Wednesday, December 10, 2003

49 MORAVIAN FALL STUDENT-ATHLETES NAMED TO MIDDLE ATLANTIC CORPORATION ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

ANNVILLE, PA --- The Moravian College fall athletic teams had 49 members named to the 2003 Middle Atlantic Corporation Fall-All-Academic Team with at least one member from all eight of Moravian’s fall sports.

To be eligible for the MAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must be a starter or significant reserve, a sophomore, junior or senior and maintain a 3.2 grade-point average.

The women’s cross country team, the football team, and the women’s volleyball team each had eight honorees while women’s tennis team had seven honorees and the women’s soccer team had six athletes honored. The men’s soccer team had five student-athletes selected. The field hockey squad placed four members on the MAC All-Academic Team while the men’s cross country team had three student-athletes honored.

Leading the women’s cross country honorees was junior Heather McGarvie (Medford, NJ/Shawnee HS), who was the lone Greyhound to earn All-Regional honors as she placed 18th at the 2003 NCAA Division III Mideast Regional. Joining McGarvie from the women’s cross country team was sophomore Lauren Bahnatka (West Chester, PA/Henderson HS), who was on the All-MAC Second Team selection. Also on the MAC All-Academic Team were senior Jennifer Brief (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson HS) and juniors Chelsea Mullins (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe HS), Kellie Smith (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge HS), Alison Stoyko (Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin HS), and sophomores Alexis Vergalla (Glen Gardner, NJ/Voorhees HS) and Alicia Hernandez (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe HS).

Leading the selections from the football team, which posted a 3-7 record, was senior linebacker Steve Maslanek (Stockholm, NJ/Vernon Township HS), who had 47 tackles, one and a half sacks, and one interception. Sophomore running back Kevin Lukich (Ogdensburg, NJ/Wallkill Valley HS) gained 179 yards rushing and 51 yards receiving this season. Sophomore quarterback Jerry Venturino (Hopatcong, NJ/Hopatcong HS) completed 58 passes for 807 yards with five touchdowns.

Also earning spots on the MAC All-Academic Team from the football squad were sophomores wider receivers Andrew Mazurek (West Orange, NJ/West Orange HS) and Russ Demko (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley HS), and offensive linemen Justin Runne (Vernon, NJ/Vernon Township HS) and Brenten Runne (Stanhope, NJ/Hopatcong HS), and quarterback Rick Muschlitz (Easton, PA/Notre Dame HS).

The Greyhound volleyball team posted its eighth straight 20-plus win season with a 26-10 mark this past fall and the squad competed in the conference championship match for the eighth consecutive year. Moravian also played in the ECAC South Championship Tournament. The Greyhounds were led on the court by All-Commonwealth Conference First Team honoree senior setter Amy Lawrence (Gettysburg, PA/Delone Catholic HS), who was named to the All-Conference First Team for the third consecutive season. Lawrence led the Greyhounds with 1,010 assists and 334 digs, while also adding 47 service aces, 78 kills, a .251 hitting percentage and 29 blocks. Senior outside hitter Kim Zipf (Wyomissing, PA/Holy Name HS) was named to the All-Conference Second Team. Zipf contributed 421 kills, 18 assists, 325 digs, a .272 hitting percentage, 22 service aces, and 19 blocks.

Joining Lawrence and Zipf were seniors Andrea Frankenfield (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS) who added 223 digs and 38 service aces, while senior Alissa Bucsi (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS) contributed 314 digs in the libero position. Other MAC All-Academic selections were senior middle hitter Shannon McNeil (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic HS), who led the Hounds with a .290 hitting percentage and added 243 kills, 125 digs, 66 blocks, and 50 service aces, and senior Sara Hollenbacher (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic HS), who added 161 kills, a .272 hitting percentage, 118 digs, 40 blocks, and 18 service aces, senior Mary Kate Cordisco (Bethlehem, PA/Notre Dame HS), who added 207 kills, a .168 hitting percentage, 51 service aces, 99 digs, and 34 blocks, and junior outside hitter Christina Wallace (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS), who led the team with 75 service aces and also contributed 357 kills with a .193 hitting percentage, 309 digs, and 34 blocks.

