By wpengine October 10, 2003
With fall break beginning and five Harvard athletic teams arriving for weekend competition in Ithaca, it is understandable that many Cornellians do not know about the women’s lacrosse exhibition game against Penn State tomorrow at 1:30 p.m on Alumni Field. While the contest is a tune-up for the spring season, tomorrow’s game may be one of the Red’s most important. Coming off its second ECAC championship in four years, the Red looks to replace its six graduating seniors from last year. “It’s always tough to replace senior leadership,” said head coach Jenny Graap ’86. “Women that dedicate four years to their sport at Cornell, by the time they reach their senior year, they’re really just so valuable to the program.” The Red’s biggest loss is Sarah Averson ’03. She led the team in goals with 47 last season, earning first team All-America honors — only the third women’s lacrosse player to do so at Cornell. “Averson got some tremendous accolades during her career,” said Graap, “and was arguably one of the best players to come through the Cornell program.” The Red recruited 13 players to help fill the gaps created by having an older team. The team, however, looks towards its rising upperclassmen to make up for the departing seniors. “Numerically, you replace them with freshman,” said Graap, “but you can’t really replace a lot of that leadership and knowledge that they accumulate over their career.” Three players that are hoping to step up into leadership positions are juniors Lindsay Steinberg, Annie Berkery, and Julia Hughey. Steinberg was second on the team in goals last season with 36, and she looks to add to her status as an offensive power in the absence of Averson. Berkery returns as the Red’s only defensive starter. As a junior, she will be relied on to lead the defensive unit. Hughey is coming off a season where she started in the midfield, after seeing little playing time as a freshman. “Julia Hughey looks outstanding,” said Graap. “She looks like she is ready to make a jump as far as making an impact on a national level. She’s tremendously fit and playing with a lot of confidence in the midfield.” According to Ivy League rules, teams are not allowed to have to have additional dates of competition beyond the traditional schedule. The Red will actually play one less game in the spring in order to accommodate its fall exhibition. Its opponent, Penn State, is not subject to Ivy League regulations and has already played in a tournament this fall. “I expect Penn State to come out at the beginning of the game and be a little more cohesive,” said Graap. “Our objective is really to watch our own squad, to really pay attention to the details of the game, not so much as to always worry about the score.” The Red was ranked No. 12 in the nation last year, a notch higher than Penn State, with an 11-5 overall record. The team finished fourth in the Ivy League (4-3) behind a three-way tie for first place between Princeton, Dartmouth, and Yale. While the women’s lacrosse team, like every other team at Cornell, aspires to win the Ivy League, it also hopes for success on the national scale with a berth into the NCAA tournament. “In women’s lacrosse, different than a lot of sports here at Cornell, the Ivy League is a dominant league in the nation,” said Graap. “To say you are going to win the Ivy, you might as well say you are going to win the national championship.” The Red’s regular season begins Feb. 28 at Georgetown, a rematch of the 2002 NCAA semifinal game won by Georgetown in overtime, 12-10. While the contest should be a heated battle, the team is not worrying about it at the moment. “Right now we’re concentrating on our goals in the fall,” said Graap, “which is to really get the freshmen acclimated to the program and to work on our team chemistry and getting everyone into a cohesive unit.”Archived article by Dan Carroll
By wpengine October 10, 2003
After weeks of whetting their appetites in preseason games and just a few days after the official opening of Ivy League play, the volleyball team has found itself in a quandary. Boasting an 11-1 overall record (2-0 Ivy), an athlete who has thrice been recognized by the Ivy League, and a rugged corps of players that have been clicking as if they had been playing together their entire lives, it seems illogical, nay, impossible, that there could be anything the matter with this year’s squad. Yet, the Red views things a little differently. “I feel like we have not had a chance to truly show our stuff yet,” head coach Christie Roes said. “Our team is really excited to be challenged this weekend, and begin to show the league what we are really made of.” An argument could be made that the Red has not experienced much of a challenge thus far. Notwithstanding a hard-fought early preseason loss to Seton Hall, the spikers have been virtually unstoppable in their systematic dismantling of opposing squads. The Red is currently riding a 10-game win streak, a stat made even more impressive considering the fact that it has not lost an individual game in its last 14 contests. What seems to set the Red apart this season is the philosophy of a well-balanced and intelligent game. Instead of simply relying on the offense to control games and overwhelm the opposition (although it does both remarkably well), the players devote considerable time to studying the competition and perfecting their defensive approach. In addition to consistently out-blocking opponents, the Red has been averaging better than a .200 hitting percentage in all of its 12 matches thus far, one of many positive results stemming from the squad’s meticulous attention to detail in practice. “We’ve had some really good practices this week,” sophomore libero Kelly Kramer stated. “Staying at home this past weekend gave us a chance to get some rest, and now we’re ready to go for another weekend.” In the midst of a five-game home stand, Kramer and the rest of team are reaping the benefits of opening the season with 10 straight road contests. Yet, the Red will have to draw on both the experience away from home and the added rest, as it gears up to face a gritty Dartmouth (6-7, 0-2 Ivy) squad tonight and perennially talented Harvard (3-9, 2-0) tomorrow at Newman Arena. Having warmed up with two lopsided sweeps of Columbia last weekend, the Red’s competition this weekend will be much tougher, and may just be the challenge that Roes and company are searching for. “What always worries me about Dartmouth is that they always have a lot of character,” Roes said. “They play well together, are scrappy, and will fight it out until the end.” The Red looks to extend its current win streak over the Green, whom the Red has beaten in their last five meetings. Coming off of two weekend losses to Harvard, the Green is looking to rebound behind the dangerous offensive duo of Sarah Nadler and Kainoa Fialkowski. Conversely, the Red has struggled with the Crimson recently, having difficulty containing 2002 Ivy League Player of the Year Kaego Ogbechie in two losses last season. Ogbechie, a junior outside hitter from Diamond Bar, Calif., will again provide the backbone of a Crimson offense that has averaged 13 kills and 1.7 service aces per game. “We know Harvard better this year than last year,” Roes stated. “They don’t have any secret weapons anymore, because we’ve prepared for everything that they have.” The added experience and depth on the Red’s roster should also play a role in turning the tide against the Crimson. “We’re another year older and more mature,” assistant coach Steve Loeswick concurred. The Red’s match against Dartmouth begins at 7 p.m. tonight at Newman Arena, and tomorrow’s matchup against Harvard is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Archived article by Kyle Sheahen