Women’s tennis take second in A-10 Tournament
Scott Mueller Assistant Sports Editor
Photo courtesy of Aylin Seyalioglu
Xavier’s women’s tennis team huddles up in preparation for the match.
The Xavier University women’s tennis team finished their season with a great run that took them all the way to the A-10 tournament’s final match. The team came into the A-10 tournament in Monroeville, Pa. with the fifth seed, but they left the tournament after a grueling weekend with a second place finish. Xavier opened their tournament run with a match against St. Bonaventure on Friday, April 18.
In the match, the Musketeers were thoroughly dominant. In singles play, Xavier did not lose a single set. Junior Kara Courtney lead the team with her 6-1, 6-2 victory in the top seed singles. Sophomore Kaitlyn Zinn defeated her opponent 6-0, 6-2 at No. 5 singles. In the No. 6 singles match junior Jeanette Feider bested her rival 6-0, 6-4.
Xavier clinched the doubles point with victories from the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Again Xavier looked dominant, with No. 2 freshmen Christie Pleiman and Tifanie Treece winning 8-2 and No. 3 senior Annie Diedalis and sophomore Jill Ducro winning 8-4.
With the victory, Xavier earned the right to play the fourth seeded Duquesne Dukes.
Xavier came out strong against the Dukes in doubles play. The No. 1 doubles team of Courtney and Feider beat Johanna Bezjak and Rachel McGowan of Duquesne 8-5. The Musketeers were then able to capture the doubles point with a win from No. 3 doubles duo of Durco and fellow sophomore Aylin Seyalioglu, 8-1.
In singles action, Xavier did not have a clean sweep like they did against St. Bonaventure. Xavier needed wins from underclassmen Treece and Zinn to hang on for the 4-2 victory over Duquesne. In No. 1 singles Courney was bested by her opponent 6-4, 6-1. However in No. 2 singles freshman Treece pulled off the victory after dropping the first set. She won the match 3-6, 6-0, 6-3. In No. 6 singles Feider won 7-6, 6-4. To secure the victory for Xavier, sophomore Zinn defeated her opponent 7-5, 6-1 in No. 5 singles action. Xavier won the match 4-2.
With the upset win over fourth seeded Duquesne, Xavier advanced to the semi-finals to face top seeded Massachusetts.
“Our newcomers were outstanding today and really pulled it out for us. The youngsters pulled through in one of the highest pressure situations we’ve faced all season,” said head coach Eric Toth.
Xavier’s run was not over yet. They had their sights set on the title match and pulled off yet another upset over UMass to get there.
Xavier bested UMass 4-2 on Saturday for the right to play in the championship game. Unlike the previous matches, Xavier was not able to capture the doubles point, so strong single play was going to be necessary in order for the Musketeers to advance, and they got it.
In No. 1 singles, Courtney knocked off her opponent in three sets 7-6, 4-6, 6-2. Xavier got another three set victory in No. 6 singles. Feider, after dropping the tie-breaker in the first set, rallied back to take the match 6-7, 6-3, 6-3. Xavier also picked up victories in No. 4 and No. 5 singles. Ducro, in No. 4 singles, defeated her opponent 6-4, 7-5. Zinn sealed the victory with a 6-2, 7-5 victory.
On Sunday in the final championship game, Xavier looked for one more upset as they took on second seed Temple. However, their run would end here.
Xavier dropped the doubles point once more, but this time could not overcome the setback in singles play. Temple won the match 4-0 with wins from the No. 2, 3, and 5 singles. Toth said, “You have to bring your A game to a match like this and we didn’t quite have what it took.”
Xavier finished their season just short of the championship title, but still had a great year. They finished with a 17-8 record, recording wins in 8 of their last 9 matches. Toth was very happy with the season. “This [final] loss does not take away from the team’s season in any way. Our team is young and this raises the bar for our program,” he said.
“It’s always somewhat disappointing to lose, especially in our case being so close to winning the conference but honestly, I’m so proud of all of my teammates,” said sophomore Aylin Seyalioglu. Seyalioglu expressed that team unity was an important part of team’s success.
“Not only did we all compete and fight hard on the court, but we acted as a unit. Tennis can be considered an individual sport and somewhat of a ‘selfish’ sport, but that was not the case for us. I mean, we cheered, supported, and celebrated with and for each other more than any other team at that tournament,” Seyalioglu said.
