This Week in Walsh University Athletics
Monday, December 1, 2008
Tues. 2
Volleyball vs. Concordia at NAIA Championships 4:45 pm (EST)
Wed. 3
Volleyball vs. Northwestern Iowa at NAIA Championships 7 pm (EST)
Thurs. 4
Volleyball vs. Olivet Nazarene at NAIA Championships 4:45 pm (EST)
Sat. 6
Women's Basketball (H) Calumet College 2 pm
Men's Basketball at Malone University (Mayor's Cup) 7:30 pm (AM 900 WCER)
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (3-1) Face Tough Week/Mayor's Cup at Malone on Saturday
NAIA No. 11 Walsh (3-1) bounced back from a disappointing overtime loss at Daemen (11/18), with a rout of Ohio State University-Mansfield (115-46) at Alumni Arena last Saturday night. The Cavs are back in action on Thursday night at home, at 7 pm, against the University of Northwestern Ohio, then travel to Malone University for the annual Mayor's Cup game on Saturday night at 7:30 pm. Both games will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER and on the internet at www.wcer.us.
Walsh placed five players in double figures in their 69-point win over visiting Ohio State University-Mansfield (1-8). Walsh shot 54% (20-37) in the first half, and led 51-31 at the break. The Cavs then shot a blistering 75% (27-36) in the final 20 minutes, out scoring the Mavericks 64-15 in the second half. The final margin represented the Cavs largest lead (69 points). Lamar Skeeter (6-0, So., Dayton, OH/Kettering Fairmont) and Brandon Speck (6-0, Jr., Mansfield, OH/St. Peter's) led the Cavs with 23 points each. Skeeter was 8-10 from the floor, to go along with eight rebounds. Speck's 23 points represent a career-high. Greg Howard (6-4, So., Cincinnati, OH/Withrow/West Liberty) added 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench, Nick Foster (6-7, Fr., Canton, OH/Central Catholic) added 10 points off the bench and Kyelce Cescato (6-10, Jr., Barra Bonita, Brazil, Colmeia Entec) recorded a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Jeremy Shardo (6-3, So., Yorkshire, OH/Versailles) handed out 12 assists.
Walsh meets the University of Northwestern Ohio (3-6) at home on Thursday. The Racers are 3-6 on the season, but have played a demanding schedule, which included a 76-73 loss to NAIA power Embry Riddle University on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. The Cavs took both games from the second-year program last year, 98-83 and 83-53. Josh Vorst leads the Racers in scoring, averaging 15.9 points per game.
Walsh and Malone (1-6) meet in the 45th Annual Mayor's Cup at Osborne Hall on Saturday. The Cavs lead the Cup series 25-19, and the all-time series 58-39. The Cavs won the Cup game 81-76 last year. Malone won the previous year ('06-07). Three consecutive "Cup Game" wins are needed to retire an individual cup. Walsh has retired the Cup four times, the last time in 2004-05. Malone has retired the Cup three times, the last time in 1979-80. Walsh defeated Malone three times last year, twice in the regular season and in the AMC North-South Championship game. The two teams meet at Walsh on January 27, in the designated American Mideast Conference game.
The Cavs are averaging 102.0 points per game, with six players scoring in double figures. Lamar Skeeter is averaging 18.0 points and is shooting .543 from the field. Kyelce Cescato is averaging 17.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and is shooting .627 from the field. Jeremy Shardo is scoring at a 14.8 clip, is shooting .611 from the field and averaging 8.3 assists per game. The Cavs are shooting .575 from the field, .538 from three-point, and out rebounding the opposition by 23.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (2-5) Fall on Road
Walsh (2-5) dropped its only game last week, losing 75-69 at Taylor University on Saturday. The Cavs scheduled home game last Tuesday against King College (TN) was postponed due to travel problems. The teams are working on a make-up date. This week, the Cavs are home to Calumet College of St. Joseph on Saturday at 2 pm.
Taylor University (5-5) led from start to finish in their win over the Cavs on Saturday. The home team jumped to a 5-0 early lead and led 37-30 at the half. The Trojans then increased the lead to 14 points at 44-30, before the Cavs charged back to cut the lead to three points at 52-49, on a Katie Berry (So., Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph’s) basket, with 10:53 to play. It would be as close as the Cavs would get. Berry and Cara Bedard (So., Randolph, OH/Waterloo) led Walsh with 17 points each. They were the only Cavs to reach double figures.
Calumet College (IN) (1-7) and the Cavs are meeting for the first time. The Crimson Wave won their season opener, but has dropped the last seven games.
Katie Berry leads the Cavs in scoring, averaging 11.9 points. Cara Bedard is the only other player scoring in double figures, averaging 11.1 points. Bedard is shooting .526 from the field.
VOLLEYBALL: Rested Cavs Open Title Chase on Tuesday
No. 21 Walsh (29-10) is settled in Sioux City, Iowa, to begin NAIA National Tournament Pool Play on December 2. Walsh will compete in Pool 3, and play their first match on Tuesday, December 2. The tournament will hosted by Morningside (Iowa) at the Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena in Sioux City, Iowa on December 2-6, 2008. The final 24 teams are placed into six pools and will play a round robin pool play Dec. 2-4. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the single elimination bracket, which begins Friday, Dec. 5 and will end with the championship match on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m. (CST).
Walsh is making its fourth national tournament appearance. The Cavs made three consecutive trips to the National Tournament (2001, 2002, and 2003) and reached the Elite Eight in 2003. Walsh enters the tournament with wins in eight of the last nine matches and on a three-match win streak. They defeated Lee University on November 22 in four games in their opening round match.
Walsh has an all-time record of 7-7 in national tournament play. In 2003, they won their first three matches (Houston Baptist, College of St. Mary and Si-Tanka) to reach the Elite Eight.
The Cavs will play Concordia University (26-5) at 4:45 pm (EST) on Tuesday, December 3. Concordia received one of 12 at-large berths and competes in the Golden State Athletic Conference. This is their fourth tournament appearance. On Wednesday, at 7 pm (EST), the Cavs meet Northwestern Iowa (27-7). Northwestern also received an at-large berth and won the Great Plains Athletic Conference. This will be their eighth tournament appearance. The Cavs play their final pool play match on Thursday, December 4th against Olivet Nazarene University (37-9) at 4:45 pm (EST). Olivet defeated Asbury (KY) in an opening round match 3-0 at Olivet on Saturday night. Olivet won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference and are making their seventh trip to the national tournament.
JumpTV Inc. is the exclusive provider of live video and audio-streaming at the NAIA National Championship. JumpTV will stream the 2008 NAIA Volleyball National Championship quarterfinals, semifinals and championship matches. These events can be viewed by going to watchnaia.com or by clicking here.
