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The Beacon 15November 5, 2009 Sports

West Coast Conference Standings:Men’s Basketball

1) #18 Saint Mary’s (5-0)2) #20 Gonzaga (5-0)3) Portland (4-1)4) San Diego (4-1)5) Santa Clara (1-4)6) Pepperdine (1-4) 7) San Fransisco (0-5) 8) LMU (0-5)

Women’s Basketball

1) Gonzaga (5-0)2) LMU (3-2)3) San Diego (3-2)4) Portland (3-2)5) Saint Mary’s (3-2)6) Pepperdine (2-3)7) San Fransisco (1-4)8) Santa Clara (0-5)

Portland went 1-2 on the week, dropping games to the University of Oregon 55-64 and to LMU 43-64. The Pilots won against Pepperdine 59-56.

(Courtesy of WCCsports.com)

Men’s Baseball

Recently signed four new recruits out of High School.

Chris Johnson- RH Pitcher

PitcherChet Thompson- Outfeilder

Men’s Tennis

Currently 3-1, 1-0 WCC

Still missing men’s no.1 singles Joel Kincaid, out on injury.

Won 5-0 against UTSA Roadrunners on Sunday

Upcoming home match against U.C. Davis on Jan. 30.

Women’s Tennis

Currently 1-3

Lost 1-6 against University of Oregon on Friday

Won 6-1 against University of Idaho on Sunday

This week in sports

In the second half, perse-verance, practice and patience continued to push the Pilots for-ward.

Maintaining control of the game, showing no signs of fa-tigue and retaining the lead they

team also succeeded in improv-ing their shots.

Making 57.1 percent of nor-mal shots and 42.9 percent of three pointers, the team seemed composed and collected.

Connecting with passes and seeing open men, the Pilots honed their skills in the second half, scoring another 49 points before the last whistle.

Head Coach Eric Reveno, who tried different offensive and defensive setups, felt the night was a learning experience for the team.

we were able to see some of that,” Reveno said. “On the defensive

I think sometimes we gave too

got driven on a little bit.”Offensively, the coach said the

team still needed to clean up their game. But with blocks in place and team members performing, Reveno thought the team needed to sharpen up a bit.

“We took advantage of some things like a veteran team would,

so it was a mixed bag,” Reveno said.

Reveno also stressed the main focus of the squad for the season is to work on their defense.

“We’re looking to defend bet-ter,” Reveno said.

He is also trying to ensure players play with and improve on their strengths.

The coach thinks the team has substantially improved their de-fense since last year, but needs to continue developing their defen-sive abilities.

“We have to defend, go, be

the open guy and make plays like that,” Reveno said.

gathon,” where the team practices on rowing machines for an allot-ted period of time. Currently, the team is cleaning up Merlo Field after home games for money.

Last year, the club rented out The Circuit, a bouldering gym in Portland, and invited the student community to climb with the team for $10.

“I like fundraising with the club because it’s fun getting the community involved with row-ing,” said Gray.

The club also sends out a newsletter to parents of the row-ers, and is also looking to include crew alumni in aiding with fund-raising efforts.

After exhausting all the fund-raising money and the money allocated from ASUP, the 17-stu-dent club pays for most of the costs out-of-pocket.

Joining the club requires a due fee of $150, which only helps to cover the boathouse rent, insur-ance for the team and the coach-es’ fee.

Students, in addition to the due fee, have to pay for such things as the team jersey, leg-gings and long-sleeved tops that will run upwards of $100.

Crew Club has been at the University since the early 2000s, and has been a growing sport with incoming freshman learn-ing how to row with the help of veteran members.

“Rowing is the perfect sport for colleges to offer,” senior Leslie Eddy said. “You can start from scratch your freshman year and still do really well.”

The current team is remaining optimistic despite the possibility of the club disbanding due to a lack of necessary funding for crew to feasibly continue.

“I have been very impressed with this team,” Powers said. “They are the most committed group we’ve had in awhile.”

According to Gray, the ad-ministration has been supportive of the crew team’s efforts to re-main a club at UP.

“The administration is the only reason we still have a Crew Club,” said Gray.

The Crew Club hopes to one day be located on the actual cam-pus.

