|
The Viking Report. . . Nov. 1
Nov. 1, 2004
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Release in PDF Format
Soccer Teams Begin Championship Play. . . The Cleveland State men's and women's soccer teams each face UW-Milwaukee in Horizon League Championship play this week and winter sports wrestling and swimming make their home debuts to lead the athletic schedule during the first week of November. The soccer matchups will come in separate cities, the women facing the Panthers on Thursday (Nov. 4) in first round play in Indianapolis while the men travel to UWM for a Saturday (Nov. 6) rematch of Sunday's 1-0 overtime loss. The men's team also plays at Pittsburgh on Wednesday night (Nov. 3). The winter sports begin debuting at home this week as well. The men's and women's swimming teams host St. Bonaventure in a dual meet on Saturday (Nov. 6) in Busbey Natatorium and the wrestling team holds its annual intrasquad scrimmage on Sunday (Nov. 7) in Woodling Gym. The debuts continue early next week as both men's basketball (Nov. 8) and women's basketball (Nov. 9) host exhibition games in the Convocation Center. With two weeks left in their regular season, the Viking volleyball team will close their home schedule against Youngstown State on Friday night (Nov. 5). Prior to the match, record-breaking seniors Jamie Bouyer and Kelly Crain will be honored as part of Senior Night festivities. Volleyball Hosts Final Home Match On Friday. . . The CSU volleyball team (12-9, 5-6 HL) plays a pair of matches this week as the regular season begins to wind down. On Tuesday (Nov. 2), CSU will travel to Robert Morris for its final non-conference action of the year. The Vikings then host Youngstown State on Friday (Nov. 5) in their home finale. Prior to the match, seniors Jamie Bouyer and Kelly Crain will be recognized for their outstanding career accomplishments. The match with the Penguins is crucial, as CSU stands in a tie for fourth place in the Horizon League with UIC with just three matches remaining. The top four seeds in the league championship receive a first round bye. The Vikings swept both Robert Morris and Youngstown State earlier in the year. "These next two weeks are important, not only for seeding, but in trying to build some momentum heading into the championship," head coach Chuck Voss said. "Friday will be an emotional night for Jamie and Kelly. They have taken our program to a new level and we will definitely miss them." The Vikings dropped two of their three matches last week, sandwiching losses at Toledo and Butler around a four-game victory at Wright State. Bouyer and junior opposite Nickole Kennedy both notched 19 kills in the win over the Raiders. The victory at WSU was CSU's third league road win of the season -- the most in the Vikings' 11 years in the league. Bouyer and Kennedy also carried CSU against Butler, posting 15 kills apiece, but it was not enough to topple the first-place Bulldogs. Men's Soccer Gets Saturday Rematch at UW-Milwaukee. . . As Yogi Berra said, it will be deja vu all over again this week when the Viking men's soccer team travels to UW-Milwaukee on Saturday (Nov. 6) for a Horizon League Championship first round match against the Panthers. After all, it was only Sunday (Oct. 31) that CSU dropped a 1-0 overtime decision at UWM in the last league game of the regular season. Before the rematch with UW-Milwaukee, CSU will close the regular season on Wednesday (Nov. 3) at Pittsburgh. "Our guys are up for a return trip," Curtis said. "UWM is a very good team, but we felt that we could have quite easily won the match on Sunday so we are excited about playing them again this week. If they are supposed to be the top of the league and we are the bottom, then that tells you a lot about the competition level of this league." The first meeting with the Panthers was a draw through the end of regulation with UWM claiming the win on an own goal in the 93rd minute. "It was a great match," Curtis said. "Our defense was magnificent all day long and it is unfortunate to have the match end the way it did." The rematch with UW-Milwaukee will mark the first time since 1955 that the Vikings will play the same team twice in a seven-day span and the third time in the last four years that CSU faces the Panthers in league tournament play. Women's Soccer Heads To Horizon League Championships. . . The Cleveland State women's soccer team makes its first appearance in the Horizon League Championship this week when the Vikings travel to Indianapolis, Ind. for a first round game on Thursday (Nov. 4). The Vikings enter the tournament as the No. 8 seed and will play regular season champion UW-Milwaukee (10-7-2, 7-0) beginning at 2:00 p.m. EST at Butler's Kuntz Stadium. If CSU advances in the tourney, they would play the winner of No. 4 Loyola vs. No. 5 Wright State on Friday (Nov. 5) beginning at 11:30 a.m. EST at Butler's Varsity Field. The championship match will be played at Varsity Field on Sunday (Nov. 7) at 12:00 noon EST. "This is the reason why we played 19 regular season matches and although it is unrealistic to expect a team title, I do expect that we are going to go to Indianapolis and finish the season on a high note," head coach Derrek Falor said. "I am proud of this team. They have worked hard, fought through the adversity of being a first-year program and represented Cleveland State University well. It could have been very easy for them to just give up as the losses mounted, but they didn't. They have played with effort and intensity for 90 minutes in every match and they have given us something to build on in the off-season." Although it may be very easy to write off the possibilities for the 0-19 Vikings in the Horizon League Championship, you can believe that the rest of the league won't. Last year, Loyola entered the tournament as the last seed and proceeded to knock off No. 2 Butler (1-0), No. 3 