Category: Women

Categories
Cross Country Sports Women

Women’s XC takes second in Penn St. Invitational

Cooper Mead

Senior Writer

The women’s cross country team claimed a runner-up finish at Penn State’s Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational at its first away meet of the season. The meet came after a great performance at the Bison Open. Penn State won the meet with 15 points. The Bison tallied 60 points to defeat Pittsburgh with 84 points, Mount St. Mary’s with 113 points, and West Virginia with 126 points.

The team was led by Catherine Scott ’17 and Kylie Pearse ’15, who both produced important top-10 finishes to propel the Bison to the runner-up spot. Scott placed 10th with a time of 22:05, and Pearse recorded the Bison’s best time of 22:00. In addition, Montana DiPietrantonio ’15 placed 15th with a time of 22:20, Katie Jessee ’15 placed 14th with a time of 22:20, and Sarah Chandler ’17 placed 12th with a time of 22:18 to aid the Bison effort.

“We wanted to practice pack running, which helped us with moving throughout the race,” Alison Lockwood’15 said. “I think that going in with a strategy helped us to focus during the race and achieve our goals for the meet.” 

“The meet this past weekend was our first really competitive meet of the year,” Beth Braunegg’14 said. “It was also our first 6k of the year, which can be daunting, but we made it our team goal to remain focused and vocal throughout the race. A lot of girls really stepped up to the challenge and we’re really excited to face more competition in Boston in two weeks.” 

After their encouraging performance at Penn State, the Bison are hoping to carry their momentum forward as they prepare to compete at the Boston College Coast to Coast on Sept. 27 and the Bloomsburg Invitational on Sept. 28.

Categories
Sports Volleyball Women

Women’s volleyball digs out two victories in first home matches

Emily Evancho

Assistant Sports Editor 

The women’s volleyball team pulled through its matches this past weekend with a loss against Canisius and two victories over Fairleigh Dickinson and Rider, respectively. These were the first home court matches of the season for the Bison.

In the match against Fairleigh Dickinson on Sept. 13, the Orange and Blue entered the match with the intent to win, triumphing in their first set easily. Fairleigh Dickinson finally awakened, providing tough competition in the second and third sets. But ultimately the Bison dominated the court with six straight points in the fourth set, leading to a hard fought win in the fifth set. Katie Price ’16 achieved 21 digs during the match, while Morgan Mientus ’14 recorded 13 kills and 11 digs. Keane Brazda ’17 also pulled in 14 assists in three sets, bringing the match to a 3-2 win.

“We played really well as a team this weekend and it showed when we had to go to a fifth game with Fairleigh Dickinson which is a short game to 15 and takes everyone on the court and bench to step up and focus for 20 minutes,” Brazda said.

The Orange and Blue had an even tougher fight in the team’s first match on Sept. 14 against Canisius. The Bison secured the first two sets of the match but lost steam heading into the third set. The Bison ultimately dropped the match into lap of Canisius with a 3-2 loss.

The defeat did not hold back the momentum of the Orange and Blue in their second match of the day, when they pulled a 3-1 victory from the teeth of the Rider Broncs. The match was a tug of war in which the Bison captured the first two sets only to be beaten by Rider in the third. In the fourth set, the Orange and Blue came back determined, only trailing once to eventually claim victory after taking advantage of Rider’s three service errors during the match.

Mientus continued her solid performance, posting 12 kills against the Broncs and double-digit digs for both matches on the day, followed by Price who made 42 digs combined from both matches. Brazda also pushed the team with 59 assists in the two matches. Also for the Bison, Karen Campbell ’16 and Jordan Walker ’17 represented the Orange and Blue on the All-Tournament Team.

“Our hard work during pre-season is paying off,” Brazda said. “We plan to take this mentality into Patriot League play.”

The Orange and Blue return to the court tonight to challenge Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Tomorrow, the team will travel to West Point, N.Y. to battle Army.

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis wins five of seven brackets in Mt. St. Mary’s Invitational

Claudia Silvers

Contributing Writer

The women’s tennis team is off to a strong start in its fall tournament season after winning five of the seven brackets at the Mount St. Mary’s Invitational in Emmitsburg, Md. this past weekend.

Though fall tournaments are scored individually, the Bison won two doubles finals and claimed three singles titles at the end of the competition.

“I thought our doubles looked particularly strong for this early in the season. Sending three of our four doubles teams to the semifinals shows just how hard we work on the specifics of doubles,” head coach Rebecca Helt said.

