'Wildcat Weekly' Recounts Teams' Recent Successes

Vol. 7, No. 8

Recent Results/Upcoming Games Baseball Overall record: 13-5 PSUAC record: 7-1 Thursday, Oct. 2 at Penn State York, postponed Saturday, Oct. 4 at Penn State Greater Allegheny, L, 5-0; W, 7-4 Monday, Oct. 6 host Penn State York at Bowman Field (doubleheader), 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12 host Penn State New Kensington at Bowman Field (doubleheader), noon Cross-Country Men's overall record: 18-4 PSUAC record: 8-0 Women's overall record: 9-0 PSUAC record: 8-0 Saturday, Oct. 4 - at Luzerne County Community College Invitational, men finished first among four teams, women finished first among three teams Saturday, Oct. 11 at Penn State Mont Alto Invitational, 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18 at Albright College Invitational, 10 a.m. Golf Overall record: 10-1-1 Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 6-7 - at Penn State University Athletic Conference championships at Penn State Blue Course Men's Soccer Overall record: 6-0 PSUAC record: 5-0 Wednesday, Oct. 8 at Penn State Hazleton, 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9 at Davis College, 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 host Penn State Schuylkill, 3 p.m. Women's Soccer Overall record: 6-2 Thursday, Oct. 2 at Elmira (N.Y.) College Jayvees, W, 3-1 Tuesday, Oct. 7 host Susquehanna University, 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13 host Penn State Abington, 6 p.m. Team Tennis Overall record: 7-1 PSUAC record: 7-1 Tuesday, Sept. 30 - host Penn State Wilkes-Barre, W, 7-1 Saturday, Oct. 4 at Penn State Abington, L, 6-3 Tuesday, Oct. 7 host Penn State Mont Alto, 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9 at Penn State York, 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 at Penn State Brandywine, noon Tuesday, Oct. 14 host Penn State Hazleton, 3 p.m. Women's Volleyball Overall record: 9-8 PSUAC record: 7-5 Monday, Sept. 29 - host Penn State Hazleton, W, 25-12, 25-15, 20-25, 19-25, 17-15 Saturday, Oct. 4 at Penn State Beaver Tournament, lost to Penn State Beaver, 10-25, 19-25, 15-25; lost to Penn State Fayette, 11-25, 13-25, 13-25; def. Penn State DuBois, 25-20, 25-9, 25-8 Sunday, Oct. 5 at Penn State Greater Allegheny with Penn State New Kensington, def. Penn State Greater Allegheny, 25-3, 25-4, 25-9; def. Penn State New Kensington, 25-16, 18-25, 17-25, 25-23, 15-11 Tuesday, Oct. 7 at Penn State Hazleton Tournament with Penn State Abington and Penn State Brandywine, 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9 host Penn State Schuylkill, 7 p.m. 'Cat Tales Baseball In a twin bill Saturday at Penn State Greater Allegheny, the Wildcats suffered their first league loss of the season in the opener.

"We had slow bats. We looked tired," coach Chris Howard said afterward. But the lesson to be learned, he added, "is that we need to be ready every single game." In the second game, Devon Liquori (Hawley) hit a home run, Phil Woodring (Waynesboro) had two hits and the team used a four-run sixth inning to salt the game away. "We were very solid defensively (in the second game)," Howard said.Cross-CountryIn topping a four-team field, the Penn College men were led by Mark Cordeiro (Canton), who finished first in 30 minutes, four seconds. Wildcats Steve Hoffman (Ocean City, Md.), Tristan Mummert (Red Lion) and Jeff Faherty (High Point, N.J.) placed second through fourth, respectively. Leading the Penn College women to victory in a three-team field was Tamara Pavlov (Lewisburg), who finished second in 21:51.Women's SoccerHannah McCracken (Williamsport) scored two goals and Penn College rolled to its second win of the season against the Elmira (N.Y.) College Jayvees and its sixth win overall.Team TennisIn the team's win over Penn State Wilkes-Barre, Shane Burridge (Ephrata), Austin Moran (Mount Joy) and Erica Logan (Montoursville) each won both their singles and doubles matches. The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season at Penn State Abington, a team they had beaten Sept. 13 at home. Logan won her singles and doubles matches and Burridge won his singles match.Women's Volleyball After starting the match 0-5 in the first set against longtime rival Penn State Hazleton, the Wildcats started playing their best volleyball of the season, according to coach Bambi Hawkins. Penn College went up two sets to none with scores of 25-12 and 25-15 before becoming tense and dropping the third set 20-25. The tension continued and the volleyball was less explosive during the fourth set as the Wildcats dropped yet another set with a score of 19-25. During the fifth and final set, the Wildcats fell behind 7-8 at the switch, but kept the match close as they built momentum and intensity, going on for a 17-15 win.

In weekend action on Saturday, Penn College walked into the gym and played less-than-mediocre volleyball with multiple members still coughing and red-nosed on the court, Hawkins said. During that time, the Wildcats had losses to bothPenn StateBeaver andPenn StateFayette, but they were able to decisively defeat the Penn State DuBois squad during the last match of the day.

Sunday was a much better day,the coachreported, as the coughing was decreased to one or two players and only sporadically present. After getting a chance to watch the Penn New Kensington-Penn State Hazleton match, the Penn College women played Penn State Greater Allegheny as their Sunday opener.It was a quick match against a pleasant, hardworking team. The outstanding statistic from the Greater Allegheny match was the 16 aces from Lyndsey Smith (Mechanicsburg). Hazleton then played Greater Allegheny before the Penn College team got a chance at New Kensington, which proved to be a tough opponent. But it also was the time where the Lady Wildcats showed some of their most organized, powerful volleyball this season, Hawkins said.

One of the parents commented that it was "a match that would be worth paying admission to watch." Much of the excitement came from the middle hitters, Karlee Shubert (Hanover), with seven kills and 10 blocks, and Alyssa Covas (Pottsville), with 12 kills, three aces and two blocks. Courtney Barton (Liberty) showed her strengths, as well, when she added four kills, three assists and 100-percent serving.Kristin Bernard (Hastings) was another standout as she found herself developing comfort in her new position as the team libero, racking up 21 digs to bolster the team defense and help the Wildcats win during the lengthy match against New Kensington.

(Complete rosters and season schedules are available on the college's Athletics Web site ).