Category: Women

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Golf Golf Men Sports Uncategorized Women

Men’s & women’s golf successful on and off the course

Emily Evancho

Assistant Sports Editor

Both the men’s and women’s golf teams ended their 2012 seasons on somewhat disappointing notes, with both teams showing potential for the upcoming 2013-2014 season.

In April, the men’s team landed fourth place in the Patriot League Championships behind Lehigh, Navy, and Army. Schuyler Stitzer ’14 was named to First Team All-Patriot League Honors after his effort in the championship, placing T-4th. Stitzer’s performance helped to bring his team to its fourth place finish, ending with a final combined score of 929.

The women’s team also swung high in its Patriot League Championship but narrowly missed first place by three strokes, dropping the championship to Lehigh. Bridget Wilcox ’14 finished the championship with a 22-over 232, earning herself a spot on the All-Patriot League Team along with her teammates Lauren Bernard ’14 and Kasha Scott ’14. Bernard also placed T-3rd in the Patriot League Championship, followed by Scott who ended her round in fifth place.

“We’re definitely excited to bounce back from a tough end to last season and take that Patriot League title back from Lehigh,” Jen Lee ’16 said.

“The season will be predicated upon how our upperclassmen lead our freshmen. We have some very talented freshmen who need some leadership and experience. If we get that coupled with sophomore and junior performance, then we may be extremely successful this fall,” Nick Geissler ’16 said.

Despite their endings, the men’s and women’s golf teams scored high in academics. In June, it was announced that six members of the women’s team, Wilcox, Scott, Bernard, Lee, Lexi Klein ’15, and Katie Mancino ’13, qualified for the Patriot League Women’s Golf Academic Honor Roll, requiring a minimum 3.2 GPA to be accepted. Scott and Wilcox were accepted to the five-member Academic All-Patriot League Team in May as well. For the men’s golf team, Stitzer was also accepted into the Patriot League Men’s Golf All-Academic Team in May.

Eager to begin both their academic and golf seasons, the men’s and women’s golf teams will swing into their seasons today. The men’s team will compete in the Colgate Invitational in Hamilton, N.Y. today and tomorrow. The women’s team begins its season today when they compete in the Bucknell Invitational.

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Men Sports Tennis Tennis Women

Men’s and women’s tennis look forward to upcoming season

Jen Lee

Contributing Writer

Both coming off of successful seasons, the men’s and women’s tennis teams have been preparing all summer to capture the Patriot League title this fall.

After only a few days of practice, the Bison are already looking ahead to their future matches and are preparing appropriately. Last year’s Patriot League Rookie of the Year Nick Bybel ’16, capped off his successful summer season with a singles and doubles victory at the UNCG ITA Summer Circuit Event in Greensboro, N.C. After finishing last year’s season on a strong note with a 6-0 victory over Bloomsburg, the Orange and Blue have their hopes set on winning the Patriot League Championship.

“We had one of our most successful seasons last year and we came up a little short,” Bybel said. “This year the guys have come back even hungrier for the Patriot League title, and I feel that our team is ready to claim it.” 

With the championship in its sight, the team is practicing hard under the guidance of its new co-captains, Aidan Lynch ’14 and Kyle Rosen ’14, and is ready to start its season off strong.

The women’s tennis team also has its sights set on a Patriot League Championship victory after a disappointing end to last season, falling 4-0 to Navy in the Patriot League semifinals. This year’s team is excited for the season, hoping the returning players, along with the new first-years, can carry them to victory.

“I think it will be a great tennis season since we have both returning players and a few new players,” Stephanie Pino ’16 said. “We look forward to a successful and fun tournament season.” 

The two-time co-captains Elena Vidrascu ’14 and Elizabeth Morgan ’14 look to build off the successes of last year and to earn themselves a spot in Patriot League history.

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Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis wins against Bloomsburg

Andrew Arnao

Sports Editor

The women’s tennis team finished its regular season with a 5-0 home victory on April 24, topping Bloomsburg in its final tuneup before the Patriot League Tournament this weekend. The match consisted only of singles play, as inclement weather forced the match to be called before the doubles matchups.

