Tennis to take on Drexel in local matchup

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The men’s tennis team faces off against Drexel on Friday at 12 p.m. at Legacy Tennis Center.

The Owls (2-2, 1-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) look to snap a two-match losing streak. The Dragons (3-1, 0-0 Colonial Athletic Association) are on a two-match win streak.

Part of the Owls’ struggles can be attributed to senior Kacper Rams’ shoulder injury. Coach Steve Mauro said that Rams is “day-to-day”. Rams has not missed any matches, but Temple needs it’s captain and best player to put in a strong performance.

Drexel is led by sophomore Badr Ouabdelmoumen (2-1 in singles) and junior Skyler Davis (2-2 in singles). Both players have played in the top singles flight, and they are 3-0 together in the top doubles flight this spring.

Owls begin 2013 season with USA Baseball Complex Classic

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Temple will open its 2013 season on Friday, Feb. 15 in Cary, N.C. against Wright State at 12 p.m. in the first game of the USA Baseball Complex Classic.

The Owls are one of the eight teams competing in the three day tournament along with Villanova, LaSalle, Albany, Toledo, Delaware, Canisius, and Monmouth.

Following a 2012 season in which the Owls posted a record of 19-34 (7-17 in Atlantic 10), the Owls lone goal for this weekend is to leave with four wins in four games, red shirt senior pitcher Steve Visnic said.

“I think we have high expectations,” senior outfielder Allen Stiles said. “We played really well this fall and were going to come out and play to the best of our abilities.”

In the first game of the 2013 season, coach Wheeler said red shirt senior pitcher Dan Moller will take the mound against Wright State.

“[Moller] is one of our seniors and one of our leaders,” Wheeler said. “We are going to give him the ball early to get the season going.”

Following the 12 p.m. game against Wright State on Friday, the Owls will face Delaware at 3:30 p.m. Junior pitcher Preston Hill will get his first opportunity to start for Temple against Delaware, a team that can really hit the fastball, coach Wheeler said.

On Saturday, Feb. 16, the Owls will take on Monmouth at 3 p.m. Getting the nod to start is junior pitcher Matt Hockenberry, who led the Owls in wins in 2012 with five.

The final game of the tournament will be played on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. Sophomore pitcher Patrick Peterson will get the start after leading the Owls in innings pitched in 2012 with 84.2 innings.

“A lot of it is on our pitching. We are supposed to have really good pitching this year,” Stiles said. “The pitching staff did really well in the fall. I think we will be able to come up with runs when we need them. As long as the pitchers do their job, we will do ours.”

After the final pitch in a loss to Rhode Island to end the 2012 season, the 2013 season began. Temple has been awaiting this weekend’s tournament all postseason and despite the inability to play on a field or partake in intersquad scrimmages, Wheeler said he hopes to have his team prepared starting on Friday.

“I just want us to go down there and play fundamentally sound baseball,” Wheeler said. “Run, hit, catch, throw. If we can do those things than we’ll be in a position to win each of the games this weekend.

Starting lineup in question

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Leading up to the Owls’ season opener, against Niagara, coach Bonnie Rosen and her staff are still making adjustments to the starting lineup. But, according to Rosen, the starting lineup does not hold much importance.

“We have a lot of different ways we can go,” Rosen said. “I think the starting lineup is going to be much less critical to our success than how everyone plays throughout the entire game. The starting lineup will help set the tempo but we do expect to play a lot of people.”

In regards to the starting goalie vacancy, Rosen reiterated the same belief, implying that there is a possibility for multiple goalies to see the field, this week.

“It’s certainly not impossible to rotate two goalies in a game. It’s relatively common,” Rosen said.

In her last season as an Owl, goalkeeper Tess Bishop started in all 17 games. With Bishop’s departure, either senior Meghan Clothier, sophomore Rachel Hall, or redshirt freshman Jaqi Kakalecik will make their first career start, versus Niagara.

Women’s basketball signs three recruits

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The Owls signed three players for the class of 2017, and more are expected in the coming months.

Temple’s early focus in recruiting appears to be in the low post, with two centers signed.

Six-feet, four-inch Taylor Robinson hails from St. Louis, Miss., and played for Midwest Elite AAU. She wasn’t eligible in the fall semester for her high school team because of grades but has since rejoined the lineup.

Fayetteville, Ga., native Safiya Martin also stands at 6 feet, 4 inches and was a member of the Georgia Pearls AAU squad.

The Owls also signed Feyonda Fitzgerald, a 5 feet, 7 inches guard from Norfolk, Va. She averaged 16.9 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Lake Taylor Titans, according to 757Teamz.com. She also played for Boo Williams AAU.

The presence of two freshmen centers indicates coach Tonya Cardoza will likely have an open competition to replace senior Victoria Macaulay after her graduation following this season. There are no other centers on the current roster, and nobody listed taller than six feet, one inch.

Temple is still recruiting for the class, but cannot comment on later commits until they have signed their letter of intent.

