Dane Pound

Story in today's paper lists Peterson as backing up Hutch.

That's surprising considering the following year it will only be Dyson, B. Wilson and Connelly to fill the center and power forward spots. I thought they were going after another big guy.

Danes look ready to take next step Rays of optimism thawing deep freeze

Congrats Dane96!

From what I saw from Bauman he seemed like a good player. Well-coached and with a high basketball I.Q. I would think from scrimmaging against guys like Jordan, Wilson, Johnson and even Brian Lillis that he realizes he has to get stronger to get alot of time playing this level of basketball. You never know, he may play alot this year but he seems like a candidate for a red-shirt.

I may have the wrong kid from Chicago but I think he waited until spring to decide. Hopefully he keeps UA in mind because he sounds like a terrific player.

One other thing I heard yesterday should please Reeder. Supposedly Dyson played well and made some nice post moves against Manhattan's 7 footer. I guess the Manhattan singled him out for praise to the UA staff. Just curious because I didn't see anything about it in the Gazetter preview. Will anyone be redshirting this year?

I know there were some posters at yesterday's exhibition but I thought I would post some things I noticed for those who couldn't make it yesterday. Tanya James, Clark and Kristen Peterson were dressed in warmups and didn't look like they would play under any circumstances although I didn't see any outward signs on injuries either. Hopefully nothing serious. The starting five was Schumaker, Hutch, Mookie, Learn and Stacy Johnson. That's right, Stacy Johnson. Johnson played much more under control this year. She didn't take any 3's but made some nice moves to get into the paint and played tough defense. I suspect she's starting to give some speed on the perimiter. Schumaker looked more like a PG than I thought she would, especially in half court. I thought she struggled somewhat when the other team applied pressure and had trouble getting free to accept the inbound pass on a few occasion. The one thing it looked like she worked on was her ability to shoot off the dribble. Last year she was pretty much a stand-still shooter but yesterday on a few occasions she hit shots off the dribble. Learn did all the stuff we'd expect, rebound, handle, shoot from outside she showed it all yesterday. Mookie was as great as her stats looked. I guessed she had 20 rebounds and I was off by 1. She had a ton of offensive rebounds and really got off the floor well. She's seemd to extend her range as she knocked down a 3 as well. Hutch had an off shooting game. Missed alot of the shots we expect her to make. Ran the floor better than I've seen during her time her at Albany. Ton of rebounds as well. Other teams in the AE are going to have a tough time with this front court. Majors and Ayers were the first off the bench. Ayers didn't look herself at all. Didn't move well and threw up at least 3 open airballs from beyond the arc. Majors played well, not spectacular but sold. Gia Sanders was the first freshman off the bench. Appears to be in the Alicia Learn mode of players. Hit one 3 if I remember correctly. Sherri Mikus was the only other rookie to see time. I don't think she took any shots but she handled the ball well. Overall I thought they looked pretty good. The front court should be very solid especially when Clark comes back. No pressure on Peterson at all. Maybe give a few minutes here and there. The backcourt is going to be a problem if we have one at all. I suspect Johnson will try handle the quicker AE PGs on defense while Schumaker will guard the off guard. Should be interesting to see what James can do when she comes back. Hopefully Ayers gets back in form.