The Bison managed to complete five contests and won all five. Elena Vidrascu ’14 started things off by recording a 6-1, 6-0 victory, followed by an easy 6-0, 6-0 decision in favor of Maria Cioffi ’16. Jen Bush ’15 triumphed 6-3, 6-0, while Christie Schneider ’15 and Stephanie Pino ’16 each recorded 6-0, 6-0 sweeps. In the sixth contest, Bloomsburg was leading for the first time all day, but the match was called in the second round and the contest did not factor into the final decision.

The Bison hope their overwhelming play against Bloomsburg will translate into success at the Patriot League Tournament, which begins Friday at 3 p.m. The Bison will travel to West Point and face off against Holy Cross in the quarterfinals. The Orange and the Blue have not played Holy Cross this year, but look to build on their 3-2 conference record as they fight for the Patriot League Championship.

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Softball Sports Women

Softball drops three against Army

Andrew Arnao

Sports Editor

The softball team had a rough weekend on the road against Army, falling to its Patriot League rivals in three out of four games. The lone win was the final game of the April 21 doubleheader, in which Dana Nielsen ’16 and Cindy Cherness ’16 combined for a five-hit shutout to prevent a series sweep. The Bison also triumphed in a home game against Saint Francis (Pa.) on April 24.

Game one against Army on April 20 featured Amanda Fazio ’16 on the mound as she looked to improve her recent string of successful outings. Fazio ran into trouble in the first inning, where a pair of errors by the Bison allowed two runners to score for the Black Knights. Fazio was lights out from there, allowing only two hits through the remainder of her outing to give her a final box score of 5.1 innings pitched, two hits, no earned runs and three strikeouts. Cherness relieved Fazio in the sixth and caused the only batter she faced to pop up into a double play, keeping the deficit at two runs. However, the Bison offense was unable to come up with any runs in support of Fazio, with shortstop Cydnee Sanders ’15 recording the only hit for the Bison, and the Orange and the Blue dropped game one by a final of 2-0.

In game two, the Bison offense was paced by Cassie Greenhawk ’13, who hit a two-RBI triple in the third and also scored two runs. However, Nielsen allowed four runs in five innings to keep the score knotted at 4-4 going into the seventh inning, where the Black Knights walked off 5-4 after scoring a run off Cherness to hand the Bison their second loss of the day.

Game three on April 21 proved to be a pitching duel, as both teams remained scoreless until the 11th inning. Unfortunately for the Bison, Army once again pulled through with the clutch hit, an RBI triple by the Black Knights allowing an unearned run to score against Cherness. The 1-0 loss did not affect another wonderful performance by Fazio, who allowed only seven hits in 7.2 innings and struck out seven. However, the Bison could only manage two hits against the Army starter Morgan Lashley, who pitched all 11 innings in the loss.

All of the cylinders finally started firing for the Bison in game four, when Nielsen and Cherness combined for their dominating 4-0 shutout. Nielsen allowed five hits over 6.1 innings, struck out three and did not walk a batter. Similar to game one, Cherness came in with a runner on base and caused the batter to hit into a double play, this time ending the game in favor of the Bison. Third baseman Colie Escobar ’15 went 3-3 at the plate, hitting her team-leading fourth home run of the year, while right fielder Kristen Zahn ’15 also added three hits and two RBI. Greenhawk scored two of the Bison’s four runs.

Nielsen also pitched well in the game against Saint Francis (Pa.), going four innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and striking out three. Bridget Gates ’13 relieved Nielsen and threw three shutout innings, allowing just one hit and recording one strikeout. On offense, Zahn drove the Bison to victory with a 3-3 performance, including an RBI single in the first to score Greenhawk and a solo home run in the third to put the Bison ahead for good in a 3-2 victory.

The Bison now enter a crucial weekend as they travel to face Patriot League rival Holy Cross for their final series of the regular season. The Bison play four games against Holy Cross, and must win two of them in order to stay in contention for the Patriot League Tournament. The Orange and the Blue will look to ride their strong pitching to victory, starting with the first pitch Saturday at noon.

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Men Sports Track & Field Women

Records fall for track & field team

Emily Evancho

Staff Writer

The men’s and women’s track and field teams both had a successful weekend at the Bucknell Team Challenge on April 20. Along with the men’s first-place and the women’s second-place victory in the team standings, both teams also broke school records, including women’s Kim Nagotko ’15, who claimed school records in the 100 and 200 meters, and men’s Christian Lupica ’15 and Luke Webster ’13, who broke their records in the 110-meter high hurdles and discus, respectively.

