Page 4
The Blue Banner
September30,2004
SPORTS
BRIEFS
by Joe Srebalus
Staff Reporter
UNCA
■ junior forward Jordan
Holthouser and junior goalkeeper
Mich Mattos were named the Big
South players of the week for men’s
and women’s soccer for their per
formances last week. Holthouser
scored three goals during the week,
while Mattos posted two shutouts.
MLB
■ liarry Bonds was tested for
steroids Sept. 24, the night before
his game against the Dodgers, ac
cording to the Contra Costa Times.
The results of drug tests are not re
leased to the public unless a player
tests positive twice.
■ MLB decided to use special
balls for the Seattle Mariners as their
outfielder Ichiro Suzuki approaches
the league record of 257 hits in a
.season. These special balls are num
bered and marked with a hologram.
Suzuki currently sitting on 254 hits,
has five games left to break the
record set by George Sisler in 1920.
■ The 2003 World Series
Champion Florida Marlins were
eliminated from postseason conten
tion following their 6-3 loss to the
Atlanta Braves. Marlins manager
Jack McKeon blamed his team’s
poor p>erformance partly to the hur
ricane season that has hampered
Florida for the past month and half
NFL
■ The Oakland Raiders lost
quarterback Rich Gannon for six
weeks after he broke a vertebra in
his neck following a helmet-to-hcl-
met collision. Gannon missed most
of the 2003 season after going on
the injured reserve because of shoul
der surgery.
■ Tennessee Titans’ quarter
back Steve McNair was taken to the
hospital after brusing his sternum
during a loss to the Jacksonville Jag
uars Sept. 26. McNair was not al
lowed to speak to reporters while
waiting in the training room be
cause he was having trouble taking
deep breaths.
■ The Philadelphia Eagles
improved to 3-0 for the 2004 sea
son after defeating the Detroit Li
ons Sept. 26. It marks the best start
for the Eagles since 1993 when they
began 4-0. Terrell Owens, who the
Eagles acquired in the off-season,
already has seven touchdowns in
2004.
NCAAFOOTBAU
■ Kyle Orton continues to
make his case for Heisman Trophy
consideration after completing 35-
of-50 passes for 336 yards and four
touchdowns in Purdue’s Win at Illi
nois. Orton has not thrown an in
terception all year. Purdue is 3-0
and ranked 15 in the latest polls.
■ Wisconsin fullback Matt
Berstein, put in one of the most
inspirational pierformances this year
after fasting for 24 hours before his
team’s game against Penn State Sept.
25. Berstein did not eat for 24 hours
in observance of the Jewish holiday
Yom Kippur. He received an IV
prior to the game and then pro
ceeded to rush for 123 yards on 27
attempts in the Wisconsin win.
■ Wyatt Sexton will make his
first career start for the Florida State
Scminoles Oct. 2 against the North
Carolina Tar Heels. Sexton replaces
the often-criticized Chris Rix, who
injured his ankle Sept. 25 in the
Seminoles’ win against Clemson.
NBA
■ After many rumors began
to spread last week of another
Michael Jordan comeback, it was
Jordan who quickly ended all specu
lation. Jordan went on ESPN’s Par
don the Interruption and cleared up
all confusion of a possible return.
Rumors circulated that Jordan
would join Shaquille O’Neal in
Miami for the 2004-2005 season.
Sports
Hqlthouser gets hat trick, ‘Dogs remain No.
by Amber Saint Clair
Staff Reporter
After a disappointing 3-0 loss
at East Carolina University Sept.
19, the UNCA men’s soccer team
rebounded to defeat High Point
University 3-1 with a hat trick
from Jordan Holthouser Sept. 22.
“It’s very rare that players get hat
tricks, and those are the only three
goals you score,” said Head Coach
Steve Cornish. “One was a penalty,
which was a well-struck penalty,
but the other two goals, in terms
of the buildup and the execution
and finish, were just phenomenal.
I sat back and I felt thoroughly
entertained. Jordan’s a special
player.”
Locke also recently won the Big
South Player of the Week award
for a second time in his UNCA
career.
East Carolina out shot UNCA
11 -4. Bulldog midfielder Nathan
Neal took two shots, both saved
by Pirate keeper Brian Pope, while
forwards Barrett Locke and Daniel
Bandoly each took one shot.
“(ECU) kept us at arms length
most of the game,” said Cornish.
“They added a second (goal) just
before halftime, and we changed
our formation a little bit to see if
that made a difference and it did.