Hello Friends, Family, and Alumni of UAlbany Volleyball! Well, it was an emotional weekend for the volleyball team this past weekend. We opened it up at Maine on Friday night. We came out fired up and playing extremely well in game one. The serving was very aggressive and our side-out offense was at a very high percentage as we won 30-15. Game two the Black Bears really stepped it up. A very well played game offensively as both teams hit over .300. A couple of key plays and the home team went into the locker room with the match tied at one game apiece - 33-31. The rest of the match had a lot of highlights, unfortunately a few more for Maine as they ended up winning the match in five. The loss ended our chance at an undefeated regular season. The team was obviously very disappointed with this. The following night we had the opportunity to redeem ourselves against New Hampshire. It was a team that we had never beaten before at their place. It was also the first match in two months that we had played following a loss. Needless to say, the coaching staff was interested in seeing how we were going to respond. Game 1 we jumped out quick and hard with a 25-15 lead, only to see a large portion of that disappear before we ended up winning. Game 2 the momentum stayed with UNH as they ended up crushing us. To say there was a little concern from the team at that point would be correct. But to our credit, players really started battling and kept their composure when it might have been easier to do otherwise. The Great Danes won a great match over a very athletic and talented New Hampshire team in four. This was a great win for the team and ended our regular season with a 25-6 overall record and an America East record of 13-1. Different players stepped up at different times throughout the weekend. One constant at the end of the games was junior outside hitter, Ashley Hunter. When it was winning time on Saturday, she came through time and time again. Ashley offers a players perspective of the weekend: "Over this past weekend we experienced something that hasn't happened to us in conference. We experienced a loss. Losing to Maine didn't feel good at all. Our hopes to be undefeated in conference were shattered that very moment. Maine played very well against us. When we picked up our game and fought, they fought right back just as hard. Losing to Maine and then having to play the next day against New Hampshire, a very competitive team, let us learn a lot about us as a team. We could've done one of two things after our loss to Maine. We could've come back fighting against New Hampshire or we could've dwelled on our loss and not shown up to play. With the type of team we are, we came back fighting. With this came encouragement and confidence for the weekend to come. We are ready to accomplish our new goals now and that is to win the American East Tournament Championship and be on our way to the NCAA's." This coming weekend we host the America East conference tournament for the first time in program history. We'd love to have the stands filled to capacity for the matches and make this an environment that is truly difficult for opposing teams to play in. If you haven't been to a match before, this is a great time. Every time UAlbany scores a point, you can echo the announcers "POINT DANES". After an ace, "ACE DANES!" On match point, shout with the team "YES!" every time we touch the ball, and "NO!" every time the opponents touch the ball. America East Conference Tournament Schedule Fri. 11/19 5:00 pm UALBANY GREAT DANES v. BINGHAMTON BEARCATS 7:30 pm NORTHEASTERN HUSKIES v. MAINE BLACK BEARS Sat. 11/20 4:00 pm AMERICA EAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP I received an e-mail last week asking what should fans look for from teams. A couple of things: Binghamton: Is Crocus back? Ann Crocus is probably the most physical player in the conference. She broke her leg the first conference match of the season. The team has been shooting for her to return this week if they made the tournament. This is a great blocking team; they had 26 blocks in a match earlier in the season. If they come anywhere close to that number, it could be a long night. Outside hitter Michele Heck is a high flyer who loves to rip the cross-court shot. Northeastern: Team plays with a lot of emotion and an edge. Will that help or hurt in the tournament? Defensively they can play with anybody in the nation. Senior libero Ashley Adamczyk used to play at Ohio St. and is very difficult to put the ball down on. The setter, defensive specialist, and outside hitter all love to carry on dialog with players on the other side of the net. Maine: Coming into the tournament on a roll after beating the other three teams within the last week and a half. Middles are long and athletic and very difficult to stop. Outside hitter Kaili Jordan can out-jump a kangaroo. Very athletic setter and probably the second best serving team in the conference. Can anybody slow down their middles? UAlbany: How aggressive is our serving during the tournament? How often are we "in system"? If we are passing well, we tend to get a lot of one-on-ones (hitter v. blocker) and is very difficult for opposing teams to stop. If our ball control is suffering, we have difficulties putting the ball away consistently against two or three blockers. There you have it. Thanks for all of the support. Hopefully we'll see some of you this weekend! If you can't be here in person, feel free to follow the live stats at www.americaeast.com. You can also get results at www.albany.edu or www.bigpurplefans.com or by calling the "Dane Line" at 442-DANE and choosing option 1. GO DANES!!! Kelly Sheffield UAlbany Volleyball

Hopefully the Danes take care of business on Friday. Because of the early start I don't think I can make it. I'll be there Saturday.

Danes lost in 5 to Maine last night. Certainly not great news but I've generally been wary of teams riding big winning streak into the tournament anyway. Not a ton of motiviation for Albany as they had already clinched and Maine had a shot at the #2 seed if Northeastern lost (they didn't). UALBANY VOLLEYBALL WIN STREAK SNAPPED IN 3-2 LOSS TO MAINE Orono, Maine – UAlbany had its 18-match winning streak snapped in a 3-2 loss to Maine in America East Conference women’s volleyball action on Friday, Nov. 12 at Memorial Gymnasium. The loss marked marked the Great Danes' first conference defeat of the season. Maine won by scores of 15-30, 33-31, 24-30, 30-26 and 15-12. Shelby Goldman’s 22 kills led four UAlbany players in double-digits. Ashlee Reed and Ashley Hunter added 19 and 17 kills, respectively. Susan Spierre finished with 10 kills and three blocks. Blair Buchanan tallied 62 assists, while Ashley DeNeal registered 23 digs on defense. For Maine (17-10, 9-4), Kaili Jordan topped the list of five Black Bears in double-figures with 19 kills. Carmen Morgan added 14 kills and seven blocks, while Jody Connacher totaled 23 digs. The Great Danes (24-6, AE 12-1) close out the regular season on Saturday at 4 p.m. at New Hampshire.

