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Friday, Sept. 6

Lady Railers refuse to lose

By Rick Hobler

[SEPT. 6, 2002]  Tuesday night the Lady Railers volleyball team had it too easy. The outcome was never in question. The match lasted less than 30 minutes. Last night they had the opposite experience. It was a tough, seesaw battle where the outcome was in question to the very end. The match time was almost two hours. It was like winning a game of water torture, one drip at a time.

As is the case in many athletic events, it all came down to one crucial question — which team would refuse to lose? On a hot night, in an even hotter gymnasium, the Lady Railers had an answer — that would be us. The final box score for the match looked like this: 15-6, 8-15, 16-14 in favor of LCHS over a scrappy and talented team from Morton. The Lady Railers improve to 2-0.

Game one moved slowly, but the Railers methodically worked their way to a 15-6 win. LCHS showed a balanced attack at the service line with Maria Benitez at five, Brooklyn Robbins at four, Samantha Conrady and Missy Aper at two each, and Kari McFadden and Christina Xamis each with one. At the net, Kari McFadden did her usual hard-hitting magic, and she played with her usual emotion throughout. She had plenty of help from fellow senior Missy Aper and younger sister Michelle McFadden also hitting hard and dinking the ball in the right places. Mindy Crawford came through with several finishing hits in game one and throughout the match. The victory was not easily won though. By my count, there were more than 30 side-outs during the game.

Game two found the Lady Railers jumping out to a quick lead and then losing their focus. The main puzzle that the Lady Railers couldn’t seem to solve was Morton’s outside hitting, primarily Morton senior Jeannie Boss. Boss seemed to be everywhere in game two — serving a point here, digging a ball there, and killing or blocking a ball everywhere. On good serving by Christina Xamis, Missy Aper and Kari McFadden and the net play of Michelle McFadden, the Railers jumped out to an early 6-1 lead. Then the bottom fell out: 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, 6-5 — timeout coach Howe. Unfortunately for the Railers, the timeout didn’t cool down Jeannie Boss. She helped the Toppers build their lead to 6-12 before the Railers would score again. It was too little, too late, and Morton captured game two of the match 15-8.

Game three was decided by mental toughness, period. If you wonder what I mean, then you have never been behind 12-14 and then 13-14 in the deciding game of a match, never endured through 38 side-outs, never turned back four match points and then, when exhaustion has about taken over, scored three successive points of your own to win. To do all that, you have to have mental toughness. The Lady Railers did all that last night. Morton had four chances to win — it didn’t. Lincoln had four chances to lose — it didn’t. No one from LCHS folded, no one called it a night, no one quit. They just stepped up and refused to lose. That’s mental toughness.

[to top of second column in this article]

In the deciding game I thought everyone came through. Brooklyn Robbins was tireless in her setting job. Christina Xamis did a precision job of serving, especially the pressure-packed last three serves of the match. Samantha Conrady, Kari McFadden and Missy Aper all had crucial kills at do-or-die time. Megan Hoffert came off the bench and provided crucial help during this final game. But I thought the person that kept us in the final game of the match was Michelle McFadden, with her numerous kills and a couple of crucial blocks on the Morton hitters. Score: 16-14. The Railers were exhausted but thrilled to come out on top.

The final stats, in part, looked like this: Brooklyn Robbins, 44 assists, four blocks; Kari McFadden, 17 kills, four blocks, nine digs; Maria Benitez, 10 digs; Michelle McFadden, 12 kills, Christina Xamis, 10 service points, with two aces; Megan Hoffert, four blocks.

Coach Howe was especially proud of the Railers’ focus and mental toughness in gaining the victory last night. She was quick to point out the fact that this toughness is especially noteworthy when you consider that it is only the second match of the season. Good point.

And speaking of toughness, the Lady Railer junior varsity squad also toughed out a three-game victory last night over Morton, 15-11, 1-15 and 16-14. Julie Fults led the way with 11 service points, nine kills and two blocks. Megan Hoffert had eight service points, which included five aces for the JV squad. Robin Conklen had 20 assists. Coach Conrady’s squad also improves to 2-0.

The Lady Railers will need all the toughness they can muster as they now take to the road for matches against the likes of Bloomington, Normal West, two tournaments (Washington, Mo., and East Peoria), and then Mount Zion and Taylorville before returning home again.

It will be 21 days of toughness testing. With last night’s performance as proof, I’m confident that these ladies are up to it!

Hoo-Ah! GO, RAILERS!

[Rick Hobler]

LC cross country begins competition

[SEPT. 6, 2002]  Lincoln College begins its first cross country season Friday by competing in the North Central Invitational at Naperville.

Coach Erin Verbeck begins the first-ever season with five men and four women on the two squads. "I wasn’t hired to start the program until March, and we are going to have a small squad but will be building for next season," Verbeck stated. "We are competing against all four-year schools since very few junior colleges have cross country.

"They have been working extremely hard, and we are anxious to have a meet to see how we stack up. The girls will run a 5K race, and the men run an 8K race in the college game."

