TENNIS 101

A basic understanding of women’s tennis history at Monmouth is needed in order to fully grasp the team’s clinching of a Midwest Conference Team Tournament berth with wins over Lake Forest Saturday and a win over Knox last night.

1) The Scots have not finished higher than 4th in the MWC Tournament 1980.

2) By clinching a team berth, the Scots have assured themselves no worse than 4th at this year’s competition.

3) Monmouth had not beaten Lake Forest in dual completion since the program was re-instituted in 2002 and lost 5-4 to the Foresters the last two years.

4) At least one of the athletes who helped the Scots to the tournament berth didn’t fully grasp the magnitude of the occasion.

Scots’ coach Kerry Frantz was on target last week when he predicted Saturday’s double dual with Grinnell and Lake Forest would decide the South Division’s representatives in next month’s MWC Team Tournament. Frantz wasn’t so sure if the Scots would be one of those teams. They had played well, but came up just short the last two years.

After the Scots fell 6-3 in the morning session to Grinnell, the pressure was on. Thanks to Monmouth’s 5-4 win over Lake Forest in the afternoon the Scots can breathe a sigh of relief.

"Especially the coach," said Frantz of the team’s relief of qualifying as a team for the first time since a fourth place finish in 1980. "We’re feeling good. We were very competitive and may have played the best we’ve ever played against Grinnell. We had five convincing victories over Lake Forest to clinch a berth."

Let’s call it FOUR convincing victories and one gut-check. Cassie Frantz, who won all four of her singles and doubles matches, cruised to straight set wins against the Foresters and tallied the Scots’ first regular season win against a Grinnell No. 1 player since at least the ‘80s. Amy Unzicker and Brittany Donnelly likewise posted straight set singles wins. Frantz and Donnelly picked up an 8-2 win over Lake Forest at No. 1 doubles, but it was the No. 2 doubles match that held the key.

Doubles matches are played first in the MWC with the singles matches to follow, so it wasn’t known at the time just how important the 8-6 doubles win by Unzicker and Kimi Wegner was at No. 2. Trailing 6-5, the pair rallied to win the last three games for the hard-fought win that would eventually propel the Scots into the playoffs.

"That was a critical match," reported Frantz. "We knew we had to take two out of three doubles to match them up well in the singles. The No. 2 doubles was a fun match to watch."

The tournament berth was still up for grabs entering last night’s match with Knox. A Scots loss would have meant a three-way tie for second and the playoff berth with Monmouth, Knox and Lake Forest. Instead of a tie, the Scots claimed the berth outright with a 6-3 win over the Prairie Fire.

The Scots have been bolstered with solid play at the top of the lineup and the lower portion hasn’t been a walkover, either. Donnelly at No. 4 singles sports a 7-3 dual meet record and has more career singles wins than any player in school history.

With a tournament berth locked up, the Scots will spend the next couple of weeks playing teams in the North Division and refining their games…and maybe learning a little Fighting Scots history in the process.

THIS SHEPHERD IS NO DOG

When Matt Shepherd broke loose for a 99-yard touchdown run – second only to Ray Brooks 100-yard scamper in 1951 – against the Beloit Buccaneers last Saturday it was easy to see the Scots have a greyhound as their return man.

"You never expect a long return like that," said Steve Bell of the play that set the tone in the Scots’ 51-3 win. "It’s always nice to have that and put some points up early."

The Scots’ wedge punched the hole that allowed Shepherd to run like a greyhound – that’s a racing dog, not a bus – and put the pressure on Beloit from the outset. A couple of key blocks downfield assured Shepherd getting the game’s first score. The sophomore returned three kickoffs on the day for 140 yards and he earned the MWC Special Teams Performer of the Week honor. He ranks ninth in the nation in Division III with a 32.5 yards per kickoff return average.

For the second week in a row, the Monmouth defense shut down the opposing offense, not allowing the Bucs inside the red zone. The lone Beloit score – a 38 yard field goal – came as the result of a Scots’ fumble Beloit advanced to the Monmouth 24 yard line.

