Volleyball takes second at Moravian

Cross Country Starts Up, Field Hockey Falls Cross Country Muhlenberg opened up the 2008 cross country season on Friday with the women placing fourth and the men fifth out of five teams at the eighth annual Lehigh Valley Championships. It was a fine start to the season, as the men’s team showed great depth for this upcoming season and the women’s team showed great strength and depth for not only this season but the next couple of years as well. Sophomore Kim Bier led the women, running over two-and-a-half minutes faster than she ran in the same race last year. The women’s team was led by three sophomores and two freshmen in the top five. The men’s team was led by sophomore Ryan Wilson. The men’s race was made up entirely of freshmen and sophomores, as the juniors and seniors were held out of the race in preparation for races further down the road this season. Click here for Muhlenberg box score. Click here for complete results. Field Hockey Taking the field less than 17 hours after finishing up a double-overtime marathon, the tired Mules were defeated by Elizabethtown, 7-1, on the second day of the Mule Classic. Freshman Courtney DeAngelis spoiled the shutout by scoring her first career goal late in the second half. Click here for box score.

The Muhlenberg volleyball team got the best of a long-time nemesis, defeating Moravian in three games to secure a second-place finish in the Championship Bracket of the Greyhound Premiere Invitational.

The Mules (3-1)

Sophomore Caitlin Dombkowski tied her career high of six kills in the Moravian match.

hadn’t defeated the Greyhounds since 2000 and hadn’t won at Moravian since way back in 1982. They had never swept the Greyhounds in a three-set match, although they did win a pair of 2-0 matches when those were allowed.

“Our team goal was to beat Moravian,” said junior Liz Dean, who contributed a team-high nine kills to the victory. “We’re excited that we were able to keep a goal that we made as a team.”

Muhlenberg lost to tournament champion Richard Stockton in four sets in its first match of the day before rebounding to sweep Moravian.

Senior Megan Eiser averaged 8.07 assists per set in four tournament matches and was named to the all-tournament team for the second year in a row. Many of her assists went to Dean, who recorded a team-high 38 kills in the tournament while making only six errors for an excellent .333 hitting percentage.

“Coming into the season, we knew we had to step it up as a hitter-and-setter combo,” said Dean, the Mules’ top returning hitter. “We’ve been working hard on and off the court.”

The second-place finish is the best for Muhlenberg in a tournament since it won the 2005 Buttermaker Tournament.

“Coming in second is great,” added Dean. “Everyone is excited to keep up the momentum the rest of the season.”
Click here for box scores.