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WEEKLY ATHLETIC SCHEDULE

Monday, November 21

Men's Basketball vs. West Florida – Alfond S.C. – 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, November 23

Women's Basketball vs. UPR-Rio Piedras – Alfond S.C. – 5:30 p.m.

Friday, November 25

Women's Basketball vs. UPR-Mayaguez (Fla. Tech Classic) – Melbourne, Fla. – 4 p.m.

Saturday, November 26

Women's Basketball vs. UPR-Rio Piedras (Fla. Tech Classic) – Melbourne, Fla. – 2 p.m.

Junior forward Larissa McDonough (Ormond Beach, Fla./Father Lopez) has begun the 2005-06 season on a tear as she has put up 15 or more points in each of the Tars first three games. McDonough opened the season with 15 points and seven rebounds against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. The Tars then traveled to Louisville, Ky. to participate in the United Electric/Executive West Tip-off Tournament hosted by Bellarmine University, where they faced off against two teams that participated in the NCAA Division II tournament a year ago. Against #11 Bentley, McDonough scored a career high 29 points, including going 11-11 from the free throw line and tied her career high with 10 rebounds. In the tournament championship game against host Bellarmine, McDonough added 18 points and three rebounds. In the tournament alone, she averaged 23.5 points and 6.5 rebounds. For her effort she was named the Tournament MVP.

For the week, McDonough shot 52% (18-35) from the field, 57% (8-14) from the three-point line and an impressive 95% (18-19) from the free throw line.

McDonough was also named the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week for her outstanding play on the hardwood.

The Rollins women's volleyball team's history making season came to an end last week as they were bounced out of the NCAA South Region Tournament by the defending national champs in a hard fought match. Barry University, the number four seed in the South Regional, defeated the Tars (25-11) by a score of three games to one; 30-19, 30-21, 26-30, 30-16. The defeat marked the end of one of the best seasons of Tars volleyball in the past decade.

The Tars were back in the South Regionals for the first time in 10 years, and the first time under head coach Sindee Snow. Their 25 wins were the best since the 1995 team that made it to the NCAA second round. Rollins had five players selected to the various All-Sunshine State Conference teams. Freshman setter, Lacey Malarky made the All-SSC freshman team. Junior outside hitter, Julia Caner and senior middle blocker, Allison North each received their second straight second team All-SSC nod. Sophomore libero Kim Cline also made the second team. And sophomore middle hitter Lorena Orlandini made the All-SSC honorable mention list. But both in the second round of 1995 and in the first round of 2005, the Tars had to meet the Barry Buccaneers.

The Tars hung with the Bucs early in the first game. Rollins was only down by one at the half way point 13-12. But shortly there after, the Bucs began to put pressure on the Rollins defense. Barry pushed out to a 25-15 advantage and went on to put the Tars away by the score of 30-19. The Tars couldn't seem to get their offense going. Rollins had ten errors in the first and hit for a .000 hitting percentage. The Bucs on the other hand were on fire. Barry ended up hitting for a .435 percentage in the first game.

The second game was a back and forth battle, where neither team held an advantage of more than three points for most of the game. The teams were tied at 20 when Barry gained the momentum. Barry ran off 10 of the last 11 points to take the game 30-21. The Tars ended the game with five straight hitting errors and once again hit for a low hitting percentage of .091. The third game was again close with neither team taking control until late. Rollins opened up its biggest lead of the match at 21-16 when Lacey Malarky smashed home an ace. But Barry would just not go away. The Bucs evened the game up at 26, taking advantage of some Rollins hitting errors. Rollins wouldn't let the Bucs score again from there. The Tars would score the next four points with Christina Reinders serving, and the Tars would take the third game 30-26. Rollins hit the cover off of the ball for a sizzling .381 hitting percentage, while they held Barry to a meager .171. Senior Allison North grabbed the reigns for the Tars as she led the Tars with five kills and hit for a .625 percentage.

The fourth game was never in doubt as Barry brought everything they had at the Tars from the beginning. The Bucs went on a 12-6 run to push the lead to 16-8 and took over the game from there. The Tars would never get any closer than nine the rest of the way. The Bucs would go on to win the game 30-16.

The Tars had two players with double digit kill tallies. Allison North had 10 kills, hit for a .350 hitting percentage, and had four blocks in her last collegiate game. Junior Julia Caner, who will also be leaving the team following this season, finished with 11 kills and 11 digs. Caner was the only Tar with double digit digs.

Off to a roaring start this season, the women's basketball team blasted Puerto Rico Mayaguez by 47 in the opener, then barreled through a pair of quality teams to win the Bellarmine Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. The Tars downed #11 Bentley 75-58 before getting past host Bellarmine 73-69 to bring home the title.

