Author: Cooper Sutton

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Baseball heads into Patriot League play

By Chris McCree

Writer

The baseball team went 3-3 in six games last week against Longwood University and Le Moyne University. The Orange and Blue managed to take 3-of-4 in their home opener against Longwood over the weekend but were swept during Tuesday’s doubleheader at Le Moyne.

With the sun shining and the Depew Field stands filled with enthusiastic fans, the Bison opened up home play on a high note against a tough Longwood squad. The Lancers came into the series boasting an impressive 17-7 record, but the Bison were unfazed and, thanks to solid all-around play, came away successful.

“We are definitely happy with the outcome of our home opener because we knew Longwood was going to be a challenge, and we played well as a team,” Drew Constable ’11 said. “I thought everyone on our squad came out really focused this weekend.”

The Bison’s first game of the home series proved to be the most dramatic, as Constable hit a walk-off triple to seal the 3-2 victory. The triple was Constable’s second hit of the game, tying him with two others for team-high honors.

After the low-scoring 3-2 victory in the morning, the Bison offense exploded for 11 runs in the afternoon en route to an 11-2 victory. The team scored seven runs in the fourth inning alone and led the Lancers 11-0 going into the ninth inning.

Dylan Seeley ’11 and Ryan Ebner ’12 produced back-to-back pitching gems for the Bison during the first set of doubleheaders. Seeley, who pitched in game one, did not allow a runner to reach base until the third inning and allowed just two runs in the Bison’s dramatic victory. Ebner, Reigning Patriot League Pitcher of the Week, followed with an eight-inning shutout performance of his own, allowing the Bison to sweep Saturday’s doubleheader.

Game three featured an intense pitching duel between Jack Boehm ’12 and Longwood’s Matt Gwaltney. Boehm came away on top, registering a complete game with a 2-1 victory. The Bison recorded both of their runs in the first inning, but it proved to be enough as Boehm allowed just one run and retired his last 11 batters.

The Orange and Blue did not find the same success in their final three games of the week, dropping their series finale 6-2 to Longwood and both games against Le Moyne. The Bison couldn’t seem to figure out the Le Moyne pitching, recording just three runs and nine hits over the two games. Despite the team’s poor hitting performance, Doug Schribman ’11 was able to extend his hitting streak to eight games.

The Bison start their Patriot League schedule this weekend with their home series against Lafayette.

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Women’s tennis crushes Nova 7-0

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The women’s tennis team opened its season with a tough loss to the hands of Navy 6-1 but roared back with a 7-0 clobbering of Villanova at home on Wednesday, putting Lauren Lucido ’11 just one win shy of the Bison school record.

Lucido continued to inch her way closer to claiming the school record for total victories over a career in both matches this past week. Lucido partnered with Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 to record the only win for the Bison in doubles play.

Lucido was also the bright spot for the Orange and Blue in singles play, taking down the No. 1 singles player for Navy in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-4.

“Tennis is an extremely mental sport, and mental toughness and intensity are very important when it comes to playing and competing at a high level,” Lucido said.

The Bison did have three other matches that they could not push towards their favor as Iepuras and Elena Vidrascu ’14 both took their singles matches to three sets. Neither could tally a win after recording a first set victory.

In the final close match Courtney Casey ’12 took her No. 4 singles game to a tiebreaker but fell 11-9 in the final.

Against Villanova, the Bison appeared to be a team that could not be stopped. The Bison did not drop a singles match as Lucido, Iepuras, Lauren Rottkamp ’11, Casey, Vidrascu and Dara Dwojewski ’11 all defeated their Villanova opponents. Iepuras, Rottkamp and Vidrascu were all able to defeat their opponents in straight sets, shutting down Villanova’s chance of a rally early.

With the match moved indoors halfway through due to inclement weather, the Bison continued their dominance in doubles play. Again the Bison made a clean sweep as the third doubles team did not even need to compete, winning by forfeit.

“The Patriot League is going to be very competitive this year. We certainly have the talent and skill that it takes to win, but in order to be successful we really need to put on our game faces and boost our overall level of intensity,” Lucido said.

Although Lucido speaks mostly about her team during her interviews, she will be seeking to eclipse the mark set by Veronica Brown ’06 as the Bison take on Patriot League foe Colgate tomorrow in Hamilton, N.Y.

