NCAA: Freshman Lyons must sit
Appeal underway, though guard will likely miss 2008-09 season
Doug Tifft Sports Editor
goxavier.com
Freshman guard Mark Lyons, rated the 103rd best player in the high school class of 2008, figured to be a competitor for a starting job this season.
The Xavier Men’s Basketball team was dealt a blow to its developing backcourt when it was recently announced that freshman guard Mark Lyons has been deemed partially ineligible for the 2008-09 season.
Lyons will be allowed to practice with the team, and remains on full scholarship, but will not be allowed to compete in any games this season, and will not travel to any away games.
According to NCAA rules, a player is deemed ineligible when they do not graduate from high school, successfully complete the 13 academic credit courses in the appropriate core area or present a core-course grade-point average and a combined score on the SAT verbal and math sections or a sum score on the ACT based on the partial qualifier index scale.
The Xavier Athletic Department did not release a statement about the issue, allowing the news to be released publicly when men’s basketball coach Sean Miller first spoke about the issue at a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Miller did not discuss which of the three criteria Lyons had failed to meet, but many sources have speculated that his courses at Brewster Academy, a prep school in Wolfeboro, N.H., did not meet the core NCAA standards.
Xavier Athletics is undertaking efforts, led by Miller, to regain full eligibility for Lyons. Still, the team is tempering its hopes.
“There is a chance that as we have more dialogue, that that could potentially be overturned. That is our approach, and that is what we have been told,” Miller said.
“[However], being a partial qualifier, it would be more of a surprise to us [if he were to be ruled eligible], then if he were not.”
Expectations were high for Lyons, the 6’2 guard who was rated as the 103rd best player in the high school class of 2008.
“He is also a very, very talented player; someone that I am really excited about, and equally disappointed that I am telling you [about his partial ineligibility],” Miller said.
With the graduation of senior guards Drew Lavender and Stanley Burrell Lyons was being discussed as being in competition for a starting role on this Musketeer team, but Miller will now have to rely even more heavily on fellow freshmen Terrell Holloway and Brad Redford.
“It is extremely unfortunate. I would almost categorize it as, you know that we experience injuries as a team, to me we have had a season-ending injury with him being that we expected him to play and he can’t,” Miller said.
NCAA rules state that Lyons retains only three years of eligibility, with
a fourth year being awarded to him if he is to graduate by May of 2012.
“In terms of what it costs him, it just puts his career on delay,”
Miller said. “Like any young person, he can take advantage of all of the
resources that we have in terms of getting his degree, as well as getting stronger,
learning our system.”
There may be a silver lining for Lyons, as Sean Miller illustrated by pointing to 2004 Xavier graduate Lionel Chalmers, now a professional with Universitrt-Yugra Surgut of the Russian Super league.
“The thing that I feel best about is when you look at our past, Lionel Chalmers experienced an identical, almost eerily similar, case,” Miller said. “He was a partial qualifier in the first year, when he just practiced. Then he translated that into a fifth year, which Mark can have, as long as he progresses towards his degree –which I have no doubt that he will.”
Although his career at Xavier seems to have gotten off on the wrong foot, the athleticism and scoring ability that Lyons brings to the table will should help him make the most of his time at Xavier.
Outlook brightens for men’s soccer team
Ken Burton
Sports Writer
Coach Dave Schureck and his Xavier men’s soccer team have struggled to find consistency and cohesiveness this season, but have turned it around of late with a victory over the University of Kentucky Wildcats and two ties to open play in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
Until recently, the team, which is comprised of 18 underclassmen and only three returning starters from an 8-10-1 squad a year ago, suffered growing pains that all but crippled the green team.
It wasn’t until the Musketeers secured their first tie of the year, a scoreless stalemate against the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Jaguars, that things started to look promising.
Despite not scoring for the fifth game of the season, the Musketeers had turned a corner in the match.
The game was the first the Musketeers hadn’t lost proving that they can hold on at the end of a match - the mark of a maturing team.
Surely enough, the Musketeers would find the win column in their next game against the University of Kentucky Wildcats.
The Wildcats were previously unbeaten at home and were in the midst of a five-game winning streak before the Musketeers came to town.
The Musketeers were again outshot for the game, registering a 9-20 shot deficit, but were fortunate to have senior leader and net minder, Adam Sokolowski record a shut-out, nonetheless.
Co-scoring leader Andy Dimbi netted the game-winner into the back right of the net off a pass from freshman Ryan Gray.
