Xavier rides Rams squads to righteous record
Paul Moeller
Associate Sports Editor
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Freshman Claire Paszkiewicz had a career-high 34 assists against Fordham.
This week in volleyball, the Musketeers dodged two different Rams teams, beating Fordham 3-1 on Friday night in the Bronx, N.Y., and Rhode Island 3-0 on Saturday night in Kingston, R.I., keeping their conference winning streak alive.
Freshman Claire Paszkiewicz turned in the best match of her young Xavier career, achieving her first ever double-double to the tune of 10 digs and a career-high 34 assists.
Also digging the ball 10 times was sophomore Kelly Ruth, while fellow sophomore outside hitter Hillary Otte had a career day with 20 kills in the match.
Sophomore Lauren Kaminsky provided the real shovel for the Musketeers, however, leading the team with 16 digs.
Despite dropping the first game of the match, the Muskies never gave up, battling back to win the second game 30-19.
Leading the third game 14-12, the Musketeers blasted off on an 11-2 run, seemingly setting the tone for the remainder of the match.
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Senior Jill Quayle had 16 kills against Rhode Island.
The third game began with nine unanswered Fordham points while the Musketeers struggled to ground the volleyball on the opposite side of the net.
Despite the deficit, the Xavier squad stormed all the way back to tie the game at 27-27 before eventually winning 30-28. Clinching the final game by a score of 30-27, the Muskies took the match and advanced to 3-0 in Atlantic 10 competition.
As if one duel with the Rams wasn’t enough, the nomadic netters traveled directly to Kingston, R.I. to face off against the Rams of the University of Rhode Island. Although the rivalry between these two volleyball programs runs long and deep, the match on Saturday evening did not.
Rhode Island coach Bob Schneck has been coaching the Rams for nearly 25 years, but his vast coaching knowledge did little to thwart the vicious volleyballers from Xavier.
When playing the Musketeers at Cintas Center in the past, Schneck has employed a cameraman to videotape the Xavier volleyball faithful. He had intended to have the NCAA discipline Xavier and its volleyball fans for being too “unruly.”
Despite these tactics, however, Schneck often leaves Cincinnati with nothing more than frustration and another tally in his team’s loss column.
Without a raucous home court advantage, Xavier remained perfect in the Atlantic 10 and cruised to a 3-0 victory. Senior Jill Quayle led the spiking efforts for the Muskies with a team-high 16 kills.
Meanwhile, Ruth and Kaminsky could just as easily have been at a Rhode Island beach digging in the sand, getting under 12 and 14 balls, respectively. Otte made solid contact with the ball all match long on her way to an outstanding .714 hitting percentage.
The Musketeers did not encounter any major problems en route to victory, winning 30-23, 30-19, 30-21.
Schneck and his squad will have a chance to settle this score in just over a month. The Rams visit Cintas Center on Nov. 9 for the final match of the regular season.
More immediately, the team will travel to Philadelphia this weekend for matches against Atlantic 10 conference opponents La Salle and Temple.
Finn-ished? Ex-Musketeer faces cocaine charges
Paul Moeller
Associate Sports Editor
Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Dedrick Finn was a central figure in Xavier’s 2004 “Elite Eight” run.
Two years after he was dismissed from the men’s basketball team for violating team rules, former Xavier point guard Dedrick Finn faces multiple felony charges in the state of Indiana relating to dealing cocaine, according to Warrick County Sheriff Marvin Heilman.
Finn, 23, was arrested last Thursday evening in Newburgh, Ind., on the outskirts of Evansville, and has been charged with two counts of delivering over three grams of cocaine, a Class A felony in Indiana.
Additionally, Finn has been charged with two counts of possession of less than three grams of cocaine, which is a Class D felony, and what amounts to a charge of racketeering, which is a Class C felony.
If convicted of the more serious cocaine dealing charges, Finn could face a maximum fine of $10,000 and jail time of up to 50 years.
Finn has been released from the Warrick Co. Jail after posting $10,500 bond.
The day after a frustrating loss to the Dayton Flyers in February of 2006, Finn was dismissed from the team by head coach Sean Miller for violating team rules.
In explaining Finn’s dismissal, Miller said at the time that Finn “violated one of our program’s cornerstone policies.”
Without elaborating on specifics, Miller went on to say “Throughout his career we have tried to connect with Dedrick to continue to develop him as a person and have pursued numerous channels to see this through.”
Miller made it clear at the time that the basketball team had a “complete understanding that no one player is more important than our program.”
Earlier that season, Finn was suspended from the Musketeers’ first exhibition game after he was charged with stealing a former girlfriend’s dog.
Finn claimed that the dog had been a gift from him, and the charges were dropped after the former girlfriend decided not to pursue the case.
In his career at Xavier, Finn played in 122 games, scored 912 points and dished out 481 assists.
He was a valuable sixth man in Xavier’s 2004 NCAA Tournament “Elite Eight” campaign, sparking Xavier’s comeback in a win over Mississippi State.
At the time of his dismissal, Finn averaged 5.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.5 turnovers per game.
Finn graduated from Xavier in May of 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in communication arts.
Fun times at 18th Fenwick Open
Jeff McMurray
Feature News Editor
With fall settling in, the weather begged for golf. Such was the case on Sept. 29, when the Student Government Association hosted the 18th Annual Fenwick Open at Pebble Creek Golf Course.
The event raised money for SGA and for Cincinnati ProKids, a local charity benefitting abused children in Hamilton County.
The day started with a lunch from Subway and teams of students and alumni gathering in the banquet room and on the putting green for light trash talk.
