Doug Tifft 
Sports Editor
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Muskie men get off to the races
Fastbreaks lead the way to 39-point win over DII opponent
By Doug Tifft
Sports Editor
Newswire photo by Danielle Meiners
Sophomore guard Jordan Crawford had 16 points on 7-13 shooting and six rebounds in an 86-47 win by the Musketeers over Rollins College.
There was an awkward silence at the outset of a low-key press conference following a methodical 86-47 exhibition win by the Xavier men’s basketball team over Rollins College Tuesday evening.
New Xavier head coach Chris Mack sat on the dais, staring at the reporters, as they stared at him, awaiting the customary opening statement by a head coach.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” Mack said. “I’m new to this.”
While Mack’s media career may have gotten off to a slow start, his team had no such problems, racing out of the gates to outscore the Tars 25-0 on fastbreak points, led by 16 points from sophomore guard Jordan Crawford.
“Coach is in our face all of the time, even when we are tired, telling us to push the ball,” Crawford said. “That is going to be a big key for us this season.”
Leading the break most frequently for the Musketeers was freshman Mark Lyons, who had seven assists in his first time in a Xavier uniform after sitting out the 2008-09 season as a partial qualifier.
“It was exciting to come out and play with my teammates after sitting out a long year,” Lyons said. “It’s a relief at the end of the day.”
The Xavier break was started by a 42-29 rebounding advantage over the undersized Tars, led by eight rebounds from junior forward Jamel McLean.
Beyond the rebounding advantage, Mack wanted to see the frontcourt get more involved in the transition offense.
“Our bigs have to run the floor,” Mack said. “They are a little bit behind in conditioning, but they need to join the race.”
The next track meet for the Musketeers will come on Saturday, Nov. 7 when they host Northern Kentucky in their final exhibition tune-up for the Nov. 13 regular season opener against Youngstown State.
One thing is for sure, Mack will have his statement ready.
Women’s season ends with in defeat
Musketeers drop match against Dayton to finish 3-15-1
By Jocelyn Taylor
Staff Writer
Newswire photo by Danielle Meiners
Freshman Brett Sweeney started all 19 games for Xavier on defense.
A season of frights for the Xavier women’s soccer team came to end on Halloween night with a 3-0 loss to Dayton.
The Musketeers finished the year 3-15-1, battling injuries throughout, yet still improving on a 1-16-2 campaign in 2008.
As the 2009 season drew to a close, the Musketeers know that they will have to make up for a litany of departures.
Beyond the departure of head coach Alvin Alexander—announced Nov. 3—Xavier will be saying goodbye to seniors Kelly Farrell, Brittany Green, Loren Marshall, Lauren Nutini, Ali Nellis and Katy Rudokas.
Green led the team with four goals and one assist while Brooks posted 23 shot attempts with 10 being on goal and Farrell provided 77 saves on the year.
The cupboard is not bare, however, as sophomore Jessica Brooks and freshman Chelsea Burns gained experience as leaders on the 2009 squad.
Burns did not look to score much, instead leading the defensive unit of Nutini, Marshall and freshmen Leslie Boersma and Brett Sweeney from her post in midfield.
While the Xavier defensive unit made great strides in 2009, its offense was often stagnant, attempting only 111 shots to its opponents’ 354—a regression from the 190-318 differential in 2008.
The shot differential resulted in a 52-8 goal deficit for the Musketeers on the season.
The opponents’ offensive onslaught often put significant pressure on the Xavier defense.
Xavier goalkeepers made 129 saves on the season, compared with 48 for their opponents’ goalies.
Despite the differential, Farrell was still able to record three shutouts on the season.
With a greater amount of time on defense, the Musketeers naturally committed a greater number of fouls.
Xavier ended the season with 172 fouls compared to 136 committed by their opponents.
As the page turns to 2010, the Musketeers will be under the guidance of a new head coach, with a new goalkeeper—junior Jenny Rosen and freshman Jennifer Perri will battle for the job—and a group of underclassmen replacing the six seniors.
This group will hope to provide the first winning season for Xavier socer after five straight losing seasons.
Volleyball hands Dayton first conference loss
Streaking Musketeers ride two more wins into third place in Atlantic 10
By Scott Mueller
Asst. Sports Editor
Riding a recent hot swing that has seen them win nine wins in 11 games, the Xavier volleyball team registered victories over Dayton and La Salle this past weekend.
The wins extended their winning streak to three games and moved them to third place in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
On Friday, Oct. 30, the Musketeers hosted Dayton. The Flyers came into the match undefeated in conference play.
In the first set, Dayton jumped out to an early 9-6 lead. However, Xavier went on an 8-1 run to take control of the set at 14-10. Xavier’s lead was never less than three for the rest of the set, and the Musketeers went on to win the opening set 25-20.
In the second set, the Flyers came out strong, looking to even the match. Dayton opened with a 5-1 run.
