Blog Series Story #1

TCNJ Women’s Tennis is Flawless in the NJAC.

By: Mark Barroso

EWING—The College of New Jersey women’s tennis team has done one single thing in every league match that they have played: win.

The Lions have won 28 consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference women’s tennis championships, and do not plan on stopping there.

Head coach Scott Dicheck’s expectations for the spring are “to make it back into the NCAA Tournament and back into the top 10 nationally. We’re always going to have a shot at it.”

The Lions have won 136 straight league matches, which is 28 seasons in 29 years, under three different head coaches.

Dicheck, who is in his 11^th year of service, leads a team that is currently 54-0 in league play.

“It’s obviously one of our goals to continue the streak (regular season),” said Dicheck. “There are no off-weeks or easy weeks, just getting better.”

Winning has become a necessary custom of the TCNJ women’s tennis program.

Brenda Cambell started as the Lions’ head coach when women’s tennis was introduced as a Conference sport in the fall of 1982. She compiled a record of 68-0 in NJAC play and retired in 1995.

From 1995-2000, Tricia Udicious was head coach and led the Lions to a 14-0 record.

Dicheck was named NJAC Coach of the Year in 2010, 2009 and 2006. In 2007, he was a co-NJAC Coach of the Year in 2007 and USTA New Jersey Coach of the Year.

Dicheck has coached 15 combined National Collegiate Athletic Association and Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Americans and one ITA National Champion: Jackie Shtemberg.

Cambell and the people who helped establish women’s tennis in 1982 have seen the program surpass its conference in athletic ability.

A rebuttal to the success of the TCNJ women’s tennis program is the notion that the NJAC is not good enough for them. No other NJAC team has dominated women’s tennis like TCNJ.

“There is really no competition in the NJAC,” said sophomore Lauren Balsamo. “We play strong, non-NJAC teams in the spring.”

The Lions admit to the fact that their regular season wins have come in a so called “not that good” conference.

“The other teams in the NJAC are not that good,” said sophomore Allison Tierney. “I would like to play in a conference where the teams are better.”

 The current TCNJ roster consists of three freshmen, five sophomores, two juniors, and no seniors.

“Last year’s team and this year’s team are the two strongest teams I have seen in my 11 years here,” said Dicheck.

The 2010 team went 60-11 in singles competition and 33-4 in doubles competition. The Lions won every league match this season 9-0.

The team leader in singles competition was 2010 NJAC Player of the Year Karisse Bendijo with a record of 14-2. The team leaders in doubles competition were Bendijo and Tierney with a record of 14-1.

The All-NJAC honors that many TCNJ have repeatedly received don’t mean too much if the players excelled in a conference they were supposed to do extremely well in anyway.

 “The NJAC consists of five matches that aren’t a main part of our season,” said Dicheck. “It matters what you do in the NCAA Tournament.”

Since the Lions have held such a high standard in the NJAC, they repeatedly get predicted as number one in the conference.

There are two lengthy streaks on the line literally every time the Lions step on the court against NJAC competition.

“We don’t feel any extra pressure,” said Dicheck of keeping the 136-match streak alive. “It helps we play early, but regionals and nationals have added more pressure to us in the past.”

Dicheck has proven to be a successful coach on a team that is definitely not used to losing. It simply has not been an option.

Contact: barroso2@tcnj.edu

Soccer Packet: Sidebar

TCNJ leads the NJAC after a Win against Recovering Rowan.

By: Mark Barroso

EWING--The College of New Jersey women’s soccer team earned a first round bye in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Tournament after defeating Rowan University 2-0 Tuesday night at Lions Stadium in a game that was altered by the injury of Rowan’s best player.

The star player is Profs forward Jess Babice, the third leading scorer in all of Division III.

The injury of Babice “allowed us to bring Brittany out of the back,” Russo said. “Lauren Giles got to play up front (from defender to forward)”.

After a collision less than four minutes into the game, Babice had to be carted off the field.

She was later seen walking with crutches to enter a white SUV. Rowan University hasn’t released an official diagnosis.   

Rowan came into the game ranked 19th in the NJAC while TCNJ came into the game ranked 22^nd.

