Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
Flyers grounded, again: 0-22 in ‘Nati
Career high by Doellman, great second half propel Xavier past Flyers
John LaFollette
Sports Editor
Senior forward Justin Doellman turned in a career-high 24 points and all four other starters scored in double-figures as the Xavier men’s basketball team played one of its best halves of the season and rolled to an 83-67 victory over the visiting Dayton Flyers last Saturday at Cintas Center.
The Musketeers outscored Dayton by 17 and held them to 28 percent shooting from the field in the second, showcasing the strength of this team when both offense and defense are hitting on most (if not all) cylinders.
Junior forward Josh Duncan was not in the starting rotation for the first time this season, recovering from the sprained ankle he sustained in the opening minutes of Xavier’s 92-66 win at St. Bonaventure last Wednesday.
Senior leadership filled Duncan’s shoes though, as seniors Justin Cage, Brandon Cole and Doellman each pulled down six rebounds and combined for eight of the team’s nine blocks.
Cole assumed Duncan’s starting position perfectly, scoring 12 points (Duncan’s season average is 11.3) and grabbing six rebounds (Duncan averages 4.2).
The Musketeers have traditionally owned the Flyers at home and won their 22nd straight game against Dayton in the city of Cincinnati. The last time Dayton beat Xavier in Cincinnati was in 1981.
Dayton took an early 21-13 lead, making eight of their first 10 shots. Xavier’s defense clamped down, and the Musketeers went on a 15-0 run, but relented again and allowed Dayton to take a 43-42 lead at halftime.
The Musketeers opened the second half with a 19-3 run, with 12 points coming from Doellman off 4-5 shooting during the stretch.
The Flyers only pulled as close as 10 points for the remainder of the game, in no small part to defensive warrior Cage holding Dayton’s scoring machine, junior guard Brian Roberts, to just eight second-half points.
Dayton head coach Brian Gregory was not surprised by Cage’s performance against Roberts. “Playing against him for four years, you knew those match-ups were coming,” Gregory said. “You can put him on their best post player or their best guard; he can guard anybody.”
Next for the Musketeers are the Duquesne Dukes, who have won two straight games, including one over Dayton, by depending on an intimidating full-court pressure that results in a lot of turnovers by opposing teams.
Turnovers have been periodically problematic for Xavier this season, though Miller is proud of the team’s assist to turnover ratio of 1.5. Still, the biggest obstacle Xavier will likely face against Duquesne will be the Dukes’ platoon-style substitutions.
The Dukes have 10 players that they substitute in squads of four or five, keeping their legs fresh enough to run a full-court press for the majority of the game.
Against an opponent that would not have posed much of a threat earlier in the season, Xavier now finds itself without three key players.
In addition to Duncan, freshman guard Adrion Graves is out following surgery for a bacterial infection, and freshman center Jason Love will not play anytime soon after sustaining a leg injury in practice on Monday.
Love crashed into the scorers’ table and opened a deep gash below his knee that penetrates all the way to the bone. Miller said Love will definitely not play against Duquesne and that it was unclear if he would return this season.
While Graves has been plagued by injury for much of the season, the loss of Love is especially troublesome because of his role, along with Cole, as Duncan’s replacement.
Xavier’s reserve capabilities are now limited to freshman Derrick Brown. sophomores Johnny Wolf and B.J. Raymond, in addition to inexperienced seniors Adam Simons and Kevin Waymire.
Tipoff against Duquesne is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 31, in Pittsburgh, Penn.. The Musketeers return to Cintas Center for a 4 p.m. ESPNU game against the Charlotte 49ers this Saturday.
Ultimate tournament a chilly success
Teams undeterred by temperatures in the teens
Pat Stevenson
Asst. Op-Ed Editor
Theoretically, a passerby could have assumed that the long-haired, free-spirited people who took over the varsity and intramural fields last Sunday were camping out for a Neil Young concert. This theoretical passerby would be incorrect.
The group of people running about the varsity and intramural fields on the frigid afternoon of Jan. 28 were actually participating in Xavier University’s first ever ultimate frisbee tournament.
The tournament, which drew teams from UC, Dayton, Ohio State, Denison and a team of home-schooled high schoolers called the Revolution, was organized and hosted by the Xavier ultimate frisbee team.