UW-Green Bay (4-2) and No. 5 Detroit (1-0) en route to claiming the tournament title and the NCAA tournament bid that went with it. Wrestlers Hold Intrasquad Scrimmage. . . The Viking wrestlers will kick off their 2004-05 schedule with an intra-squad scrimmage on Sunday (Nov. 7) beginning at 3:00 p.m. in Woodling Gym. The scrimmage is open to the public and will have the format of a normal dual meet. "We've spent the last two months practicing and basically beating on each other on the mats, but practice is a lot different from competition," head coach Jack Effner said. "One-on-one competition requires a different mentality overall, so I'm excited to see who the competitors are on Sunday and what they can do in a match-like setting." The Vikings will then have a week to prepare for the Oklahoma Classic, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 13 in Brockport, N.Y. Men's Swimmers Upend UW-Green Bay, Host St. Bonaventure. . . The Viking men's swim team picked up a strong 135-90 win at UW-Green Bay on Saturday (Oct. 30), breaking a few records along the way. CSU recorded top times in every swimming event on the day. Senior Luke Wilkens set a Phoenix Sports Center Pool record of 1:52.35 in the 200 butterfly and picked up a second win in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:42.57. Sophomore Björn Schantz picked up a pair of wins, swimming the 500 freestyle in a pool-record 4:35.97 and finishing the 1,000 free in 9:37.57. Junior Pieter Pelser scored two top times as well, winning the 200 IM (1:58.89) and the 200 backstroke (1:54.21). "I'm very happy with the showing we had," men's head coach Wally Morton said. "I wasn't sure what to expect from our freshmen, but they stepped up big in their first dual meet." The men's team will have a week off before hosting St. Bonaventure in Busbey Natatorium with the women's team on Saturday (Nov. 6) at noon. Women's Swimmers Head To Youngstown State. . . After recording five event wins in a competitive showing at UW-Green Bay on Saturday (Oct 30), the Viking women's swim team will swim in a pair of meets this week. CSU heads to Youngstown State for a Friday (Nov. 5) dual meet before returning home to join the men's team the following day (Nov. 6) for the home opener against St. Bonaventure in Busbey Natatorium. Senior Samantha Jones tallied a pair of victories, swimming the 200 IM in 2:13.23 and the 200 backstroke in 2:08.90. Junior Kirsty McKechnie swam a best 10:43.06 in the 1,000 free and a second-best 2:12.65 in the 200 butterfly, while sophomore Marianne Lionell took first in the 50 free (24.56) and second in the 200 breastroke (2:51.86). Freshman Deanna Raedel earned her first win of her collegiate career, posting a best 55.43 in the 100 freestyle. "I'm pleased with the way we swam here," women's head coach Mike Lehto commented. "We knew coming in that Green Bay was one of the top teams in the league, but we really gave them a good battle. It's good to open up the season with a strong showing like this against a tough opponent." Women's Golf Closes Fall Slate In Virginia. . . The women's golf team finishes its fall slate as the Vikings travel to Virginia Beach, Va. for the TPC Virginia Beach Intercollegiate on Nov. 7-8. Hosted by Old Dominion, the 12-team field will challenge the TPC's 6,056-yard, par 72 Pete Dye design. ODU's women's golf program is in its first year of existence. "I am excited to close out our fall schedule at a venue like a TPC course," head coach Tom Porten said. "We were playing much better last week before the rain moved in. This week will be a good test of just how far we've come this fall." The Vikings competed at F & M Bank Austin Peay Invitational last week. Paced by junior Kristen Obush's 81, Cleveland State stood in 12th at the completion of Monday's round with a 345. However, Tuesday's final round was cancelled due to heavy rain and unplayable conditions. Cross Country Closes Year At NCAA Regional. . . After a strong showing in terrible weather conditions over a difficult course at the Horizon League Championships last week in Kenosha, Wis., the Viking women's cross country team will have an extra week to prepare for their final meet of the season. CSU will close the 2004 season by running at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Saturday, Nov. 13 beginning at 12 noon. The race will be run at Eaglecrest Golf Course in Ypsilanti, Mich. "I thought that our runners really kept it together well on Saturday," head coach Allison Had said. "It was not only the most-difficult course that we have run on this year, but the weather conditions made it extremely tough. I can't wait for next year to come because we could have done well against this field if we had a complete team. We have really done a nice job of looking past the adversity this year to focus on giving our best effort and improving our performance. Considering the weather conditions today, I think we accomplished that." Viking High Fives 1. Mike Garland: Evidence of the improvement that the Vikings have had under the second-year head coach came on Saturday when improvement was evident in every phase of the game as CSU pasted Duquesne in a preseason scrimmage in the Convocation Center. 2. Marvin Parent: A letterman on the Viking soccer teams from 1956-58, he recently set up a scholarship endowment to support the men's soccer program. 3. Jamie Bouyer & Kelly Crain: The record-setting senior duo will be playing their final home matches on Saturday night against Youngstown State. The Week Ahead For The Vikings Nov. 2 (Tuesday) Nov. 3 (Wednesday) Nov. 4 (Thursday) Nov. 5 (Friday) Women's Swimming at Youngstown State Women's Soccer at Horizon League Championship Nov. 6 (Saturday) Men's Swimming hosts St. Bonaventure Women's Swimming hosts St. Bonaventure Nov. 7 (Sunday) Wrestling hosts Intra-Squad Varsity Challenge Women's Soccer at Horizon League Championship |
