Five Questions: Darren Besch

Another week, another victim to Five Questions. This time, it's Darren Besch who for some unexplained reason thinks Cory McCullick would be a helpful guy to have around on a deserted island. Maybe Cory knows how to build a boat.

Women's Tennis 2008 Season Recap

Listen as Edgewood College women's tennis players Kelsey Steinhorst and Bridget Prendergast discuss the 2008 women's tennis season. The Eagles won the Northern Athletics Conference title and will be competing in the 2009 NCAA Tournament next spring.

Five Questions: Kim Lueck

Edgewood College student-athletes beware! You never know when your Sports Information Director might be lurking around a corner waiting to shove a camera into your face and ask you "Five Questions".

Often informative, sometimes ridiculous, always revealing Five Questions gives you a quick glimpse into the mind of an Edgewood College student-athlete. Most of you have been able to escape thus far. Kim Lueck wasn't so lucky.

Scheele Stories #2: Back on track by Christmas

Senior women's basketball player Megan Scheele checks back in with the second installment of her blog. Scheele's writing can also be seen on D3Hoops.com as part of the "Insider" feature on the Daily Dose.

2008 is almost over, our season is underway, and Edgewood College is in full gear going into the New Year. The team has gone through many obstacles and adversities to get here and have finally found ourselves and have been working well together. We started off with the season with three non-conference games.

Our first tournament was eye opening for most of the team, since many of them haven’t played basketball at the college level before. I could tell they were nervous, I was totally nervous before my first college game and expected them to be also. We played well at the tournament, the team got the first two games under their belts and found out what it was like to play at this level, and we found the things we need to work on to become a better team. We lost both games, but found out how each other played and looked to using that in our upcoming game.

Our next game was against the No. 1 team in the nation, UW-Whitewater. I know for the returners we wanted to redeem ourselves from the last time we played them; I do believe they scored a hundred points on us and so we weren’t going to let that happen again. We knew it was going to be a challenge for us, but we love challenges and we had nothing to lose going in, this game could only make us better. Whitewater was a tough team and had a well rounded one at that, but at half time we were only down by nine points. The game went on and we continued to battle with them, but in the end they got the best of us and we lost by 19 points. As a team we talked about what we could do to beat the number one team in the nation; we needed to shoot better and come up with more stops on defense and we would be right in the game.

At the end of November we finally played our first home game and our first conference game. The team was looking forward to this and to playing Concordia Wisconsin. They are one of our rivals and we didn’t lose to them by more than three points last year and did finally beat them for the first time in my career last year. Concordia beat us and it definitely wasn’t how we wanted to start off conference play. This was a tough time for our team, we were 0-4, had two players out with knee injuries for the rest of the season, and now only have nine players active on our roster. This wasn’t exactly how we wanted to start off our season and it was really hard to stay positive and keep everyone going. But we made a commitment with each other that we would do this together and we can just keep working hard and it will get better.

I didn’t really want to talk about this, but Dave, our sports information director said I had to. I’m on pace to break Edgewood College’s all-time scoring record. I haven’t really thought much about it, because I just want to make sure the team keeps playing better, but I suppose it will be really cool if it happens. As long as we keep winning games, that’s all I’m concerned about. [SID note: Megan has 1,700 career points and needs 155 more to break the record.]

That Concordia game was our wake up call on how to work and play together as a team. We knew we had to come together and get things done as a team. That’s exactly what happened; we are on a three-game winning streak and know that we can work together and win as a team. To me the first win is the hardest, but after we got that under our belts we continued on that path and have continued to win. Our next game is on Monday against Lakeland. We can’t wait to get back on the court and continue our winning streak on our home court.

Podcast: Volleyball 2008 Season Review

Head Volleyball Coach Paul Schlomer reviews the 2008 volleyball season in a an interview with Sports Information Director David Petroff.

Video: Stampfl Field ribbon cutting and baseball alumni game

Enjoy the video below detailing the grand opening of the new Stampfl Field grandstand, and the annual baseball alumni game.

Breese Stevens receives $100,000 grant

Breese Stevens Stadium, the home of Edgewood College men's and women's soccer teams, has received a $100,000 grant to continue the renovation project from Dane County and the Greater Madison Visitors and Convention Bureau.

The second phase of the renovation a new press box, new sound system and refurbished locker rooms. Below is the article that appeared in The Capital Times, announcing the grant.

Breese Stevens renovation gets $100,000 grant (courtesy of The Capital Times)
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Eagle Alum Machut becomes top General

Formere Edgewood College men's basketball player Criag Machut has been named the new head girls basketball coach at Milwaukee King High School. The Generals are one of the state's top girls basketball programs having appeared in the state tournament in 2004 and 2007. Congratulations and best of luck, Coach Machut!

King hires coach (courtesy of David Boehler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
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Podcast Interview: Women's Soccer season review

Head Women's Soccer coach Tim Alexander talks about the 2008 women's soccer season which saw the Eagles claim the NAC Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Hitters SportsPlex set to open

Hitters SportsPlex, a new $5 million indoor baseball/softball facility will be opening soon in Middleton. Wisconsin State Journal business writer Barry Adams (who moonlights as one of the play-by-play voices on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com webcasts) filed this feature article which appeared on the front page of Sunday's Journal. Edgewood College athletic director Al Brisack is quoted in the article, talking about the mutual benefit of this new facility with the surrounding athletic community.

Batter up! Winter? Not a problem (by Barry Adams, courtesy of Madison.com)
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Men's Soccer season review with Tim Alexander

Head Men's Soccer coach Tim Alexander takes some time to sit down with Sports Information Director David Petroff and review the recently completed 2008 season.

Charlie Averkamp interview

Men's Basketball student assistant coach Charlie Averkamp discusses his transition from being a student-athlete to being a member of the coaching staff in this interview from November 19, 2008.

Soccer Alumni Photo Gallery posted

Photos from the men's and women's soccer alumni games are now posted on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com. Follow the link below....

