Sept. 3, 2008

Cross Country

9/6 - at Queen City Invitational, 10:00 a.m.

            at A.J. Jolly Park (Alexandria, Ky.)

The Raiders will compete in their second meet of the 2008 season on Saturday at the Queen City Invitational hosted by Northern Kentucky University. The Green and Gold will take to the course at A.J. Jolly Park starting at 10:00 on Saturday morning.

The men’s squad finished seventh out of eight teams last weekend at the Meijer Flyer 5K. Leading the way for the Green and Gold was Isaiah Kessio with a time of 16:11 for the 5K distance. Kessio’s time from the event this season is the best time posted by a Raider at the 5K distance in the past three seasons.

Men’s Soccer (2008 Record: 0-2-0)

Bulls Soccer Classic (University of Buffalo)

9/5 – at Buffalo, 7:00

9/7 – vs. Canisius, Noon

            WSU will play in their second in-season tournament in as many weeks when they travel to New York to play in the Bulls Soccer Classic. The Raiders will open play against host Buffalo on Friday evening and then play Canisius in the second match of the tournament on Sunday afternoon.

            Wright State opened up the season with a pair of tough losses at the Flyer Marriot Classic, dropping a double-overtime decision to Wisconsin, 2-1, and then falling in a 1-0 match against Dayton. Braden Fleak scored the lone goal of the weekend for the Green and Gold off of an assist from senior Josh Grossman.

            Fleak now has 17 goals, five assists and 39 points for his career. The junior averages almost a point-per-match in his 41-match career and is only four goals away from cracking the career top-ten list in goals scored. Josh Grossman now has 12 helpers for his career and is five assists shy of entering the Raiders top-ten in career assists.

            Sophomore Matt Koewler made his season debut on Friday in net and played the entire two matches. The Batavia, Ohio native made only two saves - facing only five shots on goal in two matches - and owns a 1.38 goals against average after two matches this season.

Women’s Soccer (2008 Record: 3-1-0)

9/5 – at Eastern Illinois, 6:00

            The Raiders had a successful home opening weekend at Alumni Field, posting a pair of victories to extend their winning streak to three matches. The Raiders offense scored a combined six goals in the two matches – three coming in the first half of each contest – and posted their first shutout of the season on Sunday against IPFW.

            The Green and Gold will now hit the road for three straight contests, starting with one this Friday at Eastern Illinois. This will be the second meeting in program history with the Panthers, with WSU posting a 4-2 victory at home during the 2006 season.

            Freshman Sara Palermo was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after tallying a pair of goals on Friday evening against Kent State and assisting on the match winner against IPFW on Sunday.

            Amber Kasmer notched the first two goals of her sophomore campaign on Sunday against the Mastodons and now sits just three goals shy of cracking the career top-ten list. Amy Miller sits in seventh on the career goals list and career points list, needing five more goals to move into the career top-five.

Volleyball (2008 Record: 0-3)

University of Albany Classic (Albany, NY)

9/5 – vs. Connecticut, 5:00

9/6 – at Albany, Noon

        Vs. Buffalo, 4:00

After dropping their first three matches of the season, the Raiders will head north to play in the University of Albany Classic on Friday and Saturday. The tournament opens on Friday for WSU with a match against Big East opponent Connecticut and concludes with matches against host Albany and Buffalo on Saturday afternoon.

            Against the Bearcats, Jessica Woods led the Raiders with eight kills while Becca Awaa had seven and Leilani Tafuna, in her collegiate debut, chipped in four along with seven digs. Lexi Leonhard recorded 12 digs, Michelle Hammond 13 assists in her Raider debut and Tina Paunicka added 12 assists.

            In the match versus Marshall, Leonhard led the Raiders with a double-double of 14 kills and 14 digs while Woods also had a double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs. Shaunda Sandifer added 11 kills and five block assists in hitting .417 for the match, Awaa nine kills and a career-tying 15 digs and Paunicka 35 assists and 11 digs.

            Against Tennessee Tech, three Raiders had seven kills in Woods, Sandifer and Gunn while Leonhard and Awaa, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, added six along with 13 digs. Sandifer also had seven blocks.

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