"The defense again gave us a solid effort," said Bell. "Of course, each week we see things we need to do a little better, but overall, a very good defensive effort."

Leading that effort were linebacker Marc Artozqui (10 tackles) and defensive end Anthony Goranson (6 solo tackles, 2 sacks, 5 tackles for loss). The defense allowed just 136 yards, dropping their season average to just under 139 yards per game – third in the nation for Division III.

While the offense put 44 points on the board – we’re counting Shepherd’s TD as special teams points – Bell saw some areas in need of improvement.

The Scots traditionally have been a team that takes care of the ball, but that wasn’t exactly the case last week. An interception, three sacks and a pair of fumbles means more work this week for the offensive unit. The interception came as the result of the ball popping out of the receiver’s hands and the sacks could be contributed to a shuffling of the O-Line, but the fumbles are what concerns Bell the most.

"An interception like that happens," said a philosophical Bell. "We had one offensive lineman moved to a new position and another one got his first ever start at guard, so those are contributing factors to the sacks, but the fumbles just can’t happen. If we don’t fix the fumbles, they will come back and bite us. We will be better this week."

Noah Roseland received coaching accolades for his hard running, getting yards "when there was nothing there." Clay Bricker "ran hard" for 62 yards on eight carries, but the big run came from reserve Nick Law who busted a 69-yard run and totaled 80 yards on just four carries.

Through the air, Kyle Wantland caught nine Alex Tanney passes for a team-high 94 yards and two TDs. His second reception was of highlight reel quality.

After a Beloit miscue on fourth down gave the Scots the ball at the Bucs’ 15 yard line, Tanney found Wantland in the back of the endzone. Wantland grabbed the toss and got a toe down before being blasted out of the endzone. Make it 34-0 Scots as Monmouth cruised to their third straight win.

Bell doesn’t expect a similar score this week. The Scots host a Carroll team that’s averaging nearly 380 yards per game and averages 32 points per game. Combine that with the Scots’ nearly 390 yards per game and over 40 points per game and it could be a long afternoon.

"They’ve got a very good defense," said Bell. "They’re very athletic and matchup up well with our offense. I think we’ll be in a dog fight."

If that’s the case, let’s hope Shepherd has some pit bull mixed in with that greyhound.

FIT TO BE TIED…AGAIN

Sports Information Directors across the Midwest are cringing when they see the Monmouth College women’s soccer team on their home schedule.

It’s not that the SIDs fear trying to stop the Scots’ dangerous offensive attack, or getting a shot past a stingy defense. It’s because of the Scots’ six matches this season, three have gone double overtime. For SIDs not paid by the hour, that means they’ve put in nearly an extra hour of free work thanks to the Scots.

The latest foray into extra time came Saturday at Dubuque. Hillary Broms’ 50-yard run and pass to Sarah Kisner put the Scots up 1-0 at 53:06. Kisner took the quick shot and scored her third goal of the season. The Spartans didn’t take long to answer, tying the game just 20 seconds later.

"Hillary does a really good job of making runs up the field," said Barry McNamara of his sophomore defender. "It really confuses the other teams’ defenses because all of a sudden, here’s a player they haven’t had to deal with."

The Dubuque goal came as the indirect result of a foul just outside of the box. The Scots successfully defended the ensuing kick, but the rebound went back to the top of the box where Dubuque was able to quickly get a shot off and even the score.

Monmouth can take satisfaction in shutting down an offensive unit that scored four goals against them last season. It might have ended in regulation if not for a "great" save by Scots’ goalkeeper Sarah Wintersteen who stoned an attacker one-on-one.

Calling the tie a "fair result" McNamara notes his team’s tenacity on a hot Dubuque day against a team with plenty of goal scorers.

"We ran as many fresh players in as we could," said McNamara. "We hung with them even though we were short-handed and banged up a little. We hope to be nearly 100-percent for Grinnell Sunday."

