Category: Women

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Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lax drops opener

Thomas Walter

Writer

The women’s lacrosse team opened its season last weekend with a crushing 25-3 loss to the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils. Coming off a season in which they made it to the Final Four, the Blue Devils did not make it easy for the young Bison squad.

Despite the lopsided defeat, the Orange and Blue starting goalie Caroline O’Neill ’15 was not disheartened.

“Even though the game was extremely challenging, it gave many players the opportunity to step up as leaders and make big plays during crucial parts of the game, despite the scoreboard,” O’Neil said. “The amount of talent that Duke possessed was absolutely eye-opening and incredible to watch, especially for such a young team like us.”

Arriana Sajjad ’15 led the scoring for the Bison with two goals on two shots off the bench. Madison Hurwitz ’13 scored the only other goal of the contest for the Orange and Blue. All three goals were assisted by Chloe Chou ’15.

O’Neill had five saves but allowed 17 goals in the first half. She was replaced by Katherine Fraile ’14, who had two saves and eight goals against in the second half.

Duke dominated almost every statistical category, most notably in shots, out-shooting the Bison 45-8. In addition, the Orange and Blue were only able to recover 10 of the 24 ground balls and committed 18 turnovers to Duke’s 13.

The team has taken away many lessons from this game.

“I think the one thing our team needs to work on in order to have a successful season is transitioning the ball down the midfield to the offense in a quick, efficient manner,” O’Neil said. “We need to have the confidence to make long, risky passes down the field instead of just running the ball through defenders and getting checked.”

The team will have a busy 16-game schedule over the next two months of play. The first of these contests comes on Feb. 15 when the Bison will take on Penn State.

 

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Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis falls to Panthers

Lindsay Regruto

Staff Writer

Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 earned the women’s tennis team’s only win on Saturday against Pittsburgh, defeating her singles opponent 1-6, 7-5 (10-7), as the Bison fell to the Panthers 6-1 in their season opener.

“Despite the final scores, I believe that the match against Pittsburgh was very competitive,” Iepuras said. “Even though we lost, this first match of the season was a good experience that made us stronger and more ready for our biggest competitors.”

Iepuras’s win brings her closer to moving up on the team’s all-time victories list, needing only six more wins to put her in eighth place. Courtney Casey ’12 needs only three more wins to move into the top 25 on the all-time victories list. Casey fell to her singles opponent. On the doubles court, Casey and Elena Vidrascu ’14 played a close match against their opponents, but ultimately fell 8-4.

“We knew Pittsburgh was going to be a tough team to play, but it didn’t stop any one of us from giving our best and fighting through till the end,” Vidrascu said. “No one gave up, even when being down score-wise, and I think that is going to be one of our biggest strengths for the season.”

Alyssa McAndrew ’15 and Jen Bush ’15 battled it out in doubles, but fell 8-4 in the end. Lydia Colvin ’15 vied for a second win for the team on the singles court, but could not overcome her Pittsburgh opponent (6-2, 6-4).

The Bison will be back on the court at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sunday.

 

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Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track improves

Katherine Harris ’15

Staff Writer

The women’s track and field team once again put together an impressive performance last weekend at the Youngstown State Invitational. With a new school record, along with numerous other top finishes and entrances into the record books, the squad remains consistent in its preparation for the Patriot League Championships, now just two weekends away.

“I thought this weekend was great for our program,” Alex Romanelli ’13 said. “I’m super excited about Leagues in two weeks. Our team has really come a long way since the season has started, and I really believe we’re peaking at the right time.”

The first day of the meet was highlighted by Hana Casalnova ’14 breaking the school record in the 1,000 meters with a time of 1:52.96. With her performance, Casalnova ousted the record time set by teammate Beth Braunegg ’14 just last week by less than one second.

“We continue to get better as a team each and every week, and the Youngstown meet was our best of the season.  School records are very hard to get in an established program like ours, however we do have some very good talent and a critical mass of depth to help push each other in workouts which is part of the process when getting a school record,” head coach Kevin Donner said.

Many other Orange and Blue athletes had strong showings on Friday. With performances that led them both to seventh place in the record books, Jennifer Zymet ’14 finished first in the 500 meters with a career best 1:15.69, and Abby Monaghan ’13 came in second in the weight throw with a distance of 53’ 0’’.