The Flyers stretched the lead to eight at 18-10. Xavier fought back, but it was too little too late, and the Musketeers dropped the second set 25-19.
It was Xavier’s turn to get out to an early lead in the third set, taking a 6-2 lead. The Flyers did not go away, however, and battled back to take the lead at 9-8.
With the Flyers leading 21-19, Xavier went on a 5-1 run to close out the set 25-22, and take the advantage in the match.
The fourth set was close the entire time with neither team taking more than a three point lead throughout. Dayton eventually took the set, 25-23, tying the match at two.
In the fifth set, the Musketeers flexed their muscles and defended their home court. With the Flyers leading 5-3, the Musketeers went on a 10-2 run, taking control of the match for good. Xavier won the fifth and decisive set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
“I don’t think its the best we’ve played, and we still won,” head coach Floyd Deaton said. “We made some mistakes, but we came through. We battled through. We wanted to win that match, and I think it was a match of wills.”
Senior Lauren Kaminsky posted 15 kills and 17 digs. Freshman Stephanie Vorherr once again led the team in digs with 24.
The crowd on hand was one of the bigger crowds this season. Among the large crowd was a Floyd Deaton impersonator.
“I absolutely appreciate [the fans]; they make the difference. They were fantastic. They never stop; they were loud the whole time. I think we have the best fans in the whole conference,” Deaton said.
On Sunday, Nov. 1, the Musketeers swept La Salle for the second time this season.
After trading points in the beginning of the first set, the Musketeers began to pull away. Already leading 12-10, the Musketeers closed out the set on a 13-5 run.
The Musketeers once again dominated in the second set. With the score tied at four, the Musketeers went on an 8-1 run to take a commanding lead in the set. Xavier won the second set 25-14.
The third set was much more competitive. Neither team led by more than three points throughout the entire set.
The Explorers held set point at 24-23, however, the Musketeers stormed back to take the set 26-24 and the match 3-0.
“We went in and took care of business. I think we knew we were better than them, and it wasn’t pretty, but we took care of it,” Deaton said.
Senior Kelly Ruth and junior Shannon Voors each record nine kills. The victory was Xavier’s 11th sweep of the season.
The Musketeers have two matches this coming weekend. Fordham will come to Cintas Center on Friday at 7 p.m. On Sunday, the Musketeers will travel to Saint Louis to take on SLU.
Despite early leads, soccer drops two
By Ken Burton
Staff Writer
The Xavier men’s soccer team jumped on top of its opponents this weekend with goals early in the first-half, but holding off two of the Atlantic 10’s top teams eventually proved too tough a task.
The first loss came at the hands of the Saint Louis Billikens by a 2-1 margin, the second a 3-2 loss to the nationally ranked Charlotte 49ers on senior night.
With the losses, Xavier falls to 2-12-1 for the year, 1-7-0 in A10 play.
Junior El-Hadji Dieng got the home crowd riled up early on Friday with his goal less than two minutes into the contest. The goal, which ricocheted off the upper crossbar and in, was assisted by sophomore Brendan Rogers.
The Billikens countered with a 45-yard free kick as time was winding down in the first half. The Billiken strategy to screen freshman goalkeeper Justin Marshall on the free kick proved effective; Marshall’s late play on the ball resulted in the equalizer.
A one-on-one matchup mid-way through the second half also proved fruitful for the Billikens. In the 76th minute, Billiken striker Scott Wisniewski drew Marshall from his spot deep in the box and sent a lob shot over Marshall’s head to put St. Louis on top for good.
After the game, Saint Louis head coach Dan Donigan echoed what many coaches have been saying about the 12-loss Musketeers.
“I don’t think Xavier’s record is indicative of how tough they play. This was a great win for us,” said Donigan.
Prior to the Charlotte game, a ceremony was held to honor Xavier’s three senior leaders: Kennedy Nakwa, Ricky Sutherland and Jake Vollmer.
Vollmer, by way of his fourth goal of the season, kick-started the Musketeers’ offense. At 24:46 mark, Vollmer delivered a 15-yard free kick past the Charlotte keeper and into the upper-90.
Xavier headed into halftime leading the 11th ranked 49ers 2-0 thanks to junior James Getzen’s header with just 47 seconds remaining in the half. Dieng was awarded the assist by serving a cross into the box to an open Getzen who headed the ball inside the near post.
Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn must have delivered one inspiring half-time speech, as the 49er’s looked like a completely different team.
Freshman 49er Donnie Smith scored two quick goals, and teammate Adam Gross put the final nail in the proverbial coffin by striking home the game winner with less than 10 minutes to play.
“[Smith] just kept terrorizing Xavier in the second half,” Gunn said after the game.
For his terrorization of the suddenly-porous Musketeers defense, Smith was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s National Team of the Week.
While the Musketeers were hoping to send the senior class out with one last home win, they will have to settle with the opportunity to play rival Dayton in its final game of the 2009 season.