Published: September 02, 2008 11:42 pm            

Local sports briefs 9/3

VOLLEYBALL

UPJ drops WVIAC opener

Junior middle hitter Kristin Irwin had 11 kills and four block assists, but it wasn’t enough as Wheeling Jesuit University dealt the Lady Cats a 3-1 loss in the 2008 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener Tuesday night at the Sports Center.

With the loss, coach Linda Renzi’s Lady Cats slipped to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

After winning the opening game 25-22, UPJ lost the next three 25-15, 25-16 and 25-16.

Along with Irwin's 11 kills and four block assists, junior outside hitter Nicole Houser added eight kills and senior outside hitter Kayla Lape, a Chestnut Ridge graduate, chipped in five block assists. Merissa Larrew added 22 assists and Katie Shadron (Ligonier Valley) had 14 digs.



BASKETBALL

Schmidt named AASU coach

Armstrong Atlantic State University of Savannah, Ga., announced the hiring of Johnstown native Matt Schmidt as the Lady Pirates’ new head women’s basketball coach.

Schmidt comes to Armstrong Atlantic State from defending NCAA Division II national champion Northern Kentucky, where he served as an assistant coach for the past four seasons.

He becomes the seventh head women’s basketball coach in Lady Pirates history.

Schmidt, a Ferndale graduate, spent three seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Findlay (Ohio) prior to joining the Northern Kentucky coaching staff.

He also previously was an assistant coach at both West Virginia University and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.

Schmidt takes over a program that went 20-11 a season ago and advanced to the 2008 Peach Belt Conference Championship game, the third title game appearance in Lady Pirate basketball history.

Schmidt played basketball at West Liberty State College (W.Va.), where he graduated in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education.

He earned his master’s degree in physical education from West Virginia University in 2000.



SOFTBALL

Stock, team win national title

PRESCOTT, Ariz. - Former American Legion and AAABA baseball player Justin Stock was a member of the men’s fast-pitch softball team that claimed a national championship last week.

Stock was the left fielder on the Landis Market team from Telford in Montgomery County, which won the American Softball of America (ASA) Class C title with a 7-0 record in the 50-team tournament.

Landis defeated teams from Las Cruces (N.M.), Salt Lake City, Tucson (Ariz.) Manor (Texas), Wilcox (Ariz.) and East Wareham (Mass.) before shutting out Santa Rosa, Calif., 9-0, in the title tilt.

Stock had a great deal to do with his team’s success at the tournament, earning first team All-American honors and winning the batting title.

He batted a phenomenal .818 (18 of 22), which included three home runs, three triples and three doubles with 15 RBIs and 20 runs scored. In addition, he was hit by pitches three times and walked twice, pushing his on base percentage to .852.

Since the ASA began holding Class C national championships in the mid-1980’s, this is the second time a team from Pennsylvania has won the title. Stock’s father, Pat, the Central Cambria softball coach who served as third base coach for Landis Market, was a member of the 2005 Pennsylvania team that also won the Class C crown.



SOCCER

UPJ men ranked No. 4

Starting the season 2-0 was good enough to put the Pitt-Johnstown men at No. 4 in this week’s National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Adidas/ NCAA Division II Atlantic Region men’s poll. East Stroudsburg is the top-ranked team in the Atlantic Region.

UPJ began the season with a 2-0 win over Chestnut Hill College and a 2-1 victory over the University of the District of Columbia in last weekend’s UPJ Kick-Off Classic.

East Stroudsburg (1-1) is followed by Davis & Elkins (2-0), West Chester (2-0), UPJ and Millersville (2-0).

SFU’s Flick earns honor

LORETTO – The Northeast Conference announced Tuesday that it has named St. Francis’s Traci Flick the Brine/NEC Rookie-of-the-Week for the week of Sept. 2.

Flick has already made a significant impact on the field for the Red Flash. In only her second collegiate game, the midfielder scored three goals on three shots in Friday’s win against Holy Cross. Her hat trick is the first in three years for a Flash player. The last St. Francis player to score a hat trick was Nicole Khanna, who scored three goals on in a 7-0 win against Delaware State on

Sept. 7, 2005.



FOOTBALL

YMCA hosting tailgate party

The YMCA will hold a tailgate party on Friday to kick off the opening game of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season.

Members and guests are invited to wear their Steelers attire, bring Terrible Towels and enjoy food, fun and refreshments from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.