Maria Cioffi ’16/Elena Vidrascu ’14 and Stephanie Pino ’16/Lydia Colvin ’15 won doubles crowns on the final day of the tournament. The Bison also appeared in the finals in four of the five singles flights. Cioffi made it to the final round of Flight A, ultimately losing to Megan Hahn from Loyola (Md.) 1-6, 6-2, 11-9. Flight C ended in an all-Bison final, with Melissa Parks ’17 claiming another close victory in a tiebreaker over Colvin. Jorie Fox ’17 won the singles title against Loyola (Md.) for Flight D, and Pino took victory over Coppin State for another Bison win in Flight E.

“It was a great chance to see all the freshmen in action and to observe how quickly they are picking up new strategies in their individual games,” Helt said.

Vidrascu, one of the two team captains, also noted the success of the first-year players.

“There were a few titles won, two of them being from our freshmen, which is a promising start to our season,” Vidrascu said.

Beginning today, the Bison will host the three-day Bucknell Invitational, the second home tournament of the fall.

Categories
Soccer Sports Women

Women’s soccer tops Towson

Doug Hendry

Contributing Writer

The women’s soccer team snapped its four-game losing streak in Maryland this past weekend, as it blanked Towson 1-0 on Sept. 13 at the Tiger Soccer Complex. In its second game of the weekend against UMBC, the Retrievers scored a late goal to win 1-0 at Retriever Soccer Park on Sept. 15.

Back on the road for a pair of games in Maryland, the Bison faced off against the Towson Tigers. Both teams started slow, with the scoreboard still blank at the end of the first half. In the second half, two juniors helped put the Orange and Blue into the lead. Brigit Falcon ’15 put the winning goal into the back of the net with the assist from Evelyn Nicinski ’15 in the 71st minute. The shot was Falcon’s first goal of the season.

Towson stepped up the pressure through the final part of the game, but the clutch play of Jessie Ashworth ’16, including five total saves, preserved the third shutout of the season for the Bison.

“The victory over Towson was crucial to building confidence and putting the past couple games behind us,” defender Lauren Dandie ’16 said. “We have a young back line which has had to endure some unfortunate injuries and adjust to new personalities, so getting this shutout is something we take a lot of pride in.”

On Sept. 15, for the second game in a row, the score was tied 0-0 at halftime, with the time of possession heavily favoring UMBC. The Bison were outshot 5-1 in the first half.

It looked as if the game was going to go into overtime, but UMBC headed the ball into the net off a far corner for the lone goal with 5:06 remaining. This score proved to be the deciding factor in UMBC’s victory.

The Bison have scored eight goals through eight games this season, while racking up nearly 15 shots per game.

The women’s soccer team, now 3-5, will face Army at home tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the start of conference play. Dandie has confidence in her team going against Patriot League opponents.

“With league play right around the corner, I believe that we need to take one opponent at a time and focus in on that. Hopefully from here on out we are able to stay healthy and continue to work hard in practices and stay positive as a team. We are an extremely close unit, and if we work for each other on the field while doing our individual jobs, I have faith that the victories will come,” Dandie said.

Categories
Field Hockey Sports Women

Field hockey drops to 0-2 with loss to Lock Haven, Iowa

Lauren Boone

Sports Editor

Women’s field hockey suffered a 1-0 loss to Lock Haven on the Eagles’ home turf thanks to Kiersten Cepeda’s first-half goal. The loss marks the fall of the Bison’s overall season record to 0-2, following a loss at their opening game against No. 13 Iowa last weekend.

Although the Bison had many advantages on penalty corners (6-1), they were unable to muster a successful offensive drive. In just two games, the Orange and Blue clenched a 12-5 lead in penalty corners, but only managed five shots on goal.

The Eagles managed six shots, three courtesy of Cepeda. Goalie Erica Perrine ’14 had two crucial saves, and Liz Wills ’15 and Amie Pritchard ’15 each made a defensive save.

The Orange and Blue will compete next against Missouri State tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio.

Categories
Golf Sports Women

Women’s golf places sixth in season-opening tournament

Claudia Silvers

Contributing Writer

The women’s golf team placed sixth in its season-opening Bucknell Invitational from Sept. 7-8. They proved victorious over the three other Patriot League teams that attended.

The Bison previously won this Invitational in 2010 and 2011, but William & Mary stole the title this time.

“Beating out the other Patriot League schools, including Boston University and Lehigh, was exciting,” Kasha Scott ’14 said.

“Defeating the other league teams in the field showed that we are the team to beat in the Patriot League,” Lauren Bernard ’14 said.

Scott and Bernard, along with Bridget Wilcox ’14, scored in the 70s on the final day of the Invitational. Bernard achieved the Bison’s top score for the tournament, with a 54-hole total of 233, placing her 14th overall.

Emily Timmons ’15 shot 81 and Emily Larson ’17 shot 83 in her debut, helping the Bison earn team totals of 310 and 323 on Sept. 7.

