November 12, 2007

This Week in Walsh University Athletics

Monday, November 12, 2007

Tues. 13 Women's Basketball (H) University of Northwestern Ohio 7 pm

Fri. 16 Men's Basketball vs. Point Park at Alvernia (PA) Tournament 6 pm *

Women's Basketball vs. Milligan at Bevo Francis Classic 2 pm

Sat. 17 Cross Country at NAIA Championships, Kenosha, WI

Men's Basketball at Alvernia (PA) Tournament 1/3 pm *

Women's Basketball at Bevo Francis Classic 2/6 pm

* Game to be broadcast on AM 900 WCER

FOOTBALL: (5-6, 2-5) Cavs Close Season With Win/Copeland MSFA Defensive Player of the Week

Clinton Blossomgame (R-Fr., Columbus, OH/Beechcroft) rushed for 221 yards and two touchdowns, and Joe Copeland (So., Akron, OH/North) intercepted a pass and scored from 42 yards out, as Walsh closed the season with a 31-20 Mid-States Football Association Mideast win over Taylor University (2-9, 0-7) last Saturday. Walsh finishes the season 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the MSFA. Copeland, who intercepted two passes and recorded six tackles, was named MSFA Mideast Defensive Player of the Week.

Eric Buchanan (Fr., Green Cove Springs, FL/Clay) opened the scoring for Walsh with a 22-yard field goal in the first quarter. Copeland's score gave the Cavs a 10-0 lead at the 11:37 mark of the period. Blossomgame then scored from one-yard out to give Walsh a 17-0 lead. Taylor's Greg Eaglin scored on a one-yard run at the 3:14 mark of the second quarter, as the Trojans cut the lead to 17-6. Blossomgame scored the only TD of the third quarter on a one-yard run, as Walsh led 24-6 heading into the fourth. Steve Graham (Sr., Akron, OH/Garfield) scored the Cavs' final score, on a two-yard run at the 9:46 mark of the fourth. Taylor scored twice in the final 8:52; Trenton Schmale caught a 44-yard TD pass from Brandon Hurst and Greg Eaglin scored on a two-yard run.

Blossomgame rushed for 221 yards, and 423 yards in the final two games of the season to finish with a freshman record 1,487 yards. He also scored 11 touchdowns. Walsh totaled 384 total yards and had 22 first downs, to Taylor's 257 yards and 13 first downs. The Cavs back-to-back wins in their final two games are also a school first.

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Open Slate with Road Win

NAIA No. 6 Walsh (1-0) opened the season with a 98-82 win at the University of Northwestern Ohio on Saturday. This week, the Cavs travel to Reading, PA for the Alvernia College Tournament. The Cavs meet Point Park University on Friday night at 6 pm. If the Cavs win, they meet the winner of the Alvernia/Scranton game at 3 pm on Saturday. Both games will be aired live on AM 900 WCER and on the Internet at www.wcer.us.

UNOH, playing just their second game since re-instituting the basketball program, were also playing for the second straight night. They lost to Indiana Tech on Friday night. The Racers kept the game close in the first half, as there were nine lead changes and three ties. Walsh led 45-38 at the half. The Cavs pulled away in the second half, and led by as many as 21 points. Corey Jones (6-3, Sr., Avon Lake, OH/Akron Saint Vincent-Saint Mary) scored a game-high 26 points, as Walsh placed four players in double figures. Jones was 10-15 from the floor. Brandon Weems (5-10, Sr., Akron, OH/Akron Saint Vincent-Saint Mary) played a solid game with 18 points, six assists and eight rebounds. Lamar Skeeter (Fr., Dayton, OH/Fairmont Kettering) scored 16 points off the bench, and Eder Araujo (Sr., 7-0, Sao Paulo, Brazil/Odete Maria de Freitas) tallied 13 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Eric Love (Jr., Concord, NC/Mt. Pleasant) added nine points and Kyelce Cescato (So., Barra Bonita, BR/Colmeia Entec) eight points. Walsh shot .522 (35-67) from the field, .450 (9-20) from three-point and .704 (19-27) from the foul line and out rebounded the Racers 41-32.
 

