Winter Sports Plays On

Kaitlyn+Weatherby%2C+butterfly+and+freestyle+swimmer%2C+swims+using+the+butterfly+technique+during+a+meet.+courtesy+of+Misericordia+Athletics+

Kaitlyn Weatherby, butterfly and freestyle swimmer, swims using the butterfly technique during a meet. courtesy of Misericordia Athletics

Michael Conway, Columinst

Men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s volleyball and men’s and women’s track and field all saw action between Jan. 25 and Feb. 7.

Men’s and women’s swimming

The men’s swimming team dropped a meet to King’s College, 144-103, at home on Jan. 25. Aidan Bergan won the 50 free and the 100 free for Misericordia and was also a part of the 400 medley relay team, along with Jason Winters, Danny Chlebove and Chris Farrell. The Cougars’ Sheldon Kohl took home a win in the 100 and 200 backstroke.

The women’s swimming team beat King’s, 140-118, on the same day. Camryn Hubric, Grace Nikolski, Kate Bernauer and Kaitlyn Weatherby set a pool record of 4:08.19 in the 400 medley relay. Grace Nikolski also won the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley. Weatherby also won the 100 and 200 freestyles. Hubric won the 50 free and Andrrea Carlson won the 20 backstroke. Sierra Schertler, Hailey Gianoni, Bernauer and Hubric took home the win in the 200 free relay.

Swimming was back at it a week later in a tri-meet against Albright College and Messiah College with the men falling to both Albright and Messiah. Jonus Gurski won the 100 and 200 backstroke and the 400 individual medley.

The women beat both colleges. Bernauer won the 100 and 200 free and the 100 fly, Nikolski won the 100 and 200 breaststroke, Weatherby won the 200 fly and the 400 individual medley, Carlson won the 100 backstroke and Hubric won the 50 free. Wrobleski, Nikolski, Weatherby and Hubric won the 200 medley, while Wrobleski, Mary-T Nikolski, Bernauer and Hubric won the 400 free relay.

Bernauer was also named MAC Swimmer of the Week. She won four times as the Cougars ended the regular season with a sweep of a double-dual over Albright and Messiah. Bernauer won the 100 freestyle (55.87 seconds), 200 freestyle (2:03.95), 100 butterfly (1:02.05) and 400 freestyle relay (3:51.36).

Both teams headed to the MAC championships, which took place Feb. 13-16 at the Grahm Aquatic Center in York.

Men’s and Women’s Basketball

The men’s and women’s basketball teams hosted nearby rival King’s College on Jan. 29 with the men grabbing a 73-62 victory over the Monarchs.  Noah Rivera had a double-double with 22 points and 14 rebounds while Nate Kreitzer added 17 points, six boards and four assists. Tony Harding had 10 points and Joseph Baldachino added nine points off the bench. The Cougars were up big headed into the half, but a late King’s comeback fell short and Misericordia hung on to win by 11.

#2 guard Nate Kreitzer looks for an open pass. Photo by Jason Hauze

The women’s team also beat King’s, 76-62, in a battle for first place. Erica Haefele had 18 points and five rebounds, Tessa Zamolyi had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Jordan Barth had a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards. It was back and forth early on but, after a 15-2 Cougar run, it was all Misericordia.

Both basketball teams were back on the court Feb. 1 at Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham University. The men fell, 79-62, to the Devils. Rivera had 18 points and Jake Bartholomew had 11 points, but the Cougars shot only 17.6% from three.

The women beat FDU, 66-62, in overtime. Zamolyi and Melina Santacroce both had 13 points, while Gianna Delfino had a double-double with 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. With 1:36 left in regulation, Zamolyi and Santacroce both scored to take the lead, 58-55, with less than a minute remaining. FDU made three free throws to tie it up and send it to overtime. With :35 left, Zamolyi sealed the game with a layup to win by four.

The basketball teams traveled to Delaware Valley University on Feb. 5 where the men’s team suffered a one-point loss to the Aggies. Rivera had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds and gave the Cougars the lead with four seconds left to play, but a Misericordia foul sent Delaware Valley to the free throw line where two of three free throw shots were made to take the lead and win the game. Kreitzer had 11 points and Baldachino had 10 points.