-Jake Adams

DeMeno and Kilkenny take conference honors

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The Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference recognized two Temple gymnasts for their performances against Ursinus last Sunday. Junior Brittanie DeMeno was named the ECAC Gymnast of the Week, while freshman Tara Kilkenny was nabbed as the ECAC Coaches’ Choice Award winner.

DeMeno was a major contributor to Temple’s overall victory over Ursinus. The native of Staten Island N.Y., competed in all four events and was awarded an all-around score of 38.200 including a career best (9.550) on bars. Her all-around score was the best in the competition.

Kilkenny was not originally going to compete in last Sunday’s meet, that was until fellow freshman Hannah Popper dislocated her elbow in warm-ups. Coach Aaron Murphy gave Kilkenny the last-minute nod to compete on bars. In her collegiate debut, Kilkenny nailed her routine and was awarded a 9.675, the best score on the apparatus in the entire
competition.

DeMeno, Kilkenny and the rest of the Owls will prepare for their next meet, the Towson Invitational, which will be held on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Women’s tennis to take on Georgetown

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The women’s tennis team will face Georgetown this morning at 11 a.m. at Legacy Tennis Center.

The Owls (1-5, 0-2 Atlantic 10 Conference) will look to snap a three-match losing streak against the Hoyas (4-1, 1-0 Big East Conference), who are riding a four-match winning streak.

The Hoyas will be led by junior Kelly Comolli and senior Victoria Sekely, who are both on individual three-match win streaks. They have also recently been paired together in doubles matches, and they have won all three of them,

Temple has had a difficult start to the season. Junior Alicia Doms is the only Owl with a winning record in singles play (3-2). Coach Steve Mauro has said he believes the team will break out of this slump and come together.

Owls set to take on Rhode Island in Wednesday matinee

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Coming off a win over St. Louis that coach Tonya Cardoza called one of the best overall performances the Owls have put together all season, Temple has shifted its focus to tomorrow’s matinee against Rhode Island.

            The Owls (11-12, 4-4) beat the Billikens 54-50 on Sunday Feb. 10, where four starters finished in double-figures. Senior center Victoria Macaulay had 16 points and a career-high nine blocks. Freshman forward Sally Kabengano, freshman guard Meghan Roxas, and redshirt-junior forward Natasha Thames all finished with 11 points each. Sophomore point guard Tyonna Williams went 0-for-10 from the floor, but set up her teammates all game in route to ten assists.

            Rhode Island (5-7, 0-7) is a young squad in the midst of a dismal season. The Rams have lost eleven straight games and and 12 of their last 14, with their latest defeat coming against Butler on Thursday Feb. 7. Freshman guard Tayra Melendez leads them in scoring, averaging 11 points per game. Sophomore guard Samantha Tabakman averages 8.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

            Temple has had its most success playing on North Broad, going 7-3 between the Liacouras Center and McGonigle Hall this season. Rhode Island, meanwhile, is 0-8 on the road.

            The Owls and Rams will tip off at 12 pm on Wednesday Feb. 13 at the Liacouras Center.

 

Owls need three wins

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If Temple can pull off three more wins in the Atlantic 10 Conference, where it’s currently 4-4, they lock up a spot in the A-10 Tournament.

Temple holds tiebreakers over St. Bonaventure and Richmond, meaning their magic number the rest of the way is three. Virginia Commonwealth University is 2-7 but holds the tiebreaker over the Owls.

Assuming they defeat Xavier and Rhode Island (a combined 1-14 in the A-10), the Owls must beat one of the following: Dayton, St. Joseph’s, Butler or Fordham. That secures them a spot in the postseason.

Without three wins the Owls need serious help to get into the tournament.

Three of their remaining six games are at home, against Rhode Island, Xavier and Fordham.

Lacrosse season almost underway

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In 2013, the lacrosse team has taken a couple of different approaches, in preparation for this season.

Although the 2013 spring semester began on January 22, the Owls were able to come to campus a week in advance, to begin practicing. This would be the first year the team has had training camp before school began.

“I think it was one of the best decisions that the coaches made. We got a head start on practice” said senior midfielder Stephany Parcell.

“It was a really wonderful luxury. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish when we don’t have any other distractions, besides your sport. As a player, as an athlete, it’s the ultimate feeling of all you worry about is playing” said coach Bonnie Rosen.

“And as a coach, I’ve always found when we have those moments, we make huge gains” Rosen added.

Another difference in the Owls preparation is the incorporation of film study.

“We implemented something that we hadn’t really done in the past, which was watching film as a team. One day with the attack, one day with the defense. Trying to get everyone to know that we need to be prepared for games” Parcell said.

Tennis match cancelled

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The men’s tennis match against Davidson that was scheduled for tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. has been cancelled.

The match was due to be played at the Atlantic Club in Manasquan, NJ. Manasquan is a shore town, and is under a Winter Storm Warning from today at 3 PM to Saturday at 6 AM. Therefore, it is likely to be unsafe for both Temple and Davidson to travel there.

The Owls’ Sunday match at Old Dominion is still set to take place. That will be at 1 p.m.