1996_11 The Daily Collegian November 1996

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Tuesday, November 19,1996
Sports
Sports Editor: Tom Sepulveda
Telephone: (209) 278-5733
Bulldogs lose tough match to New Mexico
■ Fresno State women's volleyball team plays
solid game against the Lobos, but can't bring
home the win.
Paul Martinez — 77ir Daily Collegian
Diana Nalbandian had 29 kills, 15 digs and two block assists for
>-v    the Bulldogs against New Mexico.
Kael Moffat
The Daily Collegian
The Fresno State women's vol¬
leyball team travelled down to Al¬
buquerque, New Mexico hoping for
a victory against the University of
New Mexico Lobos, but came up
short, losing 9-15. 15-11,9-15.7-
15.
The loss gives the Bulldogs an
overall record of 21-7. 9-5 in the
WAC.
"We competed better than we
ever have down there." said Bull¬
dog coach Lindy Vivas. "They just
have more experience at setter and
that was the difference."
The New Mexico setters, senior
Gretchcn Gegenfurtner and fresh¬
man Janelle Torres combined for 73
of New Mexico's 79 total assists.
Bulldog setters, sophomore Jes¬
sica Toya and freshman Diann
Aufdermauer combined for 64 of
Heartbreaking loss for seniors
By David Childers.
The Daily Collegian
It is written at the 50-yard
line, in the locker room and in
the conference rooms. Jim
Sweeney preached it repeatedly
to them over their Bulldog ca¬
reers. But after a devastating 44-
38 overtime loss to Air Force
Saturday at Bulldog Stadium,
the Bulldog seniors could not
help but to be down.
"Heartbreaking, I can't even
describe it any other way," said
senior Chris Bayne, who played
one of his best games of the sea¬
son with seven tackles and nine
assists. "I can't even talk about
it. I'm sorry. I don't even know
what to say."
They held a 31-3 half-time
lead, and it seemed as though
nothing would stand in the way
of a big, if not huge, upset of Air
Force. It was their final home
game Their final chance to per¬
form in front of the Red Wave.
And Sweeney's final appearance
on the Bulldog Stadium side¬
lines.
But after* five Falcon touch¬
downs in the second half, and
another to end the game in over-
time. their final home game
transformed quickly from a tale
of triumph to one of tragedy.
"We had this game in the bag.
and we just couldn't keep it."
senior Brian Roberson said. "It's
my last game in the Doghouse
and I couldn't win the game.
Nothing else even matters now
because we lost."
Roberson did; however,
make sure that none of the Red
Wavers in attendance would
ever forget the latest graduate of
"Wide Receiver U." He caught
seven passes for 144 yards and one
touchdown. He also became only
the third wide receiver in school
history to go over 1.000 yards re¬
ceiving in a season.
"You talk about number three,
you're talking about someone
who'll be in the NFL next year."
Falcons head coach Fisher DcBerry
said.
Both of Fresno State's senior
quarterbacks were able to direct the
offense, as Arellanes started and
Richie Donati played sparingly in
both halves, completing eight of his
II attempts and rushing for 17
yards on two scrambles.
"For me (the lossj is disappoint¬
ing because it is the last time that I
will ever go down into that stadium.
We just let it slip through our fin¬
gers." Donati said.
Possibly the most disgruntled of
the senior class was defensive back
Omar Stoutmire. The leading tack¬
ier a year ago and one of the senior
co-captains (along with center Gary
Osmundson) for the game was
ejected on the first series of the sec¬
ond half.
"When you kick a guy like Omar
out of a game, who led the nation
in tackles last year and has nearly
500 tackles here^you take the heart
and soul out of our football team."
Sweeney said.
"(The officials] said that I threw
a punch." Stoutmire said in disbe¬
lief after the game. "Some guy cut-
blocked me and I was just trying to
defend myself so I pushed him off.
I didn't throw a punch."
The ejection was completely out
of character for Stoutmire, and an
unlikely end for his final home
— Sports Information
Brian Roberson is one of
the graduating seniors this
season for the Bulldogs.
game.
"You never want to go out on
a bad note like that. Then we
lose the game also and that just
makes it even worse." Stoutmire
said.
Coming off of such an emo¬
tional loss, next week's match¬
up against San Diego State be¬
comes even harder to forecast.
But seeing as it is the final game
of Sweeney and the seniors' ca¬
reers, emotion should be at an
optimum level.