The Moravian women’s tennis team captured its fourth straight MAC title and seventh in the last eight years this fall with a record of 15-1. Leading the Greyhounds on the MAC All-Academic Team is senior Lauren Castagna (Mt. Bethel, PA/Bangor HS). Castagna had a 14-4 singles record this fall to finish her career with a 37-7 record and she posted a 12-3 record in doubles action. Junior Becky Deringer (Allentown, PA/Dieruff HS), the Greyhounds’ number two singles player, had a 15-2 singles mark this fall, and she combined with Castagna for Moravian’s top doubles tandem and a record of 11-3. Junior Marion Berry (Avon, NJ/St. Rose HS) is also a member of the MAC All-Academic team. Berry had a 12-3 singles record this fall with a 12-2 record at first singles and posted an 11-5 record in doubles action.

Moravian’s other women’s tennis players on the MAC All-Academic team were senior Petia Damianova (Haskovo, Bulgaria/ISM HS), who was 11-2 in singles action, junior Julie Anderson (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) who was 8-3 in singles action, sophomore Nicole Gruber (Lebanon, PA/Lebanon HS) who was 14-4 in singles action, and sophomore Sara Weller (Gladstone, NJ/Bernards HS).

The Moravian women’s soccer team posted a 12-4-4 overall mark this season and a 5-1-1 slate in the Commonwealth Conference and was runner-up in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Mid-Atlantic Championships. Senior midfielder Justina Bria (Warminster, PA/William Tennent HS), who was named to the All-Commonwealth Conference Second Team, had three goals and two assists this season. Junior defender Kelly Haymaker (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley HS) added a goal and two assists and helped the Greyhounds to allow just 0.85 goals per game while posting 11 shutouts.

The Greyhounds other MAC All-Academic selections were senior midfielder Rachel Davy (Oaklyn, NJ/Haddon Township HS), who added an assist, junior midfielder Edna Snyder (Naples, FL/Gulf Coast HS), senior defender Nicole Sabaliauskas (Butler, NJ/Butler HS), and senior goal keeper Kelly Wakeman (Easton, PA/Easton HS).

The Moravian men’s soccer team posted a 4-12-3 overall record and made it to the post-season for the fourth consecutive year. Leading the greyhounds on defense on the MAC All-Academic Team is junior Ryan Wilkins (Hatboro, PA/Hatboro-Horsham). Moravian’s other men’s soccer players on the MAC All-Academic team were sophomores Casey Hoffman (Kempton, PA/Northwestern Lehigh HS), Ian Andrew Nuno (Middletown, DE/Caravel Academy), George Gray (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley HS), and goal keeper Ryan Walker (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen HS).

The Greyhound field hockey team’s MAC All-Academic honorees were led by senior forward Pam Pike (Pennsburg, PA/Upper Perkiomen HS). Pike led the Moravian squad to a 4-14 record this fall and was named to the All-Conference first team. Pike had one goal and two assists during the year. Joining Pike on the MAC All-Academic Team was sophomore Stephanie Beitler (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh HS) who was the leading scorer for the Greyhounds with four goals and two assists for 10 points this season. Other MAC All-Academic selections were junior midfielder Kelly Boone (Reading, PA/Muhlenberg HS), who had one goal and two assists and sophomore defender Jill Brinckman (East Greenville, PA/Upper Perkiomen HS) who started in all 18 games this fall.

The men’s cross country team finished sixth at the MAC Championships. Leading the Greyhounds on the All-Academic Team was sophomore Greg Rarick (Drums, PA/Hazleton HS) who led the squad at the MAC Championships and Regional meets earning Second Team All-MAC honors with an 18th place finish in the MAC Championships and All-Region honors with a 35th place finish at the Regional meet. Other MAC All-Academic selections were sophomore William Shimer (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) who placed 48th at the MAC meet and junior Anthony Bisti (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddon Heights HS) at 101st place.