As the meet continued on Saturday, the Bison continued to shine. Caroline Tolli ’13 and Emily Liggett ’12 took first and second in the mile, while Braunegg and Sasha Hornock ’13 won the 800 meters and 60 meters, respectively. Emily Ando ’14 had an impressive pole vault of 11’ 3.75’’, which placed her third in the meet and tied for sixth in the school record books, and Romanelli’s triple jump of 37’ 8.5’’, her personal best, won her second in the meet, as well as putting her ninth in school history.

“I was really happy with how well I jumped, and I’m hoping to keep the momentum going into Patriot League Championships,” Romanelli said. “Every weekend we continue to excel and put up better marks. As a result, we’ve been having great success, and I know we all can’t wait to compete in two weeks.”

On Friday, a small portion of the team also headed down the road to the Susquehanna Crusader Classic. There, Eden Wondra ’15 shined in the pole vault, winning the event with a vault of 9’ 6.25’’. Other noteworthy performers included Zoe Gaston ’15 and Stefanie Spanfeller ’14, who took second and fifth respectively in the mile.

The team will compete Saturday in the Bison Winter Classic, the final meet before the Patriot League Indoor Championships.

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Basketball Sports Women

Fedorjaka resignation sparks controversy

By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

In a sudden and surprising turn of events, Kathy Fedorjaka officially announced her resignation as head coach of the women’s basketball team late on Jan. 13, sparking a flurry of speculations surrounding the move.

“Her resignation came as a big surprise,” starting guard Christina Chukwuedo ’12 said. “It was very unexpected, but we are coping as best we can by being positive and trusting in our coaching staff.”

Two weeks since the announcement, specific details concerning the motives behind the change still remain uncertain. Amid the swirl of rumors, all parties involved have been hesitant to comment.

“Because this is a personnel matter, the University is unable legally or ethically to comment about this announcement,” said Athletic Director John Hardt. “What I am able to share is that the coach resigned, as indicated in our announcement that day.”

Coach Fedorjaka could not be reached for comment.

Although Fedorjaka did issue a formal letter of resignation, speculation exists that she may have been pressured into the move. During the 14 full seasons with Fedorjaka in charge, the women’s basketball staff cycled through 25 different assistant coaches, with 12 of those coaches deciding to leave after one season with the Bison. On top of this, the program has seen numerous recruited players transfer to other schools over the past couple years, including one former Patriot League Rookie of the Year.

No formal remarks have been released to confirm these rumors, but the abruptness of the move has created some confusion, even among the players.

“Honestly, there’s not much any of us know at this point,” said a player who chose to remain anonymous. “We did not hear anything about it until that same night that the press release was sent out to the media.”

Leaving in the middle of her 15th season with the Bison, Fedorjaka was the longest tenured coach in program history and is credited with 209 career wins, as well as leading the Orange and Blue to their first NCAA tournament appearance ever back in 2002.

“I am very thankful to Kathy Fedorjaka for her 18 years of loyal service to Bison Athletics,” Hardt said in the press release issued on the night of Fedorjaka’s resignation. “Kathy was extremely passionate about coaching, and she was able to elevate the program to competitive heights never before seen in the Bison women’s basketball program.”

Despite the many accolades to her name, Fedorjaka was not able to achieve the same level of success in recent years as she had earlier in her career and her departure came amid a 2-15 start to this season.

Stepping in as the interim head coach is second-year assistant Bill Broderick who has 13 years of collegiate coaching experience to date.

“Coach B has a very different coaching style,” Chukwuedo said. “He allows us players to operate more of the ball and we all like it and trust it. ”

The future of Bison women’s basketball remains unclear for the time being, and it is unlikely that any major decisions will be made before the offseason.

“We will start a national search at the end of the season,” Hardt said. “Meanwhile, we are doing everything we can as an athletics department to support the interim coach and the team as they complete this season.”

The Orange and Blue have eight games remaining in the season, all against Patriot League opponents. Although winless, the team is by no means out of title contention and Broderick will be faced with the challenge to make the struggling team a contender once again.

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Sports Swimming & Diving Women

Women’s swimming wins four races

By Lindsay Regruto

Staff Writer

Gina Gautieri ’15 clinched first place by 0.27 seconds in the 200-yard breaststroke to give the women’s swimming and diving team one of four wins on Saturday at the Navy Invitational in Annapolis, Md. The Orange and Blue faced Navy, American, Lafayette and Shippensburg in an unscored meet in preparation for the upcoming Patriot League Championship.

“…It was the last chance to see where we were individually and as a team with our training,” Gautieri said. “I felt we raced very well as a team and are ready for great performances at our championship meets.”