Between the youth of the team and now experience playing deep into the conference tournament, Xavier women’s tennis should only look to improve in the coming years.
Xavier looking at strong recruiting class in 2008
Doug Tifft
Sports Editor
The Xavier Musketeers are coming off of one of the most successful seasons in the history of Xavier basketball. A season that included an Elite Eight visit and 30 wins elevates the program to one of its highest points ever.
To carry on this success, head coach Sean Miller and his coaching staff have assembled one of the top recruiting classes in the country, the 27th best class according to Rivals.com.
The assembled group includes three guards in Terrell Holloway, Mark Lyons, and Brad Redford, wing player Brian Walsh and center Kenny Frease.
The most highly touted player of the class is Frease. Frease is the No. 41 player in the class of 2008 according to Rivals.com. Frease was a first team All-Ohio selection out of Perry High School in Massilion, Ohio.
Frease comes in as a skilled big man, yet he knows that college poses new challenges to his game.
“The biggest changes for me will be the speed of the game and the strength [of the guys I’m playing against]. I’m going to have to get a lot stronger in order to play good minutes when I get a kid who is as just as strong as me and as tall as me,” Frease said.
Frease will also have to adjust to the 35 second shot clock, which is not used in Ohio high school basketball.
Despite being the highest rated prospect that Xavier has signed since the dawn of national recruiting ratings, Frease is not concerned about the expectations for his future.
“I’m just going to play basketball. I don’t think that there are added expectations. I’m really excited to go play,” Frease said. “If there is hype, then I am going to try to live up to that hype and do better than that. But that’s not something that I really think about.”
Although Frease may be the most physically imposing of the incoming class, the freshman with the most impact on the 2008-09 squad will likely be the winner of the competition for the starting point guard spot.
The early favorite to take that role is the Terrell Holloway, the No. 100 rated player in the class of 2008 according to Rivals.com, from Harmony High in Cincinnati.
While Holloway may be the early favorite to start at point, he was a late addition to the class of 2008. Holloway had committed to Indiana, but was released from his letter of intent when head coach Kelvin Sampson resigned in February due to recruiting violations.
After it became apparent that Xavier would have an open scholarship with the transfer of Charles Bronson, Miller and the Xavier coaching staff decided that they needed another point guard. The Musketeers were able to get a leg up on the competition due to the close ties that assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson had with Holloway dating back to the times when Richardson was in charge of the New York Gauchos Amateur Athletic Union team. Holloway was a member of the Gauchos before he came to Cincinnati in 2007 to play for Harmony.
Holloway explained how he ended up at Xavier saying, “It was a good friend of mine, Coach Richardson. He got into contact with some of my people and then they told me about it… Coach Richardson is like a big brother of mine.”
As the only local recruit, Holloway has already had the most contact with the Xavier basketball team, participating regularly in open gyms with his future teammates.
If Holloway needs to get a break at the point, the responsibilities may fall on fellow incoming freshman Mark Lyons. Lyons, the No. 125 rated player in 2008 according to Rivals.com, is a high scoring combo guard.
Like Holloway, Lyons grew up in the New York area, but went away to a prep school for his high school years. The pair will work together next year in the Xavier backcourt, but their ties go back much further than this.
“I’ve known Mark since I was about 14. We both were New York guys. He grew up in Albany, NY and I’m from Hempstead, NY [on Long Island],” Holloway said.
Lyons spent this season playing the shooting guard, as Anthony Crater, an Ohio State recruit manned the point guard at Brewster Academy. Lyons flourished in that role, as Brewster won the Prep school national title.
Lyons hopes to play a similar role next year at Xavier, saying, “[Playing with a point guard like Holloway], I can play off the ball and on the ball. They can just use me for my abilities because I have a knack for scoring as well…. If I can score the basketball then why take that away from me [by playing me at point guard]?”
Another weapon for Xavier in the backcourt in 2008-09 will be Brad Redford. Redford, the 2008 “Mr. Basketball” in the state of Michigan, is known for his sweet shooting stroke. Redford holds the Michigan High School record for free throw percentage and career three point field goals made. He also holds the second longest consecutive free throws made streak at 102 straight charity shots.
