1995_09 The Daily Collegian September 1995

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Friday, September 1,1995
S
PORTS
Warming Up. 1995 women's soccer team prepares for its inaugural season in the WAC
Women's soccer: Club sport no longer
By Paul Martinez
Assistant Sports Editor
After eight years, Fresno State's
women soccer program has finally
been legitimized, being elevated
from a campus club sport to NCAA
Division I status beginning this
season. And although the new team
dffes^not play a home game at
Bulldog Stadium until Sept. 22,
they were introduced last Saturday
at the men's Rotary Cup match here
against Fresno Pacific.
For most of the team, it was the
first time they had set foot on the
field of a full-size stadium in front
of an appreciative crowd.
"It [the wait] was all worth it
when we stepped onto that stadium
field," said defender Susie Daher.
"Kids were actually asking us for
our autographs afterward. It just
completely blew us away."
The big time has come at last for
a group of players who labored in
obscurity for years.
"I can't wait for the first game,"
midfielder Erin Barry said.
The 19-year-old from
Northridge came to Fresno State for
academic purposes. She had no
intention of continuing a soccer
career that included playing on a
high school team that won the city
championship five years straight.
But as is the case for most
athletes, a love for the game had her
back within a year. She joined the
loosely-knit, pay-as-you-go Fresno
State women's club team two years
ago.
"It's [club soccer] fiercely
competitive," Barry said. "Once we
got into the regionals, we played
teams like BYU, UCLA, Cal Poly
and Northern Arizona. BYU's
[team members] are all 5-foot-11 ,
160 pounds, and built like rocks.
Those were hard games."
Even harder may have been
funding the Club. The team
members drove to all these
destinations and fortunately,
someone usually knew someone or
had relatives in the city. The entire
team often packed into one house
to save on the hotel bills.
The team is now fully-funded,
and has a travel budget, a full-time
assistant coach, 11 scholarships and
51-year-old Head Coach Peter
Reynaud, who never had a losing
season in 12 years of coaching at
Sonoma State.
'This is ln,ng overdue for the
Fresno State women," Reynaud
said. "They finally get to play inside
that beautiful stadium."
Reynaud admits the team's
inception is due entirely to Title IX,
the federal statute which guarantees
an equal split between men's and
women's funded college sports.
However, regardless of the Title
IX ruling, things are happening fast
in women's soccer as a whole. This
season will be the first time that the
sport will be represented in the 34-
year history of the Western Athletic
Conference. Next year, the sport
will be included in the Olympic
Games as a medal sport for the first
time.
Reynaud didn't arrive on
campus until June 1, which is late
for recruiting in the competitive
world of women's soccer. So, to
Sports Editor: Brian Fisher
Telephone: (209) 278-2486
compensate, he broughj some of
Sonoma Stare's better-players.
"Sonoma's got enough depth to
continue," he said.
In addition, he added the core
group of Bulldog club players. He
even intercepted a few' players
bound for other colleges, using the
lure of one or another of the 11
assorted scholarships at his
disposal.
Add a few top local freshmen
players, and he has the groundwork
Sot the same type of quality
programs he's led at Sonoma (five
straight NCAA appearances) and
Cal-Berkeley (NCAA quarterfinal
in 1986.)
Still, his team is very young and
he's building his foundation around
co-captains Barry and Cheri Villa,
one of Reynaud's star strikers at
Sonoma. It's.not the fust time
Bulldog Stadium has seen a Villa -
her brother .Ricky was a striker for
the Bulldogs from 1986-87 and
n   1989-90.
Reynaud is reluctant to disclose
too much of his strategy for the
inaugural season, but he'll apply
what" has worked at Sonoma State,
especially in terms of conditioning
and player morale.
Reynaud will pack the midfield
using a 3-5-2 formation, with three
of the five halfbacks as defending
midfielders. Defensive pressure
will also be emphasized. Reynaud
plans to go with his preferred 3-4-3
scheme as soon as the team shows
signs of being more competitive.