2008 Soccer Alumni Games
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Scheele Stories #1

Edgewood College women's basketball student-athlete Megan Scheele has agreed to blog from time to time through her senior season. Not only can you read her entries here, but a national audience will hear from Megan on the D3Hoops.com blog, the Daily Dose. Here is Megan's first entry:

Hello, my name is Megan Scheele and I am the only senior on the Edgewood College women’s basketball team. I came from a small town near Madison called New Glarus.

As I enter the first month or so of practice and think about the upcoming season, I’m thinking to myself, I can’t believe I’m a senior and this is going to be my last year playing basketball here at Edgewood College. I remember coming in my freshmen year being so nervous and didn’t talk much at all; oh, how times have changed for me! Now I’m the only senior on the team and have lots of freshmen and newbies coming in the same way I was, nervous and scared to talk. But I tell myself I can’t think of this as being my last year; I say to myself, let this be the best year.

In my eyes as the team practices; we get better each day, we get to know one another, we see what everyone brings to the table, but most of all we work hard. All of those things right there are what make me believe that this will be the best year. We are a young team having one senior, two juniors, six sophomores, and four freshmen, but look to use what everyone has to offer and come together as a team and be a powerful team in the NAC.

Our conference is very competitive and you never know who’s going to win each night someone plays… this is something I love and makes it fun to compete in. We are a very team oriented program and live up to that. We play team defense, win or lose as a team, but most important we stay together through the ups and downs of the season. We start off our season this weekend up in Adrian, Michigan and we participate in a two day tournament. We can’t wait to start play and are very excited for the season to get underway.

Women's Basketball hoops it up with Madison Stars

The Edgewood College women's basketball team spent their last Saturday before their season opener conducting a clinic for the Madison Stars Basketball Club, Inc. The majority of the girls reside in the Madison East HS district (elementary and middle schools). The Stars have girls from kindergarten thru 7th grade, with players range in skill level, from beginning to advanced.

The Eagles had a fantastic time working with these young ball players on their skills, and emphasizing the importance of hard work both on the court and in the classroom. Look closely, there could be some future Eagles in this picture.

NCAA Selection Show Monday morning

MADISON, Wis. - The Edgewood College women's soccer team will learn their first round NCAA Tournament opponent and location this morning on the NCAA Tournament Selection Show.

NCAA.com will be broadcasting the show live at 11:00 a.m. central time. Fans that are nearby are invited to jon the team in the Wingra Cafe in the Predolin Center on campus for the official announcement. Anyone may log-in to see the show themselves by following the link below. You will need to have Microsoft Siverlight installed on your computer to view the show.

NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament announcement

Edgewood College defeated Aurora University 1-0 in the Northern Athletics Conference tournament championship game on Saturday to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
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Postgame Interview with Tim Alexander

Listen as Edgewood College sports information assistant Luke Pattarozzi talks with head women's soccer coach Tim Alexander following the Eagles' thrilling penalty kick shootout win over Dominican University to advance to the NAC Tournament championship game. The Eagles are just one step from an NCAA Tournament bid.


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Catch Eagle Women's Soccer feature on WISC-TV 3

If you live in the Madison area, be sure to tune in to WISC-TV Channel 3 tomorrow night for a feature on the Edgewood College women's soccer team. Sports reporter Josh Williamson talks to the Eagles about their season, their current run toward the NCAA Tournament and national scoring leader Elaine Gerry.

The story will air at 6:00 and during the WISC news broadcast. Once it's posted on the Channel 3 web site, I'll post a link here for all of you who don't get Madison television stations.

As a reminder, the Eagles will be taking on Dominican University at 7:00 at Breese Stevens Field on Wednesday night in a NAC Tournament semifinal match. If you can’t be there in person, you can follow the Live Stats on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.
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Williams, Paskey and Kopatz celebrate final match for the Eagles

Tonight, the Edgewood College women’s volleyball program is proud to honor three student-athletes who are playing their final match for the Eagles.

Leslie Kopatz took an unusual route from Minneapolis Southwest High School to Edgewood College. Kopatz was a three-sport athlete in high school and attended the University of Wisconsin for three years. At UW she was a member of the Badgers’ club sailing team, before transferring to Edgewood College and turning her attention back to volleyball. Leslie’s enthusiasm and energy has been a welcome addition to the team.



For the last two seasons, you couldn’t miss Hannah Williams on the court. Hannah has been the steady influence at the primary setting position after serving in a reserve role her first two years. She has 623 assists this season, nearly doubling her career total and giving her 1,263 over four years. Her assist total places her sixth all-time in school history and second among those who played in the rally scoring era.



On the receiving end of many of those Williams sets was outside and middle hitter Kim Paskey. Paskey has been a model of consistency in her four years at Edgewood College. Her uncanny ability to adjust her attacks in midflight and score with both power and touch has made her one of the league’s most dangerous hitters. She will leave the program as the all-time leader in kills (currently at 885) and blocks (337) in the rally scoring era. Paskey was a 2006 Northern Athletics Conference honorable mention selection.

Thank you to Leslie, Hannah and Kim for your outstanding service to Edgewood College and to Eagle Athletics.
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Volleyball hosts MAISL night

The Edgewood College women's volleyball team hosted several youth volleyball squads from the Madison Area Independent Schools League for the Eagles' match last Friday night. The teams were loud and enthusiastic and were treated to a 3-1 Eagles victory over Alverno College. Thank you to all those teams that attended. Maybe there are some future Eagles in this group.

Gavin hits the links with Tony Romo

Romo tees off, with Gavin watching

Jessica Simpson was no where to be seen and his pinky finger was completely intact at the time, but there was Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo teeing off at the Ray Fischer Golf Tournament at Janesville Riverside golf course in June.

Playing alongside Romo was Edgewood College junior Aaron Gavin. While the pairing was coincidental, it sure seemed as though someone knew that Gavin was a lifelong Cowboys fan despite growing up in South Milwaukee. A friend broke the news to Gavin who reacted with disbelief. When the official pairings arrived in the mail, "I just about fell on the floor," said Gavin.

Gavin and Romo played a round on Friday and a round on Saturday, before Romo had to withdraw from the tournament to attend to another committment in California.
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Former assistant Christman lands job

Congratulations to Jody Christman, a former player and assistant coach for the Edgewood College men's basketball program. He has landed a new high school head coaching position at Navajo Preparatory School in Farmington, New Mexico.