Redford knows that his deadly jump shot will be his calling card at the next level. “I can’t forget where my strength is, and my strength is definitely in my shot and the range on my shot. I am never going to go away from that,” Redford said.
Redford, a 6’0 guard, is also working on ways to counteract the size advantage that his opponents in college might have, saying, “I am going to work on different things like floaters and runners to get my shots off as well.”
While Redford and Lyons may put up huge numbers on the offensive side of the ball, swingman Brian Walsh has a game that starts on the defensive end.
The 6’4 wing out of Western Pennsylvania’s defense was a driving force behind his Moon Area High School team advancing to the state semi-finals in 2008.
Walsh hopes that his defensive intensity will be a good fit in the Xavier program that had a defensive focus in 2007-08.
“I’m sure that the high school and college levels are totally different, but I am going to work as hard as I can to get my defense to the top of the line so that I can play defense like [the 2007-08 Xavier team],” Walsh said.
With the influx of new talent in 2008-09 to play alongside returning players like B.J. Raymond, C.J. Anderson, and Derrick Brown the Xavier Musketeers will look to pick up where they left off, and continue to build an elite college basketball program.
Baseball strong against A-10 opponents, struggle out of conference
Emily Neubauer
Sports Writer
goxavier.com
Freshman Phil Bauer.
The Xavier baseball team seems to be following a pattern. When facing teams within the Atlantic 10 conference, the boys play well, holding a 10-5 conference record. But outside the familiar A-10, Xavier is only 16-21 so far.
Last Tuesday, the team took on the Wright State Raiders in a midweek matchup that featured a pair of young arms. Xavier Freshman Brian Muransky pitched 5.1 innings and gave up four runs. Sophomore Alex Kaminsky pitched for the Raiders and didn’t allow one runner to cross home plate in four innings. Offensively, Xavier was lacking. No player had more than one hit that evening. However, junior Adam Pasono extended his hit streak to an impressive 16 games. Xavier fell to the 16-15 Raiders by a final score of 5-1.
Two days later, Xavier took on the Miami Red Hawks in Oxford. A five-run third inning by Miami sealed the victory for Oxford. The Red Hawks used six hits and left two runners on base in the frame.
Junior Steve Brown led Xavier offensively, going 3-for-4 from the plate with one run scored. Xavier (14-19) got on the board with two runs in the sixth inning when junior Billy O’Conner singled to left field followed by a single by Brown. O’Conner came across on a double by sophomore Zac Richard and the RedHawks looked to their bull pen for some relief.
Heading into the bottom of the inning, Xavier had cut the lead to four, 6-2, but with another run in the seventh, Miami gained a victory and Xavier suffered a loss.
April 18th saw a change of course for the struggling Musketeers. Opening up a series against conference rival St Joe’s, Xavier played an impressive game as both offense and defense did well in the 3-1 victory.
Junior starter Charlie Leesman tossed eight scoreless innings for the Musketeers while sophomore Bobby Freking went 2-for-4 from the plate.
Xavier got the scoring going early, putting up two runs in the first. Sophomore Drew Schmidt reached on an error and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Steve Brown. Freking singled up the middle, which scored Schmidt from second.
Leesman (2-3) tallied the win for Xavier after striking out six while walking three. Conley notched the save (7) for the Musketeers.
The middle game of the series went the opposite direction. Xavier lost a close one to SJU with a final score of 10-9. Sophomore Zac Richard and Junior Adam Pasono led the Musketeers offensively, each going 3-for-4.
With four runs in the fifth inning, Xavier seemed to be coasting. They led 6-2 at the end of the frame. But Xavier was unable to preserve the lead. In the 7th inning, SJU scored five runs on two Musketeers errors and three hits.
In the bottom of that same inning, Xavier was able to plate two runs of their own. However, with the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth, they couldn’t get it done and Xavier fell by a mere one run.
The rubber game of the match favored the Musketeers however, as they downed SJU in the final game by a score of 4-3. The victory marked the fifth consecutive Atlantic 10 series of the season.
Pitching was stellar as Sophomore southpaw Danny Rosenbaum threw 8.2 innings with nine strike outs and one walk. Junior Billy O’Conner went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored two runs while junior Adam Pasono was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Going into the top of the ninth, the score was 4-2 in favor of XU. But pitching almost gave up the two run lead. To close out the game Xavier called junior Jordan Conley in from shortstop.