“Both the men’s and women’s team had a very competitive meet between the other big schools that were there and the weather conditions,” Nagotko said. “Regardless of it all, we performed our best and proved to ourselves and the Patriot League that we are ready and nothing is going to get in our way of us bringing home two championships.”

The men’s team captured its fifth consecutive team title at the Bucknell Team Challenge, overshadowing second-place Penn State by 179 points. Lupica ran home with victories in the 400-meter hurdles (55.11 seconds), and in 110-meter high hurdles, with a record-shattering 13.96 seconds. Justin Hicks ’13 also excelled with wins in the 100 and 200 meters. Webster threw past his own school record in discus to land a mark of 172-3. Kevin Keller ’15 also dominated in the long jump with a mark of 23-10 1/4.

“Our jumps and sprints are very dangerous. We have the potential to do something that’s never been done before,” Keller said.

The women’s team placed second in the team standings with 128 points, falling behind only Penn State by 95 points. Bison victories came in the distance events from Caroline Tolli ’13 finishing first in the 800 meters (2:12.42). Tolli also helped to pull the win in the 4×800 with a final time of 9:56.81. Abby Monaghan ’13 grasped the third Orange and Blue triumph for the women’s team in discus 150-5. Nagotko also finished third overall in the 100-meter (12.05), and second in the 200-meter with 24.59 seconds. Sasha Hornock ’13 seized the third spot behind Nagotko in the 200-meter.

“This was a great weekend for all athletes across the board. Men and women had outstanding performances,” Hicks said. “As our Patriot League Championships are quickly approaching, our team is excited for a great meet and it’s showing through all of our great times and marks. Hopefully we can continue our success and carry this speed into the Patriot Leagues Championships.”

The men’s and women’s teams will compete again in the Penn Relays and Bloomsburg Maroon and Gold Invitational this weekend. After these events, both teams will move on to the Patriot League Championships beginning on May 3 in Bethlehem, Pa.

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Lacrosse Sports Women

Women’s lax loses contest to Marist

Lauren Boone

Senior Writer

The women’s lacrosse team ended its season with a 14-11 loss to Marist on April 20 at Tenney Stadium. Marist took advantage of a quick start, ending the Orange and Blue’s three-game winning streak, despite four goals and three assists from Katelyn Miller ’14.

The Red Foxes started off strong, scoring seven unanswered goals in the first ten minutes of play. Despite the shaky start, the Bison picked themselves back up, scoring four goals in a row. Madison Hurwitz ’13 assisted a goal to Ryan Wenk ’13 before scoring a goal of her own, while Miller scored a couple goals from free-positions. After tightening the score to 7-4, the Bison let up four more goals to the Red Foxes before the end of the first half.

Only 23 seconds into the latter half, the Red Foxes scored another goal, increasing their lead to eight. The Bison were able to outscore Marist 7-2 throughout the rest of the half, but were unable to make up enough ground to come away with the victory.

In the statistics round-up, the Bison led 31-27 in shots, forced 17 turnovers and were tied 18-18 on ground balls. The difference was made by the Marist goalie, who saved a total of 15 shots, compared to only seven saves for the Bison.

“Going into the game against Marist, we knew one of the main things we needed to do was win the draw,” Miller said. “We were unsuccessful in the beginning, which caused us to be down by a large deficit, but we never stopped fighting and had a great comeback, making the score within three goals. We had some great caused turnovers on defense and attack was working really well together towards the end of the game, but unfortunately we simply ran out of time. It was really emotional knowing it was the last game we will ever play with Madi, Adrienne [Wendling ’13] and Ryan, but I think this team has really improved since the beginning of the season and I think we are going to be even better next year.”

Miller ended the season setting career bests for herself, logging a total of 52 points, with 39 goals and 13 assists. Hurwitz also broke personal records this season, with 22 assists and 48 total points. She finishes her Bison career with a total of 129 points.

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Golf Men Sports Women

Women’s golf takes second at PL Champ.

Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The women’s and men’s golf teams competed this past weekend at the Patriot League Championship and Navy Invitational, respectively. The women finished in second place, narrowly missing out on a win, while the men slipped in a rough final round and ended their event in 16th place.