Two double overtime ties later—a 0-0 match versus George Washington featuring five saves from Sokolowski and a 1-1 match versus Richmond that included junior Ricardo Sutherland’s third goal of the season — the Musketeers are now unbeaten in their last four games.
The Musketeers will look to continue that trend in their last seven games of the season before the Atlantic 10 conference tournament in Pittsburgh, Penn. starting Nov. 13.
It took some time for the young squad to find its collective stride, but it finally seems like the Musketeers are on track just in time for the heart of conference play.
Struggles continue for women as they drop four straight, three in A-10
Ken Burton
Sports Writer
The Xavier women’s soccer team, like the men’s team, features 18 underclassmen.
Unlike the men’s team however, the Xavier women have yet to find their stride in what has been a trying and tumultuous season.
It is indubitable the 1-11-1 Musketeers have shown flashes of promise here and there.
However, aside from the Ohio win and some stellar individual efforts the Musketeers have been largely disappointing.
The last two weeks marked the beginning of conference play, which would be vital to the team’s overall conference success.
The Musketeers fell to Butler University (0-2), rival Dayton university (0-3), the University of Massachusetts (0-1) and the University of Rhode Island (0-1) in that two week stretch.
In 13 games, the Musketeers have been beat 11 times and outscored by a 30-7 margin.
The Musketeers will need a quick turnaround to preserve the season; there are only six games remaining until the conference tournament.
Next up for the Musketeers are the Duquesne Dukes at the Xavier Soccer Complex on Friday Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. Xavier will also play the St. Bonaventure Bonnies at home that weekend, on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.
A-10 play offers solace for XU volleyball
Scott Mueller
Asst. Sports Editor
The Xavier University volleyball team is off to a fast start in the Atlantic 10 Conference as the Musketeers are 4-0 with wins over Charlotte, George Washington, La Salle and Temple.
Xavier opened A-10 play on the road at Charlotte on Oct. 3, with several players coming up big for the Musketeers.
Junior Lauren Kaminsky posted 17 kills and 12 digs in the match, and fellow junior Kelly Ruth also had 16 kills and 15 digs.
Xavier dropped the first set 25-21, as they never led in the frame.
However, Xavier was able to recoup and respond brilliantly by taking a back and forth second set that featured 10 ties and five lead changes, 25-22.
Xavier finished out the match with decisive wins in both the third and fourth sets, taking each 25-19 and leading all throughout the fourth set.
The following Sunday, Oct. 5, Xavier again was on the road, this time at George Washington.
For the second straight match, Xavier dropped the first set, but again rallied to take the match, 3-1.
Xavier was able to take an 11-9 lead in the first set, but George Washington would go on an 11-5 run to take the lead for good.
In the second set, Xavier was able to get off to a strong start, taking an early 8-5 lead, and cushioning that with a 5-0 run, winning the set 25-22. The third set was close, including seven ties before Xavier took a commanding lead at 21-16 and held on to win, 25-21.
For the second straight match, the Musketeers did not allow their opponent to lead or even tie in the fourth set. Already leading 11-9, Xavier would finish the match on a 14-6 run.
The next week, Xavier played the first A-10 home match of the season against La Salle (now 5-17 overall and 1-6 in the A-10), on Friday, Oct. 10, winning the match in straight sets, never allowing La Salle to record more than 18 points in a set.
In the first frame, Xavier took a dominating 11-4 lead, and went on to win the set 25-14.
Xavier took a 11-4 lead in the first set before going on to win the frame 25-14, and repeating the feat in the second set.
In the third set, Xavier found itself down 7-3 early, but would fight back to tie the score at eight. After trading points, Xavier would finally take the lead for good at 17-16, and hang on to win 25-18.
The following day, Xavier remained at home to take on the Temple Owls (11-9, 4-3 A-10) at Cintas Center.
Xavier led for most of the first set, including a 22-20 lead that forced Temple to call a timeout. After the timeout, Temple would go on a 4-1 run to close out the frame, 25-23.
In the second frame, Xavier stretched an early 7-2 lead into a 15-6 advantage, before going on to win the set 25-19.
The third set was closely contested, featuring 17 ties and six lead changes before the Owls took the frame 25-22, and claimed a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Xavier looked dominant once more in the fourth set, using a 9-0 run to propel them to a 25-14 set victory, and even the match at two. As had been the case all night the fifth set was closely contested, going into extra points before Xavier would take the victory 16-14.
The win kept Xavier as one of three perfect teams in A-10 play so far, along with Saint Louis and Dayton.
Senior Jenn Welsh was named the A-10 Co-player of the week for last week. In the match against Temple, Welsh had 60 assists and 10 digs.
