3/5/08

            Welcome to the February edition of MSJ Intramural Wrap-Up. The thrills have continued this month as 6-on-6 volleyball and 4-on-4 basketball approached the middle of its seasons. It is clear-cut what team is the favorite in the volleyball league. CMM Alumni is in first place with a 17-1 record, losing their only game to current second place team Carly’s Angels (14-4) on February 20^th. Third Place Thursday All-Americans (11-7) have a comfortable four-game lead on fourth place The Aces (7-11). Battling for the fourth and final spot three games behind is fifth place Oneders (4-14). Sitting in sixth place is The Silly Bananas with a 1-17 record. Their lone win came against the Thursday All-Americans on February 13^th.

            There were many great games this past month but here are a few that deserve special mention. On January 30^th, Carly’s Angels defeated the Thursday All-Americans 25-20, 25-20, 7-15 to take a two-game lead for second place. Carly’s Angels haven’t looked back. The Aces beat the Oneders 25-15, 23-25, 15-11 on February 6^th to take hold of the fourth and final playoff spot. The Aces have managed to hold on to that spot and increase their playoff lead. The Silly Bananas are the team of the week for February 13^th as they won one of three games against the Thursday All-Americans. They won the second game of the match 25-17, breaking a 10-game losing streak. Congratulations to Captain Jen Seybold!  The battle for first place happened on February 20^th. CMM Alumni came out on top 25-16, 25-20, 10-15 and increase their first place lead to 3three games. If anyone can tell me what CMM stands for, you will get free admission to next week’s volleyball matchups!!  Ending the February excitement, the Thursday All-Americans, with only four players, defeated The Aces 23-25, 25-18, 15-12. Jeff Hill, the Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Head Coach, was voted Player of the Game!!

            So far, the intramural basketball season has been filled with upsets and surprises!  Last year’s champions The Untouchables aren’t as untouchable as they thought, getting beat twice so far this year. Out of nowhere is Team Skeet Shoot. They are undefeated and two of their next four games are against playoff-bound teams. As of now, the captain of the year would have to go to John Barbour for putting together a TRUE team!  The big disappoint would have to be the Alumni All-Stars. Last year’s runner up, the All-Stars have made it to the playoffs every year since 2001. That impressive streak looks like it might end this year. Perhaps Father Time and gravity have finally taken their toll on this year’s team.

            There have been some outstanding individual performances. In order to be considered an Outstanding Performer for a particular night, an individual must score at least 20 points in a game. On February 4^th there were four Outstanding Performers. Leading all scorers was Rick Wiehe of the Alumni All-Stars and John Strittholt of the Nasty Boys with 27 points each. Vince Smith of The Untouchables had 23 and Alex Maloney of The Gym Rats had 22. There were five Outstanding Performers on February 7^th. Chris Alles of Team Dynasty led the way with 28. Neil Skirvin of Bring the Rain had 25, Joey Schwab of Hunnicut and Vince Smith had 21, and Derrick Tabar of Old Greg’s Weeman had 20. Stephanie Thomas of Team Playko was high scorer with 25 points on February 11^th. Brett Boehm of Bring the Rain had 24, Lyndsey Waldman of the Titans had 22, Rick Wiehe had 21 and Nick Johnson of Team Skeet Shoot had 20. 

            There was tremendous offensive output on Valentine’s Day as Juan Helvey of The Untouchables had 33 points, tops for the night. Derrick Tabar had 29, Brad Sersion of Team Delheesian and Mike Lovell of Team Dynasty had 28. Evan Dreyer of The Alumni All-Stars had 25 and Chris Watt came out of retirement to score 22 for team Hunnicut. Rounding out the night was Nick Johnson with 21 and Lyndsey Waldman with 20. On February 18^th, Brad Sersion led all scorers with 40 points, the scoring record for the league so far. Mike Lovell scored 34, Rick Wiehe 29, John Strittholt 28, and Alex Maloney finished with 22. 

            After having February 21^st off for Mid-Semester break, Derrick Tabar came back on February 25^th with a game night high of 37 points. Stephanie Thomas had 34, Ricky Brown had 29, Vince Smith with 25, Mike Lovell and Cheryl Steinemann each had 21 and Alex Maloney had 20. Eight people ended February as Outstanding Performers. Chris Alles topped out with 34 points. Chris Hisle of Hunnicut and Lyndsey Waldman each had 27, Neil Skirvin with 26, Ben Hunterman of Old Greg’s Weeman scored 24, Chris Watt had 22, Ricky Brown with 21 and finishing off the night was Stephanie Thomas with 20.

            Come out to the Harrington Center on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights to catch Mount’s version of March Madness. Games begin at 8:45 PM.