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Musketeer basketball inks four star SF

Xavier gains verbal commitment from top-100 recruit Kevin Parrom

Doug Tifft
Sprots Editor

The Xavier men’s basketball program secured a key member of their future on Saturday with the verbal commitment of 6’6” small forward Kevin Parrom.

Parrom, a senior at South Kent High School in South Kent, Conn., is a native of the Bronx, N.Y. and spent three years at New York City’s St. Raymond High School before leaving this summer after a dispute with head coach Oliver Antigua.

Parrom is rated by Rivals.com as the 84th best player in the high school class of 2009 due to his versatile skill set. He possesses a solid mid-range to perimeter jump shot, finishes consistently around the basket, can defend multiple positions effectively and is an excellent defensive rebounder for his size. The combination of his skills will help ease Xavier’s transition from the losses of wing players C.J. Anderson and B.J. Raymond in the 2009-10 season, when Parrom will likely back up wings Dante Jackson and Jordan Crawford.

The commitment of Parrom, who chose Xavier over his hometown St. John’s University in addition to Clemson University and Pittsburgh University, became vital for the Musketeers after they failed to sway four-star small forward Ari Stewart during a late-August recruiting trip.

Parrom’s commitment leaves the Musketeers with one remaining scholarship to offer in the class of 2009, presumably to be given to a post player.

Candidates for the spot include former Georgetown University recruit Chris Braswell, a 6’8” power forward now playing in prep school at Hargrove Military Academy, a program that produced former Xavier guard Stanley Burrell, and 6’10” Kyryl Natyazkho, a Ukrainian immigrant now attending IMG Academy in Bradenton, Flo., who possesses a soft-shooting touch to complement his massive size.

Although neither Braswell nor Natyazkho are expected to make a decision on their future college choice any time soon, Xavier hosted Braswell for an on-campus visit this past weekend, with expectations for a visit by Natayazkho to occur sometime in the near future.

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Xavier volleyball carries struggles on the road

Musketeers take just one of three matches in Iowa tournament over weekend

Scott Mueller
Asst. Sports Editor

The Xavier volleyball team dropped two of three matches this past weekend at the Iowa State Tournament.

Coming off a loss to Western Kentucky University in their home opener, the Musketeers started the weekend on a good foot. In the opening match against Drake University, Xavier lost the first set 25-17, but was able to rebound, winning the next three sets and the match.

Xavier came out strong in the second set, taking a 10-5 lead. Already ahead 11-8, sophomore Claire Paszkiewicz led a 7-0 run with four successive aces for the Musketeers.

Drake would get no closer than six after the run, and Xavier held on to take the set 25-17. In the third set, Xavier once again asserted its dominance, getting out to an early 9-4 lead, and never trailed or was tied in the set, winning 25-18.

The fourth set was a very different story for the Musketeers. Drake, with defeat on the line in the fourth set, jumped out to an 11-4 lead.

The Bulldogs controlled the set almost all the way through before Xavier was finally able to tie the score at 21. The Musketeers soon finished it off on a 4-1 run to take the match 3-1.

The next day Xavier was scheduled for a double-header against Iowa and tournament host Iowa State. The match against Iowa was nearly a repeat of the Drake match, this time with Xavier on the losing end.

In the first set Xavier jumped out to an early lead at 8-3, soon widened it to 17-10, but fell victim to a 9-1 run from the Hawkeyes that gave Iowa its first lead since 2-1. Xavier recovered, however, and took the first set of the match 25-22.

This was the last set the Musketeers would win in the tournament.The next two frames were all Hawkeyes. In the second set, already up 19-11, Iowa went on a 6-0 run to finish the set 25-11.

Iowa dominated the third set as well, as the Hawkeyes took the early lead at 10-3 and never let Xavier score more than two consecutive points.
Iowa went on to win the set 25-14, and take the lead in the match.

The fourth set was more competitive, yet yielded the same result. Iowa again went out to an early lead at 8-3. Xavier was not out, however, as junior Kelly Ruth led the Musketeers on an 8-0 run to take an 11-8 lead.

The Hawkeyes delivered a 5-0 run of their own and finished off the set 25-19, and the match 3-1. Looking to rebound from the loss earlier in the day against Iowa, Xavier turned its attention to Iowa State in the night-cap of the double-header.

The tournament ended on a sour note for the Musketeers, however, as they were swept by the host team, 3-0. Xavier only led twice in the match, and tied it up six times.

The entire match was controlled by the Cyclones, as Xavier never scored more than 18 points in any set, losing 25-18, 25-17, 25-16. Iowa State went on a 15-7 run in the second set, after the score was tied at 10, to take a dominating lead in the match.

After consecutive lengthy road trips, the Musketeers, now 5-4 on the season, will return home this Friday Sept. 19 to take on No. 13 Middle Tennessee State at 7 p.m., with a matchup against Tulane on Sat., Sept. 20, also at 7 p.m.

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Brutal schedule dooms Muskies

Ken Burton
Sports Writer

The struggling Xavier Musketeers men’s soccer team entered the Northern Illinois tournament having just one goal on the season en route to 0-3-0 record.