SACRED HEART RPI-250 Last season would have been a historical one for Sacred Heart had it ended two weeks early. Instead, four consecutive defeats to close out the year robbed the Pioneers of their first-ever winning campaign (12-15) at the Division I level, and more importantly dropped them out of NEC playoff contention. Sacred Heart led the NEC is scoring last season (73.6 ppg), but cancelled that out with a last-place showing on the defensive end (77.6 ppg). With just two starters back from a year ago, the Pioneers are looking at another finish in the lower half of the NEC standings. The team will be strong up front with the return of starting forwards Kibwe Trim and Joey Henley and reserve center Mading Mading. Trim averaged 10.6 ppg and 4.8 rpg a year ago, while Henley contributed 8.7 ppg and 5.4 rpg. As for Mading, he has tremendous size at 7-2 and that allowed him to lead the club with 40 blocked shots last season. Jarrid Frye is the club's most experienced player in the backcourt after averaging 6.6 ppg off the back in 2003-04. He will be joined by 6-4 freshman Drew Shubik, who will have to play above and beyond expectations if Sacred Heart is to enjoy its first-ever winning season in the NEC. Sacred Heart Fan Forum SIENA RPI-191 Whether they want to admit it or not, the winds of change are blowing hard through Loudonville, New York this season as the Saints try to figure out what exactly they have to work with for the upcoming 2004-05 campaign. The squad now contains no less than six freshmen on the 13-man roster which means there are going to be some serious growing pains in the early going. Add to that the fact that the list now includes as many as nine guards means that Siena, which has been one of the nation's best rebounding teams over the last couple of campaigns, is probably going to have trouble making it three years in a row. However, head coach Rob Lanier refuses to throw in the towel even before the first tip-off of the season against Oregon State in North Carolina on November 17th. In fact, Lanier is thinking that this could be his greatest coaching effort as he enters his fourth year with the Saints. A Second-Team All-MAAC selection last year, junior forward Michael Haddix gives this team enough punch up front that it would be all that easy to push them around in the paint. Haddix put up very strong numbers in 2003-04, sporting averages of 15.6 points and nine rebounds per contest and could get even better production if junior guard Antoine Jordan returns to form now that he should be fully recovered from a severe ankle injury that limited his availability last year. Put Tommy Mitchell (10.4 ppg) next to Jordan in the backcourt again and when healthy the duo is one of the best in the MAAC. WAGNER RPI-222 After winning the regular season crown and NEC Tournament title in 2002-03, the Seahawks fell off a bit last season finishing in a tie for fourth place at 10-8. The team's overall mark of 13-16 was also a step back from the previous season when it went an impressive 21-10. With the loss of three starters, who accounted for almost 50 percent of the scoring last season, the Seahawks four-year run of NEC Tournament berths will surely be in danger this year. Forward Sean Munson will be burdened with most of the load this year after averaging 9.1 ppg and 8.6 rpg last season. Swingman Jamal Webb, the team's only other returning starter, will also have to do better than his 6.0 ppg average from 2003-04. Reserves DeEarnest McLemore (3.2 ppg), Durell Vinson (2.6 ppg) and Jerome Day (2.1 ppg) will have expanded roles in 2004-05 and how they react will surely determine how successful Wagner is. Wagner Fan Forum LEHIGH RPI-195 Led by two-time Patriot League Coach of the Year Billy Taylor, the Mountain Hawks come into the 2004-05 season as the defending league champs. Repeating won't be an easy task, however, as the team lost its leading scorer, assist man and thief in last year's PL Player of the Year, Austen Rowland. Still, the Hawks welcome back four starters, including sophomore guard Jose Olivero. As a PL All-Freshman Team pick a year ago, Olivero averaged 11.6 ppg and hit 51 three-pointers. Big things are expected from senior forward Earl Nurse (6.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and sophomore center Jason Mgebroff (7.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg). Junior guard Joe Knight, a transfer from High Point where he earned Big South Rookie of the Year honors in 2003, is being looked at as a guy who could potentially fill the void left by Rowland, while senior swingman Nick Monserez should add some spark as well. Another guy to keep an eye on is freshman forward Bryan White, who along with Knight could provide some energy off the bench. Lehigh Fan Forum ARMY RPI-318 The Black Knights are young and really have no idea what it's like to win on a consistent basis. Coach Jim Crews' squad features just one senior and one junior, with sophomores ruling the roost (11 in all). Guard Matt Bell is the team's top returning scorer, rebounder and assist man, but he averaged just 6.