Conley gave up two hits and one run scored but the final batter struck out swinging, assuring a victory for Xavier and a series win.
Xavier’s recent loss came against Cincinnati, unfortunatually bringing the team to a 16-21 out of conference record. A walk off home run by Kevin Johnson, on a ball hit over the right center fence put Cincinnati on top in extra innings, 6-4.
With one run in the fourth and three more in the fifth, Xavier seemed to be in charge. But the Bearcats battled back with two runs of their own in the fifth and two more in the sixth. After four more scoreless innings between the two teams, the homer was launched and the game ended in a loss for the Musketeers. Cincinnati improved to 23-14 on the season while Xavier fell to 16-21.
One Musketeer was rewarded for his efforts this past week. Junior pitcher Charlie Leesman was named A-10 pitcher of the week after he tossed eight shutout innings on April 18 in Xavier’s 3-1 win over Saint Joseph’s. He gave up a mere four hits and struck out six. Leesman improved to 2-3 on the season with 31 strikeouts in 40.2 innings pitched.
This week, Xavier will take on Miami (OH) on Wednesday. Over the weekend Xavier will host a three game series with St Bonaventure, and on Monday will face Cincinnati. All of these games will be played at Hayden Field on Xavier’s campus.
Stop the wave
Doug Tifft
Sports Editor
I know that what I am about to say is practically sports fan heresy, but still: I am not a fan of ‘The Wave.’
I came to this realization on Friday night at a Cincinnati Reds game. In the seventh inning of the game the Reds were losing 5-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers and had mustered only two hits. Despite the bleak outlook, the Reds fans still felt the need to stand up and cheer exuberantly as the wave passed around Great American Ballpark.
To me this just goes against being a true fan of your team. A true fan would have astutely watched the game in silence, holding in that burst of enthusiasm for the comeback, however bleak that chance might look.
The worst part was that the Reds were not even hitting when the wave occurred. The fans all mindlessly stood and cheered, essentially for the opposing team to get a hit.
The wave is an example of apathy on the part of a sports fan. Cheering during the opposing team’s at-bat is essentially proclaiming that you do not care about your team, or that you are only at the game because you got dragged along with your friend.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not completely against the wave. It is a useful tool for fans to have up their sleeve. But, like most other fan idiosyncrasies, it must be used at the proper time, and that time is not when you are losing by five runs and the other team is batting.
The wave should be used to liven up crowds that are content, yet quiet. If the home team is batting in the 6th inning, winning 10-1 for instance, the wave might need to be dusted off for that occasion to breathe life into a stagnant crowd.
When the wave is fired up, it must take hold as well, all the way around the stadium to be effective. That can’t happen if fans leave early (another pet peeve of mine, but that’s for another day).
So with the difficulty of finding the right time and the right amount of people, the perfect wave is tough to find and is commonly abused, such as it was so blatantly on Friday night. The wave has now crossed over into a symbol of fanhood that is perpetually misused, and it seems that I have no choice but to take a stand against the indifference that it has imposed on sports fans around the world.
Doug Tifft
Sports Editor
Xavier seniors shine at Portsmouth
All three seniors on Xavier’s men’s basketball team participated in the annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament on April 9-12.
The tournament is widely regarded as the best place for college seniors to display their skills to pro scouts prior to the NBA’s pre-draft camp and the draft itself.
Josh Duncan earned All-Tournament Team honors. All three of Xavier’s stars played in three games during the tournament. In his three games, Duncan averaged 14.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and two assists.
Stanley Burrell averaged 6.7 assists per game and continued to stand out on defense.
Drew Lavender also played well in his three games, averaging 8.7 points and 4.3 assists.
Track sets records at All-Ohio
Despite finishing low in the standings, the Xavier University track team managed to break eight school records at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational and the All-Ohio Championships this past weekend.
In the Eastern Kentucky Invitational, junior Clinton Womack set the new school record in the 400-meter with a time of 50.73.
At the All-Ohio Championships seven school records fell. Among the records broken were the 10,000-meter, set by senior Ben Milroy, and the 1,500, set by sophomore Luke Beuerlein.
Freshman Ryan Ulmer broke his own school record in the 200-meter with a time of 22.99.
Junior Becky Clark also established a school record in the 800 with a time of 2:16.72.