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Men’s tennis falls to Navy 4-3, other matches postponed

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The men’s tennis team fell just short of earning its first-ever victory against Navy, dropping a tough 4-3 decision that dropped the team to 7-6 overall and 0-1 in Patriot League play. Trailing 3-1, the Orange and Blue rallied behind victories in the singles matches by Josh Katten ’13 and Mark Malloy ’11, both of whom won their matches in straight sets. In doubles play, Katten and Kelly Morque ’13 posted an 8-1 victory.

The match came down to the No. 2 singles match between Evan Zimmer ’13 and Navy’s Jeremy New. With the match tied at three apiece, New was able to outlast Zimmer in three hard-fought sets.

The Bison were originally scheduled to play in three matches, but their games against George Mason and Villanova were postponed due to inclement weather.

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Women’s track takes four golds

By Joyce Novacek

Writer

The women’s track team claimed four gold medals at the Towson Invitational to open the outdoor season. Laura Rycek ’11 won the javelin with a personal-record throw of 154 feet, 10 inches, the second-best throw in program history. Rebecca Misko ’12, Rebecca Frey ’11, Emily Ando ’14 and Caroline Tolli ’13 also earned victories at this unscored meet.

“I think the results from the meet were mixed,” Frey said. “Many runners did off-events, and it’s hard to go for personal bests in sprinting or jumping in cold weather, but a lot of people rose to the challenge and performed well.”

The Orange and Blue throwers dominated the javelin, earning all four top places. Kat Folger ’12 placed second, throwing a new personal best of 143 feet, which places her third all-time. Teammates Tayler Siegrist ’13 and Sarah Trahan ’12 took third and fourth, respectively.

“I had not thrown the discus in competition since the end of last outdoor season and was focused on getting a solid throw,” Misko said.

Misko, the defending Patriot League Champion, earned a gold at Towson, throwing the discuss 133 feet, four inches. “This performance gives me a great start and confidence for the rest of the season,” she said. “I think the team will be strong in the outdoor throwing events this season.”

In the jumps, the Orange and Blue swept the pole vault. Frey and Ando each cleared 10-6 to win the event. Teammate Autumn Schellenberger ’14 completed the Bison sweep by clearing 10 feet to place third.

Tolli earned the Bison’s only first-place finish on the track in the 1500-meter run, another event that the Bison swept. Kady Weisner ’14 took second, Sarah Moniz ’11 took third, and Alysha Hooper ’13 earned fourth.

The Orange and Blue had almost a dozen more top-three finishers.

The Bison will compete at the William and Mary Colonial Relays in Williamsburg, Va. this weekend.

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Men’s track dominates in Baltimore

By Colin Fields

Contributing Writer

The men’s track team, the defending outdoor Patriot League champions, lived up to expectations on Saturday at the Towson Invitational in Maryland. Lenny Joseph ’13, Ted Heitzman ’12, Luke Webster ’13, Chris Sacks ’14, Isaih Bell ’11, John Picardo ’11, Ian Shore ’11 and Drew Fitzgerald ’11 all brought home victories for the Bison. Bison athletes also took the top two spots in the hammer throw, discus, 1500-meter and 100-meter.

Joseph ran away with the hammer throw, throwing 182′ 1″ and breaking his personal record by over 13 feet. His teammate, Tom Barr ’12, threw 169’9″ for second place and his own personal record.

The Bison continued their successful throwing in the discus where Webster finished first, Barr second and Joseph third. Heitzman won the javelin while Barr finished second in the shot put, his third second-place finish.

In the 1500-meter run, the Bison took the top six spots. Sacks, Rookie of the Meet at the Patriot League Indoor Championships, grabbed first with a time of 4:04.20. Teammate Christopher Boyd ’11 finished a close second with a time of 4:04.76.

“I am excited to be racing outside, and I think it will be a great spring season,” Sacks said. “In terms of last weekend, my time was slow, but the meet served as a good warm-up to prepare everybody for the rest of the outdoor season.”

Bell and Justin Hicks ’13 took the top two spots for the Bison in the 100-meter run. Bell ran it in 10.98 seconds while Hicks finished just two hundredths behind with a mark of 11 seconds.

Picardo took gold in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.22, and Shore took home gold in the 5K.

Fitzgerald placed first in the high jump at 6’4″. He nearly won a second event by finishing second in the long jump.

“As a team we have very high expectations for the spring season, and we understand that we need strong performances right from the start,” Fitzgerald said. “The outdoor season is short, making every practice and competition very important. Personally, as a senior, each meet takes on a little more meaning, and I hope to make the best of it and win another team championship.”

The Orange and Blue will look to continue their success at the William and Mary Colonial Relays on April 1-2.