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Fall in Opener at Cornerstone

Walsh (0-1) lost its season opener Saturday, 63-57 at Cornerstone University (3-0) on Saturday. This week, the Cavs play their home opener on Tuesday (7 pm) against the University of Northwestern Ohio, then travel to the University of Rio Grande for the Bevo Francis Tournament. Walsh plays Milligan College on Friday, then play either Houghton College or Rio Grande on Saturday.

Walsh shot just .250 (6-24) in the first half, but trailed only 27-23 at the half. The Cavs then rallied, and led by four points in the second half, when Jessie Miller (5-10, So., Strasburg, OH/HS) left the game with an injury to her left knee. Miller finished as the Cavs' top scorer with 15 points. She hit 6-11 from the field and 3-5 from three point range. Freshmen Cara Bedard (6-0, Mogadore, OH/Waterloo) and Ciera Burkes (5-3, Shaker Heights, OH/HS) each added ten points. Bedard also led the Cavs with eight rebounds. Brittany Bailey (5-11, Fr., Coshocton, OH/HS) added six rebounds off the bench and Dianca Gordon (5-8, So., Akron, OH/Central-Hower) five.

CROSS COUNTRY: Cavs Send Three to NAIA Nationals

Walsh is sending three individuals to the NAIA Cross Country National Championship. The race will be held at Dr. Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday, November 17, 2007. Brendan McKee (Jr., Akron, OH/St Vincent-St. Mary) and Mike Groholy (Sr., Parma, OH/Valley Forge) will represent the men's team and Kristen LeFever (So., Alliance, OH/Marlington) the women's team.

This year's men's 8K race will feature 28 teams, including 13 region champions and 15 at-large bids, and 67 individual qualifiers. McKee and Groholy finished sixth (25:59.75) and seventh (26:11.15) respectively at the AMC/NAIA Region IX Championships to qualify. Both earned first team All-AMC and Region IX honors. McKee qualified in 2005 and placed 137th (26:39).

The Women's 5K race will feature 29 teams (14 region champions and 15 at-large bids) and 67 individual qualifiers. LeFever earned third team All-AMC/Region IX honors and an at-large individual berth with her 19th place finish (19:11.25).

The men's race will start at 10:30 a.m. and women's race at 11:45 a.m. (CST).

VOLLEYBALL: Season Ends at Mount Vernon in AMC/Region Tournament

Walsh's (29-9) outstanding season came to a close on Saturday, when they lost to Mount Vernon Nazarene University in the semifinals of the AMC/NAIA Region IX.  Mount Vernon then defeated Malone to advance to the NAIA National Tournament.

Walsh opened pool play on Friday by splitting their two matches, to advance to the semifinals on Saturday.  After falling to Cedarville University (24-11) in five games (24-30, 25-30, 30-25, 30-22, 10-15), Walsh kept its season alive with a three-game sweep (30-20, 30-15, 30-19) of Notre Dame College (21-14).  Megan McDonald (5-10, Jr., Kirkland, IL/Rockford Lutheran) led the Cavs with 26 kills in the Cedarville match.  Jill Barry (5-6, Sr., Salem, OH/HS) had 71 assists, Heather Hernandez (5-9, Sr., Oakdale, CA/HS) 36 digs and three aces and Erica Parker (6-0, Jr., Concord, OH/Mentor) 4.5 blocks.  In the win over Notre Dame, Parker had 18 kills and 3.0 blocks, Barry handed out 51 assists and Hernandez had 19 digs.  Walsh and Mount Vernon split two matches during the regular season, with each team winning on their home floor.

Mount Vernon Nazarene (38-2) ended the Cavs season in four games (22-30, 27-30, 30-27, 26-30) in the semifinals.  Walsh was led by Erica Parker and Megan McDonald with 16 kills apiece, while Megan Kelly (5-10, Fr., Brook Park, OH/Holy Name) smashed 12 kills.  Heather Hernandez and Ashley Yuhas (5-9, Fr., Elyria, OH/HS) tallied 32 and 27 digs respectively, and Jill Barry handed out 62 assists.

Jill Barry led the AMC with 1,631 assists, for a 14.1 per game average, which is second nationally.  Barry's career assist total reads 6,498 and is second all-time for Walsh.  Erica Parker led the AMC and finished sixth in hitting percentage (.426) and Heather Hernandez finished second in the AMC and 15th nationally in digs, averaging 6.7 per game.