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January 31 , 2006

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ROLLINS ATHLETIC HIGHLIGHTS

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***WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STILL PERFECT; WINS 18 TH STRAIGHT

***MEN'S BASKETBALL GRABS SECOND PLACE IN SSC; RIDING WINNING STREAK

***SWIM TEAMS FALL AT SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

***BASEBALL, SOFTBALL, MEN'S TENNIS BEGIN SEASONS THIS WEEK

***NEWS AND NOTES

ROLLINS COLLEGE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Jessica Rothbeind

Freshman – Women's Swimming

Pinehurst, N.C./The O'Neal School

Freshman Jessica Rothbiend has been on fire in the first month of 2006, scoring win after win in the breaststroke events. Last week at Savannah College of Art & Design, she put up two decisive victories. The North Carolina native took the 100 yard breaststroke in 1:10.75, then came back for a victory in the 200 yard breaststroke in 2:33.63. The previous week in a double-dual with Tampa and Saint Leo, Rothbeind scored a pair of second place finishes and swam a leg in the Tars two relay teams to lead the women on the day. She stopped the clock at 1:10.9 in the 100 breaststroke and went 2:32.0 in the 200 breaststroke, each runner-up finishes.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL STILL PERFECT; WINS 18 th STRAIGHT

Last week
Rollins 69, Palm Beach Atlantic 42

Rollins 47, Nova Southeastern 23

Rollins 64, Florida Tech 30 (played Monday 1/30)

Record: 18-0, 9-0 SSC – Ranked #10 in USA Today /ESPN Coaches Poll – Ranked #7 in South Region

The Rollins women's basketball team goes into the second half of their Sunshine State Conference schedule this week the same way they entered the first half; undefeated. Sporting one of the nation's best defenses and a balanced inside/outside game, the Tars have continued to make it look easy and are currently sitting at a program best 18-0 with a 9-0 mark in the SSC. Rollins is 32-5 in the conference since winning their last regular season title in 2003-04 with a 14-0 record.

The Blue and Gold traveled to Palm Beach Atlantic for a non-conference contest on Tuesday and cruised to a 69-42 victory. Junior Larissa McDonough (Ormond Beach, Fla./Father Lopez) fell just short of her career high, netting 27 points and pulling down six rebounds while seeing limited action in the second half. The forward went 8-12 from the field, including a 4-5 mark from beyond the arch. She was also a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe. Point guard Jennifer Musgrove (Palm Bay, Fla./Melbourne Central Catholic) and forward Rachel Workman (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) each added nine.

Nova Southeastern visited Winter Park on Saturday, posting an 11-6 record and posing a big threat to knock off the Tars. Horrific shooting by both teams and sloppy ball handling was the recipe for an ugly game, but fortunately Rollins prevailed 47-23. Rollins held the Sharks to just 16 percent (9-55) shooting from the floor, including 1-12 from three-point land while also forcing 30 turnovers. The Tars were a little careless at first, but finished the game strong, committing 25 turnovers and shooting nearly 28 percent from the field.

With no rest for the weary, the Tars hosted SSC foe Florida Tech on Monday and once again the lockdown defense led Rollins to a 64-30 victory. Freshman spark plug Jen Dyer netted a career high 17 points on 5-9 shooting (2-2 from the free throw line) to go along with three steals. Joslyn Giles and Randi Weiss each added 11 points and nine rebounds with Weiss going 3-3 from beyond the arch. The Tars held Tech to their worst offensive output of the season with 30 points and forced them to just 19 percent (12-61) shooting from the field. The Panthers were also 0-17 from three-point range.

  Rollins will travel to Saint Leo, the site of this year's SSC Tournament on Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. game and will finish up with another road game, this time at Eckerd on Saturday at 2 p.m.

MEN'S BASKETBALL GRABS SECOND PLACE IN SSC; RIDING WINNING STREAK

Last week:

Rollins 86, Palm Beach Atlantic 70

Rollins 71, Nova Southeastern 68

Rollins 81, Florida Tech 77 (OT) (played Monday 1/30)

Record: 14-5, 7-2 SSC

Make it five in a row for the red hot Rollins College Tars as Tom Klusman has his squad firing on all cylinders heading into the last leg of the 2005-06 schedule. Their winning streak, coupled with losses around the league, have the Tars sitting alone in second place in the Sunshine State Conference standings, just one game back of leader Lynn, with a record of 7-2. The Tars have made it exciting during the steak, out scoring opponents by just 8.6 points per game with their last contest going into overtime.