On Tuesday night the Musketeers ventured outside of the conference once more, dropping a 3-1 decision to Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne.
Welsh again had a big night, posting 52 assists and 10 kills to compliment Ruth’s career-high 27 kills and 12 digs.
Their efforts were not enough, however, to save the Musketeers from falling to 11-8 after the loss to the Mastadons, who got 25 kills from junior middle hitter Rebekah Roehm and 57 assists from junior Shannon Reuter.
Xavier will return to A-10 play on Friday, Oct. 17 when they take on Fordham at home at 7 p.m.
Xavier tennis strong over break
Tyler Grote
Sports Writer
The Xavier mens tennis team kept themselves busy over fall break.
While most of us were kicking back watching football and not studying for the upcoming midterms, the tennis team was trying to recreate the success they found at Indiana, where the Musketeers made their presence felt in Indiana University’s Hoosier Invitational, producing a trio of top-three performances.
Xavier was able to carry the momentum into two tournaments over the break, posting a pair of strong finishes.
The Musketeers traveled to Muncie, Indiana on Oct. 3 where they competed in the Ball State Invitational.
Senior Mike Dieciuc’s runner-up finish in the “B” Flight
consolation bracket led the Musketeers as he fell to Lorenz Ilg of Illinois
State in the finals.
Dieciuc also competed with freshman Brennan Rooney in the “D” Flight
consolation bracket where they reached the semifinals. No final was played due
to a walkover on behalf of an injury.
The Musketeers returned to action on Oct. 10 when they competed in the Louisville Invitational.
The Musketeers again found success when junior J.T. Torbeck and senior Ra’ees Ismail won their quarterfinal in the “B” Flight bracket.
Freshmen Richard Canelas and Marc Pretorious won their “C” Flight semifinal quarterfinal match to add to Xavier’s success and ultimately get them to a finals match.
Canelas had to stay busy in order to keep hopes of winning alive as he won twice on Saturday to secure his spot in the semifinals in the “B” Flight bracket.
He remained the only Musketeer left in the top two flights. Sophomore Brian Starr attempted to capture the “C” Flight bracket after he also won twice on Saturday to ultimately lead him to a finals match.
Unfortunately, the Louisville Invitational concluded on Sunday after a couple of heart-breaking losses for Xavier.
Canales and Pretorious lost the tiebreaker in the finals of the “C” Flight doubles bracket.
Brian Starr also fell short in the finals when he finished as runner-up in the “C” Flight consolation bracket after losing his tiebreaker match. Head coach Eric Toth remained optimistic about the results of Xavier’s busy weekend.
“I think this was a really great weekend for us,” said Toth, “especially in helping us prepare for the upcoming ITA Fall Indoor Championship. We faced very strong competition this weekend and hopefully that will help us pick up a few wins in singles and doubles in next weekend’s main draw.”
The Musketeers will travel to Columbus to compete in the ITA Fall Championship starting Thursday, Oct. 16.
Doug Tifft
Sports Editor
Men’s golf places 14th at host event
The Xavier University men’s golf team tied for 14th in the Xavier Invitational
on Tuesday at the Oasis Golf Club in Loveland, Ohio.
Eastern Kentucky won the 20-team, 54-hole tournament.
Xavier’s best indiviual performance came from sophomore Peter O’Neil,
who shot a 70 in the final round. O’Neil finished tied for 10th.
Sophomore Chris Burger, finished tied for 31st, and senior Mike Beausejour tied
for 38th.
The best invidual performance of the tournament came from Mike Van Sickle of Marquette University. Van Sickle finished with a three day total of 199, leading Marquette to a second place finish.
Xavier finished 14th, ahead of rival Cincinnati and A-10 foe George Washington.
Lack of divers hurts swim team in opener
The Xavier University men’s and women’s swim teams opened their seasons this past weekend at Marshall University against West Virgina, East Carolina and Marshall.
The meet was swimming and diving, and without a dive team, the Musketeers finished last.
The Muskteers had several good performances, including a fourth place finish from senior Matt Marcus, sophomores John Nolan and Terence Mahon and freshman Austin Gulledge in the men’s 200 Medley relay. Mahon also recorded an individual fourth place in the 400 Back.
On the women’s side, sophomore Sarah Weichelt finished fourth in the 100 Free and fellow sophomore Bethanie Griffin had a fourth place finish in the 100 Fly.
The relay team of senior Addie Ellspermann, junior Alison Johnson, sophomores Holly Hoover and Griffin finished fourth in the 2000 yard Medley.
The next meet for Xavier will at Valparaiso University on Friday, Oct. 17.
