This Week in Walsh University Athletics
Monday, November 24, 2008
Tues. 25
Women's Basketball (H) King College 6 pm
Sat. 29
Women's at Taylor University 6 pm
Men's Basketball (H) OSU-Mansfield 7 pm (AM 900 WCER)
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (2-1) Fall in OT to Daemen College/Home Saturday
NAIA No. 11 Walsh (2-1) lost its first game of the season, 101-99 in overtime at Daemen College last Tuesday night. The Cavs are back in action this Saturday night at home, at 7 pm, against Ohio State-Mansfield in their home opener. The game will be broadcast live on AM 900 WCER and on the internet at www.wcer.us.
Joe Shardo's (6-5, Sr., Yorkshire, OH/Versailles) three-point attempt at the buzzer in overtime missed, sending Walsh (2-1) to their OT loss at Daemen. Joe's brother, Jeremy Shardo (6-3, So., Yorkshire, OH/Versailles), hit a three-pointer at the end of regulation to tie the game at 92-92 and send it to the extra period. The game was filled with fouls (62) and free throws (81). Walsh led by as many 12 points in the first half, but trailed 43-42 at halftime. The Cavs built a five-point lead (85-80) in the final five minutes, before Daemen rallied to lead 92-89 in the final seconds, when Jeremy Shardo's three-ball sent the game to OT. Kyelce Cescato (6-10, Jr., Barra Bonita, Brazil, Colmeia Entec) had a career night for the Cavs, leading all scorers with 32 points. He also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds. Jeremy Shardo added a career-high 28 points, with Lamar Skeeter (6-0, So., Dayton, OH/Kettering Fairmont) scoring 15 points
OSU-Mansfield comes to Walsh winless at 0-7. The Cavs lead the all-time series 1-0, winning 110-64 last year,
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Cavs (2-4) Split in Home Classic
Walsh (2-4) split two games over the weekend at the Walsh University Classic. The Cavs lost 110-96 to Berea College on Friday, but bounced back to trounce West Virginia Tech 92-49 on Saturday. This week, the Cavs host King College (TN) on Tuesday at 6 pm and travel to Upland, Indiana to meet Taylor University on Saturday (1 pm).
Berea College (3-5) connected on 14 three-pointers in their high-scoring win over the Cavs. Berea shot 58% from the field and 58% from three-point (11-19) range in the first half in taking a 55-43 lead into the locker room. Walsh led 24-16 with 12:33 to play in the first half, when Berea closed the half with a 39-19 run. Walsh trailed by as many as 16 points on three different occasions in the second half, before cutting the lead to five points at 97-92 on a Cara Bedard (6-0, So, Randolph, OH/Waterloo) basket with 2:03 to play. It would be as close as the Cavs would get. Walsh placed five players in double figures, led by Chelsea Chaffin’s (5-3, Fr., Mt. Sterling, OH/Madison-Plains) 19 points. Bedard added 17 points and seven rebounds and Katie Berry (5-11, So., Cleveland, OH/St. Joseph’s) added 14 points.
Walsh (2-4) snapped a three-game losing streak with their rout of West Virginia Tech (0-5) on Saturday. Cara Bedard scored ten first half points, as Walsh built a 39-21 halftime lead. The second half was all Walsh, as the Cavs out scored Tech 53-28 in the final twenty minutes. Bedard led the Cavs with 16 points and 8 rebounds and was one of four Cavs’ to reach double figures. Kristi Yoder (Fr., Millersburg, OH/Hiland) added 15 points, Leah Seaman (Jr., Louisville, OH/HS) contributed 12 points off the bench and Chelsea Chaffin added 12 points. Walsh played one of its finest floor games of the season, handing out 23 assists against only 14 turnovers. Chaffin and Katie Berry each dished out four assists.
King College (0-6) comes to Walsh still looking for their first win of the season. They defeated the Cavs 69-65 last year, in the only meeting between the two schools. After winning their first four games of the season, Taylor University (4-4) has lost their last four. They play at the University of Saint Francis (IN) on Tuesday night. Walsh leads the all-time series 1-0.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY: DiNinno 65th at Nationals/ Misiak, Sielski Named 2008 Daktronics-NAIA Women’s Cross Country Scholar-Athlete
Walsh's Andrea DiNinno (Sr., Harrison City, PA/Greensburg CC) finished 65th (18:44.6), in a field of 327, at the 29th Annual Women’s NAIA Cross Country National Championships held in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday. It was DiNinno's first trip to nationals. DiNinno completed an outstanding season, earning All-American Mideast Conference honors and capturing first place finishes in three meets.
The NAIA also announced that 251 women's cross country runners have been named 2008 Daktronics-NAIA Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athletes. Walsh's Jackie Misiak (Sr., North Royalton, OH/HS) and Stephanie Sielski (Sr., Lancaster, OH/Fisher Catholic) were each named for the first time. Misiak is an Education major and Sielski is a pre-med major. A total of 108 schools were represented. Nominated by each institution's head coach, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and have achieved junior academic status to qualify.
VOLLEYBALL: Cavs Defeat Lee University (TN) in NAIA National Tournament Opening Round Match/Sioux City, Iowa is Next
No. 21 Walsh (29-10) defeated Lee University (29-10) in four games in a NAIA National Tournament opening round match before 562 at Alumni Arena on Saturday night. The Cavs will now head to 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).
All four games with Lee were tight; with the visitors winning game one 25-21. Walsh's 9-6 early lead would be their biggest of the game. The Cavs held their last lead at 17-16, and the last tie was at 19-19. Lee took the lead for good at 21-20 and their 25-21 win marked their largest lead of the game. The Cavs knotted the match with a 25-22 win in game two. In another tight game that featured eight ties and four lead changes, it would be Walsh who would rally down the stretch to even the match at 1-1. Walsh led 19-16 when Lee rallied to take a 21-20 lead. Lee also led 22-21 when the Cavs’ Hilary Dattilo (5-10, Sr., Mason, OH/HS) put the ball down to tie the game at 22-22. Walsh would then score the next three points to record the win.
The Cavs used a 12-point run to take control of the match in game three. With Lee leading 12-9, an Erica Parker (6-0, Sr., Concord, OH/Mentor) kill continued a run that led to a 25-18 Walsh win. Game four was tight as well, with neither team leading by more than two points, until Lee took a 16-13 lead. Walsh would tie the game at 16, with additional ties a 17-17 and 18-18. Walsh took a 19-18 lead on a Caitlin Whealy (6-2, Sr., Avon Lake, OH/HS) kill, and then ran off four more points to lead 23-19. Walsh led 24-20 when Lee came to life with a four-point rally that tied the game at 24-24. Lee took their final lead at 26-25, when the Cavs tied the game at 26-26. A Megan McDonald (5-10, Sr., Kirkland, IL/Rockford Lutheran) kill put Walsh up 27-26, which was followed by a Natalie Borland (6-0, Jr., Kent, OH/Roosevelt) kill that gave Walsh a 28-26 win and the match.
Erica Parker led the Cavs with 16 kills. Megan McDonald added 13 and Caitlin Whealy 11. Jessica Schmidt (5-8, Fr., Michigan City, IN/HS) handed out 47 assists and Ashley Yuhas (5-9, So., Elyria, OH/HS) led with 18 digs. Natalie Phillips (5-10, Fr., Wooster, OH/HS) added 16 digs and Amy Police (5-5, Jr., Perry, OH/HS) 10.
The Cavs will play Concordia University (26-5) at 3:45 pm (CST) 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 6 pm (CST), 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 3:45 pm (CST). 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.