Having drawn match-ups with two defensive juggernauts in Northern Illinois University and nationally ranked Northwestern in the tournament who had four and five shutouts on the season respectively, things weren’t about to change. The Musketeers would face the undefeated hosts, the NIU Huskies, first in the tournament.

Less than five minutes into the game, NIU found the back of the net off a penalty kick from the Huskies’ freshman midfielder and leading goal scorer, Brad Horton. Xavier midfielder Andy Dimbi drew a penalty kick soon after, but NIU goalkeeper Joe Zimka was able to quickly dive to his right to punch the ball away.

Three more goals would follow without an answer by the Musketeers. “At the end we wanted to continue to play and keep it tight to preserve a shut out, and we did,” said NIU coach Steve Simmons.

Two days later, the Musketeers were challenged by the Northwestern Wildcats and their star defender Mark Blades. The Musketeers added a fresh face in goal—redshirt freshman Ryan Engelmann—in hopes of a reversal of fortunes, but they had no such luck.

Entering the match, Blades was the reigning defensive player of the week in the Big Ten conference. With his help, Northwestern had allowed only one goal all season.

As it would turn out, the Wildcats would not only extend the Musketeers scoreless streak, but the defensive-minded Blades also managed to cut up the Xavier’s defensive third, scoring two goals of his own.

Sophomore forward Matt Eliason also added a goal to finish off the Musketeers and the tournament in grand fashion, 3-0. The three goal margain would also prove to be the differential in shots on goal in the game, as the Wildcats outshot the Musketeers 16-13.

While both NIU (4-0-2) and NU (5-0-1) kept their previously unscathed loss columns pristine, the Musketeers added two more losses—and no goals—to their record (0-5-0).

The lone bright spot of the long weekend for the Musketeers was the naming of junior midfielder Jake Vollmer and senior midfielder Tommy Clines to the All-Tournament Team.

Unfortunately the road to victory doesn’t look to get any less bumpy for the Musketeers as they will battle yet another nationally ranked foe, the Bradley Braves. The Musketeers will nonetheless look to bounce back from the tumultuous tournament when they host the Braves Friday, Sept. 19 at the friendly confines of the Xavier University Soccer Complex at 7 p.m.

After the match with Bradley, the Musketeers will hit the road again for a three-game road trip before returning home on Oct. 10 to face their first Atlantic 10 adversary, the Colonels of George Washington University.

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Xavier lassoed by top ranked Oklahoma St.

Ken Burton
Sports Writer

It was a windy Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati, Ohio when the upset-minded Musketeers met the undefeated and nationally ranked Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Sept. 14. Unfortunately for the Musketeers, the Cowgirls did not wait long to display why they have recieved so many accolades.

An early flurry of goals by Oklahoma State led to the 10-1 shot differential and the subsequent 4-0 deficit at the half.

Xavier freshman Cathy Della Lucia nearly had Xavier’s first goal, but her 69th minute header sailed just high and the momentum would stay with the Cowgirls. The Cowgirls would continue the dominance in the second half when Siera Stawser hammered home her third goal of the match, completing the hat trick in the closing moments of the game.

Xavier’s only goal came just thirteen seconds later in the 89th minute when freshman forward Jessica Brooks sent in her second career goal.

The goal, however, was too little, too late as the Musketeers fell by a 5-1 margin. With the loss Xavier falls to 0-5-0 on the season and the Cowgirls improved to 6-0-0. The Musketeers will look to find the win column in Athens, Ohio on Friday Sept. 19 when the Musketeers meet the Bobcats of Ohio University at 4 p.m.

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 Briefs

Doug Tifft  
Sports Editor

Strong start for men’s tennis

Four members of the defending Atlantic 10 champion Xavier men’s tennis team combined to produce three top three finishes in the Hoosier Invitational over the weekend.

Senior Mike Dieciuc was the highest Musketeer finisher, picking up a second place finish in the Cream Flight – the fourth of the four singles flights in the tournament.

Defending A-10 Player of the Year, senior Doug Matthews, teamed up with junior Chris Herlinger for a third place overall finish in the doubles portion of the tournament, which, coupled with a fifth place finish in the top singles flight, made for a solid weekend for Matthews.

Freshman Richard Canelas also took a third place finish in the Crimson Flight – the third of the four flights.

XC teams post strong finishes in Charlotte

The men’s and women’s cross country teams each continued a season of strong results as the men’s team finished fourth and the women third at the Charlotte Invitational.

Sophomore “Hollywood” Tommy Kauffman led the men with a sixth place finish, running the eight kilometers (4.96 miles) in 26:25.

Seniors Luke Beuerlein, finished ninth in 26:40, and Clinton Womack, 11th in 26:52, rounded out the top three for the men.

The women were led by sophomore Christina Schneider, who finished 15th in the five kilometer (3.1 miles) race at 20:24.

Schneider was followed closely by the trio of junior Angela Menke (20:31), freshman Caylin Howell (20:33) and sophomore Caitlin Thomas (20:33), who finished 17th through 19th respectively.

The teams will be back in action next weekend when they travel to South Bend, Ind. for the National Catholic Championships on Friday, Sept. 19.