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Basketball loses in tourney

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

Six years after pulling off one of the most memorable and lasting upsets ever in the Big Dance, the Bison men’s basketball team took the court last Thursday in this year’s NCAA Tournament against a highly-favored, major conference foe with an All-American candidate. This year’s appearance was not so successful, with the Bison losing to the third-seeded Connecticut Huskies 81-52.

The Huskies had just completed a historic run of five victories in five days to win the Big East conference tournament. All year the Huskies’ offensive leader was Kemba Walker, All-American candidate and the fourth-leading scorer in the nation.

“Getting a chance to go toe-to-toe with arguably the hottest team in college basketball was going to be a great challenge,” G.W. Boon ’11 said. “But we welcomed the opportunity to play UConn.”

Early on, the undersized and slower Bison hung with a dominant UConn team. A three-pointer by Darryl Shazier ’11 gave the Orange and Blue a 5-3 advantage just a minute and a half into the game.

Despite an 8-0 Connecticut run after Shazier’s basket, the Bison kept the Huskies lead within six for the next eight minutes.

But after trailing by just seven after a three-pointer by Bryson Johnson ’13 at the eight-minute mark, the Orange and Blue went cold offensively, registering just one field goal for the remainder of the half. In that stretch, Walker contributed to all 12 points scored by the Huskies with four points and three assists.

In the second half, the Bison found no answer for the Huskies on either end.

An early 20-2 run by Connecticut put the game well out of reach for the Orange and Blue, who were still looking for a way to stop the Huskies’ potent offense. Only in the final minutes of the half did the Bison look like the team that had won 23 of 25 contests before its match-up with UConn. The Bison went on a 17-6 run to end the game.

“Going in, we were confident because we were successful all year playing our game and making adjustments for our opponents,” Johnson said. “Obviously it didn’t work out the way we planned, but UConn is a great team, and they showed it on Thursday night.”

After his magical performance in the Big East Tournament, Kemba Walker continued his amazing postseason run against the Bison. His 18-point, 12-assist, eight-rebound game left him just two rebounds shy of the eighth triple-double in NCAA Tournament history.

Connecticut exploited the size mismatch down low throughout the game. The Huskies outscored the Bison 30-12 in the paint and, led by Alex Oriakhi’s 12, out-rebounded the Bison 42-21. Mike Muscala ’13, who averaged over seven boards per game, grabbed just four against the Huskies.

“Playing in the NCAA Tournament was a life changing experience and something I will never forget,” Muscala said. “At the same time though, it made me even hungrier to get better, get us back there next year and win games. I know we can do it.”

That hunger will be the driving force behind the men’s basketball program getting stronger in the off-season to make 2011-2012 even better than this year. Next year’s squad has a lot to live up to, trying to repeat as Patriot League regular season and conference champions.

But for right now the Bison will enjoy the run that they had and cherish the memories they made for themselves and their fans.

“Every young basketball player watches March Madness growing up, wishing that one day they would get a chance to play on the big stage,” Boon said. “Finally, in my senior year, I got to fulfill my childhood dream.”

 

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Bison Athlete of the Week : Lauren Lucido ’11

By Cooper Sutton

Sports Editor

Biography

Position: No. 1 Singles

Class: Senior

Hometown: Woodstock, Md.

Major: Sociology

In her team’s victory against Mount St. Mary’s last week, Lauren Lucido ’11 won her singles match 6-2, 7-5 to take over second place all-time in Bison history for singles victories. Her overall record is 80-35. She is also second all-time in combined singles and doubles victories at 156-69.

Overall, Lucido won every one of her matches in her team’s trip to Florida over spring break, going 5-0. She was dominant in that stretch, only dropping one set in her five matches.

“For the record, it’s definitely exciting, but I really don’t think about the record books. I love playing tennis. I love competing and I love winning,” she said.

Lucido’s strength will be integral to Bison success as they prepare for Patriot League play this weekend.

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LeValley ’11 places 7th in nation

By Joe Ruby

Writer

Bison wrestler Kevin LeValley ’11 earned All-American Honors for the second consecutive year and Jay Hahn ’11 won his first round match at the NCAA Wrestling Championships this weekend in Philadelphia, Pa. LeValley equaled last year’s performance with a seventh-place finish to become the third Bison wrestler to be a two-time All-American.

LeValley, seeded third, easily won his first two matches to reach the quarterfinals, where he suffered only his second defeat of the year, 4-3 in the first tie-breaker period to sixth seed Jason Chamberlain of Boise State. After defeating Edinboro’s Torsten Gillespie 11-2 to reach the consolation quarterfinals and guarantee All-American status, LeValley lost 6-5 to Andrew Nadhir, the 11th seed, of Northwestern.

