Saints Sports Roundup: Feb. 11-17

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Men’s Basketball

The Saints had a tough showing last week, as they faced two uphill battles against both Lourdes and Cornerstone. Wednesday the Saints took on Cornerstone on the road and got off to a shaky start. Trailing at the end of the first half after holding a seven-point lead halfway through 37-29, the Saints were looking to make some adjustments to their shooting stroke (34 percent) and Cornerstone’s connections from deep (5-14). More of the same was in store for the Saints, trailing by as many as 25 at one moment in the second half. The Saints were more than doubled in bench points and Cornerstone also came away with three times the assists to come away with an 85-66 win over the Saints. Christian Coville and George Goodman led the Saints with 21 points each.

The Saints hosted Lourdes on Valentine’s Day for the “Pink Game” and looked to get back on track. Coming away from the first half shooting 43 percent from behind the arc but only 33 percent from the field, the Saints trailed 30-23 in part because of Lourdes great shot selection and shooting percentage at 42 percent and 50 percent from deep. In the second half the Saints kept it close, but their shooting slump continued, shooting just 32 percent from the field and getting outrebounded 43-21 for the game leading to a 64-49 loss. The Saints take on Lawrence Tech Wednesday at the Fieldhouse.

Women’s Basketball

The Saints took on two conference opponents last week in Cornerstone and Lourdes. Wednesday the Saints traveled to Cornerstone and started off in a great way. Leading at the half 31-27 and after a brief lead change thanks to a 5-0 run by the Golden Eagles, the Saints regained control and reeled off a 22-7 run, giving the Saints a 56-40 lead with less than seven minutes to play in the second half. Led by Sierra Calhoun’s  24 points, the Saints shot 42 percent from the field and held Cornerstone to shooting just 28 percent.

Valentine’s night the Saints took to Fred Smith Court to take on visiting Lourdes in their “Pink Game.” The Saints were red hot throughout the night, scoring 37 points in the first half, while limiting Lourdes to just  20. The Saints only trailed once through the game in the early stages at 13-8 before ripping off 25 straight points. In the second half the Saints never let up, scoring 36 points and shooting 55 percent for the game out rebounding Lourdes by seven and doubling their assist total, coming away with a 73-45 win. The Saints next take on Lawrence Tech Wednesday night.

Men’s Volleyball

Last weekend the Saints went on the road on a 2-day four match outing, traveling to Wisconsin and Illinois. Friday the Saints took on Cardinal Stritch in Milwaukee, WI. Falling behind early in all three games and unable to find their footing, the Saints dropped the match 3-0 led by Gilius Blinstrubas with a total of six kills.

On Valentine’s Day the Saints had a total of three matches lined up against Hannibal-Lagrange, Calumet Saint Joseph, and Robert Morris. First up, the Saints took on Hannibal-Lagrange and took games one and two in close fashion winning 26-24 and 25-23 before dropping games three and four 24-26 and 20-25. In set five, the Saints were able to rally from behind and pull away with a 15-13 win to take the match 3-2. The Saints were led by Gilius Blinstrubas and Tyler Hubbard with 17 and 12 kills respectively.

Next up, the Saints took on Calumet Saint Joseph in match two. After dropping the first set 22-25, the Saints stormed back to wrap it up in four sets winning the next three 25-14, 25-18, 25-17 behind Kenny Brokaw and Zach Haube’s 21 combined kills while Zak Krug added 17 digs.

In the final match for the Saints, they faced rival Robert Morris in a conference rematch. The Saints kept it close throughout but were unable to capitalize on opportunities, falling 0-3 against RMU by scores of 19-25, 19-25, and 22-25. Blinstrubas led the way with 12 kills while Krug had 10 digs. The Saint look to take on cross town rival Adrian College February 24th next.

Men’s Track

Last weekend the Saints traveled to Grand Rapids, MI for the Calvin Invite where Richard DePalma recorded an NAIA auto while winning the Pole Vault. With a height of  16’ 9” DePalma took 1st while hitting an auto but failing to reach his previous best. Samuel Parlette earned first in both the 800 and 1,000 meter runs while Jacob Compagner and the Saints throwers took places one through four in weight throw. The Saints will next compete in the WHAC Indoor Championships this weekend.

Richard DePalma: (Pole vault) 16’9” (1st)

Samuel Parlette: (800) 1:59.33 (1st)

Samuel Parlette: (1,000) 2:33.05 (1st)

Jacob Compagner: (Weight throw) 51’9” (1st)

Ej Daffin: (High jump) 6’7” (1st)

Women’s Track

Last week the Saints competed in the Calvin Invitational, recording 10 event wins coupled with six NAIA autos and an overall team win. Kasey Renshaw led the Saints throwers in both Shot put and weight throw, where the Saints took 1-2-3 in both events. Twins Sheila and Tasha McKinley placed 1-2 in the Pole vault while the Saints took the top three places in this as well. Phoenix Duncan and Marissa Johnson took 1-2 in High jump clearing 5’7” and 5’4” while Stephanie Marquardt won the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.80 seconds. other winners include: Brianna Pekel (400), Arika Knannlein (800), Mariah Ridal (1,000), Elaine Johnson (3,000), and the Saints 4×4 relay team of Jalesia Johnson, Ridal, Knannlein, and Pekel with a time 4:07.68.

Men’s Bowling

Last weekend, Kenneth DeGraaf led the Saints as the top bowler, cracking the top 100 out of the 536 bowler field at the Hoosier Classic with a total of 1,709 points in nine total games. Zach Colosimo added an eight game 1,501 point day for the Saints to place 60th out of the 78 competing teams.

Women’s Bowling

Amanda Barry and Myriah Hamilton were the top performers for the Saints at the Hoosier Classic last weekend. With score totals of 1,520 and 1,411, Barry and Hamilton were placed 120th and 177th in the field of 438. The Saints as a team posted a point-total of 7,632 points, earning a 38th place finish out of the 67 teams represented.

Dance

The Saints took Runner-up at last weekends Aquinas Showdown in Grand Rapids, MI. With the NAIA East Regional approaching, the Saints looked to kick into high gear in the showing, walking away with a score of 94.67 and falling short to Calumet Saint Joseph. The Saints next host the NAIA East Regional this weekend and hope to repeat their success from last year.

Cheer

The Saint Cheer team took part in last weekends Aquinas Showdown in Grand Rapids in hopes to prepare for the NAIA Regional both they and the dance team will be hosting next weekend and didn’t disappoint. The Saints defeated Aquinas in the head to head duel with a score of 65.65 and placed runner-up overall with a score of 75.67. Davenport were champions in the Showdown and will likely face the Saints next weekend in the Regional.