APSU athletics director Dave Loos showed off more than his basketball coaching skills at the Swan Lake Golf Course in the 24th Annual Governors Golf Classic.
The event, sponsored by the Governors Club, Legends Bank and Budweiser of Clarksville, began with some socializing and dinner Thursday, August 26. Then the participants grabbed their clubs and hit the greens Friday and Saturday.
Loos was one of several APSU community members who participated in the four-person team scrambles, which began Friday, August 27, at noon and Saturday, August 28 at 8 a.m.
Some of the other faces putting to benefit APSU’s athletic department included baseball head coach Gary McClure, assistant basketball coaches Brett Campbell and Scott Combs, and political science professor David Kanervo.
It took a scorecard playoff for the team of Jimmy Bryant, Larry Schmidt, Jeff Burkhart and Bob Lewis to claim first on Friday. Shooting a -21, they just beat second place finishers Gene Whitfield, Ron Jackson, Tom Hartz and Ronny Powers
Campbell with teammates Brad Glassell, Randy Spell and Joey Tuck won Saturday’s event. They shot 22-under par, 49.
Outdone by his assistant coach, Loos and teammates George Plaster, Jake Peterson and David Shipley won a scorecard playoff by one stroke to earn second place.
The team of Amanda Phillips, Jeanette Kramer, Britney Campbell and Carla Hazelwood won first place on the women’s side. They shot a -16. The second place team of Missy Rye, Beth Goodowens, Margaret Jones and Jane Stevens shot a -12.
In addition to the scrambles, players competed individually in long drive and closest to the pin games.
Former Gov basketball player Joey Tuck won the long drive. Wayne Ard earned the closest to the pin. For the women, former Lady Govs softball player Jane Goodson took both the long drive and closest to the pin.
The Lady Govs volleyball team opened their season on the road in Starkville, Miss., at the MSU Maroon Classic, Friday, August 27, and Saturday, August 28. In addition to being on the road, they were also facing a team coached by their former coach, Jenny Hazelwood.
The Lady Govs finished the weekend 3-1, the single loss to Hazelwood’s Mississippi State squad.
After what they described as an excellent preseason, the Lady Govs were confident as they headed into the season opener.
“We’re going to do well and we are going to play our hearts out,” senior Jessica Mollman said. “I have total confidence in my team that we will succeed this weekend.”
With that confidence, the Lady Govs marched through Montana 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-23). Lady Gov sophomore outside hitter Nikki Doyle produced 15 kills in the match. Junior outside hitter Ilyanna Hernandez added eight kills and senior middle blocker Taylor Skinner produced six. Skinner also led the team defensively with four blocks.
After sweeping Montana, the Lady Govs could not finish against Mississippi State. They loss in three straight sets (19-25, 22-25, 23-25). The last two losses were by three or fewer points. Doyle continued her barrage with 11 kills. Mollman produced nine kills off the bench and Hernandez added eight.
On day two, the Lady Govs bounced back to defeat both Arkansas-Little Rock and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. They served well against both teams producing 27 serving aces (15 against Arkansas-Little Rock, 12 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi). The team finished the tournament with 37 total aces.
After dropping the first set against Arkansas-Little Rock, the Lady Govs powered through the next two. But Arkansas-Little Rock did not roll over. It took five sets for the Lady Govs to win the match (21-25, 25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 15-8). Doyle was one of four Lady Govs with double-digit kills. She produced 19 kills and Skinner and Ilyanna produced 15. Junior outside hitter Kayla Grantham added 10 kills.
The Lady Govs ended the day and the tournament with another three-set sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (25-22, 25-12, 25-17).
Doyle added 15 more kills for a total of 60 kills for the tournament. Skinner finished the tournament with nine blocks, bringing her career total over 200. She is only the seventh Lady Gov in the programs history to produce over 200 blocks.
Quote: “The only thing better than winning is mocking the loser after.”
Scott created the Fantasy Football Journal in 2007 with the intent of documenting his ascension to a fantasy football league championship. Unfortunately, in three seasons he has yet to earn a title. He has only gotten more ruthless in preparation for season four.
Name: Devon Robinson
Title: Sports editor
Team: The G.O.O.D team
Quote: “He who boast, will lose the most … or Marlon, whichever you prefer.”
Robinson is a veteran of the FFJ with two seasons under his belt. He quickly established himself as the nicer counterpart/arch-nemesis to Scott. Although he has not one a championship yet, he usually approaches the game well informed and with a smile. Though, attached to his big brain is a lethal tongue.
