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Show Sports Wildcats snap slump, get win WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19 2011 WSU knocks off Northern Arizona University to break 19 game losing streak By Corie Holmes asst. sports editor I PHOTO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST Weber State University's Caitlin Penrod and Shanae Langston block a ball against the University of Montana on Oct. 7. WSU lost to Northern Colorado University in three sets and beat Northern Arizona University in three sets this past weekend. WSU is back at the Swenson Gym Friday and Saturday. Playin' on Purple Ravens are my team and always will be Corie Holmes • The Signpost columnist Four years ago, I started getting into the National Football League. I had a close family friend who got drafted to the Baltimore Ravens. That automatically made me a Ravens fan. Before the draft that year, I did not really care about professional football. I could tell you who won the Super Bowl, but I never watched an entire game besides the Super Bowl. The Ravens were the first team for which I could recite which players on the team played which positions. I could ramble stats and tell you the hottest players on the team. I actually went to two Ravens games. One game was in Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium, and the other one was in San Diego at Qualcom Stadium. Both games were amazing experiences. A person can watch football on television, and they can watch college, high school and little league games live, but I don't think anybody can really experience football unless they do so from inside a professional stadium. Even if your tickets are in the nosebleed seats at the tip-top of the stadium, it's still incredible. Because of the amazing games I have watched, I love the Ravens even more. I swear I am the lone Ravens fan in Utah. I know of maybe four other people who proudly cheer See Purple page 7 The team had a rejuvenated `have fun' attitude going into The Signpost Saturday's game. Wray said the After a long stretch of losses, new attitude was the biggest the Weber State University vol- reason the outcome was so faleyball team is hopefull things vorable for WSU. are changing. "Our coaches finally said, WSU obtained its first win. `Just go out there and have a WSU swept Northern Arizona good time. If we lose the game, University in three straight sets, we lose," Wray said. "That's with scores of 25-22, 25-17 and what we did. Instead of focusing 25-21 at NAU's home court. so much on the final outcome, "We had been doing some we went out there and played. things we had not been doing Whatever happened happened." on offense," said Head Coach The Wildcats hit a seasonTom Peterson. "Everything high .254 attack percentage and came together in a nice positive had 11.5 team blocks against manner. It was nice to be able to NAU. Earl had her career high of sustain that for a long period of 17 digs. Wray contributed nine time." digs of her own, as well as 17 Before WSU got its first vic- kills. Clark added 12 kills. This is tory of the season and brought the second time in three matchits record to 1-19, WSU lost to es Clark has been in double-digNorthern Colorado University it hitting. in three sets with scores of 25WSU had a total of 46 kills, 19, 25-16 and 25-12 on Thurs- 17 errors, 45 assists, 47 digs and day. 11.5 blocks. NAU had 34 kills, Freshman Dama Cox and 21 errors, 30 assists, 49 digs and Mackenzie Clark had the high two blocks. in kills against NCU with five, "We finally did everything but Bethany Wray was close we needed to do on game day," behind with four. Shelby Earl Langston said. "Now that we had the high in digs with seven. know what the win feels like, it The team had a total of 24 kills, will be a lot easier than working 22 errors, 19 assists, 19 digs, six to find that feeling again." serving aces and eight blocks. Langston also said the team NCU had team totals of 36 kills, will continue to work on its of16 errors, 35 assists, 43 digs, six fense so that everyone contribserving aces and four blocks. utes as well as getting rid of "We just did not do anything team errors. very well," Wray said. "They "Eliminating errors is still our pushed us but we did not push big issue," Langston said. "We back or really even put up a fight." See Volleyball page 7 Hockey earns a 7-5 victory Wildcats finish strong against Montana Tech By Hector Valencia sports reporter I The Signpost The Weber State University hockey team won its homecoming game in a highscoring 7-5 win against Montana Tech University. The team put on a show for the fans in attendance, with two players racking up hat tricks. Braxton Green, the team captain, scored four goals for the Wildcats. Green's strong performance came as a bit of a surprise, since he was originally not going to play in the game because of a cracked rib. Green played because the team was missing some players. Green said the team played well for most of the game, despite have a few defensivezone breakdowns. "We played good most of the game," Green said. "A couple of mental breakdowns, but solid overall performance." With the WSU Wildcats winning their third home game, they now have a 4-3 record and have improved greatly from last season. Head Coach Steve Soto said he was happy with the way his team performed and thought they put together a strong team performance. "It was a good game all the PHOTO BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST Weber State University's goalkeeper last year protects the net. Hockey is currently 4-3 and IDK recently beat Montana Tech University 7-5 on Sunday. They will next play way through," Soto said. "The team showed composure when we were down and battled the whole game." MTU took the lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. Soto said he was happy to see his team tie the game five minutes later. "That was a good comeback for us," Soto said. "It gave us confidence to win the game." While he was happy with the win, Soto said he would like to see the team play more physically and win the small battles throughout the game. "The team performed well," Soto said. "But we still have tons of work this week." MTU played three games in three days on the road, and Soto said because of that, he felt MTU had started to get tired. "I thought MTU played well for playing three games in as many days," Soto said. "I'm glad they ran out of gas. Sophomore Chris Roberts performed well against MTU, picking up the other hat trick in the game for the Wildcats. Roberts said he was happy to continue the strong performance the team has had this year. "I felt like we had control of the game when we didn't play down to their level," Roberts said. "Overall, a great performance, and we kept our winning streak alive." He said he liked how the team played as a team, and how they did not give up when they got the lead. Soto said he was happy to see that, despite the game being held on a Sunday, a lot of fans who up. "I was very surprised of the amount of people who came to support us," Soto said. "It was a great Sunday of hockey." Now the team will head to See Hockey page 7 |