f I ■ A 1 ‘ • feSs y ning 3 an ;om- ofail ding the w- It in M imi- It IS hen win aid. for ope t at ; to for lom to to lip. ;am ’to ; ID, eat an- als ea- ive ink ive the October 20, 2005 The Blue Banner — Seizing the Universitv' of North Carolina at Asheville sinee 19S2 Page 5 JOHNSON- Staff Photographer Teammates Amanda Wiles, Krysti Havens, Elif Unlu and Talia Ogle get in defensive position. Wiles record- ‘ ed her 1,000th dig against Radford and Unlu recorded her 1,000th kill against Liberty. Volleyball overcomes sickness to get two big conference wins By Ingrid Allstaedt Staff Writer Despite sickness and injury, the women’s volleyball team defeat ed Liberty and Radford this weekend, while two players reached career highs of 1,000 kills or digs. “We had to make drug store runs,” said Amanda Wiles, senior setter. “Several of the girls were Jsick, and one injured, yet we man- Jaged to pull out both wins this Iweekend.” The Bulldogs defeated Liberty 121-30, 30-26, 21-30, 30-24 and 115-11 at the Vines Center on Oct. Il4. “Liberty has been really hard [for us to beat, especially at the Vines Center,” said Julie Torbett, plleyball head coach. “It is like I big vacuum, and it feels like no bne is there.” Elif Unlu, junior outside hitter, ■recorded her 1,000th kill for her |career, against Liberty. “For Elif to be able to do that in Ithree years is very difficult,” said llulie Torbett, volleyball head Icoach. ‘That does not happen Ivery often. She is doing a nice |pb of putting the ball down.” Unlu’s performance added to [the list of accomplishments for I the Bulldogs, according to Unlu. “I was really happy about my 1,000th kill,” Unlu said. “It is a I year of records for us.” Friday’s games drained the team, according to Unlu. “There were rallies that took us eight or nine balls,” Unlu said. “That is a lot of balls, and it is very tiring when you are sick.” The Bulldogs came into Friday’s game with the goal of making it through the night, according to Torbett. “In the fifth game we came out really fast on them, which was important,” Torbett said. “All the other games we tied to 14 or 15, which drained the girls.” The Bulldogs defeated Radford 30-16, 30-15, ^30-24 at the Dedmon Center Saturday after noon. “The girls jumped out to very quick leads,” Torbett said. “They did a good job not playing down to Radford’s level.” Wiles recorded her 1,000th dig for her career against Radford. “It is in the back of your mind,” Wiles said. “Yet you do not knock people over for it.” Unlu and Talia Ogle, senior out side hitter, are nearing their 1,000th dig. “We have three players that have already got 1,000 digs now,” Torbett said. “We will probably finish the season with five.” Five players reaching 1,000 digs is an amazing accomplish ment, according to Torbett. “That has not happened in many programs before,” Torbett said. “It is the first time in the Big South.” Wiles also recorded a triple double with 11 kills, 17 digs and 27 assists. “A triple-double is a national recognition,” Torbett said. “She managed to do it in a very short match.” This was Wiles’ second triple double of the season. “I got a triple-double and player of the game,” Wiles said. “It was the best match I have played in a while.” The team had to play hard to fight the opposing team and their low energy levels, according to Torbett. Mallory Schaffert, freshman libero, helped the Bulldogs to their victory. “Mallory had eight digs in a three game match,” Torbett said. “That is a really good number for her.” Reserve players had to step it up to cover the girls who were sick, according to Torbett. “We had sickness and injury going against us, and we were try ing to elevate our energy level,” Torbett said. “The other players that were not sick had to pick things up.” Many girls who do not usually get to play had the opportunity this weekend, according to Wiles. “We got to put in a lot of fresh man,” said Wiles. “Mallory Schaffert, Alexa Jacobs and Heather Bums all got to play.” Men’s soccer drops game to VMI in final minutes of play By Sarah Ingle Staff Writer The men’s soccer team lost I their game against the Virginia Military Institute Keydets on Oct. 15 with a score of 2-1, in the first 85 minutes of play, I neither team made a goal. “We played well enough to I put ourselves in the position to win,” said Steve Cornish, men’s soccer head coach. “We scored with under five minutes to go. We dominated the game certainly for the previous 30 I minutes and had a chance.” The Bulldogs’ did not clear the ball sufficiently enough, according to Cornish. “They equalized and took it to overtime and we did not §nt going in overtime pretty soon after it started,” Cornish said. The Bulldogs Scott Szymanski, freshman forward, made the ttnly goal for the team. This is the fifth goal that he has made this year. Michael Pereira, sophomore Soalkeeper, made five saves for the Bulldogs. “We started to get our act together towards the second half, did well and then scored ^ith five minutes left,” said Daniel Bandoly, sophomore for ward. Two minutes after Szymanski tttade a goal, the Keydets’ Stephen Anderson, freshman •ttidfielder, made a goal for his team to tie the game 1-1. “They came back and right off the kickoff they pressured us and had a couple of cross es and a guy just hit it in,” Bandoly said. “Right at the start of overtime they had a guy run through, beat three of our players and score.” The Keydets’ Josh Hanna made the game-winnftig goal for his team. They scored both of their goals in a little over four min utes. “We scored to go up one nothing with under five min utes to go and we lost the game,” Cornish said. “I do not think that I have ever done that, in fact, I think three times this year we have been ahead in the game and we lost two of them and tied the other.” The team is not