November 13, 2006

Monday, November 13, 2006

This Week in Walsh University Athletics

Tue. 14 Women's Basketball (H) Siena Heights 7 pm

Fri. 17 Volleyball (H) NAIA Region IX Tournament 5/7 pm

Women's Basketball vs. Hillsdale at Seton Hill Tournament 5:30 pm

Sat. 18

Football at University of Saint Francis 12 pm AM 900 WCER 

Women's Basketball at Seton Hill Tournament 1 or 3 pm

Volleyball (H) NAIA Region IX Tournament 12/2/6 pm

FOOTBALL (9-2, 4-2): Cavs Fall to Malone/But Earn First Playoff Berth

Despite falling 20-10 to Malone in their regular season finale, Walsh (9-2, 4-2) earned their first-ever NAIA playoff berth, by being ranked 16th in the final poll.  The Cavs will travel to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to meet NAIA top ranked University of Saint Francis (10-0, 6-0) on Saturday at noon.  Walsh and USF met two weeks ago, with the Cougars coming away with a 21-7 win. 

Walsh will sell presale tickets for their upcoming NAIA Playoff game at the University of Saint Francis (IN) on Saturday.  The Walsh football office will take ticket orders until 12 pm on Thursday.  Tickets are $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for students.  Tickets orders must be placed in person, at the football office, from 8 am to 5 pm.  No phone orders will be accepted.  Tickets will then be available for pick-up on game day at Saint Francis.  Cash and checks only, with checks being made out to the Walsh University Athletic Department.  Tickets will also be on sale the day of the game, with prices set at $12.00 for adults and $5.00 for students.

Malone College's Bernard Payton rushed for a career high 277 yards, in the Pioneers 20-10 upset win over the Cavs, in a Mid-States Football Association Mideast game.  The win snapped Malone's seven-game losing streak against Walsh.  Walsh closes the regular season with back-to-back losses and a 9-2 overall record.  The loss drops the Cavs to 4-2 in the MSFA Mideast.  NAIA No. 22 Malone finishes with a three-game win streak and an overall mark of 6-3 and 4-2 in the MSFA Mideast.  Malone drew first blood, when Mike Clapham caught a three-yard TD pass from Brad Reifsnyder at the 10:32 mark of the second quarter.  Walsh tied the game, when Rayshaun Kizer (Sr., Euclid, OH/HS) intercepted a Reifsnyder pass and returned it 53 yards for a TD.  The half ended in a 7-7 tie.  Walsh took their only lead of the game at the 3:36 mark of the third quarter, when Mike Lum (Sr., North Canton, OH/HS) kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Cavs a 10-7 lead.  Malone's Justin Johnson gave the Pioneers great field position, when he returned the ensuing kick-off 53 yards to the Walsh 40-yard line.  The Pioneers regained the lead for good four plays later, when Reifsnyder scored on a one-yard plunge. Payton then capped his big day, with a 49-yard TD run with 1:48 to play.  Antwain Reine' (Jr., Dayton, OH/Trotwood Madison) led the Cavs with 100 yards rushing and went over the 1,000 yard mark for the second straight season.  Reine' has 1,048 yards on the season.  He rushed for 1,356 last year.

The Cavs could muster only 173 yards of total offense against USF two weeks ago and tied a team record with seven turnovers; five fumbles and two interceptions.   Walsh's defense, which was on the field for almost 41 minutes, put the only points on the board when Montreal Wade (Sr., Medina, OH/HS) intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards for a score with 7:12 to play.  The Cavs offense has not scored in the last two games. The game will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER and on the internet at www.wcer.us, with the pregame starting at 11:45 am. 

MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Split Weekend Games in New York

NAIA No. 7 Walsh (1-1) split a pair of weekend games in New York State.  Walsh downed Houghton College 63-54 in the season opener, but fell 88-71 to Daemen College.  The Cavs are now idle until Tuesday, November 21, when they travel to Tiffin University for their American Mideast Conference South Division opener.

Walsh shot 42% from the floor, 37% from three-point, and 83% from the foul line in the win at Houghton.  Walsh led 33-24 at the half, and led by as many as 11 points in the second half.  Derek Chappell (Sr., Cleveland, OH/Lutheran East) and Corey Jones (Jr., Avon Lake, OH/Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary) led the Cavs with 18 points each.  Eder Araujo (Jr., Sao Paulo, Brazil/Odete Maria de Freitas) led all rebounders with six.  