Christman takes over the reigns of a team that went 5-19 last year. Best of luck Coach Christman.

Prepped to turn the corner (Courtesy of the Farmington Daily-Times)

Prep boys hire hoops coach (from the blog of Louie St. George III of the Daily-Times)

Black and White World Series - Game 2

VERONA, Wis. – The story after Game 1 seemed to upset the Black Team, but when it came to game time, the White Team took care of business once again, prevailing 10-6 at The Chuck last Friday night, winning the coveted Eagle Cup. The win gave Coach Eichhorn his second straight Eagle Cup, making him 2-0 in his career in the Black & White World Series.

The White Team was leading 10-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, when the Black Team made things interesting by scoring four runs and had the bases loaded with only one out. Adam Victorn came in from second base for the second straight night to close the door. He induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the game and the White Team dog piled on top of each other sweeping the Black and White World Series two games to zero.

Offensively, the White Team was led by sophomore Treye Dennison who was 3-for-4 with two RBI, one run scored and two stolen bases. Overall, the White Team had 11 hits, six stolen bases, drew eight walks and two hit-by-pitches. As far as the Black Team goes, they were a little better on offense totaling 10 hits on the night, but stranded 10 base runners as well. The Black Team was led by junior Tim Barry who hit a ball that hasn’t landed yet, but fortunately for the White Team it was foul, or was it? We needed instant replay but The Chuck hasn’t received the technology renovations just yet, so the call stood as a foul ball. Barry proceeded to strike out, proving the ball was foul because the ball never lies. He was 2-for-4 on the night with a single and double. Seniors Alex Berta and Cory McCullick also had good nights at the plate both going 2-for-4.

Senior Rick Walsh picked up the loss for the Black Team lasting only one and two-thirds innings, giving up six runs, five of which were earned. White starter junior Scott Winters threw four strong innings scattering seven hits and giving up two runs. Earning the win though was sophomore Zach Gura who came on in the fifth and pitched one and two-thirds innings only giving up one hit. Victorn earned the save for the White Team throwing only one pitch in the bottom of the seventh.

In the series the White Team scored 21 runs, had 19 hits, drew 15 walks and was hit three times in two games. That is what I call pure domination! The Black Team set all sort of BWWS records, ones that they didn’t want to set. This is unofficial but probably true, most runs given up, most games giving up double digit runs, longest ball hit that didn’t mean a thing, etc. I could go on and on but I don’t want anyone to feel bad.

Overall, it was a great series (especially for the White Team) and a great way to end fall ball. Both teams played hard and played well (ok, maybe the Black team didn’t play well, but I wanted them to feel good for a second). We will see all of you Eagle fans up in the Metrodome in Minneapolis on February 27, 2009 at 10 p.m. for the start of our regular season. Until then, stay warm, stay safe and Go Eagles!

-- Matt Eichhorn (White Team manager, and BWWS champion)

Black and White World Series - Game 1

This completely fair and unbiased account of Game 1 of the Black and White World Series was provided by White Team manager Matt Eichhorn. As Winston Churchill said, "History is written by the victors."

VERONA, Wis. - It was a chilly night at The Chuck for Game 1 of the 2008 Black and White World Series and the Black Team’s bats were just as chilly. The White Team took Game 1 in non-dramatic fashion blowing out the Black Team 11-0.

Junior Matt Krueger earned the win pitching five strong innings, giving up only one hit…yes I did say one hit and striking out four. The bullpen, which consisted of sophomore Zach Gura, junior Brad DeVault and sophomore Adam Victorn, was just as effective, allowing only three more hits over the final four innings to preserve the win and shut out for the White Team. On the flip side, freshman Miles Mayer took the loss for the Black Team having thrown five innings giving up three runs, two earned and striking out three. His bullpen was not as friendly as they gave up eight runs, six earned over the final three innings of work.

Offensively, the Black Team was led by no one because they only had four hits in nine innings of baseball. The White Team was led by senior Ricky Martinez who was 3-for-4 with five RBI and sophomore Alex Elliott who was 1-for-3 with a three-run triple in the bottom of the sixth with two outs.

The score was 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth. The White Team had the bases loaded and had just chased starter Mayer from the game. There was one out and Victorn stepped to the plate. He popped up on the infield for the second out. Sophomore James Bertakis was on the mound for the Black Team when he hit sophomore Andrew King with a 2-1 pitch. That forced in the second run of the game making it 2-0. That set the stage for Elliott’s heroics. Up in the count, Elliott drove a ball down the right field line that landed just fair bring in all three base runners, making the score 5-0 and from that point the rout was on.

In case you didn’t read the beginning, the final score was 11-0, the White Team over the Black Team. In all honesty, it was a lot closer than that…Ok who am I joking, how could an 11-0 game be that close! We completely dominated from beginning to end and plan to sweep the series in 2. After a beating like tonight, which I’m pretty sure is a record for worst loss in BWWS history, why would you even show up to the field. The White Team out played, out hit, out pitched, out managed, and just is flat out better than the Black Team.

Game 2 is on Friday, October 10 at 5:15pm at The Chuck in Verona. Game 2 starters, for the visiting White Team will be junior lefty Scott Winters and for the Black Team will be senior Rick Walsh. Game 3, if necessary, will be 20 minutes after Game 2 ends. Make sure you show up early because there will not be a Game 3, because the White Team will win Game 2. I look forward to seeing you at The Chuck. Make sure to bring your coats, blankets and your brooms because there’s going to be a sweep Friday night!

-Matt Eichhorn, Manager, White Team
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Two Eagles in the Pointer Hall of Fame

I'm going to break my rule of thumb to not talk about myself on the Eagle Blog, but I'm only doing it because I can publicize another Eagle at the same time. Diane Hawkins, a graduate assistant women's basketball coach, and myself, David Petroff, sports information director, will be traveling to Stevens Point this weekend to participate in UW-Stevens Point's Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

In 2002, Diane was a point guard and I was an assistant coach on the Pointers' women's basketball team that won the NCAA Championship. We went 30-3 that year and earned an at-large bid to the Big Dance. On the way to the Final Four we defeated four-time national champion Washington University (Mo.) on their home floor, snapping their 70-game home winning streak. Then we hosted a sectional tournament in Stevens Point which featured about 1,800 fans stuffed into a gym with 1,500 seats. At the finals in Terre Haute, Ind. our team defeated Marymount (Va.) and St. Lawrence (N.Y.) for the title. It was truly one of the most exciting experiences of my life.