defending as well as they need to be, according to Cornish. “We need to be able to defend, going forward we are very good,” Cornish said. “There has only been one game this year that we have not scored and we even missed a penalty in that game. Typically when you have that kind of record, that translates into wins.” Losing the game had a big effect on the teams’ morale, according to Bandoly. “That was one of the biggest games of the year for us because they are one of the lower teams in the confer ence,” Bandoly said. “That affected who we play in the tournament. That was one of the games that we should have won.” The team has kept only two clean sheets all year, according to Cornish. “We won both of those games,” Cornish said. “For 88 minutes we kept the Keydets off of the board too, so we are close.” The team has been dealing with some injuries. “It does not help that the injuries that we have, so it has been one of those seasons where we just could not get going,” Cornish said. “I do not know that we have started the same lineup in consecutive games. Certainly we have not started what we thought would be our best lineup all year. Everyone has injuries and that is not an excuse.” The team has been working very hard, according to Cornish. “That is all we can do real ly, just try to get better each day and we have made signifi cant progress,” Cornish said. “There is no question about that, I like this team a great deal and they are very good, but right now our record does not reflect the quality of our play yet.” The Bulldogs drop down to 1-3 in Big South play after losing this game. Opinion ‘Bad boy’ behavior means bad business for the NFL By Jason Lilly Staff Writer The rampant bad puns and “Love Boat” jokes associated with the recent allegations of sexual misconduct by several Minnesota Vikings players during a party cruise on Lake Minnetonka amused many sports fans, but punctuated an alarming trend in professional football. Crew mem bers of the two LiUv vessels rented from A1 and Alma’s Charter Cruises for the party turned the boats around after about 90 minutes, claiming there were nude lap dances, oral sex and heavy drinking taking place on board. In response to the allegations, the Vikings’ new owner, Zygi Wilf, apologized to the governor of Minnesota, scolded the players and after a meeting with NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, hired a former FBI agent as the team’s new director of security. Former Vikings’ owner. Red McCombs, abolished the position during his tenure en route to mak ing the Vikings’ front office one of the smallest and cheapest in the league. “Bad boy” behavior means bad business for the NFL, whose status as the most popular sport in America is based in no small part on maintaining a squeaky-clean reputation. The league even managed to convince ESPN to cancel its show “Playmakers” after only one sea son, because it featured a fictional professional football team whose players frequently used drugs and lived life with the gusto of well- funded escapees from the state penitentiary. Truth seems to be edging closer to fiction, as the “Love Boat” scandal is not so exceptional. The Vikings running back, Onterrio Smith, was caught by airport secu rity in May with a fake penis called the Whizzinator, designed to cheat drug tests and is currently on suspension. The Dolphins running back, Ricky 'Williams, left the game in 2004 and cited his desire to contin ue using marijuana as a reason. Former player. Bill Romanowski, recently admitted that he used steroids while in the league and intentionally broke another player’s finger while in a pilemp. Any current transgressions by NFL players, especially Vikings, would seem to be especially bone headed, considering the timing. Lobbyists for the Vikings are currently petitioning Minnesota legislators for public funding to construct a new stadium, which is estimated to cost around $800 mil lion. The NFL has a fresh television contract which could be worth $23.9 billion for the next eight years, and the current collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players is set to expire in 2008, with an uncapped year in 2007. Bottom line, it’s just not smart to threaten your boss’s cash fiow when you’re about to ask for a raise. Many professional athletes, most notably former NBA star Charles Barkley, have long argued that it’s not their job to be role models. None would argue however, that sports in America are not big busi ness. Players. know they are in the spotlight, and with untold millions at stake, it only stands to reason that these professional business men should take the health of their leagues seriously and think twice before joining in on embarrassing or depraved antics. If athletes need an example, then all they have to do is take a look at the NHL. Owners closed down that league for all of last season when rev enues could not keep up with play ers’ salaries and many teams were losing money by ' playing. Lockouts happen. The NFL may be head and shoulders above the lowly NHL right now, but with such a bright future and so much at stake in the next year, why rock the boat? Sometimes, a bad pun is just too good to pass up. GAnGbEBIUHBAMD am Wed, Oct 26*8 pm UNC Asheville Lipinsky Auditorium $6 UNCA students $12 UNCA faculty/staff/NCCCR/ Alumni/WCU/area schools $20 general public Co-sponsored with UNC Asheville MuHicullatal Student Programming Charge by phone/info: 828.232.5000 (line 3 lor after-hours info) Highsmith Union Box Office. Main Lobby. 0 am-9 pm. Mon-Fri • 2-6 pm. Sat & Sun • Cash. Check. OneCard, Visa. MasterCard General admission tickets also at Malaprop’s Bookslore/Caf6, 33 Haywood. Asheville,- 828.254-6734 • Cash/Check only CULTU L CVCNTS Media Sf>«>soi: sue- RADI Q

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