The Bison ended with a 946 composite, nine strokes below defending champion Boston University. Lehigh, last year’s Patriot League Champion, placed ninth with 976 and Navy placed 16th with 1,112. Head Coach Kevin Jamieson was “pleased to see all of student-athletes working hard over a long weekend.”

The Invitational proved to be a strong start for the team, showing the four first-year players what college-level competition is like.

“With most of the players doing internships over the summer, I thought we came out pretty rusty mentally,” Jamieson said. “With that said, I think we had a heck of a finish in a tough field,”

Jamieson and his players look forward to the Yale Intercollegiate Tournament in one week, hoping that they can, as Jamieson said, “knock off some of the rust” during the allotted preparation time.

“There will be good competition, and it is a great golf course,” Scott said in regards to the tournament at Yale. 

“Everyone will take the next week and a half now to focus on the areas that we struggled in during the Bucknell Invitational to prepare for our next tournament at Yale,” Bernard said. 

After a successful fall-opener, the Bison women’s golf team looks ahead to the Yale Intercollegiate that takes place Sept. 20-22.

“I believe that our team will continue to work very hard and greatly improve while building team confidence on the way,” Bernard said.

Categories
Field Hockey Sports Women

Field hockey increases record to 2-2

Katherine Harris

Senior Writer

The women’s field hockey team had a successful weekend, handing losses to both Missouri State and Ohio State, while Leigh Hillman ’14 and Vickie Resh ’14 both earned awards for the week.

“After last week’s losses to both Iowa and Lockhaven, our team had a new resolve to work harder in practice and focus on our weaknesses with more intent and focus. As a result, practice this past week had been more competitive and everyone on our team began to realize our full potential. Based on this new team mantra, we went into this weekend with a new mindset and were able to challenge teams on a new level,” Erica Perrine ’14 said.

The Bison started off their weekend of play against Missouri State as part of the Buckeye Classic hosted at Ohio State. The team’s offense started out on the attack, led by Kiersten Sydnor ’16, who totaled two goals and one assist. Teammates Rachel Misko ’14, Hope Obernesser ’15, and Emma Fitzgerald ’17 also netted a goal apiece. The defense for the Orange and Blue was also strong, allowing only one goal for a final score of 5-1.

The squad continued its momentum when it faced off against a tough Ohio State team. The Buckeyes came out strong, netting two quick goals despite Perrine’s five saves. It was then Hillman’s turn to lead the attack for the Bison, netting two goals to bring the score to a tie at 2-2. Resh sealed the deal in overtime when she scored her third career goal eight minutes into the overtime period to propel her team to a 3-2 victory.

“Historically, our team performs very well in overtime, and we knew that playing against a team like Ohio State would challenge us like never before. We stuck to our basics and continued to apply pressure to their defense, so it was only a matter of time before we would be rewarded. It was an exciting game and it feels great to have our hard work over the past week translate into a win for us in the end,” Perrine said.

The 2-0 showing for the Bison last weekend led to a couple of the team’s seniors being honored for their efforts. Hillman’s assist in the first game and two goals in the second game of the weekend led to her being named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week. Resh was also honored for her game-winning goal in the second game, earning the title of Bison Athlete of the Week.

The Orange and Blue will compete tonight when they travel to Philadelphia for a game at Drexel.

Categories
Soccer Sports Women

Women’s soccer falls short to St. Francis (Pa.) and Penn State

Doug Hendry

Contributing Writer

The women’s soccer team stood firm against St. Francis (Pa.) and one of the top forwards in the nation, but the Red Flash came from behind with two late goals to steal a 2-1 win at Emmitt Field on Sept. 7. In their following game against Penn State on Sept. 10, the Bison suffered another loss (6-0) on their home turf.

After a pair of tough road losses, the Bison returned home to face St. Francis. Both teams used aggressive formations with plenty of shots but failed to score during the first half. The Red Flash focused on short, simple passing while the Orange and Blue tried for quick counterattacks.

The Bison featured various outlooks on the field, as Head Coach Ben Landis used 19 different players.

“Our team has great team chemistry off the field, so when we play together and work for each other, we really can put it together,” Cassie Denger ’15 said. “Our team is about playing hard for the person next to you, no matter who it is.”

The speed and energy of the Bison subs helped counteract the experience of St. Francis, and Danielle Piccirilli ’16 put the Bison on the board first with a goal off the post with 25 minutes remaining in the second half.

The Orange and Blue faced 38 total shots, including 15 from Tesa McKibben, the NCAA Division I active leader in points scored. McKibben scored a late goal in regulation to tie the game, as well as the game-winner with one minute left in the second overtime period. The win for the Red Flash was their fourth straight against the Bison.

