough weekends, and we plan on doing that this weekend and the rest of the year,” Frahler said.

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Women’s lacrosse drops to 2-10

By Andrew Arnao

Writer

Despite a strong second half, the women’s lacrosse team fell to Lafayette 13-11 on Saturday, leaving the Bison with a 2-10 record for the season.

Julia Braun ’11 scored four goals, while Ali Carey ’14 and Madison Hurwitz ’13 scored three goals apiece. Adrienne Wendling ’13 scored also scored a goal, while Katelyn Miller ’14 led the team with three assists. Goalie Alyssa DeLorenz ’11 also had her first assist of the season.

“We lost the game because we dug ourselves a hole that we just didn’t have enough time to get out of,” DeLorenz said. “We outscored Lafayette 11-5 during the final 45 minutes of the game.”

Lafayette quickly jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of the game, but the Orange and the Blue stormed back with four goals to make it 9-4 at halftime. The Bison carried their momentum into the second half by outscoring Lafayette 7-4, but ultimately fell short as the clock ran out.

Though the Bison out-shot Lafayette 31-29, the Leopards pulled ahead by winning the draw control battle 15-8.

DeLorenz had nine saves for the Bison, giving her a total of 148 on the season.

The Bison play against Holy Cross at home on Saturday at 1 pm.

“To be successful against Holy Cross, we will have to come out stronger in the opening minutes of the game and play our game for a full 60 minutes,” DeLorenz said.

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Men’s lacrosse secures playoff berth

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

For the fifth consecutive season, the men’s lacrosse team will continue to play into the postseason. The Bison earned a berth in the Patriot League Tournament after beating the Holy Cross Crusaders 10-3 at home last Saturday. The victory gave the Orange and Blue their ninth win of the season, tied for most in the nation as of Wednesday, and kept their perfect 3-0 conference record intact.

“It always feels good to win at home, and beating a league opponent makes it that much sweeter,” Jordan Nies ’11 said. “Holy Cross has struggled this season, so it was important that we held a strong lead against them in order to post a decisive win.”

Led by goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 and an experienced line of defense, the Bison turned in another spectacular defensive performance, holding the Crusaders to just one goal until the five-minute mark in the final quarter. The Bison have allowed just seven goals per game in 2011, good enough for seventh in the nation and top in the Patriot League.

On the offensive end, the Bison dominated the Crusaders throughout the first half. Despite a slow start, the Orange and Blue opened the scoring with three minutes left in the opening quarter with a goal from Nies.

In the second quarter, the Orange and Blue outscored the Crusaders 6-1 to put a close game out of reach. Chase Bailey ’13 tallied the first two goals of the quarter for the Bison, both coming when the Orange and Blue were playing with a man advantage after a Holy Cross penalty. Peter Burke ’14 added to the Bison lead midway through the period with his first goal of the contest.

Mike Danylyshyn ’11 registered two of his three goals at the end of the second quarter, and Charlie Streep ’12 scored with eight seconds remaining to end an impressive first half with the Orange and Blue up 7-1.

Trailing by six at halftime, Holy Cross had no answer for a stingy Bison defense in the second half. The Crusaders went scoreless for over 25 minutes to open the half, allowing the Orange and Blue to push the lead to 10-1. Holy Cross would score twice in the final minutes, but it would not be enough to catch the Bison, as the Crusaders fell 10-3.

Offensively, the Orange and Blue used an all-around dominating performance to defeat the Crusaders. Eight different Bison recorded either a goal or an assist against Holy Cross, and three, Danylyshyn, Burke and Bailey, scored at least twice in the game.

The Orange and Blue remain tied at first with Colgate in the Patriot League with three league games left, including a head-to-head match-up with the Raiders in the final game of the season.

The win assures that the Bison will have a spot in the Patriot League Tournament in a few weeks. Even though the Orange and Blue have made the playoffs, bigger and better things are on the minds of the Bison.

“It feels good to be back in the tournament, but our goal is to win out and host the Patriot League tournament,” Feeney said.

Up next for the Orange and Blue is another crucial Patriot League match-up, this time against the Black Knights of Army, this Saturday in West Point, N.Y.

“We are also not satisfied as of right now,”  Ryan Klipstein ’11 said. “We enter this weekend playing our biggest game of the year against Army and it will begin a three-game in-league away series that we must do well in. We intend on pushing harder than ever to run the table on these upcoming games and host the tourney.”

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Sports

Men’s tennis wins one, loses one in league

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The men’s tennis team defeated Colgate 4-3 on the road on Saturday before losing to Army 6-1 on Monday. Solid doubles performances, as well as an outstanding match played by first-year standout Kyle Rosen ’14, drove the Bison to their victory over the weekend.

“Every spot in our lineup has a chance of winning their match,” Josh Katten ’13 said. “When you’re playing tight matches, it’s reassuring to look at the court next to you and see your teammate fighting hard for every point.”

Starting white-hot, all three doubles pairings defeated their Colgate opponents. Anton Kovic ’11 and Evan Zimmer ’13 achieved the most impressive victory by defeating their competition 8-1 in the first doubles position.

Things became more interesting as the Bison were unable to convert victories from either of their top two singles players. Zimmer, continuing his great play from his doubles match, and Katten, another doubles winner for the team, both won their respective singles matches.

Finally, Rosen bested his Colgate opponent in a grueling straight sets match to clinch the victory for the Orange and Blue.

“Playing close matches at the beginning of the year have helped us tremendously. Now, when we’re locked in a dogfight against Patriot League opponents, we can look back at matches from earlier and be confident about our chances,” Kelly Morque ’13 said.

Against Army, Zimmer was the only Bison to pull off a victory as he made quick work of his opponent at third singles.

The Orange and Blue were able to play some close matches against Army as Kovic and Rosen both took their opponents to tiebreakers but were unable to come out victorious.

The Bison will face Lafayette this coming weekend in Lewisburg. This will be the penultimate match before they make a run in the Patriot League Tournament.

“I think that if we can focus on the little things before the upcoming tournament, it will make a big difference,” Mark Malloy ’11 said. “Higher first serve percentages will apply more pressure on our opponents, and getting our returns low and crosscourt will help us control the point.”