The women’s golf team hosted the inaugural Patriot League Women’s Golf Tournament at the Bucknell Golf Club. After two tight days of competition, the final result was not decided until the final few holes when Lehigh edged out the Bison by three strokes for the Patriot League title. Lehigh started the day with a five-stroke lead, which grew to 11 early on in the final round, but a late comeback by the Bison fell just short.

The Bison were led by three of its members. Bridget Wilcox ’14 opened the tournament with a three-over-par 73 and closed the tournament with a four-over 74 to claim the individual runner-up, only five strokes behind the individual champion. Wilcox was closely followed by Lauren Bernard ’14 who shot a 75 in the final round and tied for third individually despite playing through a painful foot injury that has left her sidelined for most of the season. Kasha Scott ’14 also played very well for the team and finished the tournament by going one-under-par in the final 10 holes to shoot a 76 on the day. The three juniors were recognized for their efforts with spots on the All-Patriot League Team.  Additionally, the head coach for the Bison, Kevin Jamieson, was named the conference’s Coach of the Year.

The men’s team, meanwhile, was taking on tough competition at the Navy Invitational in Annapolis, Md. The weekend began on a high note for the Bison, who found themselves in eighth place in the 21-team field after the tournament’s first round on April 20. The team’s score of 304 was slightly behind those of Navy and several ACC schools, and was ahead of all other Patriot League teams competing in the tournament. This result came from solid rounds by Schuyler Stitzer ’14 with a 77, Peter Scialabba ’15 with a 76, Jon Hartman ’13 with a 78 and Dan Bernard ’13 with a 73. Unfortunately, this momentum did not carry over to the final round, which did not see a single member of the team exceeding his score from the previous day. The team’s final round score of 331 dropped it to 16th place.

While the women’s golf team has finished its season, the men’s golf team will look to rebound this weekend at the Patriot League Championship, which will be hosted by Lehigh University.

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Sports Water Polo Women

Water polo finishes fifth in tournament

Andrew Arnao

Sports Editor

The women’s water polo team travelled to Rhode Island to participate in the Southern Championships last weekend where it finished fifth overall. The Bison fell by final scores of 13-4 against No. 12 Princeton and 8-7 against George Washington, but managed to rebound and defeat Mercyhurst 9-4.

The Bison got things started on April 13 against tournament top-seed Princeton. Princeton scored two early goals in the first quarter, then added five more goals in the second quarter to break it open. Facing a 7-1 deficit at halftime, the Bison managed to pick up the offensive pace in the second half, but could not stop the bleeding as Princeton scored six more goals. Krystle Morgan ’13 led the Bison offense with two goals, while goalie Rena Heim ’14 recorded five saves.

The game against George Washington looked much more promising for the Orange and Blue, as the Bison jumped out to a 3-1 advantage in the first quarter and held a 4-3 lead going into the second half. A 5-3 run by the George Washington squad put it back on top, and the Bison were unable to regain the lead. Heim recorded 11 saves for the Bison, while Tara Murao ’13 contributed with two goals and an assist.

After the tough set of games, the Bison returned on April 14 against Mercyhurst, a team they had already beaten twice this season. The Orange and Blue worked a 4-1 lead in the first half, and continued to score goals in the second half as they moved out of reach. Mackenzie Ferry ’14 scored three goals for the Bison, while Morgan added two goals and two assists. Heim had an outstanding game, matching her season-high 12 saves and limiting Mercyhurst to only four goals, tied for the fewest allowed by the Bison this year.

After a week off, the women’s water polo team will travel to Michigan for the Eastern Championship, which will take place next weekend.

Categories
Sports Tennis Women

Women’s tennis earns two wins

Emily Evancho

Writer

The women’s tennis team dropped the ball in a home match against Army with a 7-0 defeat on April 13 but the Bison bounced back from their upsetting loss by securing a 6-1 victory over Lafayette on April 14 and then hit the road to grab a 5-2 win from Lehigh on April 16.

In the match against Army, the Orange and Blue couldn’t maintain a foothold in their doubles play as all three doubles teams fell to their Army counterparts. The No. 1 doubles team of Maria Cioffi ’16 and Elena Vidrascu ’14 came close to obtaining a triumph for the Bison but couldn’t hold onto its lead, falling with an 8-5 defeat. None of the Bison could pull out a victory in the singles matches, leading the Orange and Blue to defeat.

