2008 Woodie Awards
Two SRU teams ranked in spring preseason polls
By Matt Matusek
Issue date: 2/4/05 Section: Sports
Two Slippery Rock University sports teams enter the 2005 season ranked nationally in preseason polls.
Women's water polo, coached by Jim Yeamans, was ranked No. 10 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, and men's baseball, with head coach Jeff Messer and assistant coach Blaine Brown, will go into the season ranked No. 33 in Collegiate Baseball's Division II national poll.
Despite losing three of its first four games on Jan. 29 at the Michigan Invitational, Yeamans remains optimistic about his water polo team.
"Invites are basically exhibitions, these are quality opponents we faced, it'll only make our team stronger in the long run," Yeamans said. "Instead of getting their heads down about the three losses, the girls were ready to go in practice on Tuesday."
The water polo team beat Eastern Michigan before losing to Michigan State, Colorado State and Michigan, who is ranked No. 1 in the CWPA poll.
Yeamans downplays being ranked in the CWPA poll.
"We'll get excited if we're ranked in the top 10 at the end of the year," he said.
The regular season starts on March 4 against Grove City. The water polo team will enter the season with a young team, including nine freshmen and only one senior, captain Diana Buck.
The team will be counting on starting goalie Amanda Miller, as well as consistent starters Amanda Zychowski, Lisa Sobocinski and Erika Brunner to make their team successful.
"We're a young team and we'll continue to grow and get better throughout the course of the year," Yeamans said.
Rock women's water polo was one of four ranked Pennsylvania schools in the CWPA preseason poll, Bucknell University and Gannon University were ranked above Slippery Rock, while Washington and Jefferson College was ranked lower than the Rock.
Besides top-ranked Michigan, the women's water-polo team will face five other teams during the course of the season that were ranked in the preseason poll: Indiana (Bloomington), Princeton, Bucknell, Gannon and Washington and Jefferson.
With baseball, Brown pays little attention to preseason rankings.
"We try not to get too caught up with preseason polls, they're just based on last year's record," Brown said.
Rock baseball is looking to improve on its 32-21 record last season. Brown is counting on his seniors to step up this year.
"We've got 3 senior pitchers, Rocky D'Angelo, John Katich and Nick Armstrong who we're hoping can do well on the mound this year," Brown said. "At the plate we're counting on seniors Chase Rowe, Matt Kozusko and Billy Wolfe."
Slippery Rock is one of five Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference teams to be ranked in the preseason poll. PSAC West champion Shippensburg and defending regional champion Kutztown are both ranked ahead of Slippery Rock in the preseason rankings.
Mansfield and West Chester were both ranked below Slippery Rock in the polls.
Women's water polo, coached by Jim Yeamans, was ranked No. 10 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, and men's baseball, with head coach Jeff Messer and assistant coach Blaine Brown, will go into the season ranked No. 33 in Collegiate Baseball's Division II national poll.
Despite losing three of its first four games on Jan. 29 at the Michigan Invitational, Yeamans remains optimistic about his water polo team.
"Invites are basically exhibitions, these are quality opponents we faced, it'll only make our team stronger in the long run," Yeamans said. "Instead of getting their heads down about the three losses, the girls were ready to go in practice on Tuesday."
The water polo team beat Eastern Michigan before losing to Michigan State, Colorado State and Michigan, who is ranked No. 1 in the CWPA poll.
Yeamans downplays being ranked in the CWPA poll.
"We'll get excited if we're ranked in the top 10 at the end of the year," he said.
The regular season starts on March 4 against Grove City. The water polo team will enter the season with a young team, including nine freshmen and only one senior, captain Diana Buck.
The team will be counting on starting goalie Amanda Miller, as well as consistent starters Amanda Zychowski, Lisa Sobocinski and Erika Brunner to make their team successful.
"We're a young team and we'll continue to grow and get better throughout the course of the year," Yeamans said.
Rock women's water polo was one of four ranked Pennsylvania schools in the CWPA preseason poll, Bucknell University and Gannon University were ranked above Slippery Rock, while Washington and Jefferson College was ranked lower than the Rock.
Besides top-ranked Michigan, the women's water-polo team will face five other teams during the course of the season that were ranked in the preseason poll: Indiana (Bloomington), Princeton, Bucknell, Gannon and Washington and Jefferson.
With baseball, Brown pays little attention to preseason rankings.
"We try not to get too caught up with preseason polls, they're just based on last year's record," Brown said.
Rock baseball is looking to improve on its 32-21 record last season. Brown is counting on his seniors to step up this year.
"We've got 3 senior pitchers, Rocky D'Angelo, John Katich and Nick Armstrong who we're hoping can do well on the mound this year," Brown said. "At the plate we're counting on seniors Chase Rowe, Matt Kozusko and Billy Wolfe."
Slippery Rock is one of five Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference teams to be ranked in the preseason poll. PSAC West champion Shippensburg and defending regional champion Kutztown are both ranked ahead of Slippery Rock in the preseason rankings.
Mansfield and West Chester were both ranked below Slippery Rock in the polls.
