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Stars learn in exhibition,
demonstrate in conference play
By Mark Brockett
The UIS women’s volleyball team
had both a learning experience and a dominating performance in
the same week, as they split last week’s matches by losing to
Illinois Central College and dominating William Woods.
ICC, one of the top junior
college programs in the nation, put up a relentless attack on
the Stars in an
exhibition
match that saw the Stars tumble after winning game one.
 UIS picked up the
pieces for Saturday’s match, however, and breezed by conference
rival William Woods in a decisive 30-21, 30-12, 30-28 match.
While the Stars were
punished by the Cougars on Wednesday night, the agenda for the
match, according to coach Joe Fisher, was to scout future
prospects and to use different players in different positions,
thus creating different lineups.
“We came into tonight to use a
few different line-ups just to see what we have right now,” said
Fisher. “They are one of the best programs in the nation and we
certainly saw that here tonight. We’ve been discussing when to
play this match during the year -- and at this point in the
season, it will be beneficial to us.”
While the match itself left a lot
to be desired, the Stars did find the benefit in it and came out
determined heading into their showdown with conference foe
William Woods.
The game was barely one serve old
when the team suffered an early scare as setter Megan Leonard
collided with outside hitter Danielle Crossen going for a dig.
The resulting impact sent both headliners to the ground with
Leonard in the most pain prompting the officials to cease play.
The team then looked to senior
Abby Kuntz, who hadn’t set since the pre-season, to step in and
play as setter for the rest of the game. Despite a lack of high
attack stats, the team dominated with serves and defensive plays
to keep the ball alive.
Junior Maria Ray, who had 5 kills
in the match, expressed how important defense is for this team
as of late. “We’ve been playing amazing defense lately,” said
Ray. “You can’t ask for more than what we’ve done the past few
matches and we just need to keep it up and we’ll play solid
volleyball.”
Danielle Crossen led the Stars
with 6 kills. Sarah Stratton had 5 kills and Audra Roach added 4
kills. The win raised the Stars to 14-18 overall and 7-5 in the
American Midwest Conference.
After the game, Fisher put the
home stretch into perspective, “The conference matches have our
full attention. We are looking to get a 3 seed in the tournament
and get a home match to start and we’ll go from there.”
After 2-0 loss, Stars hopeful for a better
postseason
By Jason
Stuebe
The Prairie Stars Men’s Soccer
team concluded their regular season in a hard fought 2-0 shut
out loss against the Crusaders of Madonna University last
Thursday evening.
“I thought the game was well
played on both sides,” said head coach Joe Eck, “anyone could
have won tonight’s game.”
The first half of the ball game
featured relatively ho-hum play; “like a virgin,” neither
Madonna nor UIS could score as both teams headed into the locker
room with goose eggs showing on the scoreboard.
 Things heated up in the second
half, however, as both teams came out kicking. The Stars had a
number of shots including Andy Simmons’ near miss with just
under seventeen minutes in play. That was followed up by a
relentless attack from Madonna’s Worteh Sampson who was
badgering UIS goalie Steve Kozeny all night long.
Just when everyone was preparing
for the sudden death overtime the wheels fell off the apple cart
and Sampson finally nailed a goal from inside the box with 2:33
left on the clock.
The Stars tried to regroup with
what little time they had but it was no avail. Crusader Will
Friend put the nail in the coffin with his insurance goal in the
89th minute of play.
“It’s disappointing to loose a
game like that in this fashion,” said Eck, “we had numerous
opportunities to score but couldn’t finish the job.”
While the Stars ended the season
on a bit of a down slope – three losses, a win, and a tie, the
Stars head to the post season with high hopes of regaining their
midseason form.
Eck doesn’t seem to be bothered
too much and looks forward to next week’s American Midwest
Conference Tournament Play-In. “We’ll bounce back and regroup
within the next week…we’re getting scoring opportunities, and
that’s what I keep telling the guys – the goals will come.”
The Stars posted 11 shots
compared to Madonna’s 14. The Stars’ Kozeny had six saves on
the night while the Crusaders’ Kristofer Lyons saved five
potential goals.
The Stars are now 8-6-1 overall
and 5-1-1 in the AMC.
Prairie Stars of the Week
While it’s always been a policy
to keep our Prairie Star of the Week awards consistent, it looks
as though for the second straight week we are going to have to
break the rules again and allow for multiple award winners.
Hey, at least we are consistently inconsistent!
Last Thursday’s men’s soccer
game marked the beginning of the end for four UIS seniors and
what better way to send them off than with a bit of good
publicity.
Seniors Ross Pagliara, Andy
Simmons, Paul Pianezza and Mauricio Lora were all honored at the
game for senior night and escorted out for their last regular
season home game by family and friends.
Pagliara, a starter for the 1998
IHSA State Soccer Championship team from Sacred Heart-Griffin
High School, came to UIS from Robert Morris College in 2001.
Serving as a co-captain in this his third season at UIS,
Pagliara has scored two goals and had one assist. Throughout
his career here, Pagliara has six goals and three assists to his
credit.
Simmons was one of the final
recruits from the Ayden Gonulsen era and one of the first
freshmen to don a Prairie Star uniform. Simmons has been a
sparkplug for the team during the past three years as he has
contributed three goals and three assists from his midfield
position. Among Simmons’ highlights are serving as co-captain
this season and being named to the 2003 AMC All-Academic Team.
