November 10, 2010 North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804
Sports
Bishops Beaten by Christopher Newport, Win 3
By Jarad Brown
Decree Senior Editor
Bulletin: The Bishops kept their hopes
alive for an NCAA playoff berth by drubbing
Shenandoah, 38-0, on the road Saturday.
North Carolina Wesleyan's football team entered
its October 16th matchup against USA-South rival
Christopher Newport University with a 2-0 record in
conference play.
Afterthis crucial meeting, the Bishops' record
should have read 3-1 in the USA-South.
No, NCWC and the Captains didn't play a
double-header on that Saturday, but the Bishops
did turn the ball over on five separate occasions
to effectively defeatthemselves in the 23-15 home
loss.
"You never expect to turn the thing over,"
Bishops coach Mark Henningersaid, "People are
going to look at it and say, well, you’re young. With
the exception of Terron (Bush'sfumble) down here
on the hit, all the turnovers were by freshmen. It's
inexcusable to not take care of the football. We
didn't deserve to win the game. They outplayed us,
and that's disappointing,"
The hit Hennlnger referenced came late in the
second quarter when NCWC had driven to the
Captains 2-yard line before Bush coughed up the
Volleyball Team
By Bristy Parker
Decree Staff Writer
Bulletin: The Bishops were shut out by
CNU, 3-0, in the USA South title game on
Saturday.
The team finished with an overall record
of 24-11.
With a roaring home crowd, the Bishops
volleyball team avenged an earlier loss to
Greensboro College on Saturday, October 23 with a
3-1 (25-17, 23-25,25-19 and 25-16) win over the Pride
as it finished regularseason action in a second-
place tie in the USA South Conference.
The Everett Gymnasium was filled with spirited
students and proud parents on hand to honorthe
senior members of the team—Alyssa Balzano,
Barbara DeRatt, and Kelly George—for Senior Day.
Against the Pride, Anna Hart tallied ateam-high
14 kills and four blocks, while sophomore Meredith
Smith added 13 kills and DeRatt nine. Mackenzie
Tingle dished out 28 assists, and George added 24
more digs to her record-setting careertotal.
The Greensboro win raised the Bishops' overall
record to 22-10 and conference mark to 14-4. Two
conference losses were to Christopher Newport,
a third was to Methodist, and the fourth was to
Greensboro on September 18.
Prior to the last Greensboro match, the Bishops
took a straight-set win over Mary Baldwin College
(25-11,25-13 and 25-22).
DeRattledthe way with 11 kills and Balzano
had five. Along with George, Hart displayed strong
defense throughoutthe game. The team closed out
the rallies and hustled for every ball. DeRatt made a
kill on the 24th point and Kristi Lucas followed with
a block to win the last point in the last game against
Mary Baldwin.
The team has not fared as well against perennial
nemesis, Christopher Newport. The Bishops have
lost both times it has faced the Captains, losing the
most recent match 3-0. Team members don't feel as
if CNU is better than them, but "their game is just
faster—the speed of the passing and their setting,"
said Smith.
George feels that CNU has an advantage
because theirteam is intact from last year. "They
didn't lose a single player from theirteam, so their
chemistry is really good," she said. She also gave
props to CNU’s coach, Lindsay Birch, saying, "She
By Joshua Meeks & Kevin Quicker
Decree Sports Writers
JM: The NBA season is upon on us and I don't
thinkthere is any bigger news than the renewed
championship hopes in Cleveland—or maybe not.
KQ: Really, coming off the best record in the
NBA last season, that's gotta mean something,
right?
JM: Wait. Wasn'tthere some hour-and-a-half
special on ESPN this summer about some guy
leaving Cleveland?
KQ: Oh, right. Lebron James is taking his talents
to South Beach. How do you think that move is going
to shake up the East this year?
JM: Oh, yeah. He and Chris Bosh are teaming
up with D Wade down tn Miami to make the Miami
Threet. Most people think they're the sure-fire
favorites to win it all let alone the East. I'm not
ready to buy it yet, though. I'm not even sure if they
will win their own division.
KQ: Yeah, the Orlando Magic will always be a
tough test with the defensive player of the year
(Dwight Howard) who has seemed to win it ever
since he was drafted out of high school. But I think
Linebacker Antonio Harris was named to
D3football.com's team of the week after the
Maryville game. SI Photo
this makes the Heat the team to beat in the East.
When you have three All-stars on the same team,
plus three greatfriends who've had the experience
of playing with each other on the U.S. Olympic team,
I think that equals the number one team in the East.
But I don't want to get ahead of myself. Look at what
best friend Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens are
doing with the Bengals.
JM: Don'twantto get ahead of yourself? Don't
you think that this team of three superstars and nine
bums are gonna win the whole thing?