In the Tars trip to Palm Beach Atlantic, the visitors had a hard time shaking the Sailfish, but prevailed in the end, 86-70. Rollins sported a very balanced scoring attack as four players reached double figures. Isaac Codrey (Winter Park, Fla./Lake Howell) led the way off of the bench, netting 16 points while going 8-8 from the free throw line. Forward Jon Smith (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) poured in 14 points while Kevin Hogan (Pensacola, Fla./Milton) added 13 and John Thinnes (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle) put up 12.

Next up was Sunshine State Conference foe Nova Southeastern on Saturday in Winter Park. It was hot shooting and perimeter defense down the stretch that led Rollins to a 71-68 win. Codrey was again on fire, posting a career high 22 points on 7-9 shooting from the field an 8-12 from the stripe. Reibel netted 13 to go with five dimes and three steals. Codrey and Jordan Kolosey (St. Petersburg, Fla./St. Petersburg) each pulled down four rebounds to lead Rollins as Nova won the battle on the boards, 38-25.

Monday brought Florida Tech to town and after Rollins going up by 20 late in the second half, the game took an abrupt turn and headed to overtime tied at 71. Rollins outscored the Panthers in the extra frame and came out with an 81-77 victory. Thinnes set a new career best with game highs of 22 points and 11 rebounds, hitting 9-15 from the field. Deon Troupe (St. Petersburg, Fla./St Petersburg) pumped in 16 with Reibel adding 13 and Codrey getting 12. With 8:01 left in the game, Troupe converted a lay-up to put Rollins up 64-44. A barrage of three pointers over the next seven minutes pulled Tech to within one, 70-69 with just 18 ticks remaining. Rollins split a pair of free throws to go up by two on the next possession only to see Tech lay one in at the buzzer and send the game to OT. Rollins was able to knock down their free throws in overtime and held on for a wild 81-77 victory.

After the game, Rollins learned that Tampa had beaten Eckerd to give the Tars sole possession of second place in the conference.

The Tars head to Saint Leo, the site of this year's SSC Tournament on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game and will finish up with another road game, this time at Eckerd on Saturday at 4 p.m.

SWIM TEAMS FALL AT SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

Last week:

MEN: SCAD 157, Rollins 101

WOMEN: SCAD 166, Rollins 84

The Rollins men had their five meet winning streak snapped and the women didn't fare any better as both swim teams fell to Savannah College of Art and Design last Saturday. The men's competition was close throughout, but the Tars came up short 157-101 while the women were downed 166-84.

Freshman Jessica Rothbeind (Pinehurst, N.C./The O'Neal School) was a double winner for the Tars to continue her stellar first campaign. She took the 100 yard breaststroke in 1:10.75, then came back for a victory in the 200 yard breaststroke in 2:33.63. Andrea Bartman (York, Pa./Roland Park Country Day) scored a runner-up finish in the 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 19:33.43. Hillary Rose (Wellesley, Mass/The Windsor School) and Corie Kelly (Longwood, Fla./Lake Brantley) also grabbed second place finishes. Rose stopped the clock at 2:24.14 in the 200 backstroke while Kelly went 1:03.49 in the 100 butterfly.

Distance swimmer Daniel Paulling (Greenville, Tenn./Greenville) and sprinter Bill Burris (Mooresville, N.J./Moorestown) had big days for the Rollins men as each brought home an individual victory. Paulling was victorious in the 1650 yard freestyle with a time of 17:33.90 while also finishing in second place in the 500 with a time of 5:09.79. Burris blazed to a win in the 50 freestyle in 21.83 and was also a part of two, runner-up relays. He teamed with Chris Sparks (Wilmington, Del./The Tatnall School), Trevor Hughes (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) and Carson Nicely (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden) in the 200 yard medley relay (1:41.73) and Hughes, Nicely and Jonathan Mastin (Miami, Fla./Miami Country Day School) in the 200 freestyle (1:30.59). Nicely also added a second place in the 200 freestyle (50.32) with Hughes doing the same in the 100 butterfly (55.33). Jeff Mueller (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Prep) was a double, second place finisher for Rollins, finishing runner up in the 200 freestyle in 1:50.78 and the 400 IM in 4:23.79. Alex Richmond (Palm City, Fla./Martin County) in the 100 backstroke (1:01.52) and Brian Connley in the 200 backstroke (2:14.19) also recorded second place finishes.

The Rollins men's and women's swim teams will be back in the pool on Saturday, February 4 against rival Florida Southern. Competition is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the Alfond Pool in Winter Park with the Tars senior being honored prior to the first race.

NEWS AND NOTES

SAVE THE DATE!! – MYERS-MILLER TEAM GOLF TOURNAMENT

The annual Myers-Miller Rollins Team Golf Tournament will be held this year on Monday, April 24th at Interlachen Country Club .  Save the date and look for more information next week at www.rollins.edu/athletics .  This will be a tournament you will not want to miss!