This move would aide the bud-get for the club because it would eliminate the cost of paying rent for boathouse space.

“Once the boats can be kept near the water on campus, club costs are going to plummet and membership is likely to really shoot up,” Eddy said.

The River Campus proposal drawing includes a proposed boathouse on the Willamette River.

Although development is years away, Powers hopes that “the club can survive until that can happen.”

Meantime, the Crew Club is anticipating the budgeting deci-sions made by ASUP about the next semester.

determine if the Crew Club can continue at UP.

“In crew, you become really close to your team,” Powers said.

“It would be very disappoint-ing for students in the future years not to get the opportunity to experience that.”

larger crowds this spring, espe-cially now that construction work has cleared from the tennis cen-ter, making it more easily acces-sible.

“We’re solid this year, and we were last year too,” Hernandez said. “We want some crowds — it’s not a Wimbledon atmosphere, it’s more like any other sport.”

The women have a promis-ing season ahead, as well. Their

-ton State University culminated

senior Megan Sporndli bringing home the doubles title, according to women’s Head Coach Susie Campbell-Gross.

“It was a good way to start the season,” Campbell-Gross said. “It

Although the women’s team is done competing this fall, they will continue to practice over winter break and will hopefully add additional recruits to their current team of six.

“Most teams are comprised anywhere between six and 12

Campbell-Gross is in the pro-cess of recruiting and hopes to start the new season with eight women.

“We’d be okay with seven, but with injuries as they have been, it would be helpful for us to have eight,” Campbell-Gross said.

Although freshman Valeska Hoath is recovering from an in-

a valuable asset to the team. De-

with practicing and competing without one or more players, the

the court.“In singles, you’re out there by

yourself and you can’t depend on any other player but yourself on your court. But that doesn’t mean

a sense, it’s a team sport because I don’t feel alone out there even when I am.”

Another challenge faced by both teams in terms of attract-ing fans is the duration of their matches.

“In a facility that has six courts, a match can be done in two and a half hours. We only have three courts so our matches

Gross said. “Overwhelmingly, though,

the people that have come out over the years are very much en-tertained. It’s not a sit-on-your-hands kind of thing.”

Continued from page 16

Continued from page 16

TENNIS: Promising seasons

Jordan Schager | THE BEACONSenior Robin Smeulders jumps to rebound a ball while senior Ethan Niedermeyer battles for position against opposing players. The Pilots won the exhibition, shooting just over 57 percent.

B-BALL: Strong opener

CREW: UP club strugglesfor fundsContinued from page 16

West Coast Conference Standings:Men’s Basketball

1) #18 Saint Mary’s (5-0)2) #20 Gonzaga (5-0)3) Portland (4-1)4) San Diego (4-1)5) Santa Clara (1-4)6) Pepperdine (1-4) 7) San Fransisco (0-5) 8) LMU (0-5)

Women’s Basketball

1) Gonzaga (5-0)2) LMU (3-2)3) San Diego (3-2)4) Portland (3-2)5) Saint Mary’s (3-2)6) Pepperdine (2-3)7) San Fransisco (1-4)8) Santa Clara (0-5)

Portland went 1-2 on the week, dropping games to the University of Oregon 55-64 and to LMU 43-64. The Pilots won against Pepperdine 59-56.

(Courtesy of WCCsports.com)

Men’s Baseball

Recently signed four new recruits out of High School.

Chris Johnson- RH Pitcher

RH PitcherChet Thompson- Outfeilder

Men’s Tennis

Currently 3-1, 1-0 WCC

Still missing men’s no.1 singles Joel Kincaid, out on injury.

Won 5-0 against UTSA Roadrunners on Sunday

Upcoming home match against U.C. Davis on Jan. 30.

Women’s Tennis

Currently 1-3

Lost 1-6 against University of Oregon on Friday

Won 6-1 against University of Idaho on Sunday

Upcoming home match

6 at 9:30 a.m.