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game last season. Joining Bell in the Army backcourt is Travis Owsley, but he too struggled offensively in 2003-04, netting just 5.4 ppg. Up front, the Black Knights will rely heavily on Colin Harris to provide some offensive punch, while Erik Engstrom could become a force on the glass. Army won just six games in Crews' second year at the helm last season, and while the team is likely to be competitive in more games this time around, there are no guarantees that will translate into more victories. Army Fan Forum LONG ISLAND RPI-288 The Blackbirds finished in last place in the NEC standings last season with just four wins against 14 losses. However, two of those wins came against league co-champions Monmouth and St. Francis (NY). Still the team finished just 8-19 overall which included a league-worst 1-13 road mark. This season three starters are welcomed back, including the 2003-04 NEC Rookie of the Year James Williams. The 5-10 guard averaged 11.5 ppg and 3.8 rpg last season and with a year of experience under his belt he should do even better in 2004-05. Guard Aubin Scott also returns after a solid freshman campaign in which he averaged 4.8 ppg and 2.5 rpg. Evan Meekins, yet another sophomore, gives the Blackbirds some depth in the backcourt after contributing 6.6 ppg off the bench a year ago. Up front the squad is paced by Esa Maki-Tulokas, who averaged 8.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg. Derek Bell (6.9 ppg and 4.6 rpg) and Eugene Kotorobia (6.6 ppg and 4.7 rpg) will move into starting roles in the frontcourt after seeing time off the bench last season. With nine players being either freshmen or sophomores, Long Island is another year away from moving up in the NEC standings. Long Island Fan Forum VILLANOVA RPI-57 First things first with the Wildcats and that's that head coach Jay Wright is perched firmly on the hot seat in the Philadelphia suburbs this season. Sure, he has a record of 52-46 in three years with Villanova, but when he arrived on the mainline he was expected to bring the program back from the brink and into the national spotlight again. Things got off to a shaky start in 2003-04 when the 'Cats fell to Chaminade in the Maui Invitational. There were wins over weak opponents like La Salle, Penn, Northeastern and Columbia, but there was also a stretch towards the end of the campaign when the team won just once in eight games. Allegations of NCAA rules violations hurt the integrity of the already fragile program which had just survived a phone card scandal. And now, just weeks before the opening game for the Wildcats, it turns out that junior forward/center Jason Fraser is out for the time being after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in late October. All that means is that junior guard Allen Ray now has even more responsibility when it comes to getting this team ready for Big East play. Ray led all scorers last season with 17.3 ppg, while Fraser paced the squad with a team- high 7.1 rpg as well as 39 blocks in 27 games. Junior forward Curtis Sumpter, who was selected to compete with the USA Basketball squad at the World Championships in Nova Scotia over the summer, also added seven rebounds and 14.3 ppg to the Villanova attack. With injury being the topic of choice for the Wildcats, it is also worthy to mention that the lone newcomer to the program, local product Kyle Lowry tore his left ACL in late August and is now sidelined indefinitely. Villanova Fan Forum SYRACUSE RPI-15 Up until two seasons ago the Orange were always the bridesmaids and never the bride, but coach Jim Boeheim finally broke through in his 27th season with the program in 2002-03. Last year the team took a few steps back with a 23-8 record because Carmelo Anthony opted to make the jump to the pros after winning that elusive championship in Syracuse. Except for guard Billy Edelin who had his share of strong efforts for the Orange last season, the heart of the team is still intact and that's why the Orange are favored to bring the regular season title in the Big East Conference back home to upstate New York. Forward Hakim Warrick could have made his move to the NBA, but he understands that getting a little more tutelage at this level will go a long way in extending his longevity in the pros, and that's why he has returned to the Carrier Dome ,after averaging 19.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last season. He will team with Gerry McNamara once again to form a potent one-two punch. The pair was the most productive duo in the league last season, combining for 37 ppg and 200 of the unit's 465 assists. McNamara took the bulk of his shots from behind the three-point line, hitting on 105-of-270 chances, his 87.2 percent accuracy at the free-throw line usually preventing opponents from getting too physical with him in desperate times. Fellow guard Josh Pace provided a competent outlet for McNamara when he ran into trouble, while senior center Craig Forth picked his spots to score and crash the boards. Orange Nation Message Board DARTMOUTH RPI-325 With a new head coach in Terry Dunn and all five starters from last season back in the fold, the Big Green are obviously better than last season. The main reason for the high hopes of an improved season is sophomore sensation Leon Pattman, who averaged a team-high 13.2 ppg to go along with 4.4 rpg. His tremendous play as a freshman won him Rookie-of-the-Year honors in the Ivy League. One objective that coach Dunn would like to achieve this season is making David Gardner more of a threat on offense, considering the 6-10 center averaged just 8.9 ppg last year. Steve Callahan, who was named co- captain along with Gardner for this season, must be more consistent on offense as the guard posted just 7.9 ppg while shooting only 39 percent from the field. Forward Calvin Arnold was not much help on offense last season, averaging only 5.2 ppg, and although Dunn would like to see improvement there, he should be happy with the defensive play of the 6-9 junior, especially if he duplicates last season's 40 blocked shots. Ivy Basketball Forum