The Bison swung back from their loss with a swift win over Lafayette. In doubles play, the Orange and Blue lost only one match, with the team of Cioffi/Vidrascu pulling out an 8-5 victory, followed by the team of Sam Madnick ’16 and Stephanie Pino ’16 who secured an 8-2 win. The Bison managed the same turnout in singles play with only one defeat. Cioffi and Pino delivered the best scores for the singles matches, both maintaining 6-0, 6-1 scores. Jen Bush ’15, Christie Schneider ’15 and Elizabeth Morgan ’14 also triumphed in their games.

The team brought an end to its Patriot League regular season by triumphing over Lehigh. In doubles play, the teams of Cioffi/Vidrascu (8-4) and Lydia Colvin ’15/Pino (8-5) won their matches while the Bison only suffered two losses in singles play. First to finish was Pino who set the Orange and Blue off to good start with her 6-1, 6-0 decision. Cioffi clinched the match with a grueling 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 turnout over Lehigh in her singles match. Colvin and Schneider also pulled through with victories.

“It has been a great season and we have enjoyed playing together as a team,” Pino said. “We have played well through some tough matches and some incredible wins. Every team member has contributed to make this a great season. We look forward to ending the season on a high note at the Patriot League Championships.”

The Bison will return home for their next match when they host Bloomsburg on April 24 at 4 p.m.

Categories
Softball Sports Women

Softball pitchers dominate

Thomas Walter

Senior Writer

Dana Nielsen ’16 was named Patriot League Pitcher of the Week and Amanda Fazio ’16 earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors as the women’s softball team swept Lafayette last weekend, recording three shutouts in four games and reaching .500 in Patriot League play to move into fourth place in the Patriot League standings. After splitting a doubleheader against Saint Francis (Pa.), the Bison are now 14-25 overall and 6-6 against Patriot League rivals.

Fazio and Nielsen got things started on April 13 with two dominating performances that resulted in one-hit shutouts for both pitchers. In game one’s 4-0 victory, Fazio took a perfect game into the seventh inning and faced the minimum, when the only runner to record a hit was thrown out at second base by Mariah Midyette ’16. Fazio recorded nine strikeouts, gave up no walks and has now thrown a shutout in three of her last five appearances. Fazio was backed offensively by Kristen Zahn ’15, who recorded three RBIs thanks to a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly, and Erin Cox ’15, who singled and scored on an error.

Nielsen followed up Fazio in game two’s 2-0 triumph with a dazzling effort of her own, allowing only a third-inning single and striking out 12 en route to her own complete game shutout. The offense supported Nielsen with a pair of RBI singles from Cydnee Sanders ’15 and Cheyanna Young ’16, scoring Cassie Greenhawk ’13 and Midyette, respectively.

“We feel like we are finally putting all the pieces together and getting the sweep helped us feel like all our hard work we’ve put in all year is finally paying off,” Nielsen said. “We just have to keep this momentum and I think we will continue being successful.”

On April 14, Fazio returned in game three with another gem, throwing 5.1 shutout innings and combining with Cindy Cherness ’16 for another 4-0 shutout. Three different Bison contributed RBIs to the effort, while Zahn led the team with two hits. The Bison completed the sweep with an 8-3 win in the night game, with Nielsen recording her second win of the series after allowing only one earned run and striking out seven in 5.0 innings. Cox and Midyette homered in the final game to help pace the Bison offensive onslaught.

“I think we have focused a lot this season on just taking the season one game, or even down to one inning and one out at a time,” Fazio said. “It is exciting thinking about playing in the tournament, but we have to put the work in now and focus on one inning at a time in order to have a shot at the tournament.”

The Bison finished up their slate for the week with two games against Saint Francis (Pa.) on April 17. The Orange and the Blue triumphed in the first game after coming back to win 4-3, but could not mount the same comeback as Saint Francis (Pa.) held on for a 5-4 victory in the nightcap.

Saturday was also Senior Day for the Bison, with Greenhawk, Mary Horton ’13, Bridget Gates ’13, Alex MacLean ’13 and Laura Sandford ’13 all being honored.

The Orange and the Blue will look to continue their strong play as they travel to face Army in another Patriot League series this weekend.