This weekend we will be back in Stevens Point as the 2001-02 team is inducted into the UW-Stevens Point Hall of Fame. I'm looking forward to seeing the whole team and reliving those wonderful moments.

P.S. to Hawkins: I can't believe it's been 6 1/2 years either.
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Black and White World Series - The Quest for the Cup

The annual Edgewood College Eagle Baseball, Black and White World Series will begin Thursday, October 9 at 6pm (BP at 5pm), at “The Chuck” (Stampfl Field), in Verona.

The Series is a three-game format. Game 1 is a nine-inning affair, with games 2 and 3 being seven inning.

This Series marks the annual completion of the Eagles' fall season and traditionally pits two of the assistant coaches against each other for a year of bragging rights. Coaches Matt Eichhorn and Nick Pepper will be leading their respective squads while Coaches Brisack and Wachholz complete fall evaluations. The coaches conducted a draft and even made some trades before Thursday’s first game.

For the players, this is the ultimate accomplishment of their fall season – winning the coveted Eagle Cup! The perpetual trophy is kept for one year by the winning team. Like Lord Stanley’s Cup, it will be taken to homes, elementary schools, dinners and even classes – a proud symbol of what teamwork and dedication can accomplish.

A member of each game’s winning team will write a game article for submission.

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Eagle Insider: NAC Women's Golf Championships

Edgewood College sophomore golfer Stephanie Leahan takes you on a trip around the course at the Northern Athletics Conference women's golf championships. Read along and get a feel for the successes and disappointments of a conference championship...

Glen Erin Golf Course is beautiful and serene except for the occasional plane taking off at the southwest Wisconsin airport. The course though had its share of challenges. The first day I was off to a great start on the front nine. It was pretty wide open and fairly tame but if you pulled it to far left or right you met the thick fescue grass, if you find the ball that’s great, but it’s whether or not you have the guts to try and hit it out without taking a drop. The fescue surprisingly wasn’t what was getting on my nerves, it was the greens. After the first hole I realized that being on the green just wouldn’t be good enough. The greens were large and sloped and extremely fast. If you were within five feet going downhill you barely had to touch the putter to the ball and it would reach the cup. I found that out the hard way on the first hole putting down the green with about seven feet to the hole, I got it to the cup, it hit the cup actually and then what everyone hates to see: the ball lipped out and rolled three feet past.

It took me about three to four holes to really figure out these greens but I still was no expert. You really needed to take advantage of the straight open fairways making sure you hit it solid so if you could get on in two or three you would have a better shot at four or a five. Although the greens were driving me crazy I was hitting the ball very well and keeping myself in contention for a reasonable score. Then the back nine came around. The fairways were much narrower, a lot more trees and many more ways of getting into trouble. If you didn’t hit it straight, you might as well have grabbed another ball and head for the point of entry because there is no way you’re getting that one back. I struggled horribly on the back nine but it was nothing I hadn’t seen before at any other courses. It took everything I had to keep my composure and finish the round knowing that my front nine score was going to be completely wiped out. Oh and it was, I ended the back nine with a 70, the worst score I have posted since I started playing golf. “This is what golf is; I kept thinking to myself sometimes it can be a big pain in the butt.”

I went out the next day excited to redeem myself for the first days blunder, constantly thinking “it’s just you against the course.” I played solid all the way around with no major slip ups along the way. I played even keel through all 18 holes no nine much better than the other. I was comfortable at this stage; I didn’t have the pressure of doing well on one nine and then trying to do the same thing on the next. It was a beautiful day and I was going to make the most of playing my last round of the season and end on a good note. I finished three strokes better than the day before and you can’t be unhappy with that. My teammates congratulated me on the improvement and I was even happier with them when I found out they had shot season low scores of 99 and 82.
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Abbi's Almanac #3

Freshman volleyball player Abbi Schultz contributes her third entry...

As most people know the month of October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In high school we had a small fund raisers but nothing really spectacular. As a whole, every volleyball team in the NAC (Northern Athletics Conference) shows their support by wearing pink shirts with the slogan “Dig for Life” written on them during warm ups. It is a pretty awesome sight to see at least twenty girls, from two different teams, coming together to represent one cause. Then watching as we change from our pink tee’s into our school’s colors as we try to dominate the other team on the court.

Talking with other people at different schools and in different conferences the same thing is happening all over the place. UW-Platteville sells witty tee-shirts with the slogan “Don’t Let Cancer Steal Second Base” written across them. Well other schools have huge fundraisers supporting finding the cure for breast cancer. All around it is a wicked cool experience to see so many people put aside their differences to come together for such a rad cause.

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Kranz, Southern and Bliske receive scholarship awards

Three Edgewood College freshman golfers were honored with the 2008 Sportsmanship Scholarship from the Lou Warobick Junior Golf Foundation. Logan Kranz, Ashley Southern and Amanda Bliske received the awards for being one of eight Wisconsin high school seniors who "exemplify good sportsmanship and contribute to their schools and communities.

According to a committee member this is the first time one college has had three scholarship winners in the same year. Congratulations to Amanda, Ashley and Logan!

Thanks to Gary D'Amato of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for mentioning them on his Golf Beat blog.

Golf teams assist Gilda's Club

The Edgewood College men's and women's golf teams took time out of their regular season schedules to volunteer for the Red Door Golf Outing. The outing benefits Gilda's Club which seeks to provide a community of free support for those living with cancer.

We are very proud of our student-athletes who give their time to support those in need.
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Volleyball Alumni can still kill

The Edgewood College volleyball alumni match was held this past Saturday at the Edgedome, and one of the largest group of Alumni in recent years came to show the current Eagles that they still have some serious skills on the court.