I thought we had some good
chances. Their goalkeeper made a
couple of sharp saves.”
East Carolina proved to be a
strong opposing force, according
to midfielder Cameron Allison.
“They were good,” said Allison.
“They definitely have some good
players. They were quick, and they
were able to get in behind our de
fense well.”
Both Cornish and Allison be
lieve that a lack of preparation may
have cost the Bulldogs the win.
ANGIE FESPERMAN/staff photographer
Forward Jordan Holthouser got a hat trick when he scored all
three of UNCA’s goals against High Point University Sept 22.
“No excuses, but we didn’t get
to practice on Friday because of the
hurricane, and then we had to
travel on Saturday and played on
Sunday. That might be a reason
why we came out flat,” said Allison,
undeclared sophomore.
Many UNCA players held in
juries that affected their perfor
mance, according to Cornish.
leg
“We were running on one
most of the time,” he said.
The Bulldogs came back when
they played the High Point Pan
thers three days later.
Forward Jordan Holthouser
scored all three goals in the game
for the Bulldogs.
Holthouser became the first
Bulldog to record a hat trick in Big
South Conference play since the
1990 season, according to Sports
Information Director Mike Gore.
“It was a great soccer match. Ei
ther team really could have won it,
and Holthouser was the differ
ence,” said Cornish. “We played
very, very well the whole game. It
was a nice rebound after ECU.
The Bulldogs showed more en
ergy when ECU pressured them.
“They’re a good team, but at
times we dominated play and our
players came up
big, like Jordan,”
said Michael
Pereira, unde
clared freshman
keeper.
“I was defi
nitely pretty ner-
voJis, at times in
the game, espe
cially at the end
when we were just
trying to hold
them off,” he said.
Allison is also pleased with
UNCA’s performance during the
match.
“The High Point game was a
good game for us. It put us 2-0 in
the conference, which is big, that’s
what matters most,” said Allison.
“We played very well as a team.”
High Point took 15 shots, only
one less than UNCA, but the Bull
dogs’ defense worked hard and
Pereira made seven saves, three
more than High Point keeper Matt
Long.
“Pereira made a big-time save to
keep it 1-0 in the first half and
made another save to keep it 3-1
in the second half, and they missed
a couple of full chances,” said Cor
nish.
“If they had pulled it back to 3-
2 with 15 minutes to go, then it’s
‘game on’, and who knows what
Allison also credits the BuUd(to
with strong possession of the ball
“We worked the ball arount
well, switched the field,” sai(
Allison. “That’s how we were abl
to get in behind them and get op«
shots like that.”
The win against High Point pu
UNCA No. 1 in the Big Soutl
Conference, according to the Bk
South Web site.
“It’s nice to be number one foi
now, and hopefully we’ll keep itfoi
the rest of the
“It’s very rare that players
get hat tricks and those
are the only three goals
you score.”
sa
son,” said Pereira
Allison is ex
cited about th
Big South rank
ing, as well.
“That’s vet)
Steve Cornish
Head Coach
men s soccer
important; to B
number one ir
the conference
We’re in a tougl
conference, ant
we’ve got a lot o:
he said.
good teams,
Cornish is happy with the result
but he has a few plans to improvi
the Bulldogs’ game.
“Going forward, I still think wi
need to do a couple of different op
tions, and we’ve got to start to worl
on our set pieces as well,” he said
“It’s always good to win on tht
road in conference. We’ve got somt
very, very tough games cominj
up.
would have happened?”
Overall
BSC
School
WLT
W LT
UNCA
3 0 0
4 3 0
Liberty
1 1 0
4 3 I
BSC
1 1 0
4 3 0
VM
0 0 1
3 3 I
Winihrop
0 0 0
2 50
Coastal
1 2 0
6 2 0
Radford
0 1 1
1 I 3
High Point
'010
4 4 0
Bulldogs lose to Furman after close match Tennis teams
by Michael Davis
Staff Reporter
The UNCA women’s volleyball
team hosted the Furman Univer
sity Paladins in a match that took
five games to decide the victor
Sept. 21 in the Justice Center.
UNCA took the lead early in all
but the fifth game, but ultimately
lost the momentum.
“We played hard, and we’re
getting better,” said Head Coach
Julie Torbett, according to the
UNCA Web site. “But we had
leads in the second and third
games and just couldn’t finish the
games off. We need to get better
in that area. However, I’m proud
of the way we fought the whole
match and never quit.”
The scores for the match were
30-27, 28-30, 28-30, 30-26 and
13-15.