Name: Anthony Shingler
Title: Assistant sports editor
Team: Total Domination
Quote: “I have a full passion bucket to kick butt.”
Shingler earned the nickname Lucky because he jumped in to the mix last season and quickly out scored both Robinson and Scott. He failed to capture the championship. However, he has no reason to believe he can not walk through Robinson and Scott again this season.
Name: David Scherer
Title: Sports writer
Team: BoyWondeR
Quote: “I caught a punt naked, in the snow, in Buffalo, for the chance to play in the FFJ.”
Scherer is new to both The All State sports team and the FFJ. With an abundance of confidence and excitement he fits in well with the others so far. However, as a rookie, it may take a while to earn any respect.
With the start of school just around the corner, most of us are gearing up for another exciting year full of homework, parties and friends back at the Peay. One student, however, has a different agenda.
During the past three years, Ashley Herring has been a vital component in the machine known as the Lady Govs basketball team.
She averaged over 13 points a game, five rebounds, almost 200 career assists and over 100 steals.
In addition, she was named OVC Tournament MVP last season. Also, she led the team in points against the Lady Vols in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
But in her mind, it was all for naught.
“I came in my first year and immediately got drawn to the wrong things. I spent nights partying, drinking; falling into sexually immoral relationships and it took my life to a very dark place. I entered a phase of depression, guilt and shame to where I simply existed and had lost complete happiness in school and basketball.”
But it was at this stage she finally found solace in her relationship with God.
“It was at that low point that I asked God to touch me and help me and He did. He gave me a new beginning and joy that I’ve never experienced in life before,” Herring said.
“That’s why I am standing in my decision because I know how faithful He has been in my life and I trust Him.”
This year would be her fourth and final season in a Lady Gov uniform; instead she decided she has a very different calling, the ministry. During the summer, Herring was able to take part in a program geared toward discovering whether the ministry was her true calling, “The most honest reason I could give anyone as to why I left is because God spoke to me to give Him that time.”
When asked about whether or not her teammates and coaches supported her decision, she received mixed opinions.
“Many people who I had to tell about my decision did not understand. Some were supportive and some were not. Many feel like I made the wrong decision or that my gift of basketball was an opportunity to reach others and glorify God,” Herring said.
“But the beauty in my life now is that I can finally live to not lean to my own understanding or the understanding of anyone else.” TAS
When looking at the Lady Govs 2010 volleyball team from the outside, it is hard to ignore what is missing.
Last season the Lady Govs earned a 22-8 regular season record, their second 20-win season in a row, with OVC Player of the Year Stephanie Champine and new head coach Mike Johnson.
This season, both of those people are gone.
With these missing pieces in mind, the rest of the OVC’s coaches and sports information directors, looking from the outside, picked the 2010 Lady Govs to finish sixth in the preseason poll.
However, new head coach Haley Janicek and the three seniors on the team — Jessica Mollman, Taylor Skinner and Sarah Alisaleh — are on the inside and excited about what they see.
Janicek is the third Lady Govs volleyball coach in three years. Last season she was Johnson’s assistant coach. According to APSU Sports Information, Janicek was not surprised about the team’s preseason ranking.
“The sixth seed ranking was expected after losing our senior class. It speaks very highly of them and how important they were to our success,” Janicek said. “However, we had an incredibly productive spring and got better across the board. Our staff is extremely encouraged and has full confidence that our team will be successful this fall.”
Expected to lead the team in their success are seniors Skinner, Mollman and Taylor. Each has been with the team through all the coaching changes and agreed this last one has not slowed any of the team’s momentum heading into the season.
“It was actually easier to transition from Mike to Haley than it was from coach Hazelwood to Mike because the system is still the same. The offense, defense, everything is still the same, just a new coach,” Alisaleh said. “As a team we are buying into her. We are excited and behind her all the way,” Skinner said.
Alisaleh and Mollman received All-OVC recognition last year. Alisaleh is the team’s leader in assists and is currently ranked third all time in the category. Skinner was second on the team last season with 33 serving aces. Both she and Mollman will start this season with 193 blocks. Only six players in school history have produced more than 200 career blocks.
All three seniors agree the team has had an excellent preseason. They are looking forward to playing in the first tournament of the regular season, the MSU Maroon Classic held in Starkville, Miss. The tournament’s host is coached by Lady Govs former coach Jenny Hazelwood.
“We have actually had the best preseason yet, I think. In all four years this is the best preseason we have had,” Alisaleh said. “Everyone has actually meshed together really well. Even our freshmen are catching on.”
