Archives
Sports Recap
Kyle Cerminara of the wrestling team won the 197-pound weight class, taking all three of his matches at the season-opening Oklahoma Gold Classic in Brockport as the Bulls took fifth in the nine-team meet. He defeated Brockport's Rob Cuffie, 2-1, in the finals after downing Oklahoma and Bloomsburg opponents in his first two matches. Cerminar, a junior, led UB in wins last season with 31.
Amy Brown of the volleyball team became the Bulls' single-season assist leader with 1,256 to pass Barb Tinus, who compiled 1,192 assists during the 1986 season. The sophomore had 40 in UB's 3-0 win over Marshall on Friday. Her current 11.12 assists per game is the UB single-season record, as well as the only time a Bulls setter has recorded double digits in assists per game for a season.
Volleyball
UB 3, Marshall 0
Ohio 3, UB 0
UB swept the Marshall Thundering Herd on the road Friday, earning a 30-27, 35-33, 30-24 win and giving the Bulls their most Mid American Conference wins in one season since joining the conference in 1998.
Senior Lindsay Matikosh led the Bulls with 13 kills and 13 digs, and junior Molly Schrantz also posted a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Freshman Lauren Burd recorded a career-high nine kills while adding five blocks, and sophomore Katie Weekley recorded nine kills to go along with a match-high six blocks. Freshman Nikki Morzenti contributed eight kills, 14 digs and five blocks, and sophomore setter Amy Brown added 40 assists, 10 digs and three blocks.
The Bulls ended the 2003 regular season with an 11-19 overall record and a
5-11 MAC mark following a 3-0 loss at Ohio in the regular season finale on Saturday. Game scores were 30-19, 30-22 and 30-16.
The Bulls were led by Matikosh with 12 kills and 14 digs, while Morzenti added eight kills and seven digs.
Cross Country
Koeppel takes All-Region honors at Northeast Regionals
The men's and women's cross country teams completed the season with the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships held on Saturday in Franklin Park in Boston. The women finished 16th among 36 squads in the team competition with 470 total points. The men placed 20th overall in the 33-team field with 523 points. The Providence women (49) and Iona men (58) were the team victors among the Division I entries.
Individually, junior Jenny Koeppel was the top finisher for UB. A MAC second-team honoree and Academic All-MAC selection earlier in the week, Koeppel, completed the 6K women's course in 21:57 to take 21st place among 245 runners. She also earned All-Region honors by placing in the top 25.
Andy Wigton was the top UB men's finisher in the 10K race, the only time that the Bulls have raced at the distance in 2003. Wigton completed the course in 32:33, crossing the finish line in 88th place among a field of 233.
Wrestling
Bulls place fifth at season-opening Oklahoma Gold meet
UB began its 2003-04 season on Saturday with a fifth-place finish in a nine-team field at the Oklahoma Gold Classic. Junior Kyle Cerminara was the lone individual champion for the Bulls with a first-place finish in the 197-pound weight class. On his way to the 197-pound title, Cerminara posted a 9-3 win over Oklahoma's Joel Tapler, a 6-3 victory over Chad Hoare of Bloomsburg and a 2-1 decision over Brockport's Rob Cuffie in the final.
Oklahoma won the team points title with 178.5 points, trailed by Ohio State (143.0), Army (121.0), Cleveland State (111.5), UB (102.5), Rutgers (96.5), Brockport (84.5), Bloomsburg (81.0) and Wagner (2.0). Both Oklahoma (15th) and Ohio State (14th) were ranked in the top 25 nationally in the National Wrestling Coaches Association's preseason poll.
In addition to Cerminara, five other Bulls' grapplers placed fifth or better in their respective weight class. Mark McKnight and Ed Pawlak each finished third in the 125-pound and 174-pound weight classes, respectively.
In the 133-pound weight class, Cliff Smith earned a fourth-place finish. Smith defeated teammate Brian Sebaaly, who was wrestling unattached, in a consolation bracket quarterfinal match with a 2-1 decision. Sebaaly went on to finish fifth. Dave Edwards placed fifth at 157 pounds.
In the 184-pound weight class, Garrett Hicks finished fifth after posting a 7-2 victory over teammate Harold Sherrell, who wrestled unattached.
Crew
Squads end fall season at Rivanna Romp
Against some of the strongest competition they had faced all fall, including a trio of NCAA National Championship squads—two of which competed in the finals-UB's crew teams raced to some of their best times of the year at the Rivanna Romp in Charlottesville, Va.
The women's competition included squads from Ohio State and host Virginia, both of which finished in the top six at last season's NCAA Championships, as well as Tennessee, another NCAA participant. Duke and Cincinnati, a squad that, like the Bulls, is relatively new to varsity competition, completed the field.
To save on travel costs, the Bulls did not take their racing shells with them to Charlottesville but were able to borrow an eight-person and three four-person boats from the Cavaliers. UB supplied the oars.
With the borrowed shells, the Bulls put together some impressive times against a tough field. In the varsity eight race, UB placed eighth among 17 entries, finishing ahead of all three Cincinnati entries, as well as many of the other schools' "B" and "C" entries. The Bulls finished the course in 13:54.6, while Ohio State's top entry won in 13:07.6.
In the varsity four race, the Bulls' top entry registered a seventh-place finish among the 19 crews in 15:39.2. The "B" entry was eighth in 15:45.6. The "C" squad took 13th in 16:14.3. Virginia won the race in 14:56.3, 12 seconds ahead of second-place Tennessee.
Awards
Academic All-MAC honorees selected
Five UB student-athletes have been named to their respective Academic All-Mid-American Conference teams, the league has announced.
UB men's cross country runner Joel Beatty, women's runner Jenny Koeppel and men's soccer players Dave Pidgeon, Ross Tauchert and Chris Vavrina were selected to their respective teams as voted on by faculty athletic representatives at MAC institutions. UB led the MAC with three selections to the men's soccer squad.
Beatty, a senior biochemistry major with a 3.71 GPA, also was selected to the league's Academic All-MAC indoor and outdoor track and field teams last season.
Koeppel, a junior mathematics major with a 3.63 GPA, also earned All-MAC Second Team honors when she placed ninth at the league meet in Akron on Nov. 1 in a season-best 5K time of 17:50.3. Her earning of All-MAC status was the first by a UB women's cross-country athlete since the Bulls joined the league in 1999.
Pidgeon, a senior midfielder who was one of four student-athletes to be named to the team for the second consecutive year, has a 3.46 GPA and is majoring in management. He was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Duquesne Classic and the UB Fall Classic.
A sophomore midfielder, Tauchert has a 3.75 GPA. He was named to the All-Tournament Team at both the UB Fall Classic and the Army Classic.
After missing a handful of games in the early season due to injury, Vavrina, a senior goalkeeper, returned to finish the season with a 2.18 goals against average and a .708 save percentage for the Bulls. He has a 3.57 grade point average and is majoring in management.
The Academic All-MAC honor is given to players who excelled in both athletics and academics. To qualify for the team, a player must have at least a 3.20 grade point average and must also have competed in at least 50 percent of his or her team's contests.