GO WEST, YOUNG MEN

When: Saturday, September 8, 4:00 Eastern time

Where: Mt. Clef Stadium, Thousand Oaks, Calif.

What: The Fourth Annual Lutheran Brotherhood Kickoff Classic. Pacific Lutheran was the previous opponent for this game. Cal Lutheran will fly to Muhlenberg next year.

Records: Muhlenberg 1-0 (9-2 in 2000), Cal Lutheran 0-0 (3-6 in 2000)

Scouting the Kingsmen: A member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Conference (SCIAC), Cal Lutheran welcomes back 17 starters from 2000. Senior quarterback Chris Czernek, a first-team All-SCIAC selection, passed for 2,439 yards and 16 touchdowns a year ago. His favorite targets are senior wide receivers Brian Woodworth, who pulled in 53 catches for 767 yards and four touchdowns and Eugene “Geno” Sullivan (39 catches, 578 yards, three touchdowns). CLU’s running game lost its main back to graduation. Defensively, Cal Lutheran is led by junior middle linebacker David Oviedo, who recorded 91 tackles and three sacks last season. The Kingsmen are used to offensive shootouts: they averaged 33.7 points and 453.8 yards per game last season, while allowing 41.3 and 496.4.

Scouting the Mules: Muhlenberg opened its 2001 season last week by toppling Kings Point, 42-17, for its seventh straight win. The Mules scored on all six of their first-half possessions. Junior Justin Jones, making his first career start at quarterback, completed 15 of 22 passes for 208 yards – all in the first half – and three touchdowns. He also ran for a score. All three TD passes went to senior Joshua Carter, who finished with six catches for 115 yards. Sophomore Matt Bernardo rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns. The starting defensive ends, senior Tyler Cathey and junior Michael Ferreira, combined for five tackles for loss, including three sacks, and a forced fumble.

Quotable
Matt Bernardo on flying to California: “I think it will be a fun trip, and it will give the program some nice exposure. I don’t know how many teams from the East Coast get to go out there. [Cal Lutheran] comes from a good conference and they have good team speed and a very athletic team. They should be one of the better teams we play.”

Senior Laura Funsten tallied 41 assists and junior Meaghan Billie added 20 kills as the Muhlenberg volleyball team eliminated a 2-1 game deficit to earn a 3-2 victory over DeSales.

After falling in the first game, 30-28, the Mules evened the match with a 30-25 win in the second game, erasing an early 10-4 deficit. DeSales then proceeded to claim the third game, 30-24, before Muhlenberg stormed back to take game four, 30-17, forcing the pivotal fifth game. Although the Mules jumped out to a 7-3 lead, DeSales closed to within 12-10 before Muhlenberg could seal the 15-11 game and match.

Muhlenberg (2-3), which had lost two previous five-game matches to Brandeis University and Brockport State in the Springfield Invitational, never showed signs of despair despite some shaky moments. “Although we got off to a slow start, we never gave up and showed great heart in this victory,” said senior captain Laura Funsten. “This was a big win for us after losing two earlier five-game macthes, and it is a step in the right direction.”

Junior Dana Ferrelli played a big role in the victory recording 17 digs, while junior Lisa Giammalvo added 16 digs and sophomore Maria Poluka had 14 digs for the Mules. DeSales (0-4) was led by Carly Roxandich, who tallied 35 assists and 15 digs. Click here for box score.