1996_09 The Daily Collegian September 1996

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Wednesday, September 25,1996
Sports
Sports Editor: Tom Sepulveda
Telephone: (209) 278-5733
CORNER
Men's soccer
NSCAA/Umbro
Coaches Poll
Top 25
1. Duke (23)
2. Virginia
3Creighton(l)
4. Rutgers
5. St. John's
6. Fullerton State
7. SMU
8. James Madison
9. Washington '
10. Wisconsin-Madison
ll.NC-Charlotte
11. Boston University
13. California
14. George Mason
15. Cornell
16. Connecticut
17. Penn State
18 San Diego
19. Norte Dame
20. Clemson
21. Indiana
22. Fresno State
23. Ai^Force
24. NC-Greensboro
25. Syracuse
479
426
423
387
385
370
290
269
262
252
245
245
172
149
Bulldogs wrestling earns
national ranking
Fresno State recevied another
top-20 recruiting ranking. Prep
Wrestling Coast-To-Coast rated
head coach Dei.nis De Liddo's re¬
cruiting class he 13th best in the
nation.
Last week. Fresno State's recruit¬
ing class was ranked #8 by Amatucr
Wrestling News.
Two Bulldogs wrestlers
make All-American team
The 1996 Asics Tiger All-Ameri¬
can team was announced yesterday,
and Fresno State freshman Stephen
Abas was named second team All-
American at the 119-pound spot. He
was also named to the Coast-To-
Coast Dream Team at the 123-pound
division.
Freshman Trenton McDowell
also received Dream Team honor¬
able mention at the 143-pound class.
Women's tennis team
earns preseason honors
The Fresno State women's ten¬
nis team was one of 34 men's and
women's tennis programs to be
named as ITA All-American Aca¬
demic Tennis Teams.
The award is given to teams with
a combined GPA of 3.20 or higher.
Sports staff still needed
, j(i 'The Daily Collegian is looking
™9flgtlU three sportswriter positions,
■'■/trf you are enthusiastic about
sports, a good writer, and depend¬
able, contact sports editor Tom
Sepulveda at 278-5733.
Interested students can also ap¬
ply in person at the Daily Collegian
in the Keats building.
Donati vs. Arellanes?
Despite 7 interceptions,
Arellanes is still the man
Arellanes (above), remains the starter leaving
last year's starter, Donati (below) as the backup.
By Luis Hernandez
The Daily Collegian
~\/
Despite having had some lackluster per¬
formances in his first three games, Jim
Arellanes is still Fresno State's starting quar¬
terback, according to Bulldogs Head Coach
Jim Sweeney. That ends any possible quar¬
terback controversy.
Arellanes has thrown only one TD pass,
while being picked off seven times, and
completed 37 out 69 passes for 486 yards.
"Yes. He
is [the stan- J
ing quarter-
b a <j k ] . "
SwAcney
said. yAnd
Rich Donati
is the back¬
up."
Sweeney
said that his      	
quarterback
shouldn't have fingers-jpointed at him for
the team's three defeats this season. "The
quarterback can't be blamed for people not
catching or fumbling while running,"
Sweeney said.
Turnovers keep hurting Fresno State's
•offense. Arellanes said. "AVe shot ourselves
in the foot," Arellanes said, refening to the
Bulldogs' offensive woes. He added that
turnovers take away momentum and rhythm
to his offense.
"I am worried about a lack of productiv¬
ity," Sweeney said of his offense. But while
Sweeney is sticking with Arellanes, Donati
might get a Chance to play depend) ng upon
his performance. "Everybody needs a
ging injuries that affect his offense.
He added that former quarterbacks at
Fresno State put his current signal callers in
a bad position because of their success.
"These quarterbacks are under the micro¬
scope." Sweeney said.
Arellanes has faith in his offense. "We
still have the players to go out and win
games," Arellanes said.
He added that taking care of turnovers,
running and throwing the ball well will help
alleviate his sputtering offense. "The offen¬
sive line has
————^———^—   'been doing
the     job."
Arellanes
said.   "[The
running'
backs   and
quarter-
backs) need
to step it up
       and    com¬
pete."
Also troublesome for Sweeney is the de¬
fensive side of the ball. "I am also worried
about the defense. The lack of size and inju¬
ries that are causing the loss of first line per¬
sonnel and strength of back-up positions."
Sweeney said. And. not surprisingly, the
most important injury to report is Chris
Bayne. one of Fresno State's top lineback¬
ers,   who will miss at least a week with a
shoulder injury. /
Despite all those worries, Sweeney has
something to smile about. "The most stable
factor in our football team is the kicking
game," Sweeney said. He added that kicker
Armen Torigian, who had a 55-yard
scoretying field goal at Utah, and punter Jeff
"The quarterback can't be blamed
for people not catching [the ball]
or fumbling while running."
—Jim Sweeney
Head Football Coach
L>
chance to produce, but they need tjk whole    Roberts, have done a good job so far this
offensive line-up," Sweeney said of the nag-    season.
Nalbandian battles baick from injury
I Outside hitter
feels that she's
playing at * about 90
percent.'
By Gary Chapla
The Daily Collegian
While helping to lead her team
to a 14-4 start and a national rank¬
ing, Diana Nalbandian. one of the
team's most prominent players, was
on pace to break the school's single-
season record in kills — as a sopho¬
more — before she suffered a sea¬
son-ending knee injury.
Racing BjYU in its 18th match
of l^seasonjffelbandian yjas side-
lilflp for thB&nteinder of the sea¬
ler frtwfn'g out that she had
ACL and lateral miniscus.
T was in a lot of pain ... I was
screaming." Nalbandian said of her
injury.
For this type of injury, an ath-"
lete is expected to be in rehabilita¬
tion for at least nine months. How¬
ever, this was not so for
Nalbandian. Like Michael Jordan,
her favorite athlete, she has battled
back from her injury within less
time than expected.
"My game is at about 90 percent
right now. Most of my game is at
the same level from where I left off,
but some parts of my game are not
up to how they should be," said
Nalbandian. "But it's feeling bet¬
ter." %
And like Jordan, she doesn't like
to admit when she is in pain.
Much like Jordan's coach, Phil
Jackson, volleyball Head Coach
Lindy Vivas, can sense when her
athlete(s) — in this case,
Nalbandian —is in pain and then
she rests her for a while.
There was no real explanation as
to as why this freejeaccident oc¬
curred, NaJeapdian ' said.
Nalbandian. like her teammates,
took the proper precautions to .
Please see CHAPLA page 8
Paul Martinez — The Daily Collegian
Junior Diana Nalbandian has played in every game this season.