The Alumni came back from an early deficit in the first set coming up just short losing 18-25. The second set was quite different. The Alumni led from the first point to the last behind great defense and a huge block, winning 25-23. In the final deciding set, the Alumni fought well but lost in the end 17-25. Greta Gueths and Julie VonDerVellen led the Alumni with five kills each. Rebecca Gustafson (Schmidt) chipped in with a team leading 10 assists. Mandie Armstrong and Jessica Szymanski (Whittaker) added four blocks a piece. Katie Stankowski led the defense with eight digs. The other Alumni to participate were: Suzie Bourie, Karyn Jordahl, Amia Lonigro (Schaaf), Renee Mikonowicz, and Suann Saltzberry (Adler).

I would like to thank all of them for being great friends of our volleyball program and wonderful role models for our current Eagle student-athletes.

Sincerely,

Head Coach Paul Schlomer
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Eagles help at FitKids

Several student-athletes helped out at FitKids preceding the Madison Ironman on September 6, 2008. Eddie the Eagle made an appearance and spread his wings as he helped lead the stretching prior to the kids making two laps around the Capitol. Check out the video summarizing the day's events:

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Former Eagle Nelson takes over Monona Grove team

Former Edgewood College men's basketball standout Erik Nelson has taken over the reins of the Monona Grove High School girls basketball team. He returns to the sidelines after a brief hiatus since winning the WIAA Division 1 boys basketball state championship with Madison LaFollette in 2002.

Complete story from Madison.com (by Dennis Semrau)

Abbi's Almanac #2

Traveling may be one of the best perks of playing a college sport. Although, thanks to some back orders, we have yet to receive the travel clothes coach got for us. Most teams arrive in style. Matching pants and jackets are more intimidating than I realized now that our team doesn’t have them. On the plus side, we received our duffel bags, so at least the bags are no longer a hodge-podge of randomness.

But besides for the non-uniformed looks traveling is amazing. We ride on a huge coach bus. Having only fourteen girls and three coaches on the bus leaves it extremely spacious and roomy. Then there is the free food. Depending on the travel times we get at least one free meal and who doesn’t like free food?

There are some other perks to riding on the bus too. After a hectic schedule of classes and whatnot the bus becomes a good place to catch up on homework and other school stuff. The bus is also an amazing place to nap after a hard fought game or tournament. The best way to sleep is to have a row to yourself and spread out between all four seats. Otherwise legs tend to cramp up after having bent knees for an hour or two in only the two seats.

There are many other rewards playing college volleyball but I think the travel luxuries will always be my favorite.

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Photo galleries are up!

We've got a new Photo Gallery page over on EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com. We've got a men's soccer match and a volleyball match posted with women's soccer and tennis on the way soon. These galleries will also be linked from your favorite teams schedule page, by clicking on "Details".

Enjoy!
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Car wash washed out

Mother Nature refused to cooperate for the Edgewood College car wash, sponsored by the Track, Cross Country and Softball teams. They are planning to reschedule a day soon. Please check back here and we'll keep you up to date.

In the meantime, get out there and dirty up those cars!
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Congratulations Coach Brewster!

Head Track and Cross Country coach Bethany Brewster will be inducted into the Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame, honoring her career as a standout athlete in Saginaw and at the University of Wisconsin. Coach Brewster will travel to Saginaw, Mich. on November 2 to attend the banquet.

The entire Edgewood College family is very proud of Coach Brewster. Congratulations on your induction!

Workin' at the Car Wash

Admit it. You haven't washed your car in at least two months. Sure, you leave it out in the rain, but that doesn't really do the trick, does it?

Don't miss out this Saturday as our Eagle Track, Cross Country and Softball teams get together to wash your car. For free. Seriously. Just stop by one of their TWO locations. (You probably have two cars, right? Visit both!):

Neckerman Insurance - 6200 Mineral Point Road, Madison
Restaino Bunbury Real Estate - 6650 University Avenue, Middleton
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Softball Karaoke #3

By a unanimous vote, here is the next installment of our softball karaoke series: It's Katie Melvin singing "Build Me Up Buttercup." Be sure to scroll down under the video and vote on who the next karaoke star on the Eagle Blog will be.




Here's your chance to choose the next installment for Softball Karaoke. Use the "Comments" feature to cast your vote. Ballot box stuffing is legal (and in fact, encouraged). Get your friends on board to vote for either:

A. Heather Hoene doing the "Edgewood College rap" OR
B. Rachel Elliott singing "I Feel Like a Woman"

The race is on!

Abbi's Almanac #1

Welcome to the first installment of Abbi's Almanac. Eagles freshman volleyball player Abbi Schultz will be contributing a blog entry every other week describing her experiences as a first year student-athlete at Edgewood College. Abbi has moved right into the starting line-up and is making key contributions to the 3-0 Eagle volleyball team. Read on for Abbi's first entry....

My name is Abbi Schultz I’m 18 years old and a freshman here at Edgewood College. I have been playing competitive volleyball since the 6th grade. During high school I played three years of Varsity volleyball for one of the top ranked division one schools in Wisconsin, Westosha Central. I started my junior and senior year as a right side. While playing there I made three state appearances and in 2006 won the state title. My senior year I was graced with second team all-conference and second team all-county. Now at Edgewood I am a starting setter/opposite.

Already in only two weeks on campus there are so many differences in college athletics compared to high school athletics. Coming from a small town with such a legacy everyone in the school knew the volleyball players, when matches were, who they were against and if it was a home or away game. As I walked around campus wearing a game tonight shirt I was constantly asked which team I played for, where we were playing and who we were playing. It’s a strange thing walking around campus hanging up posters, advertising games. There is a difference in work ethic as a college athlete. Practice becomes job like, but in a good way. There is an outline of practice and a time line in which to complete the work. High school practices were more of a way to blow off steam after sitting in class for eight hours.

Classes are another strange thing to me as a freshman college student. At Westosha there were eight class periods in a day, 51 minutes a class and school ran from 7:30 until 2:15. It’s liberating to start class at nine every day and most days done with classes at 1:20. And having huge breaks in between classes is refreshing. It gives time for homework and a social life before practice or matches. There’s a relieving feeling that if a professor finishes the lesson early students do not have to sit around like Pavlov’s dogs waiting for a bell to ring. There is also the attendance, nobody is forcing class attendance. Not saying I’m going to ditch classes but it’s nice to know I am in charge of my schedule and what I do not a teacher, school officer or parent.
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Volleyball rolling!