LeValley took a 4-0 lead in the seventh-place match against unseeded Derek Valenti of Virginia and hung on for a 5-4 victory. LeValley finished the season at 34-3 with a record of 11-3 against nationally-ranked wrestlers. Cornell’s Kyle Dake, who LeValley defeated to earn his EIWA Championship, won the 149 lb. National Championship.

Hahn, unseeded entering the tournament, won his first-round match, defeating Nikolas Brown of Chattanooga by a score of 11-7. Hahn next faced fourth-seed and eventual National Champion Dustin Kilgore of Kent State, losing 13-4. In the consolation second round, Hahn was defeated by Daniel Mitchell of American for the third time this season, falling by a 10-1 major decision.

On the strength of LeValley’s and Hahn’s performances, the Bison finished 36th of the 73 teams present with 11.5 points, just behind EIWA foe Harvard and just ahead of EIWA foe Navy. Penn State won the overall team championship with 107.5 points.

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Women’s golf defeats Penn State for first time in history

By Thomas Walter

Contributing Writer

The women’s golf team was looking to build on its early season success as it traveled to Las Vegas and Virginia this spring break. In their first tournament, the Jackrabbit Invite, the Bison finished ninth. Traveling to Virginia to play in the C&F Bank Intercollegiate, they took fourth place, their best finish at the tournament ever, including defeating Penn State for the first time in program history.

“We still have a lot to work on with our mental games and finishing strong,” Katie Jurenovich ’11 said. “But we have a real shot at our Big South Championship. If we continue to stay positive and give it all we got, I think some teams will be quite surprised in a few weeks.”

In the three-day Jackrabbit Invite, the Bison fired scores of 312-305-312. Jurenovich led the Bison individually, shooting scores of 77-75-78, which was good enough for a tie for 21st. Bridget Wilcox ’14 and Minjoo Lee ’11 also had three rounds in the 70s.

Although those are good results, Lee believes the team still can improve.

“The course in Nevada was really nice and it was in good conditions so we should have definitely played better. We’re having a bit of trouble with finishing strong,” she said.

The Bison’s performance at the C&F Bank Intercollegiate was their best of the year so far. The Bison shot 631 over 36 holes.  The Bison were again paced by Jurenovich who tied for 11th, with scores of 77–79. Lee and Kasha Scott ’14 finished in a tie for 16th place.

The Bison hope to continue building their confidence and momentum as they head into the Big South Championship in South Carolina April 11-13.

 

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Mattingly ’11 and Bernard ’13 pace Bison golf team

By Colin Fields

Writer

Coming off a team trip to California over spring break, Ben Mattingly ’11 fired a one-under-71 on the second day of the C&F Bank Intercollegiate at Kingsmill Tuesday to lead all Bison. Dan Bernard ’13 shot two consecutive rounds below 80 at William and Mary’s home course. Schulyer Stitzer ’14 shot a four-over-par 76 on the second day of his spring debut with the Bison.

“I feel like the entire team is once again capable of playing well after the long off season, but we are still maintaining a bit of rust,” Mattingly said. “Personally, I am satisfied with the way I played at William and Mary, especially the second day of the tournament. I have more confidence now with the putter than I have had in at least a year.”

Mattingly rallied on Tuesday, the second day of the match and shaved 12 strokes off of his day one total. The senior fought through the wet conditions at Kingsmill to turn in the first below-par score of 2011 for the Orange and Blue.

“I know that our team is only going to get better as the season progresses, especially with being able to use the new indoor practice facility. Everyone seems to have really positive attitudes right now, and we are ready to build off our performance of this past tournament,” Mattingly said.

The Bison get to reap the benefits of a brand-new practice facility which allows both men’s and women’s teams to practice in the worst of conditions. The facility is designed to help players practice during some of the rough patches of weather in the early spring season.

Bernard also improved on his day-one score by shooting a four-over 76, leaving him just one stroke behind Mattingly for the two days combined. The sophomore proved to be a consistent threat for the Bison, as the only player who scored in the 70s for both rounds.

Stitzer opened his first spring campaign with an 82 on Monday but would shave six strokes off his day one score in the next round. Stitzer’s 76 on Tuesday was tied with Bernard for the second best score of the day, while conquering the cold and wet conditions at Kingsmill.

The Bison will be back in action on April 2 at the Wilmington Invitational in Delaware.