In the fifth game, Furman
raced to a 7-2 lead, but Rose But
ler and Elif Unlu led the Bulldogs
to tie the match 11-11.
Chibuzo Aguocha then scored
two kills for Furman to push the
lead to 13-11. Unlu took UNCA
to 14-13, but Whitney Purser fin
ished the match with a kill to give
the Paladins the win.
UNCA won two games, but
lost 15-13 in the final game. The
Bulldogs were led by Unlu who
had 15 kills and 14 digs.
Allison Lambert added a ca
reer-high 14 kills and seven
blocks.
Rose Butler chipped in 12 kills
and 15 digs, while Talia Ogle had
10 kills and 13 digs.
Aguocha had a game high 22
kills and 11 digs for Furman.
Whitey Purser and Ally Hock
combined for 37 kills. Julia
Frederickson added 16 kills and
six blocks.
All team members fill out an
evalutaion after each game.
“While the match is fresh in
their minds, we have them fill out
an evaluation form,” said Torbett.
“I think it helps to go back and
see right after it happens, what it
was, what they need to fix and
what it is we need to work on.
They are very studious players,
and very smart.”
The Bulldogs had the lead in
two of the three games in which
they lost.
“We are the better team. I think
we should have won in three. We
blew it with mental lapses,” said
Torbett. “We needed to finish the
match, and we didn’t finish it.”
Torbett tries to create ,the kind
of scenarios in practice sessions
that the players saw in competi
tion with Furman.
“That’s one problem that we
are having. It is very hard to fix
that problem because it is very
hard to create that situation in
practice,” said Torbett. “To actu
ally have a match on the line and
to have it come down to crunch
time, it’s not real in practice. That’s
a, difficult one to fix. It’s a mental
thing.”
The team is able to keep up the
intensity during each game, but at
the end, it doesn’t come together.
“We are just having a hard time
executing at the end of games. We
play well throughout the whole
game, and then when it comes
down the very end, we are not fin
ishing like we need to,” said But
ler. “We are in shape, but it’s just
a mental block at the end of games
we have to overcome.”
The defensive lapse and recov
ery in the fiftli game was fresh in
minds.
In the fifth game we gave away
seven points in the beginning,
which made it very, very hard for
us to come back,” said Buder. “We
just made too many errors on our
by Micheal Davis
Staff Reporter
JOANNE HUGHES/staff photographer
Junior Krysti Havens saw action in 110 of 112 games last
season and is a strong player in the libero position.
side.”
Furman went on a serving run
and that helped their game.
“In tight situations, like espe
cially in the third game that we
lost, we will let them go on a
serving run,” said Megan
Murphy. “We fought really hard.
I thought it could have gone ei
ther way.”
The Bulldogs did not get in
as many shots as Furman.
“In certain situations we tried
to kill the ball rather than just
place it,” said Murphy. “They’re
a big team. They played good de
fense on the other side.”
The deciding match came up
again.
“When it’s such a short game,
only to 15, being down by four
or five points in the beginning is
just hard, and we never had the
lead in that game,” said Murphy.
We tend to do that more in the
fifth game. We get down real early
and have to fight our way back.
That s something we need to work
on; jumping on them from the
start.”
participate in
invitationals
The UNCA men’s and women’s
tennis teams attended their second
meet of the 2004 season with the
men at the N.C. State Wolfpack In
vitational and the women at the
UNC Wilmington Invitational
Sept. 17-19.
“I can’t win matches. It comes
down to the players and they have
,to win the matches,” said Head
Coach Chase Hodges. “It’s all about
recruiting. Luckily I have been able
to bring in some recruits that have
taken us to the next level. We are a
lot more competitive now. Both pro
grams are headed in the right direc
tion.”
Senior Julien Vulliez took second
place in the Wolfpack Invitational.
Vulliez had four victories on his way
to taking second place.
In the first round he downed John
Bustamante of UNC Greensboro, 6-
0, 6-7, 6-2. He defeated Tyghe
Carstens in the second round, 7-6.
6-7, 10-5.
In the quarterfinals, Vulliez ral
lied after falling behind to Ben Zink,
4-6,7-6,10-5. In the semi-finals, he
won in two games over Charlie |
Drew, 6-3, 6-1.
Vulliez fell in the championship
match to Mason Schermerhorn of
N.C. State.
“0ulien) had to fight and battle
in every one of his matches to reach
the finals. I was really pleased to see
how he played and competed,” said
Hodges, according to the UNCA
Website.
Vulliez recounted his finals match
See Tennis on page 5