The women continued their winning ways with a 65-57 win over the Aggies. Haefele had a team-high 14 points while Alyssa Bondi and Barth both added 12 points. The Cougars fell behind early, but battled back to take the lead at the end of

#32, forward Nora Tracey, throws the ball up hoping to make a shot. Photo by Anita Holmes

the first quarter. It was a back and forth game throughout the late quarters but the Cougars took a nine-point lead late in the game to hang on to win.

The women’s team is currently in first place of the MAC-Freedom Conference headed into mid-February.

 

 

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field

Both track teams competed at the Nazereth Conference Challenge Cup on Jan. 25.

On the men’s side, Conall Joyce and Bryce Steele were top finishers in their respective events. Joyce finished seventh in the shot put and Steele finished 10th in the 500m.

The women’s team finished sixth at the Nazareth Conference Challenge Cup.

Brenna Karnish won the shot put event and finished fourth in the weight throw. Olivia Visaggio finished third at the 5000m and fourth at the 3000m. Hayley Engle finished fifth in the high jump and Tatiana Dorner was sixth in the triple jump while Lindsey Graver was eighth. Shelbi Jones, Lauren Fritzsch, Kelsey Hadsall and Corinne Mulhearn finished second in the distance medley relay. Hailey Colabelli, Dorner, Sonialys Badillo and Amber Hackenberg were first in the 4 X 200. The women’s team was led by Le’June Berry who came in second in the high jump and Brenna Karnish won the shot put and finished second in the weight throw.

Men’s Volleyball

The men’s volleyball team went 3-2 through a six game stretch from Jan. 25 to Feb. 6.

The Cougars split a tri-match with Carin University and Hunter College on Jan. 25, sweeping Cairn, 3-0, and falling, 3-2, to Hunter. Bill Murphy led the Cougars with 11 kills and seven digs against Cairn. Dylan Sellitti added 27 assists, while Brian Ross and John Natiello both had three aces. Against Hunter, Ryan Miller had 13 kills, two aces and three blocks, while Murphy added 11 kills.

The Cougars fell, 3-0, to Penn State Altoona on Jan. 30. Ross led the Cougars with nine kills while Matt Lavin added six kills. Sellitti had 21 assists and 10 digs.

The Cougars swept both games, 3-0, in a tri-match against Elizabethtown College and D’Youville College. In the first match, Ross led the Cougars with 10 kills and Miller added nine kills, three aces and three blocks. Lavin had eight kills, three blocks and one ace while Murphy had six kills. Sellitti racked up 29 assists and three kills.

Against D’Youville, Miller led the team with seven kills, three aces and two blocks. Lavin tallied six kills and five blocks and Austin Cervasio added six kills, two aces and one block.

The Cougars fell, 3-0, to Ramapo College on Feb. 6. Miller led the Cougars with 10 kills, two aces and seven digs while Cervasio added seven kills. Murphy had six kills and Sellitti had 31 assists. Conner Westerfield had 14 digs and Ross added 10 digs.

Wendy’s Athletes of the Month

Three Misericordia student-athletes were honored as Wendy’s Athletes of the Month for January.

Ryan Miller

Junior Ryan Miller was named Most Valuable Player of the season-opening Cougars Kickoff Classic and led the Cougars to a 4-3 record during the month. He led the team with 3.1 kills per set and tied for the team lead with .28 aces per set. He was second on the team with .48 blocks per set and third with 1.88 digs per set.

Breaststroke swimmer Grace Nikolski and Brenna Karnish, who is in charge of throws for the track and field team, shared the Female Athlete of the Month.

Grace Nikolski

 

Senior Nikolski led the women’s team to a 3-0 record and a runner-up finish at the Drew University Invitational. She had three top-four finishes at Drew and was part of a meet record in the 200 medley relay.  She finished second in the 200 breaststroke, third in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 200 IM. She was a three-time winner against Wilkes University and King’s College and won twice against Marywood University.  She was part of an Anderson Center pool record set in the 400 medley relay.

Karnish, a junior on the indoor track and field team, had 10 top-four finishes, including five wins, in the shot put and weight throw in five meets. She set a school record in the shot put (13.03m) and ranks second in the MAC in both events.

Brenna Karnish