The Scots host the Pioneers in an 11:00 a.m. game Sunday in what is not classified as a crucial matchup, but it’s still one the Scots know is important.

"We feel Grinnell is a playoff team," said McNamara referring to the Midwest Conference Tournament. "We know to reach the tournament, we’re going to have to beat one of those teams we feel is going to get in."

The Scots, at 2-2-2, are looking at their non-conference schedule as good preparation for the rugged MWC race.

"I like how we’re playing right now," praised McNamara. "We’re used to playing close games, so that has prepared us. We’ve had games where we know we can’t make a mistake or it’s going to result in a goal."

The bottom line?

McNamara feels Scots’ first six games (and 50 overtime minutes) have them well prepared for the start of the conference season.

DOING THE SPLITS

If the volleyball team had morphed into the spirit squad, they might not have minded "doing the splits" with defending conference champion Carroll and Ripon last weekend.

The Scots opened conference play with a hard-fought 3-2 loss to the Pioneers Friday night, but came back to hammer the Red Hawks 3-0 Saturday and even their conference record at 1-1.

"We went into the weekend thinking we could win both," said coach Kari Shimmin. "We knew Carroll had lost some key people from last year’s team and we felt confident in the players we had, so it was a little disappointing not to go 2-0 last weekend."

The Scots might have wanted to keep sharp objects away from Shimmin after the Carroll match. A check of the stats revealed Monmouth’s errors "gave" the Pioneers 60-percent of their points. The Scots could have rolled over in the fourth set, trailing by as many as 10 points, but they refused to quit and battled back before dropping the set 25-20.

"Kendra (Newlon) really brought us back in that set with her serving," praised Shimmin. "Crystal (Myers) played very aggressively defensively. She refused to let any ball hit the floor."

Carroll eventually won the decisive fifth set 15-8.

"Carroll did a nice job on their digs," reported Shimmin. "We didn’t play as well as we needed to and Carroll took advantage."

Saturday was a different story for Shimmin’s team, with just seven hitting errors. Samantha Robinson, who hit .583 for the weekend, hit an astronomical .769 with no errors against Ripon. Robinson’ play impressed the MWC as she was named the Performer of the Week.

"Samantha was very strong last weekend," said Shimmin. "We eliminated errors against Ripon and that made the difference."

Shimmin also had praise for sophomore Alyson Schroeter’s improving game.

"Alyson has really improved her game from her freshman to her sophomore year," said Shimmin. "She’s been working on playing aggressively and eliminating her errors. She’s getting better every day."

This weekend, the Scots head north to meet opposite ends of the spectrum – a Lawrence team still looking for its first win and St. Norbert who is unbeaten in 14 matches.

So what do the Scots need to do in order to avoid the splits again?

"We need to play at a high level," predicted Shimmin. "St. Norbert, especially, is a hostile environment and a difficult place to play. We’ll have to play some of our best ball this weekend."

JUST WAIT ‘TIL…NEXT WEEK

It’s no secret the women’s golf team has taken a beating at the hands of the weather.

Rain has wiped out one-third of the Scots’ schedule. Entering next weekend’s 54-hole MWC Tournament the Scots will have played just eight rounds of competition golf this season. Molly McNamara’s squad was finally able to get 36 holes in at last weekend’s St. Ambrose Fighting Bees Invitational and it was apparent the long layoff due to the previous week’s rainout had some ill effects.

"It wasn’t so much the course as the long layoff," said McNamara of her team’s inflated scores. "We were mentally and physically ready to play two weeks ago in Wisconsin, but the rains came and washed that out, so we had to put all our preparation on hold. I think that factor affected everybody more than they thought."

Lynsey Barnard posted the Scots’ best score, shaving four strokes off her first round to post a 181 for a 26th place finish. Jessica Sackville tied for 32nd with a 186, Heidi Hartshorn tied for 50th, Kristin Humphrey tied for 60th and Kendra Catterton, who fired a career-best on Saturday, finished 63rd.