There were a total of 36 teams, with two teams for each hole. The shotgun start was scheduled for 1 p.m.
Yours truly and his team were lucky to be paired with former SGA President Andy Gibson and his team, which included “Who Dey,” the utterly obnoxious Bengals mascot. Fortunately for us, his play was not as atrocious as the Bengals’.
Even though it is late in the golf season, Pebble Creek played extremely well. There were a few shaggy greens, and some brown spots, but that is to be expected after a day’s worth of play.
One downside though was how short the course played. The course’s par-3s played to only a little over 100 yards each, which is not as menacing as some would have hoped for.
Sadly, the day eventually came to an end. A little after 6 p.m., teams slowly finished their rounds, some a little tipsier than when they started.
Back in the banquet room, the drinks and trash talk were still coming. As a dinner from Outback Steakhouse was served, scores were being bandied about with pride.
One team claimed to have shot 21-under par, which was followed by cries of dishonest scorekeeping.
Another team, hoping to win the lowest score trophy claimed to have shot 66-under. Again, cries of cheating were heard, but it was all in jest.
In all, it was a great day: Great weather, great golf and, most importantly, it was for a great cause.
Fantasy football report with Tyler Grote
Locks:
OK, these are the guys that are looking to put up some serious numbers this week. If you have them, start them; no questions asked.
This week, look for Tom Brady and the number one offense of the New England Patriots to thread the second-to-worst defense that is the Cleveland Browns. That means if you have any of his WR’s (Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth or Wes Welker) please, dear God, start them.
Also, no word on Lawrence Maroney yet, but if you happened to see Sammy Morris destroy my Bengals on Monday Night Football, it would be extremely wise to start him against a similar Cleveland Browns team.
If you’re looking for major points from your defense, be sure to start Baltimore’s defense against a struggling 49ers offense. I would look for Baltimore to bounce back after their thumping at the hands of Cleveland, especially since they face an over-the-hill Trent Dilfer at the helm of the NFL’s worst ranked offense.
On another front, the Giants play their interstate rivals, the New York Jets. If you have Eli, Plaxico or Jeremy Shockey, start them.
Other action in New York includes a Monday Night match-up between Dallas and Buffalo. If you have Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Patrick Crayton, Julius Jones or Marion Barber, do your team a favor and start them.
Docks:
These will be the guys that you may not necessarily have to sit, but may have a hard time producing numbers.
Detroit has been hot this year due to the success of their hard-nosed QB and strong receiving core. They may have some trouble this week running into the 13th ranked passing defense of the Washington Redskins. Don’t be too surprised if the numbers are a bit lackluster for the Lions this week.
Frank Gore is going to run into a brick wall this week against the Ravens’ defense. Please don’t let last week fool you; the Browns’ bread and butter is the air attack and not the run. The 49ers virtually have no air attack, and this week, they probably won’t have a ground game either. Dock him.
I know everyone in their right mind drafted Larry Johnson as their first pick if they could. Trust me, he will come around… just not this week. Kansas City plays a Jacksonville team that has not allowed more than 14 points in any game all year, and although they rank 26th in rushing defense, the way things have gone for Larry Johnson so far, use a solid backup instead. Or take the few points LJ will give you this week.
Shocks:
OK, these are the guys that are not necessarily big names and may even be swimming somewhere in that free agent pool of yours.
To begin with, if Dwayne Bowe, a receiver from Kansas City, is available, treat yourself to a great addition to your team and sign him. This kid has been pretty good the past few weeks. Just last week he recorded eight catches for 164 yards and a TD. His 6’2” frame makes this rookie a decent target in the red zone.
Now that the bye weeks have started, you’d better grab some guys who can fill in the void. A great tight end to pick up is the 6’3” Owen Daniels from Houston. Although he does not have a TD this season, he does have 197 yards on the year and is averaging about 50 yards per game. In the absence of Andre Johnson, he’s getting a lot more looks.
Kevin “End-Zone” Jones has returned for the Lions and scored a TD in his first game back. Don’t look for a lot of yards, but he will find his way into the end zone quite a few times.
Doug Tifft
Sports Editor
Wenzel named A-10 Rookie of the Week
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Freshman Carlyanne Wenzel.
The Atlantic 10 Conference honored Xavier freshman Carlyanne Wenzel by naming the Indianapolis native the women’s soccer Rookie of the Week.
At George Washington on Friday, Wenzel scored the game-winning goal in the second half to give the Musketeers the 2-1 edge.
After returning home to the XU Soccer Complex, Wenzel’s two assists helped the squad to victory against Saint Joseph’s.
The first two of Xavier’s five goals were set up by Wenzel, as the squad shut out the Hawks and improved their record to 2-1 in the Atlantic 10.
Wenzel now has four goals on the season and 10 total points, both of which are team highs.
Club football tops Miami for first win
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The Xavier club football team won its first game of its short history in Oxford, Ohio, last Sunday, defeating the Miami (OH) Redhawks 13-7.
Xavier quarterback Chris Greenwood completed 13-of-23 passes for 120 yards and one touchdown, and rushed for 52 yards and another score.
A 3-yard rush by Greenwood put the Musketeers up 7-0, but Miami tied the score soon after with a bootleg pass.
A 3-yard touchdown pass from Greenwood to Craig Hallman before halftime gave Xavier the lead for good.
Head coach Tom Powers said of the victory, “WE FINALLY DID IT!!!!!!!!”
The most significant improvement for Xavier came in ball control. The Musketeers had no turnovers for the first time in three games this season.
Xavier next takes the field over Family Weekend, when they play Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Sat., Oct. 20. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Norwood High’s Shea Stadium.