It's kind of funny because in the past the people of the AE board have accused Albany fans of overhyping their players and teams. This year when it looks like we'll actually have something good going most people are being pretty conservative. That starting five is just a guess from Brown's newspaper quotes and from what we saw in the scrimmage. As much as I'd like Iati to start, that lineup should really be able to press and run. I agree on the backcourt. I'd put Jordan and Wilson up against any other AE backcourt. I thought Jamar Wilson was one of the best guards in the conference as a freshman. It will be fun to watch what he can do this year.

I suppose it could be that after last year's 20 point spread they're trying to make it sound more competitive to sell more tickets. I know the $iena-Syracuse game is well on it's way to selling out but I haven't heard any sales projections for this game yet. You may be right though about them possibly being more guarded about possibly losing this year's game, some of Lanier's quotes have leant themselves to that interpretation as well.

It's kind of an odd quirk. If you check the results first it nullifes your vote, I hope you don't feel disenfranchised. Probably all we need to know about Dr. Shamash is that's he's from the Brook. For our purposes it looks like Bernstine is the guy.

Early Signings started Tuesday. Hopefully we get Connelly get's his LOI in soon. I'll be curious to see what Brown has to say about him.

Dr. Yacov A. Shamash, Vice President for Economic Development and Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at SUNY Stony Brook Bernstine, Portland State's President. Bernstine's Bio Robert Coombe, Provost Univ of Denver. Thanks to UAFAN for the info.

The starting five for the first game of the year and the last game of the year may very well be different. From what you've said maybe the starting lineup will be: J. Wilson Jordan Levine B. Wilson Zoellner That's a pretty big starting lineup with a 6'8 PF and 7'1 center. If Brent Wilson can defend and rebound his shooting should drive people nuts. Doubling down on Zoellner will be nearly impossible with all those shooters on the floor.

I was reading something the other day about how well Martin Bros (B. Wilson + Lillis) is at coaching at preparing kids for the college game. That certainly looks to be the case with Lillis and Wilson at least from what I saw in the scrimmage. Some of the reaction to the freshman is relative anyway. When you have a better talent level returning it's harder for the freshman to impress. Two years ago when Wilson and Levine came in as freshman they were the best two Albany players simply because the team wasn't that good. It's alot better now and it's going to take alot more for the freshman to stand out.

Bing just scored. Up 2-1

A loss to someone in the conference would kill the ranking especially since no one else is ranked very high. Hopefully it doesn't come down to that. Albany's hosting the tourney so we should provide an exciting environment and close the deal.

Bing and Albany are tied at the half 1-1. Go Danes!

I'm not sure how Hartford, for one, was picked ahead of the Danes. Hopefully this will provide some motivation. I'm curious about Schumaker at the point. She offers more in terms of shooting but it's a slow-ish backcourt with her and Ayers. May be some trouble with the quick PGs in the conference. Her scoring off the bench will be missed, one of the freshman will have to step up.

I think Brown had more pressure those 20 or so games when he was the interim coach. He had very little talent then and got his team to respond. In the paper today he said he expects Lillis and B. Wilson to see playing time right away. That's very good in one respect because it means Brent Wilson's injury must not be too serious. When you add those two into the guys we know who will be playing: Iati Wilson Levine Jordan Zoellener Q Wyatt Perry B.Wilson Lillis That's a ten man rotation without Dyson. How big of a player rotation can they run? 11 or 12 guys?

Danes women get overlooked -TU Danes finding relief in numbers-TU Great expectations for Great Danes-Cap News 9