September 18, 2007

Fall sports are heading deep into conference play this week with another round of matchups scheduled for the weekend.

In volleyball, Greenville came out swinging last week to start 3-0 in conference play. The Panthers, behind senior Laura Alo, defeated Lincoln Christian (3-1), Fontbonne (3-2) and Maryville (3-1). Alo had 20 kills and only two errors versus Fontbonne, while also serving six straight points in the fifth and deciding game to give her squad the win.

Webster also recorded a 3-0 mark in conference action, including what could be a crucial 3-1 win over Principia. The Gorloks were led by Crystal Shelton with 72 kills in six matches and Megan Floarke with 45 kills, 14 blocks and seven service aces.

The Gorloks women's soccer team continued to dominate on the field and remained undefeated at 6-0 with two non-conference wins last week. Webster also broke into the NSCAA/adidas® Central Region rankings with a 10th place showing in the latest poll.

In other women's soccer action Maryville and Principia picked up conference victories versus Westminster and Greenville respectively, both of which could be middle-of-the-pack teams come late October. The Panthers are currently led by Johanna Publicover (7 goals, 2 assists) and Hanna Mehring (6 goals, 3 assists), while Maryville's scoring has been evenly distributed.

On the men's side both Maryville and Webster started 2-0 in conference play. The Saints picked up a big 3-2 win on the road at Westminster. Junior Kurt Vogelpohl netted the game-winning goal in the 75th minute, giving Maryville their first win versus the Blue Jays since 2003.

Principia's men's squad also recorded a 2-1 victory versus Greenville, while MacMurray tallied their first win of the season with a 5-3 victory versus Eureka.

There is only little over one month until the SLIAC Cross Country Championships and all squads are preparing to battle the change in weather.

While Greenville and Principia had last week off, Fontbonne's men's and women's cross country squads paced all SLIAC runners at the Maryville Cross Country Classic. The Griffins' Everett Jackson placed 15th out of 56 runners with a time of 17:42.71, and on the women's side Rachel Hanson recorded a time of 21:04.66 to finish eighth out of 67 runners.

In the team scoring Fontbonne's men placed second out of four teams with 56 total points. Blackburn also posted a team score of 106 for fourth place. The Fontbonne and Webster women placed fourth and seventh respectively with scores of 112 and 158.