Pianezza, another one of the
first athletes to have played all four years of eligibility at
UIS, has had a storied career at UIS. After receiving a medical
red-shirt during his sophomore year and continuing his
rehabilitation last season, “Pizza” has been a fire starter for
the team this year – especially in the 2-1 barnburner against
Missouri Baptist earlier this month. Pizza has tallied up one
goal and one assist while serving as a co-captain.
Lora, a forward, transferred
from Lincoln Land Community College where he led the Loggers
with twelve goals. Lora came in for UIS in the fall of 2003 and
has helped the Stars with six goals and four assists in his
career here.
Gentlemen, take a bow and
receive the thanks of a grateful Prairie Star nation – you’ve
earned it.
Snapshots
Men’s Soccer
The NAIA post-season begins
today at 4:00 p.m. as the Stars will host McKendree in the
American Midwest Conference play-in.
Women’s
Basketball
Casualty rate up to 29
UIS Women’s Basketball head
coach Wanda Nettles has now lost her 29th player in
her three year career at UIS. Senior Melanie Cain called it
quits last Wednesday announcing she was considering making
softball her sport of choice in her final year of eligibility.
Cain, who played softball at
Tolono Unity High School, was the last of the original three
Capital Scholars who were recruited by Nettles. Grazia
Silvestro left basketball for softball in the fall of 2003 and
Jessica Lay is playing volleyball this season in her final year
of eligibility.
On average, the numbers add up
to roughly an entire roster turning over every year. Ouch!
Campus Rec Sports
INTRAMURAL
SPORTS
Intramural
Flag Football
saw two out of the five scheduled weekend games played with
three of the games being forfeits. The Replacements won all
three of their games. They beat Cumberland United 50-6 in the
early Saturday morning game. Sunday saw them claim a forfeit
win over No Names followed by a 39-27 win over Gettin’ Downs.
Cumberland United claimed a forfeit win over No Names and Gettin’
Downs forfeited to That’s How We Treat ‘Em. The final league
standings saw The Replacements go undefeated at 4-0; Cumberland
United, 3-1; That’s How We Treat ‘Em, 2-2; No Names, 1-3; and
Gettin’ Downs at 0-4. The Intramural Championship Flag Football
game will be played this Sunday, November 7 at 2pm when The
Replacements take on Cumberland United to see who will be
declared IM Champions. See the action at the Rec Park field
across from Pennyroyal Court.
The Tornadoes
took the best 2 out of 3 game series from Soccer Z’em for the
IM 6x6 Soccer Championship. The Tornadoes won 7-2 on
Saturday and came back on Sunday to solidly beat Soccer Z’em
10-1. Congratulations to The Tornadoes, the IM Soccer
Champions: Tulio Llosa, Shari McCurdy, Camille Bekoin, Komes
Chandavimol, Cyril Cottini, Demba Diawara, Matt Komanecky,
Jerome Pradal, and Shaleel Valsan.
Submit a team
entry form in the CRS Office before 11pm tonight (Wednesday,
November 3) in order to play in this Saturday’s (November 6)
IM 4x4 Co-Rec Volleyball Tournament. Play will begin
at 1:00 pm in the UIS Gym. Play will be mixed team. Teams
consist of a minimum of 4 (two women and two men) and a maximum
of 6 players with no more than two Non-Rec Center Members per
roster. Only one present or last year’s intercollegiate
volleyball player is allowed per roster. All participants must
be at least 18 years old or a UIS Student. UIS students and Rec
Center Members with a valid i-card play for free. UIS Community
Non-Rec Center Members and/or Non-UIS must pay $10. Non-UIS
must also sign a waiver form.
The IM
Basketball Shooting Contests will be held on Sunday,
November 14 at 4pm in the UIS Gym. There will be a men’s and
women’s division. Deadline to enter the contest is Wednesday,
November 10 at 11pm in the CRS Office. UIS students and Rec
Center Members with a valid i-card play for free.
SPORT
CLUBS
The
Men’s Club Volleyball team is practicing Mondays and
Thursdays from 7-9pm and Fridays from 5-7pm in the UIS Gym. Any
male UIS student interested in competing extramurally with other
college or USVBA men’s club volleyball teams is welcome to
join. Male students may be undergraduate or graduate; full time
or part time. If interested contact Club President Jim Brower
at
jbrow16s@uis.edu.
The Frisbee
Enthusiasts Club practices Sundays from 3-5pm at the Sport
Club Rec Field east of Kiwanis Stadium. The club participates
in Ultimate Frisbee as well as Frolf (Frisbee Disc Golf). If
interested contact Club President Colin Cook at
ccook04s@uis.edu.
HOW CAN I LEARN ABOUT CAMPUS REC SPORTS NEWS?
(1) Send an
Email to RecSports@uis.edu
to be included in the 2004-2005 Campus Rec Sports News List to
receive personal up-to-date information about future events and
activities. (2) Click on “Public Folders>All Public
Folders>UIS>Announcements>Campus” on your UIS e-mail account and
read the e-mail announcements sent out by UIS Campus Rec
Sports. (3) Check out the website at
www.uis.edu/recsports/. (4) Contact the Campus Recreational
Sports (CRS) Office located in the Fitness Center (SLB 118) or
call 206-6658.
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