Looking forward, the Orange and Blue were hunting for a big upset in their toughest test yet against No. 13 Penn State. This Penn State squad made it to the national championship game the previous season.

“We have to set the tone early on our home field,” Denger said before the game. “We will play tough for each other and give everything we have.” 

Unfortunately, the Bison did not kick off to a great start. Penn State scored less than two minutes into the game and did not take its foot off the pedal. Despite the loss, 1,390 spectators turned out to watch the Bison, the largest audience the women’s soccer team has ever seen.

The Bison, now 2-4, will head to Towson today, looking to start another winning streak.

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis reaches finals during season-opening tournament

Kristen Bishof

Contributing Writer 

The women’s tennis team began the season by reaching the finals in each bracket of its home tournament, the Bucknell Quad, this past weekend. Michele Urbinati ’17 was the only Bison to capture a title, winning the Flight B singles bracket against Loyola (Md.) 6-4, 6-7, (10-2).

Maria Cioffi ’16 also performed strongly in the tournament, making it to the final round of the Flight A singles bracket as well as the final round of the Flight A doubles bracket with her partner and captain Elena Vidrascu ’14. As the reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Cioffi proved her skill again by winning the first round easily with a 6-4, 6-0 win. In doubles, Cioffi and Vidrascu won a pair of quick matches over Colgate and Loyola (Md.), but were unable to translate their success in the finals against St. Francis (Pa.), losing 8-2.

“I was proud of our performance this weekend with a Bison girl in each of the final rounds. It showed how hard we have been working in practice, especially given the short amount of time we have been back at school. It was a great way to start off the year, and I look forward to the upcoming tournament this weekend,” Lydia Colvin ’15 said. 

Colvin placed second in the Flight C singles bracket and made it to the finals in the Flight B doubles bracket.

Despite the absence of an assistant coach, the team began its tournament season on a high note. Head coach Rebecca Helt added four talented first-years to the roster. The experienced, returning upperclassmen have already demonstrated their leadership skills by showing what it means to be a teammate as well as an athlete.

“I am really proud of how the team came together this weekend after only having a week of practice. Having someone in each final for every flight was a great accomplishment for the team, and I am excited for what is yet to come,” captain Elana Vidrascu ’14 said.

The Bison travel to Maryland this weekend to compete in the Mount St. Mary’s Invitational, hoping to maintain the intensity they brought to the court this past weekend.

Categories
Sports Volleyball Women

Women’s volleyball comes out strong in Cornell Invitational

Emily Evancho

Assistant Sports Editor

The women’s volleyball team continued its strong start to the season this past weekend, defeating both Iona and Cornell in the Cornell Invitational while falling once to Buffalo.

“I’m so proud of my team for having a winning record at this point, but the loss to Buffalo shows we have some things to work on before entering Patriot League play,” Morgan Mientus ’14 said.

In their match against Iona, the Bison dominated with a 3-0 win. In the first set, the Bison rattled off seven consecutive points, giving the team a 1-0 lead in the match. The Orange and Blue began to trail in the second set, but they recovered with five consecutive points that led to a 26-24 win. The third set went much like the second, but the team pulled through to a 25-21 win. Mientus led the team with eight kills during the match, accompanied by her teammate Erika Eastley ’17, who also impressed with a match-best percentage of five kills out of the nine opportunities she had during the match.

“I’m really excited that we are starting the season off on such a good note. Our success in these past two weekends is a good indicator of the hard work we put in during preseason and I’m really excited to see what’s to happen later on in the season,” Eastley said.

The Bison did not have the same luck in their next match on Sept. 7 against Buffalo. Jessica Serrato ’14 and Eastley secured five kills each, but their efforts were not enough to stifle the Buffalo Bulls as they dropped all three sets.

“I think we are all proud of the way we handled ourselves coming back from the loss against Buffalo on Saturday. We didn’t dwell on our mistakes or let it set the tone for our last match,” Serrato said.

The 3-0 loss to Buffalo did not deter the team from pulling out a win in its match against Cornell later that day. Kristen Titley ’14 managed a season-high record of 17 kills in the match, along with Mientus who gained 11 kills. Eastley also helped the team’s efforts with nine registered blocks, aiding the Bison to a 3-2 win over Cornell.

“We played an awesome match on Friday and then Saturday morning we weren’t at our best, but we didn’t let it affect us and we bounced right back and played one of our best games of the season so far against Cornell,” Titley said.

The Bison will return to Davis Gym to host the Bucknell Invitational tonight and tomorrow. The Bison will play Rider at 7:30 p.m. Tomorrow, they will face Canisius at noon and Fairleigh Dickinson at 5 p.m.