Sports Briefs

Author: Geoff Homer

Alex Scott victorious again

Riding high from his victory in the Middlebury Invitational, Alex Scott '07 continued his success at the ITA New England Championships hosted at Williams College. Scott was undefeated at the tournament, winning both its singles and doubles titles.

Scott won every one of his singles matches, en route to a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the finals. With his victory, Scott receives an automatic bid to the 2006 ITA National Small College Championships in Florida.

In the doubles finals, Scott teamed with classmate George Mayer '07 to defeat their teammates Conrad Olson '09 and Filip Marinkovic '08 by a score of 8-2. With their victory the Scott/Mayer tandem also qualified for the ITA National Small College Championships.


Vollyball sweeps Vt. matches

Last week the women's volleyball team played two matches in Vermont, winning each by a score of three to zero. The Panthers captured their home-opener in the Pepin Gym against Union on Sept. 26 before traveling to the college's hockey rival, Norwich two days later for the first ever meeting between the two schools in volleyball.

Offensively, over the three games Josie Keller '09, Lexie Fisher '08 and Kate Heath '09 each contributed ten kills to lead the team. In addition, Lacee Patterson '06.5 was a major contributor in the game, with 11 digs and 43 assists.

Traveling to Norwich, the Panthers disposed of the Cadets with relative ease. Every member of the team saw action, with Fisher, Kelly Nichols '09 and Kate Lupo '10 getting ten kills. Olivia Minkhorst '09 had 19 digs, while Reisa Bloch '09.5 had 12 and Nichols 11.

The Panthers host Tufts on Sunday at 2:00 in the Pepin Gym.


Hauschka receives NESCAC award

As a result of his extraordinary efforts on the football team's special team Steve Hauschka '07 has been named NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week. Hauschka's honor is Middlebury's second-straight defensive player of the week award after Erik Woodring '08 garnered the honor last week.

Hauschka's powerful right leg got a good workout in Saturday's contest against Colby. He punted the ball eight times, for a total of 345 yards; and averaged of 43.2 yards a punt. His long was 52 yards, with four of his punts landing inside the 20. Hauschka's efforts ensured that Colby's average starting position was at the 20 yard line, 80 yards away from the goal line that they never saw. In addition to his punts, Hauschka also kicked a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter.

Woodring, last week's Defensive Player of Week, also led the Panther defense with 14 tackles, including two for a loss. Senior freak Kevin Ryan set a Middlebury and NESCAC record with six sacks in the game.


Water Polo swims at Dartmouth

Over the weekend, the Panthers competed in four games at Dartmouth, compiling a .500 record. The water polo team won their first two games against UVM and Colby, before falling to Boston College and bitter rival Dartmouth.

After cruising through their first two games, the Panthers felt confident heading into the BC match. BC stormed out with an intensity that the Panthers were not expecting, and could not match, as the team's mind was on the upcoming matchup with the Big Green. BC was able to get out to a five to two lead, and never looked back, finally taking the victory with a score of 12-5.

After the disappointing defeat to BC, the Panthers were determined to show Dartmouth a good game. The first half did not disappoint, as the Panthers battled to a seven-to-seven tie going into the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the defense couldn't sustain their momentum, and gave up seven points to eventually lose by a 14-11 score.

This weekend the Panthers look forward to the chance to avenge their loss to Dartmouth when they travel to Bates for their annual tournament. The Panthers will host the League Championships on Oct. 28-29.

Despite the mediocre play the team has shown recently, they are still in contention to make it to Club Nationals, however, it will not be as easy as the team previously anticipated.