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Show I Friday, Sept. 16,2005 Take Note: The women's rugby team takes on BYU Saturday at 11 a.m. on the HPER Field. 797-1761 sports@statesman.usu.edu Breaking the ice Here/sHow Hockey team ready to start season BY BRYAN HINTON Assistant Sports Editor After finishing sixth in the country, last season will be a tough act to follow for the Utah State hockey club, but the Aggies said they are up to the challenge. "We're going to be better than last year," defenseman Nate Pierce said. "Overall, we're a better team. We have better depth and better talent." Head Coach Jerry Crossley shared the same enthusiasm. "It'll be a fun season," Crossley said. "I'm encouraged by the team's attitude and the talent depth." The Aggies will begin their season this weekend at home with exhibition games against USU alumni on Friday and BYU on Saturday. All home games start at 8 p.m. at the Eccles Ice Arena in North Logan. USU added 11 new players for this season, which Crossley said will be a big asset to the team. "It's a new generation team," he said. "It's that next group. If this team matures, we can be every bit as good as last year, if not better. I'm as encouraged as I've ever been." The Aggies will not only see a big change on the bench, but also in the schedule. UVSC will begin playing this season as well as UNLV. "It creates a more diverse schedule," Crossiey said. "We don't have to play Weber five times." Crossley said it's nice to have another in-state team, but it is not new to have four Division-II teams in Utah because the University of Utah had a team until two seasons ago. "[UVSCJ's another instate rivalry," he said. "It's good to have teams close by. They make for fun games." The way teams are selected for the national tournament will also change this season. Until this year, the top four teams in each region in the official ACHA rankings were automatically invited to nationals. This season, only the top two teams will get the automatic bid and the teams ranked No. 3-10 will play a regional tournament for the other two spots at the national tournament in Rochester, N.Y. "Who goes to nationals will also be decided by a tournament," Crossley said. "Every team in the top 10 is in the hunt. It changes strategies a lot." UNLV will be hosting a tournament with USU, BYU and the Weber State D-II team in early December. Crossley said it will be a good opportunity for the Aggies in case they do not finish in the top two. "Tournaments are more physically demanding," he said. "They are mentally challenging. It will be good to prepare for that kind of atmosphere." This will be the first full season USU will have with the expanded seating capacity at the arena. Midway through last year, 1,000 new seats were added on the north side of the ice, which doubled the capacity to 2,000. "We hope to fill the seats with the new setup," Crossley said. "We hope the fans have a good lime. It'll be a good show." Tickets have been reduced to $3 for students, but will remain at $6 for non-students. Here is a more in-depth look at the team: See page 10 Soccer team picks up first win Staff Writer The longest winless streak in Utah State women's soccer history ended at 10 games on Thursday with a solid 3-1 win over the University of San Francisco at Bell Tower Field. Charity Weston led the Aggies with two goals, both assisted by Lacey Christenson, who also found net. "It feels pretty dang good," Utah State Head Coach Heather Cairns said of getting the win. "We've been in games all season long and we've felt like we've played well at times and Game Over lEtnal Results . UTAH STATE 3 SAN FRANCISCO 1 haven't been able to put it all together, and my goodness, did we ever today!" Things did not start well for the Aggies as they went Ryan Tolbot photos/rtolbotQ-ccMSu.edu - down 1-0 in only the third minute of play. Utah State responded in the ninth minute. Jessica Darrow floated a free kick from half field to the head of Christenson, who flicked it on to Weston at the top of the box. Weston took a touch to beat her mark and slotted home her first goal of the year to bring the score level at 1-1. "Charity, she's been playing so well all year and for her to finally get that first goal is like a weight off," Cairns said. "She's had a lot of shots for us and for her to put that shot away is great." Weston wasn't finished. In the final minute before the intermission, Christenson played a perfectly weighted pass into Weston's stride. The USU striker was alone with the USF goalkeeper and calmly found the back of the net for the second time on the evening^ "It feels awesome," Weston said of scoring after many near misses this season. "Getting that off my back. I've hit the post so many times this season, so it feels good." Even with a 2-1 lead, Utah State continued to pressure the San Francisco defense throughout the second half. "We didn't want to stop attacking [in the second half] because as soon as you stop attacking, then you're on Ryan Talbotphoto/rtcilbolQcc.usu.edu AGGIE CHARITY WESTON takes a shot after getting in front of USF's Cameron Hernandez. Weston scored the first goal of the match with her kick. •SOCCER See page 9 • • ; - • • & - : -m- •'- - . • HOCKEY Ags top Dons BY SCOTT MCALLISTER \Siep-by-step~sports \ BY ANDREA EDMUNDS Sports Editor Doing a jump serve in volleyball isn't exactly a walk in the park, but it's not as hard as you may think. Senior Zuzana Cernianska . has been doing a jump serve for eight years and its something that has come in handy for her team. She said she uses the jump serve for a couple reasons. Not only can it be harder to pass for the receiving team, but she also says she uses it to try and throw off the opposing teams. "During the game you have to change your serve," Cernianska said. "If everybody just serves a jump serve, then the other team will be prepared for a jump serve." So, she said, during a match, the Aggies try to mix it up by having people do different serves — including a jump serve. The first thing you do on a jump serve is go to the service line - the "out" line at the back of the court - and take four or five steps back from it. Cernianska said she serves from either the left or right side of the service line, depending on where her coach tells her to aim. After that, it's just a matter of tossing the ball up and hitting it over the net. Before you throw it, decide which arm is stronger. When you throw the ball up, make sure it is slightly to that side. You need to throw the ball pretty high and forward. Make sure you don't throw the ball so far forward that it goes in front of the service line, you still need to be behind the line when you hit it. After you throw the ball, take two to three steps forward, jump up and hit the ball with your stronger arm. Cernianska said it's not too hard to get the timing down. She says she's gotten to the point that she just knows how high to throw it and when to jump. Once you get the timing down, start hitting it as hard as you can. -aedm unds@cc. usu. edu This is how you do it: STEP 1 : Take four or five steps back from the service line - the "out" line at the back of the volleyball court. STEP 2 : Go to the left or right side of the service line depending on where you want to aim. STEP 3: Toss the ball high and forward. STEP 4 : Take two or three steps forward and jump up, staying behind the service line. STEP 5: Hit the ball as hard as you can. It helps if you get it over the net. This is why you do it: • It helps throw off the opposing team when you mix up the serve. A jump serve, depending on how hard you hit the ball, can be more difficult to pass and return. |