Mollman is looking forward to facing her old coach.
“We worked harder and we worked smarter, so I am really excited,” Mollman said. “It’s definitely going to be a good match. There will be some feelings in there, some emotion. It’s going to feel good either way just to play her, see where she’s at. It’s cool that she gets to see where we are at too.”
Regardless of the storylines associated with all the new changes, the seniors said the team is focused on winning.
“I think everyone has high expectations and we have an extra drive to win this year,” Alisaleh said. TAS
While for many students fall means the start of classes and the end of summer vacation, for a lot of student athletes and their coaches, fall means hope.
All the running, lifting, jumping, sweating, eating, kicking and swearing in the heat of summer finally comes to an end in the fall. Coaches in every sport drill in to their players the mantra “what you do in the offseason, pays off in the regular season.”
The following is a list of the sports that begin in the fall and some of the athletes who play them at APSU. Now is the time when predictions fade to the background because everyone is 0-0.
FOOTBALL
Who doesn’t know it is football season?
The talented legs of runningbacks Terrence Holt and Ryan White will power the 2010 Govs. The two combined to lead the OVC in rushing last year and plan to do so again this season. Expected to lead them on offense will be redshirt sophomore quarterback Jake Ryan.
However, White, Holt and Ryan are three of only 15 starters who returned this season. Of those 15, only three are on defense. The rest are made up of new faces including the over 25 freshmen who joined the team this year.
“You don’t know what the freshmen are going to do until you get them in the first game,” said head coach Rick Christopel.
“Hopefully, they won’t get too over excited and too nervous, and burn out before they get out there on the playing field.”
“We have a good nucleus of guys. If we can keep them healthy and get the freshmen some game experience, I think we will be okay down the road.”
The Govs will open the season at home Thursday, September 2, against the Cumberland Bulldogs.
CROSS COUNTRY
They are always on the road. All they do is run.
Less than 20 people make up the men and women’s cross country teams at APSU and they are hardly recognized except when seen running around campus early in the morning.
Unheralded, the two teams will hear the first starting gun of the season at Belmont on Friday, September 3. They were picked eighth in the OVC preseason poll. However, head coach Doug Molnar told APSU Sports Information he expects his team to finish better than the prediction.
“We finished eighth in both the men and women’s competitions last year so that’s probably where we should be picked,” Molnar said. “I believe we are going to be stronger than both those finishes by the time the championship rolls around. I really like theses two teams and how close-knit they are with one another.”
VOLLEYBALL
Serve, block, dig, set, and kill.
In the Dunn Center the Lady Govs volleyball team is ready to prove they will not miss a step under their third coach in three years, newly promoted Haley Janicek. For two straight seasons, they have won over 20 games in the regular season. However, it’s the post season where they are focused on showing their most improvement.
A player like last season’s OVC Player of the Year, Stephanie Champine, cannot be replaced. However, seniors Sarah Alisaleh, Jessica Mollman and Taylor Skinner will be leaving their marks on the court and possibly in the programs record books.
SOCCER
The Lady Govs soccer team is already on the field erasing the bad taste of winning only one game last season. They have already scored 15 goals to win their first three games and are looking to continue the streak as hosts of the Lady Govs Invitational.
Michelle Johnson is one of seven seniors on the team who are determined to end their career with a winning season. Johnson made the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute of the Lady Govs game against Lipscomb Monday, Aug. 24.
According to APSU Sports Information, she is excited about the way the team is playing so far.
“This is very exciting. We’ve been working really hard this year and we’ve got a lot of talent on this team,” Johnson said.
“All the freshmen have contributed and we’ve been creating a lot of scoring opportunities. This is good momentum for our team; it’s looking better every day.”
GOLF
They are the best-dressed teams at APSU and usually receive polite claps instead of loud cheers when they play.
OVC Champion and Player of the Year, senior Chelsea Harris will start her quest to repeat as champion by playing on the greens in Paducah, Ky. at the MSU Drake Creek Invitational Monday, September 13.
She is one of the seven total Lady Gov golfers and one of the four seniors on the team.
Also swinging clubs in red and white for APSU will be five men led by seniors Brian Balthrop and Luke Sherrod.
The “home game” for our golf teams is the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate. It begins Monday, Oct. 18.
After the Lady Govs Invitational on Friday, Aug. 27, the Lady Govs will not return home until Tuesday, Sept. 14, against Alabama A&M. TAS