In case you missed it (and if you did, shame on you), the Eagle volleyball team swept Ripon College 3-0 last night, to improve their record to 3-0. That's the program's best start in 12 years! They are an exciting bunch with very athletic newcomers and very consistent returners. Below is the recap from last nights match, including a post-match interview with Head Coach Paul Schlomer.

Edgewood College 3, Ripon College 0, Match Recap


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Let's get it started!

Sorry, it's been so long since the last update, but here in the sports information office we've been busy creating season previews, game programs and game notes for the new season. The 2008-09 season gets underway in a little less than an hour with the Eagle Tennis team facing UW-Stevens Point. Tonight, both soccer teams are in action against St. Norbert College.

All the fall sport season previews are available at EdgewoodCollegeEagles.com.

Previews for this weekend's soccer and volleyball matches are here:
Women's Soccer vs. St. Norbert and Maryville
Men's Soccer vs. St. Norbert and Maryville
Volleyball vs. Maryville and Mount Mary
(Special thanks to new sports information assistant Luke Pattarozzi who did the lion's share of the writing on all these pieces.)

Can't make it to the games?

Follow along from home with Live Stats or get the final score sent to you in a text message by signing up for Eagle Text Alerts.
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Bertakis saves the day

Edgewood College pitcher James Bertakis kept his Michigan Rams team alive for another day All-American Amatuer Baseball Association tournament at Jamestown, Pennsylvania.

Bertakis gave up just one run and struck out six batters in five innings of relief after his team fell behind 3-0 in the early innings. The Rams rallied for 11 runs to help Bertakis earn the win.

Read all about it at HometownLife.com is a story written by Brad Emons: Reliever Bertakis keeps Rams alive in Johnstown tournament (courtesy of HometownLife.com)
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Summer hoops sneak preview

For those Edgewood College Eagle men's basketball fans who just can't wait until November, you can catch a sneak preview theis Saturday in Wisconsin Dells. Most of the returning players and possibly a few newcomers will be playing in the Marley's College End of Summer Classic at the Just a Game Fieldhouse. Their first game is at 12:45.

You can get all the information on the tournament at the Just a Game Fieldhouse web site.
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New coat of paint for the Edgedome

When the Edgedome needs a new color, our coaching staff takes matters into their own hands. The Athletic Department staff got together today for a painting party to cover the less than desireable blue-gray color on the bottom half of the gym. (Thankfully, it wasn't the top half.) Sometimes if you want it done have to get it done yourself.

Softball Karaoke #2

Here is the second installment of the Edgewood College softball team karaoke series. It wasn't exactly a mandate, but majority rules on the Eagle Blog.

You asked for it and you got it. Here is Jamie Kurt and the Eagle chorus, singing "Ain't no Mountain High Enough." Eat your heart out Diana Ross.



VOTE for the next installment in the series.

Click on "Comments" and tell me whether you'd like to see:

A. Heather Hoene doing an original, the "Edgewood College Rap"
B. Katie Melvin singing "Build me up Buttercup"

Binder drives home championship winning run for Wildcats

Edgewood College junior Steve Binder hit an unconventional sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to drive home the winning run for the Seaside Wildcats in the Northwest Collegiate League title game. Binder's liner to right allowed teammate Kyle Hallett to score. Hallett had been advanced to third base on a single by Edgewood College junior Alex Berta. It was the Wildcats' first NWCL title. Read the entire championship game story here:

Seaside Wildcats win first NWCL title (courtesy of Kevin Heimbigner at the Daily Astorian)

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The Seaside Wildcats have been the home team for Edgewood College baseball players Steve Binder and Alex Berta for the last two months. The local paper, the Daily Astorian, recently published an article about the team, which featured both Steve and Alex, as well as their parents.

"Take me out to the ball game: Wildcats find success in Seaside, but need more fans to fill stands" (courtesy of David Holley at the Daily Astorian)

Softball Karaoke Series #1

Welcome to the first of many installments of our Edgewood College softball team karaoke series. When you're on a 26-hour bus ride to Florida, there's really no better way to pass the time than grabbing the driver's intercom and belting out a few tunes.

The first video in the series is Brittany Rynes, a freshman from Ithaca, singing "Online" as made famous by Brad Paisley. You can vote for which video you'd like to see next. At the bottom of the page, I've given you two choices. Use the "Comment" feature to register your vote and select which Eagle star will be featured next. You can see more videos at Edgewood College's YouTube channel, "Videos from the Edge."


Brittany Rynes - "Online"

VOTE for the next installment in the series. Click on "Comments" and tell me whether you'd like to see:

A. Jamie Kurt singing "Ain't no Mountain High Enough"
B. Monica Humphrey singing "Famous in a Small Town"

Summer League Baseball: Alex Berta

Well as our season is coming to a close so is my blogging career. Since Steve last blogged we have been playing well. Our record currently sits at 24-9. We have been in a number of “round robin” tournaments over the past couple weekends within our league and also with non-league teams. This past weekend was spent in Bend, Oregon.

Going to Bend was a pretty neat experience. It is a nice city stuck in the middle of a couple of mountains. It gets very hot there and is very dry. The team that was hosting the tournament is part of the Pacific Coast League. We played the host team, the Bend Elks of Friday night. There were about 1,600 fans there. It was a great atmosphere for a game and the weather couldn’t have been better. We ended up beating them 10-6. It was a great win for our team because it was against a team that was full of Oregon State, University of Washington, and Santa Clara University players among others. The rest of the weekend went well as we were 2-1 after that.

This week we are heading as a team to Seattle to watch the Mariners take on the Boston Red Sox. Steve is wearing his Manny jersey to off-set his mohawk that I disapprove of. I think it must be his way of dealing with not being able to watch the Cubs every day.

