VOLLEYBALL
Muhlenberg swept Albright and Penn State-Altoona to win its pool and move into the championship bracket of Moravian’s Greyhound Premiere Invitational. Muhlenberg will play Alvernia and Swarthmore on Saturday morning.

Senior Jen Weist recorded a total of 30 digs in the two matches to become the seventh player in team history with 1,000 in a career. She has 1,010.

Senior Julie Lauro, who became the sixth 1,000-dig club member in the final match of 2004, had 30 kills and 17 digs.

Click here for box scores.

FIELD HOCKEY
Juniors Jessica Hand and LisaAnn Polt had a goal and an assist apiece to lead Muhlenberg to a 3-1 win against Roanoke in the first round of the Mule Classic. Sophomore Lauren Rutt recorded her first career goal to close out the Mules’ scoring.

“We worked well as a team tonight,” said Hand. “We were excited to play and take a win in the first game of the season.”

Elizabethtown defeated Lynchburg, 4-1, in the other game.

Click here for box score.

CROSS COUNTRY
The Muhlenberg teams opened the 2005 season by both finishing fourth at the Lehigh Valley Championships, finishing behind only Division I and Division II foes. The women had never finished higher than sixth since the annual race began in 2001.

Senior Karen Mount notched the highest individual finish for a Mule female at the Lehigh Valley meet, coming in sixth to beat her 2003 finish by one place. Junior Steve Rothwell placed 10th for the men.

Click here for box score.
Click here for complete results.

The Mules held the Lions, a 7-2 team last year, to minus-24 yards rushing and four first downs. They also forced six turnovers.

“We knew TCNJ was a good team, but we were really geared up to play the first game under the lights,” said senior defensive end Will Corbin, who forced two fumbles and recovered one.

The only points scored by TCNJ came off two special teams blunders, a blocked punt returned for a touchdown and a short TD pass after a bad snap on a punt attempt.

Offensively, Muhlenberg got three field goals from sophomore Jordon Grube and touchdown passes from three different players: senior Tom Kelleher and sophomore Matt Johnson, who alternated at quarterback, and sophomore running back Ross Tanner.

With the Mules trailing 6-3 early in the second quarter and facing fourth-and-goal at the 1, Tanner took a handoff, stopped short of the line and chest-passed the ball to junior tight end Derek DiMattina. It was the third time the Mules ran the trick play, and it has worked for a touchdown all three times.

Muhlenberg took a 16-6 lead into the half, and extended it midway through the third quarter after Corbin stripped the TCNJ quarterback on a sneak. Johnson capped the nine-play, 49-yard drive with a 5-yard scoring strike to senior Kyle Douglass.

The Lions closed back to within 10 by scoring their second touchdown with 19 seconds left in the third quarter, but the Mules dominated the fourth, holding the ball for 10:26. Tanner scored the clinching touchdown when he took a fourth-down screen pass from Kelleher and rambled 32 yards into the end zone.

Muhlenberg held big advantages in time of possession (40:41-19:19) and total yards (336-73).

Senior Dan McCall led the defense with eight tackles, including three sacks, moving into within one-half of the school record for career sacks. He forced two fumbles, recovering one, and was in the Lion backfield all night.

Douglass led the Mules in rushing (48 yards on three carries) and receiving (four catches for 31 yards). Kelleher and Johnson combined to throw for 232 yards.

The win was the 54th in the career of Mike Donnelly, tying him with Frank Marino for the most wins by a Muhlenberg football head coach.

Click here for box score.