KQ: I actually do. They do have some players
to go along with them. They have veterans such
as Zydrunas llgauskas, Jerry Stackhouse, Udonis
Haslem, and a great outside shooter in Mike Miller
who can spread the floor for the Heat. At the point,
they also have Mario Chalmers, who looks to
rebound after a less than impressive sophomore
year in the NBA. I think Lebron, Bosh and Wade will
make all these players around them better.
JM: I think you’re insane if you think that
those guys will be able to step up. You have two
championships combined on the entire team
and that's with Haslem and Wade when they
won together in 2006. Chris Bosh has never won
football. The senior took a handoff upthe middle
and looked for room off the right side, but was met
by a Christopher Newport linebacker who applied a
perfect form tackle and forced the ball to spill out of
Bush's control.
The otherfourturnovers came compliments of
a pair of fumbles and an interception by freshman
quarterback Jordan Vann along with a fumble by
freshman tight end Will Beasley.
Despite the poor performance the Bishops
controlled possession with just 34 seconds
remaining in the contest and trailed by a mere eight
points (23-15). Hopes of a miracle comeback and
forced overtime were putto rest, though, when
Vann watched his final pass of the day tipped and
then fall innocently to the turf.
"Our league, I think it's down from what it has
been, butatthe same time, it's top-to-bottom
competitive," Henninger said. "I told these guys
that hope is not lost. You'd like to thinkthat if we
win out, we have a pretty good chance of winning
(the league), but our path to attain that goal just got
a heck of a lot harder."
Prior to the Bishops encounter with the
Captains, NCWC had won 11 consecutive USA-
South Conference games dating backto a loss to
Christopher Newport in the 2008 season.
Since the October 16th meeting, the Bishops
have pieced together a new conference winning
streak. Though not nearly as impressive, the back-
to-back victories against Maryville College and
ANYTHING. There are so many questions with this
team and the biggest one is how are they going
to work together? With basketball, you have to
have an alpha dog to take the last shot. That's why
Kobe and Shaq were finished afterthey lostto the
Pistons. Both were alpha dogs and Kobe wasn't
the sidekick anymore. Now you have two of the
top three players in the league on the same team.
How many times is Wade or Lebron going to take
the last shot before the other wants the spotlight?
And where are the stops going to come from? Sure,
Wade and Lebron are great individual defenders but
collectively they have no team defense,
KQ: I think they'll be able to score at will this
year. So however many points their opponent puts
up, the Heat will put up more. And when ESPN
interviewed Coach K, the Olympic team's coach,
about whetherthese guys can work togetherthis
year, he said they will have no problem doing so.
Lebron and D-Wade are very unselfish people,
Lebron with 7.6 assists and Wade with 6.5 assists
last year. And then you have Bosh who averaged a
double-double last year with points and rebounds.
I don't see these guys having a hard time working
together. They have a high enough basketball 10
to work things out. So I have this feeling you don’t
thinkthe Heat will win the East. Who is yourfront
runnerto represent the Eastinthe NBA finals?
JM: I think there's a possibility they may even
finish third if Boston can stay healthy and fight the
Methodist University are a start.
Playing on the road, the Bishops overcame a
seven-point first-quarter deficit to earn the first .
victory at Maryville in school history.
Several upperclassmen ori the team were quoted
as saying "It was nice to finally, finally get that win.
We owed them that one,"
NCWC scored 17 second-quarter points to own
a 20-13 lead at the break and then outscored the
Scots by 11 points in the second half to claim the
34-16 victory.
The Bishops quickly followed their milestone
victory with one that is seemingly an every season
affair.
NCWC welcomed Methodist to Death Valley
stadium on the campus of Northern Nash High
School and for the third time in four years defeated
the Pride by at least 40 points.
Wesleyan seized a 35-0 lead in the first quarter
and coasted to a 56-6 rout of the Monarchs, which
included five forced turnovers (two interceptions,
three fumbles).
Due to the Bishops newly established winning
streak, and losses by Averett University and Ferrum
College, NCWC sits atop the USA-South in a tie
with Christopher Newport, The Bishops could earn
a share of the conference crown by winning out the
remainder of their schedule, but need the Captains
to lose one of their two remaining games to capture
the conference's automatic playoff birth.
stepped up and played well. The progress we've
made in our offense was also a part of our success."
Tingle noted that the Bishops faced several
teams it had not played in the past. "That was a
challenge—not knowing their style of play," she
said. "On top of that, they were all competitive
teams, so I think we all learned by this victory that
ourteam is capable of great things, no matterwho
the team is."
DeRatt agreed with Tingle. "Forthis tournament,
we didn’t know much about the teams we were
playing in our pool," she said. "So, we just practiced
our hardest and expected a challenge. We knew
we were good enough to play in the championship
game, so we justtook every game win in stride to
reach our goal. When we got to that point, we knew
how Galluadet played and took advantage of that.
We wanted that win, so we came together as a team
in every aspect to make that a reality."
As the Bishops proved themselves that weekend,
it was clear that they had what the other teams
didn't: a strong defense.