We have about two more weeks of baseball left to play here in the Northwest. We play some games at home before we head to California to finish the season in Humboldt and Yuba City. Steve and I are going to leave for our road trip home from California. We are planning on catching a San Francisco Giants game as well as Colorado Rockies game on the way.

Overall the experience has been great. We couldn’t ask for anything more out of it. The time definitely flew by and we're trying to enjoy it as much as possible.

Zwaga caught in dangerous game of life and breath

Edgewood College baseball recruit Zach Zwaga knew something wasn't right as he struggled through game after game for Heartland Community College last season. He was suffering from shortness of breath and lack of energy. After visiting the doctor the cause was almost more surprising than the symptoms...

HCC's Zwaga caught in a dangerous game of life, breath
(A feature story courtesy of Randy Kindred and the Pantagraph of Bloomington, Ill.)

Aiyenero's hat trick highlights PSC56 rout

Edgewood College assistant women's soccer coach Henry Aiyenero (at left, with Edgewood College sophomore Laura Marx) scored a hat trick in a 7-0 victory for the Princeton-56ers over the Milwaukee Bavarians in a National Premier Soccer League contest at Warner Park.

Read the full story and see the box score here, courtesy of Madison Soccer Central

Summer League Baseball: Matt Werner

Well we are more than halfway through the season looking at the last 13 games, with considerable ground to make up to get into the playoffs. For me the biggest difference has been the change from metal to wood bats. I would say it has been a very painful learning experience because wood definitely stings your hands a lot more than a metal bat. I think the change has been positive for Matt Krueger (right) though because his high velocity fastball has put more bats back in the lumber yard than a chainsaw. I have regrettably sacrificed three bats to the league’s pitchers and hoping that I won’t have to break in another for the rest of the season.

For others I would have to say that the altitude and the climate have been the biggest factor in their play. The low amount of oxygen in the air here and the highly dry climate has had some people running for moisturizer (yes, I said moisturizer) and chapstick along with the water cooler every inning. Playing at high altitude can be a factor for players at first in the mountainous region because the body does not receive the usual amount of oxygen as per their own state’s climates. But with time the lungs make the adjustment and players go back to their own states with better conditioned lungs.

Getting to know our coaches has been a great experience because they have had to get to know each other and us as well. Two of the coaches are rivals in a junior college league in Iowa and the third is a former Edgewood College coach who came into the team teaching the same thing he taught me before, hitting. It’s been fun being treated like a professional team with owners, a general manager, coaches, staff, trainer, and a team doctor. Not only do we have those perks but we had an all-star game with our respective state hats Colorado versus Wyoming. Colorado won a hard fought game 4-2 with the fireworks being supplied by Keith Martin of Fort Collins who started our offensive charge with a home run to right field. The game was real fun getting to meet the other players from the Foxes and getting to see everyone playing on the same field.

I hope I can write again letting everyone know we are the league champions!

Summer League Baseball: Cory McCullick

With about three weeks left, things are starting to heat up as we approach the home stretch. Over the past couple of weeks we have been bouncing in and out of first place. We currently sit 2.5 games back of the league leader with some important games in the near future.

Weather has continued to be great, about 90 during the day and cooling down just in time for the game. We finish the season with our last road trip starting Monday, and then are home for the rest of the regular season. Our all star break is three days next week that will give those who do not make the team or want to go work out for scouts, some time to go home and see friends and family.

On the few off days we have had, many of the guys have taken advantage of the free movie deal we have at a local theater. In our free time we have also been able to do some fishing, visit a nearby water park, and spend quality time in our lovely trailer.

It has been a lot of fun to become close friends with guys from all around the country. We have learned not only from their different styles of baseball, but some of their weird habits and numerous words that we can not understand in their southern accent.

We quickly learned that in this fairly small town, baseball is about all these people have to do in the summer. So as the regular season winds down, we are looking to make one last push to take over first place and make our owners, and the town of Fulton proud.

Summer League Baseball: Steve Binder

Everything is looking up. The weather finally resembled summer, and just in time for a five game weekend. We swept it, starting off with three wins over the Central Oregon Bucks who entered the weekend 5-0 in conference play. Our record improved to 13-3.

Our team has come together nicely as we’ve spent more time together. Something fun we do before games and after practices is a Kangaroo Court. For those of you unfamiliar with this, it is when three judges are appointed to decide on anything and everything guys from the team feel like bringing up against another person on the team. For example, Alex and I were late to pick up one of our teammates for a movie, and he brought it up during court. Both sides argue their points, and the judges make a decision. Whoever loses is fined $0.25, and all the money goes towards a get-together at the end of the season. It is a fun way to crack some jokes and hear some pretty funny stories.

When we are not playing, Alex and I are hard at work making some money. I got a job with my host family at Bruce’s Candy Kitchen, their family owned candy shop that is highly regarded along the north coast. I get to make saltwater taffy, caramel corn, as well as any jobs they need done. Alex is working at the Nike Outlet, where he gets an employee discount that has come in handy already. We are both beginning to resemble Nike spokesmen.

This weekend we will be playing in Portland, hoping to add four more wins to our record. Until then, so long from Seaside, Oregon.

Summer League Baseball: Matt Werner

Well it has been about three weeks since we arrived in my home state of Colorado and it feels great to be back playing a high level of baseball close to home. We started our stay at my parents home and by picking up another player at the Denver airport who flew in from South Carolina.

After spending a couple of days at home we headed up to Greeley and after getting a little lost we met the team at one of our sponsors restaurants. Not wanting to waste time we quickly found out who and where everyone was from. We have players from Alabama, South Carolina, Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and even two other countries, Puerto Rico, and Canada. Surprisingly, it feels very natural to be playing with players from other countries just like the pros do.

After the introductory lunch we all meet and headed to the homes of our own host families. Matt Krueger and I were split up due to limitations on cars and I headed off to meet the rest of my host family and my roommate. Eric is a junior college baseball player from Louisiana transferring to a college in Ohio. My host family is a multi-generational family. I share a room with my roommate and the rest of the family is housed in the room next to us and the basement. They are a very nice family with many kids who are very active.