(courtesy potlandpilots.com)

This week in sports

This week in sports

West Coast Conference Standings:

Women’s Soccer

1) #2 Portland (17-1-0)2) San Diego (12-5-2)3) #14 Santa Clara (12-6-1)4) LMU (10-6-2)5) Pepperdine (10-7-1)6) Gonzaga (8-11-0)7) San Franciso (7-6-5)8) Saint Mary’s (9-10-0)

The Pilots traveled to California where they faced off against Santa Clara last Sunday, defeating the Broncos 1-0. The Pilots now return to Merlo, where they remain undefeated,

against San Diego this Friday at 8 p.m.

Men’s Soccer

1) #19 San Diego (11-4-0)2) Saint Mary’s (10-3-3)3) Portland (8-4-4)4) Gonzaga (6-7-3)5) Santa Clara (4-9-4)6) LMU (7-8-1)7) San Francisco (6-8-1)

The Pilots travel this weekend to California to face off against San Diego and LMU following a 1-1-1 home stretch. The Pilots return to campus Thursday, Nov. 12 to face off against Seattle

Men’s Cross Country

For the 31st time, the Pilots have claimed the WCC champi-onship. Sophomore Alfred Kip-chumba led the Pilots and set a course record at the Crystal Springs Course of 24:20. Coach Rob Connnor was also named WCC Coach of the Year.

The Pilots will race next in the NCAA West Regional Saturday,

Women’s Cross Country

Despite a season riddled with

in the WCC championship, fall-ing behind San Francisco and LMU. The Pilots also earned two spots in the All-WCC honors.

The Pilots will compete next at the NCAA West Regional

Ore.

(courtesy WCCsports.com, port-landpilots.com)

16 The BeaconSports

November 5, 2009

Jordan Schager | THE BEACONJunior Luke Sikma backs down a Concordia player during last Wednesday’s exhibition game against the Cavaliers. The Pilots easily defeated their opponents 106-78, but still hope to tighten up their play as the season progresses.

Nicholas Slepnikoff Staff Writer

slepniko10@up.edu

The failing economy has not been kind to the sport of rowing. An eight-person crew boat can cost upwards of $23,000 and a single oar costs roughly $200.

-

“We will be a club at least for this year,” Miranda Gray, Crew Club president, said. “Next year we might have a problem if we do not have the same support.”

ASUP allocated the Crew Club $6,400 for this current se-mester.

Members of the team have found it hard to cover basic ex-penses for the team such as coaches and equipment with this money.

“The Crew Club spends 100 percent of the money we ask for,” junior Crew Club treasurer, Brit-tany Powers said. “We’re not

asking for money to get T-shirts, we need this money to still be around.”

With the ASUP budget pro-cess starting on Nov. 6, members of the UP Crew Club are worried about the future of their team.

“ASUP gave us half of the budget that they had given us a year ago,” Powers said. “We need to be allocated more money than we are currently getting to exist as a club.”

Senate members in ASUP have heard from the Crew Club about the money issues and are looking for ways to help keep the club a part of campus.

“If they’re not allocated enough money and that causes the demise of their club, I would feel terrible,” Senator Colin Dor-

--

ing source for them.”According to Dorwart, ASUP

does have an emergency fund that could be used to help the Crew Club, but this could be passed only with a 3/4-majority vote from Senate.

“This fund is only used for emergency cases and this would sound like an emergency to me,” said Dorwart.

The money previously allotted to the Crew Club includes paying their two coaches $4,000 a se-mester and paying rent for their boathouse space next to OMSI.

According to Powers, the boathouse rent for this semester is going up by 20 percent, adding to the relatively large club expen-ditures.

Before the rent increased, the Crew Club paid $5,190 a semes-ter to use the boathouse on the Willamette River.

“I believe that we are one of the only clubs that rent our own space,” said Gray.

The quality of equipment has also been an issue for the Crew Club.

According to Powers, the boats and rowing equipment that the club has are becoming old and outdated.

The waning funds that the Crew Club has been receiving have made it hard for the team to make the repairs and to buy new boats and oars.

“One of our four-person boats is called Grandma because it’s so old,” Power said. “We de-rigged that boat and used the parts for another one.”

With costs of UP Crew Club on the rise, the members of the club have been fundraising and have had to pay out of pocket for such expenditures as race fees and gas for team trips.