Daemen College (3-1) handed the Cavs its first loss of the season, 88-71 on Saturday.  Derek Chappell led the Cavs in scoring for the second straight game, scoring 25 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  Adam Lesch (Sr., Newark, OH/HS) added 13 points, Corey Jones 12 points and five assists and Josh Johnson (So., Warren, OH/Harding) 10 points and seven rebounds.  Walsh shot 52% from the field in the loss. Walsh trailed 57-52 with 11:56 to play, when the Wildcats when increased the lead to 20 points (76-56) with a 19-4 run.

Walsh played both games without point guard Brandon Weems (Jr., Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary).  Weems turned his ankle in the exhibition game at Ohio State.  The Cavs hope Weems is ready for the AMC opener at Tiffin.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs Fall Twice at Notre Dame Classic/Open Home Season on Tuesday

Walsh (0-2) opened the season with back-to-back losses at the Notre Dame College Classic last weekend.  The Cavs lost to Ursuline College (73-69) on Friday and to NAIA No. 17 Notre Dame (84-62) on Saturday.   This week, the Cavs host Siena Heights in their season opener on Tuesday (7 pm), and then travel to Seton Hill University for a tournament on Friday and Saturday.  The Cavs meet Hillsdale College on Friday at 5:30 pm. 

The Cavs/Ursuline contest was close throughout, and was knotted at 33 at the half.  The game was tied at 69 with 30 seconds to play, when Walsh could not capitalize on a Chrissy Summers (Fr., Doylestown, OH/Chippewa) steal.  After the steal, Walsh missed a lay-up and then committed a foul with 10.2 seconds to play.  Ursuline snapped the deadlock by converting two free throws.  Walsh then turned the ball over with 3.8 seconds to play, and then fouled to put the Arrows back at the line where they connected twice for the final margin. Ingrid Brainard, (Sr., Madison, OH/HS) paced the Cavs with 15 points.  Monika Mitchell (So., Garfield Heights, OH/HS) added nine points and 10 rebounds and Brittani Maddox (R-Fr., Cleveland Heights, OH/HS) added eight rebounds.

Walsh fell to 0-2, after falling 84-62 to NAIA No. 17 Notre Dame College on Sunday.  Walsh shot just .387 from the floor and turned the ball over 25 times in the loss.  Notre Dame led 45-32 at the half.  Ingrid Brainard and Monika Mitchell scored 14 points each to pace the Cavs.  Mitchell added a game-high 11 rebounds.  Brittani Maddox tallied nine points and grabbed nine rebounds.  Brainard also had seven rebounds.

VOLLEYBALL (34-2, 15-1): Cavs Win AMC Tournament/Host NAIA Regionals on Friday and Saturday

NAIA No. 17 Walsh (34-2, 14-1 AMC S) won the American Mideast Conference Tournament this past weekend in New York.  Walsh will host the NAIA Region IX Tournament this Friday and Saturday.  Walsh's first match will be on Saturday at 12 pm.  Official brackets have yet to be released.  Other tournament teams included Cedarville University, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Roberts Wesleyan University, Tiffin University and a representative from Region X.  There will be matches at 5 and 7 pm on Friday night and at 12, 2 and 6 pm (championship match) on Saturday.  Walsh will take a 12-match win streak into the tournament.  The winner advances to the NAIA National Tournament at Columbia College (MO), November 29-December 2.  Walsh last went to nationals in 2003.

Walsh reached the AMC title match by downing Cedarville University in four games (30-24, 30-25, 27-30, 30-27).  Jamie Herr (Sr., Attica, OH/Seneca East) led the Cavs with 23 kills, while also contributing 22 digs.  Jillian Barry (Jr., Salem, OH/HS) had 58 assists and Heather Hernandez (Jr., Oakdale, CA/HS) led with 23 digs.

Walsh captured the AMC Tournament championship by defeating Tiffin University in four games (30-25, 30-27, 25-30, 30-21).  Jamie Herr paced the Cavs in the title match with 22 kills, and 25 digs.  AMC Setter of the Year Jillian Barry handed out 53 assists.