"The women, as a group, played better on Sunday," praised McNamara. "Kendra played a great round Saturday, but then put too much pressure on herself Sunday and didn’t play quite as well."

The Scots travel to Millikin for 36 holes this weekend in their final tuneup before next month’s MWC meet. The Red Tail Run course will test the Scots with plenty of trees, a deep first-cut of rough followed by prairie grass for the second cut.

With the final 36 holes of the regular season played on a course that has been described as a "killer," McNamara believes her team will take it in stride.

"We seem pretty relaxed," reported McNamara. "We just need Lynsey and Jessica to continue their consistent play and our three and four people to shoot just a little lower to have a shot at conference. We have the potential to play great."

If the weather cooperates, the Scots could be a team ready to surprise a few people in a couple of weeks. McNamara won’t be one of those people.

"We don’t have a high strung group of golfers," said McNamara. "A lot of teams tend to put pressure on themselves at the conference meet. We know we’re close to where we want to be. We’ve played some nice rounds, so if everyone stays loose and plays to their potential, we should be in good shape."

GAINING EXPERIENCE AND A FEW WINS ALONG THE WAY

George Perry’s men’s soccer team could be a team on the verge.

Save for a flat start and a second-chance goal at Dubuque last Saturday, the Scots were in good shape most of the game and look like a team ready to explode. That’s how well Perry believes his team played between the two Spartan scores.

The Spartans second score in the 65th minute came as the result of a "two or three" shot barrage.

On the up side, Perry did see the return of the injured Pat Blazer who had been hampered by an ankle injury. The junior midfielder helped solidify the team at midfield.

Danny Davis, Bryan Jackson and Owen Robinson also received Perry’s praise for their defensive efforts. Robinson turned away 10 shots and Davis and Jackson led the defense that stymied the Spartan attack.

"Lucas Knox played better up top in the second half," claimed Perry. "Josh Del Valle came in and did some nice things for us, finding Pat in the midfield. Daniel Medina was impressive on the left side. We’re starting to put a few more passes together and that’s encouraging."

The Scots’ defensive effort is something Perry hopes will continue now that the Midwest Conference season has begun.

"We’ll need to deny good scoring opportunities on the defensive end," said Perry. "We still need to do a better job of controlling the ball after we have won possession. The second goal at Dubuque was an example of winning the ball and then giving it right back. We WILL be ready for conference play. We’re defending better and the guys are understanding what we have to do."

What the Scots couldn’t do last night was keep Grinnell from scoring and find the back of the net themselves. A goal in the 6th minute was enough to hand the Scots a loss in their conference opener.

Monmouth played even with the Pioneers for the remainder of the half, but a foul on a breakaway early in the second half gave the Pioneers a penalty kick goal and a score 10 minutes later sealed the Scots’ fate.

The Scots host Knox Saturday at 1:30 in league action.

FUN CITY?

The men’s golf team didn’t shoot the scores they were hoping for at the Iowa Wesleyan-Fun City Classic this week.

Ryan Tapscott led the Scots with a 77-76-153. Rodney Clayton posted a 79-81-160. Ted Starkey fired an 85-78-163 and Jake Kilberg toured the course in 79-86-165. Joe Hoffman showed the biggest improvement, shaving 13 strokes off his opening round 89 to card a 76 for the second round and a 165 total.

"It was nice to see the guys rebound on Day 2," said coach Dave Ragone of his team’s ability to shave nine strokes off their first round score. "In the spring we’ll need to play better on the opening round and not put ourselves in a hole after the first 18."

The Scots take a couple of weeks off before heading to Dearborn, Mich., Oct. 7 for the Red Poling Classic.

CROSS COUNTRY RECOVERS FROM SICK BAY

It hasn’t been the healthiest of starts to the season for the Scots cross country team.

Last week’s week off couldn’t have come at a better time for the team as Roger Haynes and his runners are recovering from the flu bug. Nearly the entire team has been battling colds the last few days and appears to be getting back into cross country shape.