The Crew Club has continued to do fundraisers such as an “er-

Despite a substantial number of new recruits and injuries, both the men’s and women’s tennis teams hope to serve up their best performance in each and every match leading up to the WCC — and possibly the NCAA — Championships.

After competing in the Boise State Invitational and the ITA Regionals, the men’s team has one more invitational at the Uni-versity of Washington this week-

-ing until the spring season starts in January.

Doubles pair seniors Filip Zivkovic and Evan Schleining

and fought their way to the quar-

“It was one of the biggest dou-bles wins of my career,” Zivkovic said.

Aaron Gross, head men’s ten-nis coach, agrees that the duo’s

-ments is one of the team’s high-lights thus far, but also looks forward to seeing what his new players are capable of.

“The key to our success is how quickly our young players can develop,” Gross said. “We’ve

got great senior leaders and these guys have come right in line.”

The new recruits’ willingness to accept the team’s attitude es-tablished by the tennis program is paramount, according to Gross.

“There is a culture passed down from tons of really solid players throughout the years,” Gross said. “The guys who have come in this year really under-stand that.”

Four of the nine men listed on the tennis roster are new to the team.

“The cool thing about college tennis is that we’re so used to playing individually,” said soph-omore Geoff Hernandez. “But there is a team aspect to it that brings in another level of excite-ment.”

Gross says his team plans to take next season’s matches one at a time.

“The next match is always the most important match,” Gross said. “We want to give ourselves a chance to win every time we step on the court.”

Hernandez is especially ex-cited about their home games, including an opportunity to play one of their rivals, University of Oregon, at home this year.

Both teams hope to attract

This past Thursday, the Pilots kicked off their basketball season

-ing Concordia University, men’s Basketball started the season right, beating the Lutheran Uni-versity in an impressive 106-78 victory.

-hibition of the season, the Pilots had a high 50.9 percent comple-

point shots from the paint. Shoot-ing many from the bottom of the key, laying up and taking some threes, the Pilots also brought a diversity of shots to the game, which helped push the Pilots to their stunning 28 point win.

Junior Luke Sikma, who scored 13 points and had 10 re-bounds on the night, secured a double double.

some things well, played hard and have a lot to improve on get-ting ready for our season opener against Eastern Washington,” Sikma said. “Defensively, I think we have to be more solid, we were letting guys get a lot of easy catches in the post.”

Pilot defensive principles stress pressure in the post, and Sikma avows that the team needs to continue to tighten up as the season goes on.

He also felt the team man-aged to work together and also

rebounded well. Sikma also stressed the team has to improve for their big Eastern Washington game on Nov. 11.

“If we think the effort we gave tonight is going to beat Eastern Washington at their place, we’d be fooling ourselves,” Sikma said. “We have to keep on improving each day and hope everything turns out.”

Senior Nik Ravio also scored double digits Thursday night. He

made 14 points from the paint, two out of four three-pointers, and a free throw. Ravio also man-aged to record seven rebounds.

Ravio thought his achieve-ment was great and said he also enjoyed playing basketball again.

“It feels really good ... just coming out playing against differ-ent guys besides my teammates,” Ravio said. “We’ve been playing against each other, beating up on each other ever since May, so ...

it feels great come out here and play against different bodies.”

-countered plenty of early fouls immediately following the open-ing whistle. With enough charges to win a trip from Visa, Concor-dia’s Gage Aker sent plenty of Pi-lots sprawling to the court.

Bouncing back from offen-sive fouls, the Pilots succeeded in breaking through the porous defense and scoring tough shots

on the other Oregon team.

percentage and a 40 percent three

Cheered on by both soccer players and volleyball players in the somewhat empty grandstand, the team ended the second half with a 57-39 lead.

See B-Ball, page 15

!e Pilots defeat Concordia University in the 2010-11 exhibition game

Pilots crush Concordia Cavaliers

Roya Ghorbani-ElizehStaff Writer

ghorbani11@up.edu

Is Crew a sinking ship?Losing parts of key funding, Crew Club struggles to remain a club sport at the University of Portland

See Tennis, page 15

Tennis matches up despite setbacks

Lisa McMahan Staff Writer

mcmahan11@up.edu

See Crew, page 15