"I would hope for (San Di¬
ego State] not to take us lightly."
senior Rio Wells said. 'The
emotion is still going to be there,
we want to end this thing on a
positive note. That's how I want
to end it. I don't want to lose any
more games."
Fresno State's 70 total assists. Toya
collected 48 assists, and
Aufdermauer chalked up 16.
. According to Vivas, another fac¬
tor in the Lobo victory was the Bull¬
dogs' ball handling. Fresno State
had eight total recieving errors.
"When we passed the ball well,
we were able to play right with
them." said Vivas.
The Bulldogs tried to counter the
Lobo attack with a bit of an unor¬
thodox blocking scheme.
"Some times we had two middle
blockers across ihe front row, one
in the middle, one on the right side."
Vivas said.
The big offensive weapon for
Fresno State was Diana Nalbandian
who finished the night with 29 kills,
a .333 hitting percentage. 15 digs,
and two block assists.
"I was glad to see Diana play so
tough." Vivas said. "She had a real
focused match. Considering all the
changes we made on the right side,
she hit really well."
Senior outside hitter Tricia Tuley
also had a solid match for the Bull¬
dogs, collecting 16 kills, 20 digs.
and one block assist.
Middle blockers Debbie Davis
and Adaline Bouldin had good
numbers also. Davis finished with
14 kills, one service ace, six digs,
three block solos, and one block
assist. Bouldin turned in eight kills,
a .333 hitting percentage, one ser¬
vice ace, three digs, and two block
assists.
Fresno State got good playing
time from freshman hitters Anamie
Buckelew and Adrienne Sankey
Buckelew put down five kills! a
service ace. 13 digs, and three Mock
assists:
Sankey also had three block as¬
sists to go along with four kills, a
service ace, and six digs.
This week the Bulldogs face an
other tough weekend, hosting San
Diego State on Thursday, and num¬
ber-one ranked Hawaii Saturday
night in the North Gym.
Men's soccer will host
first round of playoffs
By Luis Hernandez
The Daily Collegian
An old Chinese proverb says: A
3.000-mile journey starts with one
single step. Chances are. Confucius
was thinking about the Fresno
State's men's soccer team and the
NCAA tournament when he came
up with that one.
The Bulldogs' journey to the
Final Four tournament in Rich¬
mond, Virginia starts at a familiar
site: Bulldog Stadium .
After winning the inaugural
Western Athletic Conference men's
soccer championship Sunday over
Air Force, the Bulldogs received an
at-large bid to the NCAA touma-
' ment. making it 13 times they have
been invited to the playoffs in the
program's history.
"We are exited about getting into
the tournament," J.J. Wozniak.
Fresno State's goalkeeper, said. He
added the Fresno State's draw came
up right away since the selection
committee was pairing up the West
region firsL "We were pumped up."
Wozniak said.
The Bulldogs, who are ranked
No. 13 in the newly released Soc¬
cer America poll this week, will
start off playoff action when they
host the Cal-Berkeley Golden Bears
at Bulldog Stadium. Nov. 24. Kick
off is set for 2 p.m.
"I am very pleased with the pair¬
ings," John Bluem, men's soccer
coach, said.
On the other side of the bracket,
the Washington Huskies and the
Santa Clara Broncos will scare off
at Washington. The winners will
Please see SOCCER page 3
Women's swimming
defeats UOP Tigers
By Diane Roberts
The Daily Collegian
The'Dogs came back from a 31-
point deficit to beat the University
of Pacific at Stockton, 137 to 124
Saturday. The Bulldogs, now 3-2.
won only one of the first eight
events to fall behind by 31 points.
They came back to win five of the
last six events and come on top at
the meet. ^_^__^ „
"We took them a little lighteT\5:15.42.
than we should have and found,
selves losing after the first
Daniel!a Irle, Fresno State
head coach, said
nicely, however, w'fth a one-two-
three finish in the 500 free and 400
IM. We learned an important les¬
son today."
Sophomore Nicole Brtfshey had
a great day. taking first place in the
1650 free with a time of 17:35.20 ,
and in the 500 free 5:11.90. Both
of these times were her season's
best. Junior Lisa Hislop would take
second place in both of these events
with a time of 17:46:00' and
~7
hack for the Bulldogs
;ible by Senior Sherly
SWIMMING page 3