The Xavier ultimate team, a club sport, has a very strong membership with over 30 members. In fact, Xavier ultimate was able to split into two teams for the tournament (in ultimate frisbee, each team puts seven players on the field).
Despite the sub-freezing temperatures, all competitors were enthusiastic and in high spirits throughout the day, especially the Denison team, which claimed first place.
Xavier ultimate finished third, which junior Mike Pierce deemed a success. “We have a lot of players who are still just learning the game, and a performance like this demonstrates our commitment and effort,” Pierce said. “A lot of these players we are competing against have been playing ultimate for years, so it’s impressive that we’re holding our own against them.”
The future looks bright for Xavier Ultimate, with about 15 freshmen players, most of whom are playing the sport for the first time.
While there are no definite plans to hold another tournament in the future, Pierce was optimistic that this would not be the last Ultimate tournament at Xavier. “I think the tournament went really well, especially considering it was our first ever. I could definitely see us holding another one soon,” predicted Pierce.
Profile: Amber Harris
-6-5/Freshman Forward Indianapolis North Central
- Leads team in scoring with 16.4 points per game
- Leads team in rebounding with 8.3 rebounds per game
- Second on team in steals with 30
- Holds single-season blocked shots record with 79 this year
- Nine-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week (two behind all time ROTW leader Tara Boothe)
- Favorite book: The Holy Bible
Favorite actor: Morris Chestnut
- Biggest thing I bring to the team: Intensity
-What I need to work on most: Defense and rebounding
- Person I most want to meet: Michael Jordan
- My style of play is most like: Kevin Garnett
- Best advice I ever received: Play hard no matter what
- Most people don’t know: I can dance!
- Biggest goal: To win a championship, no matter
Come see Amber Harris and the women’s basketball team take on the LaSalle Explorers at 2 p.m. this Sunday at Cintas Center.
John LaFollette 
Sports Editor
Swimmers flounder against Denison
The Xavier University Musketeer swim teams fell over the weekend to Denison University. The men splashed to a 116-85 defeat and the women followed cannon-balling, to a 117-78 loss.
This was the senior meet for the Musketeers as their final two meets of the season are away from Cincinnati. Nine seniors will be graduating from the team: Dana Hunter, Krystel Kooyman, Jill Cooke, Joe Conklin, Dave Janszen, Sam Cutter-Wilson, Jon Higley, Shane Jenkins and Neil Reierson. Each was individually recognized before the meet, and Janszen and Kooyman were able to win two events each.
Janszen was able to take gold in the 200 IM with a time of 1:57 and was also part of the 400 medley relay that was able to take first along with junior Matt Krouse, sophomore Matt Marcus and Jenkins. Jenkins won the 200 fly for the Musketeers and Conklin won the 200 breast. Reierson finished second in the 200 IM and the 200 fly for Xavier.
Kooyman won the women’s version of the 200 IM going 2:14 and the 200 breast at 2:27. The 400 free relay team for the women consisted of junior Lindsey Jackson, sophomore Mary Catherine Mahon and freshmen Alison Johnson and Annelise Hoyland with a time of 3:43.
The teams travel to Indianapolis for a showdown with Butler University and Vincennes. That meet will be followed by the Atlantic 10 Championships beginning February 21 in Buffalo, NY.
OSU and Indiana St. swat XU tennis
The Xavier University women’s tennis team fell 7-0 to Indiana State. The loss put Xavier at 1-2 for the spring season thus far.
Unfortunately the team was unable to win a singles match going 0-6. Freshman Kaitlyn Zinn and senior Alicia Papa were both able to win the first sets for their matches but lost the second and the tie breakers. For Zinn it was her first collegiate loss, ending her winning streak at 10 matches.
Following the same pattern as the singles matches, Xavier was unable to win in the doubles matches either going 0-3.
The men’s tennis team did not fare much better losing 7-0 at Ohio State University. The third- ranked Buckeyes did not lose a set to the Musketeers going a perfect 18 for 18.
To the credit of XU, the team faced six of the top 70 tennis players in the country including the top ranked player in the country, Steven Moneke. Sophomore Doug Matthews drew Moneke and fell 6-1, 6-3.