"We’ll see how we’re doing coming out the back side of the illnesses," reported Haynes as his team prepares for a change of venue in this weekend’s Brissman-Lundeen meet in Rock Island.

The Midwest flooding this summer is having an impact on some cross country meets and the Brissman-Lundeen meet is no exception. The meet is usually run at a traditional layout on Credit Island which gives the teams a relatively good idea of their progress through the first third of the season. Due to conditions caused by the flood on Credit Island, the meet will instead be run at the hilly Saukie Golf Course in Rock Island.

"We’re a bit disappointed by the change in venue," said Haynes. "We like running the Brissman meet because three weeks into the season, we can see where we are compared to years past. Obviously, at the new location, we won’t have that comparison to rely on. It will still be a great meet."

Running a hilly course is not exactly the best situation for the Scots as they recover from the colds and congestion of the past two weeks. Haynes’ troops ran relatively well at the Bradley Open two weeks ago and the team is now in a training regime designed to freshen up some tired legs.

"We’ve changed our training a bit this week," reported Haynes. "In distance running this approach might not pay immediate dividends. The true measure of the training may show itself on down the line."

In the early season, the Scots have gotten a surprise boost – women’s runner Taryn Tang and Alan Rosiquez on the men’s side have run extremely well.

"Alan had a great summer of training and is ahead of where he was a year ago," reported Haynes. "A number of our women have been performing better than expected. Taryn, for never competing collegiately before, has contributed a lot to the team."

A couple of last season’s all-conference runners, Clay Staley and Mary Kate Beyer, have helped the Scots’ optimism. Staley has shown signs of getting back into top form and Beyer posted a second place finish in the always tough Bradley Open while working on finishing off the race in the last mile or two.

While Haynes can point to a handful of runners from his stable of 10 men and 12 women, he judges the progress by the success of all his runners in the team competition.

"The strength of our team’s success will be how well the 3-4-5 runners perform, especially on the men’s side," said Haynes. "So far, I’ve been pleased with our progress to this point, but we still need to get better."

Spoken like a true coach.

INFORMATION SHARING

Peter McNaughton, a 2000 inductee into the Monmouth College Hall of Fame, is getting well known among coaches in the track and field arena.

McNaughton was recently hired as an assistant track coach at Valparaiso University where he will work with sprinters and hurdles. He knows a thing or two about the events, claiming All-American honors in the 110-meter hurdles in 1987. During his track career at Monmouth, the talented sprinter won nine Midwest Conference titles.

Prior to joining Valpo, McNaughton was an assistant at Millikin for a year and spent three years assisting the Augustana program.

HALL OF FAMERS

On Saturday, Oct. 18, four former Fighting Scots athletes will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. The ceremony, held in the Huff Athletic Center will begin at 8:30 a.m. Scots Scoop will profile each of the inductees over the next four weeks.

Heather Furrow ‘98

Nobody was better at making it once around the track than Heather Furrow.

All seven of Furrow’s individual All-American efforts came at the 400-meter distance. Her school-record total of 10 All-American honors also includes three 4x100 relays.

On the national scene, the former Yorkwood High School star peaked with a third-place finish in the outdoor 400-meter dash in 1996. She followed with fourth- and eighth-place outdoor finishes her junior and senior seasons and placed fourth at that distance twice indoors.

Her other All-American performances came in the 400-meter hurdles, where she placed seventh and fourth in 1997 and 1998.

At the conference level, Furrow won 24 titles, including 14 individually and six at the 1996 indoor meet alone.

Ten years after her graduation, Furrow’s best time for once around the track is a school- and conference-record 56.33 and she also still holds MC marks in the indoor 400-meter dash (57.22) and the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.54).

Fri., Sept. 26

Sat., Sept. 27

Sun., Sept. 28

Tues., Sept. 30

Wed., Oct. 1

SCOTSIVATIONAL