September 24, 2007

VOLLEYBALL

The Warriors hit the road in Frontier Conference play for the first time this season as they take on Rocky Mountain Thursday night in Billings, Mont., before traveling to Helena, Mont., to square off against Carroll College on Friday. Both matches begin at 6 p.m., Pacific time.

LCSC is riding a seven-match win streak and is now ranked No. 4 in the Region I standings. The Warriors have defeated both conference co-favorites University of Great Falls and Westminster to stand 3-0 in conference play and 9-2 overall, the program’s best start since 2001.

Last Friday’s five-game thriller over Westminster helped the Warriors move up two spots in the Region I rankings and should earn the Warriors some votes when the NAIA Top 25 poll is released on Wednesday. Despite the loss, Westminster remains the top-ranked team in Region I.

“I am excited and very proud of our players for their performances against three very quality opponents,” LCSC coach Jen Greeny says.  “We will have to keep working hard and be on our best again as we hit the road and play two talented teams in RMC and Carroll College.  We have to be able to play well on the road and it will be a good test for us this week.”

LCSC is tied with Montana Tech for the conference lead at 3-0, while Rocky Mountain 2-1 in league play and 7-9 overall. Carroll, which plays host to Westminster on Thursday, stands at 1-3 and 7-11.

The key for the Warriors’ success this season, according to Greeny, has been the team’s depth. Junior Cintia Alessi, who leads LCSC in kills, suffered an abdomen injury in practice last week and was reduced to a back-row player in the Westminster match. Seniors Brittney Kubik and Marie Balmer, and juniors Lindsay Scott and Anile Clemente stepped in and kept the powerful Warrior attack going. Also, freshman setter Kim Fong stepped in and had a huge night against Westminster.

Kubik continued to rank among the national leaders in blocks as her 1.71 blocks per game average is ninth in the NAIA. As a team, LCSC stands No. 25 in kills (14.2), 29th in blocks (2.9), 30th in assists (12.7) and 38th in digs (19.8) per game.

Alessi still leads the team in kills with 123, while Kubik has 86 and Julie Maciboba has 84. Kubik is hitting .330 on the season, while Clemente is hitting .324. Kubik has 57 blocks, while Maciboba had 35.

Alessi also leads the team in digs with 162, while Scott has 145. Lisa Davis and Mindy Meyer have 222 and 171 assists, respectively.

The Warriors next home match will be Thursday, Oct. 4, against Montana-Western at 7 p.m. at the LCSC Activity Center. 

Frontier Conference standings – LCSC 3-0, 9-2; Montana Tech 3-0, 11-4; Westminster 2-1, 9-5; Rocky Mountain 2-1, 7-9;  Montana State-Northern 1-2, 2-6; Great Falls 1-3, 7-8, Carroll 1-3, 7-9; Montana-Western 0-3, 0-13. 

CROSS COUNTRY

The Warriors men and women will face some stiff challenges this Saturday when they travel to Salem, Ore., to take part in the Willamette Invitational.

The meet will feature NCAA and NAIA teams and will provide another test for the ranked Warrior teams. The LCSC men are No. 4 in the NAIA, an all-time best, while the women are at No. 13.

LCSC will see No. 2-ranked Aquinas, No. 7 Concordia of California, and No. 11 Eastern Oregon on the men’s side, while the women’s ranked teams include No. 8 British Columbia, No. 13 Concordia, No. 14 Aquinas, No. 16 Point Loma Nazarene, and both Eastern Oregon and Northwest University, which received votes in last week’s NAIA poll.

“We are excited about things and look forward to see what will happen this weekend, along with doing a lot of finger crossing and knocking on wood when it comes to staying healthy and injury free,” LCSC coach Mike Collins says. “ There will be a lot of ranked teams in the NAIA as well as NCAA DII and DIII at this race, so a great opportunity to solidify ourselves in the polls as well as be in a race that is as close to a national championship atmosphere as we can get.”

The Warrior men were off last week, while the women’s team won the NAIA team title in a meet in Eagle.

“We had some girls step up and run well, compete, and focus on the race as a whole, rather than overanalyzing things,” Collins says.  Most encouraging is that I believe we have a lot of room for improvement.  We had quite a few girls running sick or hurt and once they get healthy we should see them move up closer to the front with everyone else.

“We knew the race was going to be important because it was the only time this year we were going to match up against Albertson.  With them being ranked 21st, we figured they would be out to beat us in order to move themselves up in the national polls.  I actually thought when the race was over that they had beaten us because they packed it up so well, but fortunately we had some runners move up enough over the last 500 meters to off-set that.  We won’t see them again until regionals when it will be even more important.” 

WAA PLAYHOUSE PARADE

The Warrior Athletic Association is sponsoring the second annual Playhouse Parade as a fundraiser for the Lewis-Clark State College athletic program.

Five playhouses, three doghouses and two dollhouses, all built and donated by local businesses and organizations, will be part of an auction on Saturday, starting at 6 p.m. in the Garden at Boomers in downtown Lewiston. Tickets for the event are $15, which includes admission to the auction, hors d’oeuvres, two complimentary glasses of wine or beer, and a chance to win “The Barn” doghouse during a drawing.

Also during the event, a silent auction featuring sports memorabilia, trips, and more will be held.

Last year’s event helped the WAA raise approximately $20,000 for Warrior athletics.

Playhouse themes and sponsors for this year include “Caribbean Beach Hut” by Inland Cellular/Steve Carlton Construction; “Fishin’ & Relaxin’ ” by K&G Construction/Sangster Construction; “Backyard Escape” by Damon Construction; “Little Fire House” by Valley Firefighters/Dina Pisani and Mark Yochum of Windermere Realty;  and “The Garden Getaway” by Cannon’s Building Material Center.

Dollhouses for the auction include “The Victorian Mansion” and “The Lighthouse with Living Quarters”, both built by Lynn Cannon. The doghouses include a “Cozy Cottage” for a small dog, “The Country Hideaway with Porch” for a medium size dog; and “The Barn” for a big dog.

Tickets for the event are available at the LCSC Athletic Development Office, located on the second floor of the Activity Center, KOZE radio, Cannon’s Building Materials Center, and Rogers Motors.

For more information on the event, contact Cindi Durgan in the LCSC Athletic Department at either cfdurgan@lcsc.edu or 792-2692.