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Seniors steamroll small-staters

Paul Moeller
Associate Sports Editor

Two Xavier netters took the hardwood at Cintas Center for the final home match of their careers last Friday.

Seniors Jenni Horvath and Jill Quayle were honored on Senior Night as the volleyball squad took on Rhode Island, rolling over the Rams 3-0.

It was only fitting that the senior duo led the team to a 3-0 victory, with Horvath contributing a team-high 11 digs while Quayle added a match-high 13 kills and seven total blocks.

Also playing well for the Musketeers were sophomores Hillary Otte and Lauren Kaminsky. Otte tallied 11 kills while Kaminsky got under a total of eight digs.

Dishing out assists on the evening were freshman Claire Paszkiewicz with 23 and junior Jenn Welsh with 11.

Pasczkiewicz also added seven digs of her own.

The Musketeers started strong with a 7-1 run and cruised to an easy 30-10 victory in the first frame.

The Rams kept game two a little closer, but the Muskies again prevailed, this time by the score of 30-20.

Rhode Island refused to give up without a fight, again keeping the game close in the third. But in honor of Xavier’s seasoned upperclassmen, the Musketeers closed the door, sealing a 30-22 victory, and the match 3-0.

This home match win leaves Xavier’s record at 22-8 overall and 11-2 in the Atlantic 10.

Next weekend, the team will travel to Charlotte, N.C. for the Atlantic 10 Championship.

With an automatic berth in the 2007 NCAA Volleyball Championship at stake, Xavier holds the No. 2 seed, while rival 16th ranked Dayton is the No. 1 seed.

Both Xavier and Dayton have earned automatic first round byes, so they are set to play semifinal matches on Saturday evening.

The Dayton Flyers will play at 5 p.m. against the lowest remaining seed while the Musketeers will face the highest remaining seed at 7:30 p.m.

Competing for a spot in the semifinals are No. 3 seed and defending A-10 Champion Saint Louis, No. 4 seed Temple, No. 5 seed Fordham and No. 6 seed George Washington.

The Championship match will take place on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m.

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Musketeers falter in closing seconds

Late foul opens door for RedHawks, Xavier falls to Miami (OH)

John LaFollette
Sports Editor

In a second half marked by lax defense and a stagnated offense, the Xavier men’s basketball team blew an 11-point halftime lead in its road opener, falling to the Miami RedHawks 59-57 last Tuesday night at Millet Hall.

After the Musketeers took a one-point lead off a brilliant pass through the lane by junior forward B.J. Raymond that resulted in a dunk by sophomore forward Derrick Brown, Miami in-bounded the ball with 13 seconds remaining in the game.

After a few passes, the ball was in the hands of sharpshooting forward Mike Bramos, who launched a desperation 25-footer with six seconds left.
Unfortunately for the Musketeers, a foul was called on Raymond, who overzealously swarmed Bramos, along with sophomore forward Jason Love.

The foul put Bramos on the line for three free throws, all of which he made, giving Miami the go-ahead at 59-57.

Senior point guard Drew Lavender took the in-bounds pass and streaked down the sideline before taking a shot through traffic that bounced off the back of the rim.

Senior forward Josh Duncan’s put-back was a few seconds too late, as the Musketeers fell to 1-1 on the season.

Leading the way for the Musketeers was Brown, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

Raymond, for his part, had 11 points in 23 minutes off 4-of-6 shooting from the field including 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
The pitfall for Xavier was its play in the second half.

After a decent offensive first half, the Musketeers came out flat after halftime, at times exposing a troubling inability to move the ball.

For the first time this year, Xavier’s defensive woes became readily apparent.

The Musketeers allowed a combined 27 second half points from Miami’s Tim Pollitz and Kenny Hayes, essentially giving Pollitz free reign to take over the paint, and different personnel combinations in the defense proved ineffective.

To make matters worse, Xavier played with little of the offensive spark they had displayed in their exhibition game and season opener, or in the first half against Miami.

Their poor defense played a role in stagnating the offense; it is more difficult to push the floor without making defensive stops that set up transition scoring opportunities.

A week of practices awaits the squad, before they take the court again next Tuesday evening against Coppin State.

Game time is set for 7 p.m. at Cintas Center.

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 Briefs

Doug Tifft  
Sports Editor

Cross Country teams finish strong

The Xavier men’s and women’s cross country teams came in with strong finishes in the NCAA Great Lakes hosted by Indiana Univiersity in Bloomington, Ind.

The women’s team ran to their best ever finish in regional meets with an 18th place showing, out of 30. Leading the way was freshman Christina Schneider in 28th overall. She was supported by junior Becky Clark, senior Amanda Brown, senior Caitlin Shagena and sophomore Bethany Moore.

Senior Ben Milroy completed his career by leading the men’s team to a 21st place finish by placing 82nd. Following closely behind him were junior Clinton Womack, freshman Tommy Kauffmann, freshman Sam Lewis and senior Matthew Weingardt. The regional was the last meet of the year for both the men’s and the women’s teams.

The women finished at 106-39 overall and 17-2 in the A-10. The men were 76-56 overall, and 8-11 in conference.

Club football makes it three straight

The Xavier Club Football team topped the JV squad from Mt. St. Joseph College 14-7 on Thursday. The Musketeer defense was stout, forcing six turnovers, including a interception run back for a score by Andrew Dornbrook. Chris Greenwood had 134 yards passing and one touchdown to Dan Deters, who led the Muskies with 68 receiving yards.

The win was the third straight for the Musketeers, who will look to make it four in a row in their final game of the season at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Norwood’s Shea Stadium against Miami.