□ The Clackamas Print
Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 '
sportsed@clackamas. edu
Sports
Shades of pink: coloring a victory in tie-dye
By John William Howard
Sports Editor
. Tpr .say, th a t the volleyball team ’s trou n cin g o f
M ultnom ah U niversity was a beat-dow n w ould be a
euphem ism , if the conclusion was m ade purely from
th e star .sheet. I f you were in attendance, it w ould be.-,
an o u trig h t lie.
T h e Clackam as C o m m u n ity College Cougars flat
tened M u ltn o m ah last W ednesday in straight sets to
th e t u n e o f 25-13, 2 5-7 an d an em barrassing 25-4 at
hom e in th e Randall H all gym nasium . W ere it n o t
a ' “p in k -p u t” in su p p o rt o f breast cancer, th e p in k
tinges o n the cheeks of. the M u ltn o m ah girls m ight
ju st have been visible, on th eir faces as they slunk
from the gym, utterly defeated.
In atm osphere,- it was a far c ty from ju st a few
weeks ago, w hen a th ro n g filled the gym and; w atched
tw o pow erhouse program s stru g g leto the finish. T h is
tim e, the hom e team d o n n ed p in k tie-dye T-shirts
instead o f their regular? jerseys. The. unusually th in
crowd was d o tte d w ith shirrs, fraps a n d sunglasses and
k ept fairly q uiet m ost o f th e night...,
• T h a t d idn’t seem to affect the Cougars. W hile
they ¿Weren’t as. pum ped, before the game as they
have been in the past, Clackam as ju m p e d o u t to a
'm rick[4>L fead in the first set, taking advantage o f
the height an d skill difference betw een the tea m s..
M u ltn o m ah was helpless against the tow ering front,
line-of C lackam as and to o k a b v a tin g fro m the start.
T h e lead grew to 2 1>8 before the team s traded a few
points a n a the C ougars finished the first set 25-13
w ith o u t breaking, a sweat. It was clear from th e first
serv e-th at M u ltn o m a h was in for a th rash in g , so
the a tte n tio n tu rn ed from th e com petition betw een
team s an d tow ard the com petition w ith in Clackam as
Itself.
: A ccording to H ead C oach K athie W oods, ,the
game against M ultn o m ah was an o p p o rtu n ity to try
o u t a 'few different things an d mess w ith the line
up. W ith m iddle blocker Shauna Salopek o u t w ith
an injury, freshm an B rittney Bevens got th e start
ing spot. Also new in the starting lineup was Jessica,
Staigle, w ho started at libero in place o f M aeghan
Angel.
n o th [Angel] an d Staigle are com peting against
each o ther for th a t spot. T h ey b o th played equal
tim e ,” [sa id W oods.' “ w e’re j u s ttr y in g to figure o u t
w ho is going to take th a t n o d in league play. It’s really
intense an d i t ’s feally close,” said W oods.
. T h e team is m aking efforts to be m ore balanced in
th eir attack, rather th a n feed a heavy a m o u n t o f th eir
offense th ro u g h sophom ore star Taylor R ichardson,
w ho leads the . so u th ern region an d is fo u rth in the
N W A A C C in kills.
>
“W ere w orking on spreading ou r offense s o we
don’t have to w ear [R ichardsonj o u t so m uch,” said
W oods. “W e have oth er hittersf an d others are step
ping up. I th in k th at [Bevens] did a really good job
tonig h t . w orking in the m iddle.”
W hile Bevens isn’t bran d new to, the m iddle block
er position, it isn’t q uite w hat she’s used to. Bevens
said th a t she hadn’t fealty played anything o th er th a n
outside h itte r since th e eighth grade, b u t th a t the
transition from one to th e o th er wasn’t to o tough.
. - “T o n ig h t [the coaches] really w anted, to push fee,
s n they p u t m e o u t there an d I' d id w h at they asked,”
said Bevens, w ho led the C ougars w ith ten kills and
zero errors, h ittin g ¿.714. for thè* m atch. She also
m e n tio n e d th a t despite the lower th a n usual level o f
competition-; they s till needed to “always go o u t play
ing like they were the best team [that we’ve faced].
T h a t p re tty m u ch keeps us in check.”
W oods »-went, as .far as to set. goals for points
allowed, 'a n d d iffere n tia te d betw een p o in ts th a t
M u ltn o m ah earned and points th a t Clackam as gave-
away.
‘T m feally p ro u d o f m y .’team because they actu
ally, got better w ith each gam e,” said W oods. “U sually
w hen yoii play a weaker team , you end up playing
dow n’. T h ey didn’t do th at, tonig h t, w hich I th in k is
trem endous grow th f o r u s .” ' *
Richardson sets up to serve against M u ltn o m a h
Focus is w hat we talk a bout the m ost w ithin
University. She h a d fiv e serving aces a n d no serving
the te a m /’ said freshm an Julia Toscano, w ho led the
errors in the match.
team in total-attack attem pts, and was second in-kills
w ith 9.