Those on the squad for the men include Matt Livermore and Justin Pogue, both sophomores from Peoria. All other squad members are freshmen: Jordan Gerard and Michael Lisper, both from Pittsfield; and Russ Holstine, from Rock Island Alleman.

The four women on the squad are all freshmen: Mary Daum of Illini Central, along with Christien Taitt, Jeannine Mills and Betsy Scarpasi.

After the North Central meet the Lynx will compete in the Bradley Invitational, Sept. 13; Eastern Illinois Open, Sept. 28; Carthage Invitational, Oct. 12; at Millikin University, Oct. 18; and the NJCAA Region 24 meet in Ina, Nov. 2.

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

Ball State game postponed

[SEPT. 6, 2002]  NORMAL — In light of an over-scheduling error, the Illinois State women’s basketball program is postponing its previously scheduled Dec. 16 game at Ball State until next year.

The Redbirds had to drop a game from the 2002-03 schedule to remain within NCAA scheduling limits, which allow 28 regular-season games but require that one of those games be the first game of the conference tournament.

Redbird coach Jenny Yopp is grateful to Ball State for agreeing to defer the second game of a series that began last year at Redbird Arena to the 2003-04 season. Illinois State will play Ball State in Muncie, Ind., next season.

"I am appreciative of the cooperation of head coach Tracy Roller and the Ball State program," said Yopp. "She is a first-class person who runs a first-class program, and I am looking forward to continuing our series. Ball State is a rival we respect."

The Redbirds open the 2002-03 regular season Nov. 23 at Western Michigan. The first home game is Nov. 25 versus Butler.

[ISU news release]

Articles from the past week

[SEPT. 3, 2002]  Do not count me among the scoffing fans of the Lincoln Railer football squad. I thought they made positive strides on Friday night. And yes, I was disappointed that they didn’t win, but not any more disappointed than those young men and their coaching staff were when they came off the field. It takes time to build a program and this group is improving.

You wonder, what kind of a difference might Derek Schrader have made in that game?

If I was to be critical (and as a former coach, I never cared much for second-guessing), I wondered if Lincoln would go conservative or aggressive in a tight ballgame. Many people will criticize either choice. I’m too much of a gambler when it comes to playing sports, so I usually go aggressive. However, the Railers looked (although we could be more than wrong, as that has happened to us once before) like they took a more conservative route. Sometimes you can shorten the game with that approach and then hope for something good to happen. With a tough schedule in the weeks ahead that may be a good approach.

I’m sorry for our guys this past week; I believe they deserved a better fate!

•  •  •

The Rail was all Patricia Meunier-Lebouc this past weekend. She was on fire from wire to wire. When you open with a 64 and finish to win with a 67, you are playing a game in which I am not familiar! Meunier-Lebouc, who has won several times on the European tour, carded her first-ever LPGA tour victory on Sunday. And she did so by being as cool as the other side of the pillow!

The LDN followed Jennifer Rosales, who fired a closing 65; Candie Kung, who was playing great for a while; and Amy Fruwirth, who was really giving us a lot of insights. As she struggled with her swing, she approached us after a wayward driver tee shot. I asked her if she could feel the problems somewhere in her swing or if the outcome was just something that happened. She said, "No, that’s just my swing." She has a very good demeanor for this sport.

The LPGAers may well be the most accessible athletes of any sport.

Is there anyone more colorful than Michelle McGann?

•  •  •

Thank you, Texas Rangers, for your holiday treat.

•  •  •

[to top of second column in this article]

The Cardinals picked up Jamey Wright, who’s already posted a Redbird victory, from the Milwaukee Brewers. I didn’t know they had arms to spare???

The Cardinals also acquired Jeff Fassero from Chicago. Thank you, Cubbies.

•  •  •

LCC looked rather impressive in their opening-night win over Hannibal-LaGrange in straight sets before a large, raucous crowd!

•  •  •

I didn’t get to see it, but I heard LCHS soccer teams looked quite impressive in their most recent wins as well.

•  •  •

How ’bout those Oakland A’s? BTW, they are a team that I followed as a kid. If you ever dig into our archives, look what the LDN said about Art Howe early in the season even when he was under fire… And you don’t even pay a subscription for our inside scoops!

•  •  •

Thank you to the many of you who have made gracious comments to Greg and me following our first episode of "Fandamonium!" We really want to cover the things that you want covered and the stuff that you want to talk about. We’ve got great sponsors and great giveaways, so give us a call with your questions or comments. The holiday scrapped this week’s show, but we’ll return next Monday night, following the opening of the NFL season and leading you into the first evening of "Monday Night Football."

•  •  •

There’s lots of other stuff happening in sports, but it’s late and I’m tired… Have a super week, everybody!

[Jeff Mayfield]

[Aug. 30 column: "Bonus mutterings...
live from the Rail Classic"]

[Aug. 26 column: "‘Fandamonium’ opening tonight -- Lincoln/Logan County Chamber, team of the week"]

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