I Bleed Blue and White

It occurred to me today that I’m quickly tiring of waiting for Villanova hoops. I’ve already bought my tickets, and I’d pay good money to be able to see a game this weekend. Seriously. No disrespect to the football team — you’re having a great year, and I’ve actually become a huge fan the past 2 years, but I need me some basketball.

Luckily, the Villanova chapter of the NBA got things underway this week with their preseason starting up. That, and more Villanova athletes continue to bring home the hardware during the fall season. I guess times aren’t so rough.

• Kyle Lowry didn’t start for Houston, but he ended up playing more minutes than Aaron Brooks and filled the stat sheet. Keep it up Kyle.
• Dante Cunningham was a DNP (Coaches’ Decision) in the Blazers opening game. But he did having a little dunk contest at their Fan Fest. In the words of the Blazers’ columnist “he can fly.”
• Randy Foye came off the bench to score 14 points in his Wizards debut. He, like Lowry, is a stat-sheet filler.
• Gary Parrish of CBSSports ranks ‘Nova 6th in his final pre-season poll. Fair.
• Get ready for “Hoops Mania presented by Advance Staging Productions.” Wow, I think I just threw up a little.
• The Women’s Cross Country won the Bill Dellinger Invitational to start their season. And afterward, they moved up to #2 in the country. Way to go girls!
• Megan Goelz was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the third consecutive week. Kudos.
• Elysse Studzinski was also named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll in volleyball.

In a great New York weekend where the Jets punished the Patriots and the Giants spoiled Jerrah-World’s grand opening, the Villanova athletics scene was too bad either. Villanova athletes took home 3 awards this past week, in another successful week all across the ‘Nova Sports landscape.

• WR Matt Szczur was named the CAA Special Teams Player of the Week after returning the opening kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown. That’s 1.
• Krista Andersen was named the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week after she helped the volleyball team to a championship over the weekend. That’s 2.
• Megan Goelz and Meredith Sabatini were named to the Big East Honor Roll after solid weeks for the field hockey team. That’s 3 and 4.

See, I wasn’t kidding. Now let’s get to the teams and recap their weeks.

Football (3-0)

• If you hadn’t heard yet, they beat Penn 14-3 at Franklin Field on Saturday night. Not the prettiest win, but we’ll take it. They are currently ranked #2 in the country. They’ll open their CAA slate next week at home vs. Northeastern.

Women’s Basketball

• Not playing until November, but they announced their schedule today. Check it out.

Field Hockey (4-2, 1-0)

• In their first home game, and BIG EAST contest of the season, the ladies dismantled Rutgers 7-1.
• They continued their winning ways on Sunday by beating Bucknell 4-2 on goals from Sabatini, Meg Ryan, Lauren Wuzzardo and Dana Ramsden.

Women’s Soccer (7-1-1)

• In their first setback of the season, the ladies got smoked in their BIG EAST opener at Georgetown when they lost 4-0.
• Katie Ryan was the savior on Sunday when she scored in the 90th minute to hand her team a 1-0 win over Fordham.

Men’s Soccer (4-2-1)

• Jordy Griffith staked the team to a 1-0 lead over UConn, but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats fell 2-1 in their BIG EAST opener.
• Kyle Soroka scored just over 4 minutes into the match, and the team held on to beat Providence 1-0 on Sunday.

Men’s Golf

• The team finished 12th out of 18 teams at the McLaughlin Invitational hosted by St. John’s.

Women’s Volleyball (11-2)

• The women traveled to Virginia for the Marriott Cavalier Invitational and they came away the big winner. First, they defeated Albany 3-2 behind 18 kills from Krista Andersen.
• The next day, senior Amy Gulyas and Andersen both posted double-doubles as the ladies won again, defeating hosts Virginia 3-1.
• Later in the day Villanova won yet again as they defeated Virginia Tech 3-2 as Gulyas and Andersen shined again.

If you’re keeping score (I am), then you’ll know that Villanova sports cruised to a 8-2 overall record, and a 12th place finish for the golf team. Good times, keep on comin’.