"All year I thinkthe key to ourteam has been a
strong defense," Pietryk said. "We pick up balls
that other teams don't get to. We have great front
row play."
NCWC libero George was selected the
tournament's MVP. Along the way, she became
Wesleyan's all-time leader in digs, when she tallied
the 2,002 of her four-year career. Middle hitter
Smith was named all-tournament.
"It was hard to pull out individuals, because ■
it was a team effort," said Pietryk, siting the
outstanding play of Shana Ayers, Rebecca Sabo and
DeRatt.
' "Sabo and DeRatt played great outside," said
Pietryk. "And Shana Ayers had huge serves against
Emory and Henry."
The team was proud of itfirst-evertournament
win. "It's a big accomplishment," said Smith.
"Playing different teams allowed us to be versatile
and keep fighting."
George was pleased with the number of come-
f rom-behind victories, even after deficits of five or
more points. "That weekend showed usthatwhen
ourteam is faced with a challenge we can come
together and do what needs to be done," she said.
Even with this big win, Breeden knows there is
still room for improvement. "We need to get more
runs—keep the lead and not lose the momentum,"
she said.
Added Pietryk, "We can improve as individuals.
Hitters can work on timing, we can communicate
more in the game, we can improve our consistency,
and we can always get better offensively."
cobwebs from setting in and if Dwight Howard can
turn into the offensive force he has the potential to
become. Dwight wentto Hakeem Olajuwon's Big
Man Basketball Camp, the same camp that Kobe
attended last summer to transform himself into a
low-post beast. If Dwight has even close to the
success Kobe did, even the Lakers may have a real
problem with the Magic.
KQ: Yeah, I'll agree with you there. Hopefully,
Hakeem taught Dwight how notto be so strong and
not get so many offensive fouls by running people
over. And I hear Garnett is feeling better than ever
so the "Big Three Plus One" of the Celtics are
looking to get backto the finals. Shaq can also help
them out on the offensive side of the ball, something
Kendrick Perkins cannot do. But another team I
like in the East is the Chicago Bulls. I think they'll
make the biggest jump this year. They have one of
the most athletic and explosive point guards in the
NBA in Derrick Rose, who is only going to get better.
Then they went out and gota great player in Carlos
Boozer who will work well with one of the hardest-
working centers in the league, Joakhim Noah, Add
Luol Deng who averaged almost 18 points a game
last year, and I see them doing big things if they can
stay healthy all year
JM: So if being the fourth seed in the East is
see NBA pg 4
Enters Tourney on Strong Note
::iiB
y
'
t
1
really knows her stuff,"
Lucas doesn't believe it's
because CNU's team is more
athletic or possesses a physical
advantage. And she doesn'tthink
the Bisops have a mental block.
"We can win," she said. "We just
have to make fewer mistakes."
Smith agreed. "They keep the
ball away from Kelly(George),
which hurts us defensively,"
she said. "If we eliminate the
mistakes, we'd be right there with
them."
Team members have
expressed high hopes for
a possible rematch in the
conference tournament. "We
have one more chance to prove
ourselves," Leann Breeden said,
"and I know we can do it."
Smith has a simple plan, "Don't
let CNU get runs on us, or beat us
because of our own mistakes."
Besides finishing a strong
second in the conference, the
Bishops achieved a milestone last
month by taking the Worthington
Classic tournament at Galluadet
University in Washington, D.C
In theirfirst-ever tournament
appearance, the team proved
itself worthy as they took on
Emory and Henry, Catholic
University, Penn St. Behrend and
Galluadet.
On Friday, October 8th, the
Bishops got off to a good start,
taking all three games against
Catholic (25-23,25-19,25-23).
Going into the second game
that night, NCWC carried Penn St. Behrend to five
games, but fell short 3-2 (20-25,17-25,25-23,10-25,
15-12).
"Penn St. was a scrappy team, better than I
thought," said Coach Robin Pietryk. "In the first
and second games, we couldn't find the holes on
the floor, and Penn St. didn't miss a beat. But we
just kept looking forthe gaps and did the same thing
they did: picked the ball up and threw it right back
at them. We fought hard. We just couldn't seem to
finish it."
I
Three seniors—Alyssa Balzano, Kelly
George and Barbara DeRatt—were
recognized in the final home contest.
Sports Pundits Consider Miami
‘Threet,’ Upcoming NBA Season
Si Photo
Saturday morning, the Bishops rebounded to
beat Emory and Henry 3-1 (25-7,17-25,25-19),
putting them in position for championship play.
Itwas now down to NCWesleyan and Galluadet
University. Pietryk knewthat "The girls had just
a good as shot as anyone else. We went in there
to play and have fun, and not put pressure on
ourselves."
That they did, and the outcome was a 3-1
championship win over Galluadet (25-14,25-18,
26-28,25-11),
"What worked bestfor us that weekend is
that we played big," Pietryk said. "Outside hitters