“[We’re] learning how to finish a gam e o u t an d be
In the end, Clackam as held th eir o p p onents to
th e lowest p o in t to tal (24) an d lowèst set to tal (4)
q u ic k a bout it,” said T oscano.
In spite o f th e large m argin o f v ic to ry —
this season, in w hat tu rn e d o u t to be little m ore th an
M u ltn o m ah had six. kills to C lackam as’s 3 9 .— there a rehearsal in p reparation for the N W A A C C cham
was still room for im provem ent. O f the 24 points pionships next m o n th . T h e w om en c o n tin u ed th eir
th a t M q ltn o m ah scored, 9 o f th em were from errors w in n in g streak w ith w ins at S W O regon C o m m u n ity
by the Cougars, p u ttin g th em above th e to ta l th a t C ollege (25-17, 2 5 -2 2 , 25-2 3 ) on Friday an d
W oods an d Associate H ead C oach Brad Swayne set U m p q u a C o m m u n ity C ollège (25-18, 2 7 -25, 18-25,
for d ie evening.
22-25, 15-13) o n Saturday and sit th ird in th e so u th
‘ '“T h e im provem ent was good, b u t we d id n ’t m eet ern region standings beh in d L inn-B entori an d M t.
t h e goal,” said Toscano.
H ood.
Positive power pulls through for fifth consecutive win
Clackamas’Ashley Brewer (12) battles Clark midfielder Kelsey Fraiser (19) Clackamas w on 2-0, their fo u r th consecutive shutout.
By Katie Aamatti
Associate Sports Editor
W ind blew throug’. foe surrounding trees
and storm clouds hovered as the Clackamas
Cougars and Clark Penguins met for die
second W e this season last Saturday at Clark
College in Vancouver, Wish.
Throughout the 90 minutes of fast-paced
play, each team had die other sprinting,
reaching, rolling, jumping and diving over
the mushy footing ana each other for control
o f the ball. While each team played with dili
gence and aggressiveness, the Cougars came
out on top By scoring two goals in the final
ten minutes, bringing the final score to 2-0.
Throughout the game, the two teams
batded for position and took control o f the
ball, sending it back and forth across the
pitch. Both teams had each other actively
pursuing every pathway that led to the net
and would later on lead to a win for the
Cougars.
In the 15th minute, Clark midfield
er Jovanna Baza found an opening and
launched a shot toward the net from within
the 18 yard box and into the open arms of
Clackamas’ goalkeeper Tori Wilkinson.
As the ball traveled back up the field
toward the opposing net, Clark Head Coach
Stan Rodrigues began to shake his head in
frustration as he watched Clackamas mid
fielder Sevilla Soriano make her move and
aim toward die for comer o f the net in the
32nd minute.
“No, no, what are you doing? Reach for
id” said Rodrigues toward Clark goalkeeper
Marissa Tyler as she tipped die ball for
ward and caught it, shutting down Sorianos
attempt. The first half ended after a few
more wide and high attempts from both
teams but much to Clarks relief the score
remained 0-0.
As the Cougars talked openly about their
efforts so fir, head coach Janine Szpara
instilled within them confidence and insight,
as well as explaining certain instances in
the game where an improvement could be
made. Never did Szpara belitde them or
count them out as a weak link in die team’s
effort.
“Last time we were on our home field and
this time were On their home field Its à tight
game; they’re out here to play,” Szpara said to
die team at halftime.
The second half began with both teams
battling just as hard as they were in die first
half In the 72nd minute, it was dear that the
aggressive action and the Cougars’ fast pace
were taking a toll on Clark.
While attempts for control were made
during thè 80th and 81st minutes, the ball
continued to fly in every direction before it
came into the path o f Clackamas’ Jasmin
Garda, who guided the ball toward me goal
in the 82nd minute. As thè ball popped into
the air, Clark goalkeeper Tyler tipped the ball
backward, scoring an own goal and putting
Clackamas up t4).
Despité the encouraging words from
Clark teammates on the bendi, it was appar
ent that the Penguins had given up to the
Cougars. In the 86th minute; Clackamas’
Samantha Hamacher charged forward and
scored her first goal o f the season from 20
yards, giving the Cougars a two goal lead
Hamacher’s goal would prove to be the fin
isher and Clackamas would walk away with
their seventh win of the season.
As the game ended, the Cougars shared
smiles and words o f praise with fellow team
mates while they packed up their gear. The
Penguins, however, prepared for disappoint
m ent to come at them from all sides as they
listened to the criticism from their coach.
The win came as foe fifth victory in a
row for foe Cougars, who have only allowed
one goal in that stretch since falling 0-1 to
second ranked Spokane on Sept. 24. Four of
Wilkinson’s five shutouts have come in foe
last five games.
“Today they all did well offensively and
defensively. [Wilkinson] did a great job
guarding foe goal,” said Szpara o f foe team’s
efforts as well as Wilkinsons fifth shutout o f
foe season.
“Watching foe Cougars [play] is thrilling,
especially when there is so much action and
I can’t stop watching or I’ll miss something,”
said Lisa McHenry, a longtime spectator o f
Clackamas athletics. “Szpara is sure to take
them to new levels.”