Since being here I have gotten a gym membership and started working out at Ross. We are about 15 games into our schedule now with more losses than wins but our team is really starting to come together and the signs of improvement in our hitting and pitching are significant. I can't wait to write again when we are the league champs and I hope Alex, Steve, Cory, and Nathan will be doing the same. Good luck everyone!

- Matt Werner

Summer League Baseball: Cory McCullick & Nathan Marlowe

It has been roughly 3 weeks since the both of us have been down here in Fulton, KY and it has definitely been an enjoyable and eye-opening experience. The drive time was about 8 1/2 hours for Mars (pictured, below right) from Milwaukee, WI and about 5 hours for Cory (pictured at left) from Bloomington/Normal, IL, so it wasn't really as bad as the 32 hour trek for Hoss and Binder.

We are staying in a trailer, yes I said trailer, behind the baseball field with 7 guys from the team, including ourselves. The town of Fulton is relatively small, about 1,500 or so in population and the square mileage to the city isn't all that big either, but it clearly doesn't show the extraordinary welcome we've received from the people in the town. We've never seen anything like the passion these people have for a single baseball team, it really is something.

Our record currently stands at 11-8, 3 games behind first place. We are currently in the 5th day of a 7-game/day road trip that has seen us take the first 3 out of 4 on the road including a 15-inning marathon last night (Wed.) in Farmington, MO that we were able to win 7-4. We didn't get back to Fulton until roughly 4 am this morning, so needless to say we were a bit tired. We travel in a big white school bus with orange and brown stripes (our colors) and the Fulton Railroaders logo on it. The seats are not comfortable at all while trying to sleep but we have to make do with what we have! The team consists of mostly Division I baseball players with a couple Division II, Division III, and Junior College players also. The team is from mostly Kentucky and Tennesee, with a couple kids from Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

We have had great weather, about 87 and really humid on average so we hope that we'll be able to continue to avoid any rainouts that could come our way. Hope everything is good back in Madison and we'll be writing again soon.

-Cory McCullick- Sr. CF
-Nathan Marlowe- Sr. P

Summer League Baseball: Alex Berta

Senior second baseman Alex Berta is keeping a journal for the Edgewood College Eagles blog from Seaside, Oregon where he and teammate Steve Binder are playing for the Seaside Wildcats. Read his first entry below...

We set off for the west coast on Friday, June 6th. After an uneventful stop in Kearney, Nebraska, we made our way all the way to Ogden, Utah which was a very nice city with some cool views of the mountains and the Great Salt Lake. The next day we made it to Pendleton, Oregon. It was probably the best stop on the trip. It was a big rodeo town and we managed to pick up some fine western-wear there. I got myself a nice belt with a buckle. After four days of driving we finally made it to the west coast and to Seaside, Oregon. Needless to say we were ready to be out of the truck after 32 hours of driving time.

Steve Binder and I are staying with the same host family about 5 minutes north of Seaside in a town called Gearhart (you can drive onto the beach here). We live with the Truax family who owns their own candy shop in a town south of Seaside. It's a pretty sweet place. We have a host mom and dad, brother, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. It's a pretty big family so we are always on our toes. But everyone is very nice and made us feel welcome in our new home. We had a couple days to ourselves where Steve and I found a gym to workout at and saw the sights of the town before we had an official practice. We ran into some players at the workout place and at some shops downtown and everyone was excited to be here.

We had our first workout as a team on Thursday and another on Friday. The weather has been unexpectedly cold. For the past week we have only seen the sun a limited amount of time and the rest of the time it has been kind of cloudy and rainy. We are told that will change, and Steve and I are banking on that because we weren't thinking about bringing warmer clothes since we were going to be on the "beach".

Opening day was Saturday and we traveled to Portland in two 15 passenger vans through some thick forests and big hills. We won the first game 11-0 against the Pacific Javalinas and 5-1 against the Portland Titans. Steve and I both played both games at our respective positions (3rd and 2nd) and did well. It was nice to start the year 2-0 before opening up at home tonight against the Aloha Warriors.

We have a good mixture of players on our team. About half of the team is from the Oregon area, and the rest come from Arizona, California, Nebraska, Illinois, and even a "mate" from Australia. Everyone is getting to know each other and it looks like it should be a fun and successful summer out west for us. We'll write again in about three weeks I hear. Hope all is well back in Madison, and try to stay dry!

-Alex Berta- Sr, 2nd Baseman

Three Freeport student-athletes set to join Eagle women's soccer team

Three members of Freeport High School's (Ill.) girls soccer team are set to join Head Coach Tim Alexander's Edgewood College women's soccer team. Read below for more coverage courtesy of the Freeport Journal-Standard:

2008 Freeport Players of the Spring: Jessi Ditzler (courtesy of the Freeport Journal-Standard)

Oryall attempts the 3-3-3 challenge

Watch in horror as Edgewood College track athlete Dan Oryall attempts to eat 3 cheesburgers and 3 orders of chicken nuggets in 3 minutes. You'll laugh, you'll cry, Dan may hurl. I swear he tried this of his own free will.

You can see more Edgewood College Videos at our YouTube site

Four from Heartland Community College to play for Eagles

According to this article from the Pantgraph, four baseball players from the Heartland Community College (Ill.) plan to play ball for Edgewood College next season. Read the full article here:

HCC stars move on to four-year institutions (from the Pantagraph)

Eagle Baseball Players in Collegiate Summer Leagues

A number of Edgewood College baseball players are particiapting with Collegeiate Summer League baseball teams this year. Be sure to check in on their summer team's web sites from time to time to see how your favorite Eagles are doing...

Fulton Railroaders (Ky.) - KIT League
Cory McCullick, Junior, CF
Nate Marlowe, Junior, P

Seaside Wildcats (Ore.) - Northwest Collegiate League
Steve Binder, Sophomore, 3B
Alex Berta, Junior, 2B

Greeley Grays (Colo.) - Mountain Collegiate Baseball League
Matt Werner, Junior , C
Matt Krueger, Sophomore, C

Madison Shoe Box - Rock River League (South Division)
Darren Besch, Sophomore, IF
Zach Gura, Freshman, P
Kyle Lode, Freshman, P
Blake Hunt, Freshman, P
Justin Dahmen, Junior, SS
Ricky Martinez, Junior, OF