Gautieri’s first-place finish was her first victory of the season, and her time of 1:08:91 in the 100 breast put her at fifth on team’s 2011-2012 fastest time list. Elizabeth Porcellio ’13 added to the list of wins with a first-place finish in the 400 IM, claiming her victory by 5.83 seconds.

Katie Hetherington ’15 swept both diving events to give the Orange and Blue its other two wins. The first-year scored 231.15 on the one-meter, followed closely behind by teammate Tori Molchany ’15, who placed second with 222.10. Hetherington grabbed her first-place finish on three-meter with a score of 276.85.

“It was a fun meet to go to because it was one of the last meets before Patriots and everyone was pumped up and cheering everyone on,” Hetherington said.

Top Bison performers also included Emily Wright ’14, who came in second in the 50 free and Sydney Schroder ’15, who finished second in the 200 back.  The Orange and Blue did not have swimmers entered in every event, but used the meet to try swimmers in new, unfamiliar events.

The next competition will be the Patriot League Championships hosted at Navy. The three-day event begins Feb. 16.

 

 

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Sports Track & Field Women

Women’s track impresses

By Katherine Harris

Writer

The women’s track and field team came away with five ECAC qualifiers and a new school record last weekend in the Bison Open & Multi and Penn State National Invitational.

On Friday and Saturday, many of the top Bison athletes traveled to the Penn State National Invitational to race, throw and jump against some very tough competition.  Highlighting the meet was Beth Braunegg ’14, who claimed the top spot in program history for the 1000 meters with a time of 2:53:73. With this time she beat the previous record by .17 and claimed fourth in the race.

Hana Casalnova ’13 in the 800, Braunegg and Caroline Tolli ’13 in the 1000 Emily Liggett ’12 in the 3000 and the distance medley relay team all secured ECAC qualifying times.

“Our women had a very nice weekend. We seemed much more confident than we were for the Gulden Invitational and we had quite a few season best marks,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “I believe the hard work we did in early January is now paying off.”

Many of the members of the Orange and Blue squad also remained at home this weekend, participating in the Bison Open & Multi. Though the meet was not scored to produce an overall team winner, there were many impressive performances all around by the Bison.

Alexandra Romanelli ’14 won the triple jump at 37 ft, 6.75 inches, putting her tenth all-time in school history. Romanelli also tied for first in the long jump along with teammate Alyssa Cardillo ’14. Abby Monaghan ’13 won the weight throw with a throw of 50 ft, 6.75 inches.

Winners of the track events included Katie Jessee ’15 in the mile, Kim Nagotko ’15 in the 400 and Kylie Pearse ’15 in the 1000. 

“I was very happy with my performance. I achieved my goal for the meet of breaking three minutes in the 1000 meters,” Pearse said. “As a team our main goal is to win Patriot Leagues. That being said, there is always room for improvement. Every second and every inch of improvement brings us closer and closer to achieving our goal.”

Next weekend the Bison will continue their season at the Youngstown State Invitational on Friday and Saturday, competing on an oversized indoor track that should lead to fast times. 

“I think we are gaining essential confidence and building momentum for the Patriot League Championships coming up in a few weekends,” Tolli said. “We are excited to be back under one roof for competition next weekend at Youngstown and keep the momentum going.”

Categories
Basketball Sports Women

Women’s basketball falls just short of first league win

By Thomas Walter

Writer

Still desperately searching for that one elusive win, the women’s basketball team fell 50-49 to Navy in a back-and-forth contest last Saturday at home.  The Bison lost for the third time in the last seven games by a margin of four points or less.

“We are so close to a win and I think we are going to make some big upsets in the second round of league play,” Shelby Romine ’14 said.

The Orange and the Blue had one of their strongest games of the year and held possession with a chance to win in the game’s final seconds following a five-second call against Navy. Romine’s shot with a second remaining in the contest came up just short, leaving the team winless in league play.

Rachel Voss ’13 led the Bison with 13 points and Christina Chukwuedo ’12 also added 12 points for the Bison.

The Bison held a six-point lead with 12 minutes remaining in the second half, but the Midshipmen quickly rattled off seven unanswered points to take the lead. During the second half, the Orange and Blue defense could not find an answer for Navy’s Alix Membreno who recorded 15 points in the second half alone.

The Bison ended up shooting 31% from the field while Navy shot 38% from the field.  

The Bison start the second round of Patriot League play on Saturday when they make the trip to Army.

“The key to our success will be turning up the defensive pressure.  We play our best at a fast pace. We capitalize off of turnovers, scoring baskets in transition,” Romine said.