Goalkeepers - Adria Jevoich, .
and Troyann Gentile, freshmen. "A
difficult choice, who to play,"
Reynaud says. "Adria's tall [a
desirable characteristic in
goalkeepers], butTroyann's shorter
and quicker." Reynaud may platoon
these two based on the style of the
Please see INAUGURAL, Page 7.
Ticket Info
The Fresno State ticket office
still has student season tickets
for the following sports:
Football
Student season ticket... $4450
Non-student
guest. .$56.50
(for sections 30,31,32)
NOTE: includes six home
games, beginning Sat Sept 2,
against Northeast Louisiana.
Volleyball
Student season ticJcet„..$33.00
NOTE: Include* Dan Gamel
Invitational, Sept 8-9 and 10
home single-game matches
beginning Sept 23.
Women's Soccer
Student season ticket~$19.25
NOTES; Bist year that
program i* in the WAC Will
ierenhorne games,
hningSeffcZ
Interim AD named, ready for task at hand
— Men's-Soccer
Student seitpon;lklGet-.427.50
NOTES: Nine honte matches
beginning Sep to. Schedule
mil also feature tr.
powertoeTdseoutl
By Matt Croce
Staff Writer
When former Fresno State
Athletic Director Dr. Gary
Cunningham announced that he
was leaving to take the same
position at University of California,
Santa Barbara, Dr. Benjamin
Quillian found himself with two
jobs.
In addition to his post as Fresno
State's vice president for
administration, he was also
appointed as interim athletic
director by CSUF President Dr.
John Welty on Aug. 8,1995. He will
fill the athletic director's position
until a permanent replacement has
been found.
Quillian, 51, has been Fresno
State's vice president of
administration for the past two
years. In addition to his new duties,
Quillian is responsible for the
university's financial management
and for support areas that including
facilities development, campus
police and safety, and plant
operations.
When asked about his plans as
the interim 'athletic director.
Interim Athletic Director, Dr.
Benjamin Quillian, Jr.
Quillian said, "As interim A.D., I
will monitor Tide DC very carefully.
I will also see to it that construction
[of the new women's softball
diamond] is completed within our
planned budget. We will also be
exploring the possibility of an on-
campus basketball arena." *
Quillian was born in St. Louis,
Mo. in 1944. He attended Harris
Teachers College and received his
bachelor's -degree in elementary
education in 1965. In 1970 Quillian
earned  a Master's  degree  in
educational administration from
Southern Illinois University. He
concluded his educational career
with a doctorate in social relations
in education from Washington
University in St. Louis in 1977.
Quillian brings a pretty
extensive resume to the A.D.
position.
Before his arrival at Fresno State
in 1993. Quillian worked for 21
years at Southern Illinois University
at Edwardsville.
He began his tenure as a
professor in 1972, and continued to
teach until 1985. From 1978-1982,
Quillian was director of the central
affirmative action office. He served
as assistant director of university
personnel services from 1982-1985,
before being promoted as associate
director from 1985-1987.
Quillian is active in numerous
professional organizations in the
Fresno area. He currently serves as
secretary of the Fresno State
Athletic Corporation. He is also a
member of the Fresno chapter of the
NAACP, the National Association
of College and University Business
Officers, and the Fresno Rotary
Club.
When Cunningham stepped
down amongst much speculation
that he had been forced to resign,
President Welty decided to appoint
an interim athletic director
immediately, and offered the
position to Quillian.
According to Quillian, a search '
committee is currently being
established to begirt working on
hiring a full-time A.D. within the
next nine months. When asked if he
considers applying for the full-time
A.D. post, Quillian replied,
"Absolutely not."
Although Quillian should have
his hands full overseeing a star-
studded cast of coaches (including
Jerry Tarkanian, Jim Sweeney, Bob
Bennett, and Margie'Wright), he
says he has met with them and they
"indicate only a willingness to
cooperate and work with me."
"I am not intimidated by them,
and they have let me know that they
are on my side."
Quillian indicated that he wishes
to continue Fresno State's tradition
of excellence in athletics. He will
support the program as defined by
the coaches and boosters.
±