The Lions left the game with the first place spot in the New Jersey Athletic Conference and a bye in the first round of the Tournament.

Senior defender McGinley went from defender to forward, where she scored the only two goals of the game.

Babice finished her regular season career leading the Profs with 20 goals this season. That is double the number of goals that TCNJ’s top scorer forward Brenna Rubino had this season.

With an extended rest period, the Lions’ training program will not change.

 “Practices are the same practices. They are the same every day,” midfielder Michelle Canning said, when asked about the comparison of regular and bye-week practices.

The bye “doesn’t affect practices throughout the week,” said Russo. “We will continue to do the same stuff.”

Russo is doing something right. The Lions have only allowed four goals the entire season, which is an attribution to their stellar defense.

The Profs ended the season with 10 shutouts in 17 games, but have haven’t had any in the past four games. Rowan secured the third seed in the NJAC Tournament with Tuesday’s loss.

The Lions can’t get too excited. It is a totally different game if Babice was healthy enough to play the whole game, due to her ability to create offense.

The women’s soccer team looks to improve their game through practice.

 “We realized how important it was to try and get better each practice,” said McGinley. “You have to practice like it’s a game.”

Contact Mark Barroso at barroso2@tcnj.edu

Soccer Packet: Game Story

TCNJ Women’s Soccer Claims the Top Spot in the NJAC.

By: Mark Barroso

EWING-- The College of New Jersey women’s soccer team exited the locker room yelling in anticipation of their game against New Jersey Athletic Conference rival Rowan University under the lights at Lions Stadium Tuesday night.

The women’s soccer team got hyped up as they ran onto the field with some cheers from the Lions football team who were just coming off of it after their practice.

The Lions emphatically claimed first place in the NJAC with their 2-0 win over their rivals, Profs.

The win gives TCNJ an automatic first round bye in the 2010 NJAC Championship Tournament.

“It’s awesome. We always have a bye,” said forward Jessica Davilla of earning the pass. “At least that is what coach Russo tells us.”

The first round bye is “well deserved” said head coach Joe Russo.

“They played with a lot of energy. It was a good result for us.” Russo secured his 371^st win and completed his 21^st regular season as Lions’ head coach.

Senior defender Brittany McGinley was the lone scorer of the game. Her first goal was a shot from 25 yards out that found the upper-right corner of the net 28:43 into the game. Her second goal came with 16:41 left in the game.

“It’s huge,” said McGinley of her accomplishment of scoring two goals. “We played really well. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity if it weren’t for my teammates.”

There were two main factors which attributed to the loss for Rowan: The injury of their best player, and the lack of an offense that could score on synthetic turf.

A collision 3:18 into the game with a TCNJ player, caused forward Jess Babice to leave the game with what was believed to be an ankle injury.

The Profs are not used to playing without Babice, since she is one of three leaving seniors. The team that was out on the field Tuesday is basically the team the Profs will playing with next season.

With Babice out, TCNJ made a position change.

“When she (Babice) was gone,” said Davilla. “Brittany went to forward and scored two goals.”

TCNJ had 28 total shots in the game, while Rowan had six. Kendra Griffith recorded two saves and her 10^th shutout. Deana Wood made five saves for the Profs.

Both of these teams won their previous games of this season. Rowan defeated Kean University last week 4-3 in double overtime. TCNJ defeated New Jersey City University 4-0, by scoring three goals in the second half.

Prior to Tuesday night’s game, McGinley, who is a junior athletically due to a medical redshirt earlier in her career, along with seniors Brianna Brennan, Casey Caruso, Julianne Delorenzo, and Jackie Levowsky were honored as it was “Senior Day” for the Lions.

Rowan head coach Scott Leacott could only wish all of the Profs’ seniors a good night. If the injury to Babice is severe, then the Profs head into the NJAC Tournament without the player who can score the most.

The final pairings for the 2010 NJAC Tournament will be determined after the last of the conference games on Wednesday, October 27^th. Behind the Lions in the NJAC is second place William Paterson and Rowan in third place.

“It’s win or go home.” Russo said. “There’s some urgency to the whole situation.”

Contact Mark Barroso at barroso2@tcnj.edu