Against Mayaguez, senior Joslyn Giles (Winter Haven, Fla.) led the Tars with 20 points, on a night where all 13 players figured into the scoring. Sophomore Rachael Workman (Northampton, Mass.) finished the game with her first double double of the season with 10 points and a team leading 11 rebounds, while junior Larissa McDonough (Ormond Beach, Fla.) added 15 points. The Tars opened the game on fire and found themselves ahead 31-3 midway through the first half. The Tars shot 50% (17-34) from the field in the first half, while holding the Janes to only 18.9% (7-37). At halftime the Tars led 52-20.

The second half saw the Tars play all of their 13 players and shoot 47.2% (17-36) from the field, while holding the Janes to only 32.3%. On the night, the Tars outrebounded Puerto Rico 69-30. Giles began her senior season with a solid night, adding six rebounds and five assists to her 20 points. McDonough went 5-10 from the field including 2-4 from the three point line and finished the game with 15 points and seven rebounds. Senior Randi Weiss (Kissimmee, Fla.) finished the game with 10 points and four rebounds. Four of the Tars five freshman saw their first action at the collegiate level and all four found their way onto the scoreboard. At the guard position Jennifer Dyer (Wake Forest, N.C.) had six points and two assists, Tabatha Curry (Bradenton, Fla.) had two points, three rebounds and two assists while Jessica Barker (Orange City, Fla.) added seven points and six rebounds. Freshman forward Wideline Jean (Miami, Fla.) went 2-3 from the field in six minutes of action.

Rollins then traveled to Louisville on Friday and matched-up with #11 Bentley in a big early season test. The Tars passed with flying colors, downing the Falcons 75-58. Leading the way for the Tars were junior Larissa McDonough (Ormond Beach, Fla.) with 29 points and 10 rebounds, including going 11 for 11 from the free throw line and senior Joslyn Giles (Winter Haven, Fla.) with 22 points and nine rebounds. McDonough established a new career high in points and tied her career best in rebounds while Giles' 22 points was also a new career high.

The first half saw the two teams go back and forth, with the lead changing hands many times. Rollins pulled out ahead of Bentley with 4:13 remaining on the clock in the first half and went into halftime with a 33-25 advantage. McDonough was 5-10 from the field in the first half with Giles just behind with nine points (4 for 8 from the field). Both teams held the other to only 30% from the field.

Rollins took the lead they held at halftime and didn't look back. McDonough and Giles combined for 27 of the Tars 42 points in the second half, including going 18 for 19 from the free throw line. The team finished the game 28-30 from the line while Bentley was held to 12-14. The victory for the Tars is the first over a ranked opponent this season. Rollins was just outside the top 25 rankings as they received 81 votes in the USA Today ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, while Bentley was ranked 11th .

In Saturday's Championship game, the Tars came from behind at the end and gutted out a 73-69 victory. The Tars front court scored a combined 51 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead Rollins to the school's second ever championship in the prestigious tip-off tournament.

Junior Larissa McDonough led the Tars with 18 points while Joslyn Giles added 17 and Randi Weiss added a career best 16 points. Host Bellarmine led for most of the first half, opening up a six point advantage at 25-19 with seven minutes to go. Jen Dyer then converted on a three point play for the Tars, setting off a scoring blitz that led to a 40-36 halftime lead for Rollins. Rollins held the advantage through the first seven minutes, going up by as much as 10, but saw the Knights come back and knot the score at 52 apiece with 12:39 showing on the clock. The game went back and forth for the next few possessions until a Weiss trey with five minutes to go put Rollins up at 63-61. Bellarmine came back and tied the score at 69 all with just 24 ticks remaining, but Rollins held strong on defense and hit their free throws down the stretch for the big four point win. McDonough was named the Tournament MVP while Giles also earned all-tournament honors.

Of the 16 years of the Bellarmine Tournament, the hosts have captured 12 championships with the Tars winning in 1996 and 2005.

It will be another busy week for the Rollins women as they will host Puerto Rico Rio Piedras on Wednesday, November 23 at 5:30 in Winter Park. They will then play in the Florida Tech Thanksgiving Classic on Friday, November 25 and Saturday, November 26. The Tars get a rematch with Puerto Rico Mayaguez on Friday at 4 p.m. before clashing with Rio Piedras on Saturday at 2 p.m.

The Tars men's basketball team knocked off defending NCCAA national champions Southeastern in their opener and gave cross-town rival UCF all they could handle, but fell by 10 in a whirlwind first week of the season.

The Rollins men's basketball team got the season started off on the right foot. Following a 14-14 finish last season, Rollins was eager to get back on the court and show their brand new look. The Tars took the first step of the season as they got a decisive win at home over Southeastern University (Lakeland, Fla.)

Southeastern got the scoring going in the first half by hitting a barrage of jump shots. But Rollins would quickly respond and take over the game from there. Juniors John Thinnes (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Deon Troupe (St. Petersburg, Fla.) got the scoring going for the Tars with a pair of deep three's. Sophomore point guard Jonny Reibel (Chicago, Ill.) dominated the court with great passing, quick deceptive hands on defense, and a sharp shooter's touch from beyond the arc. He hit two big pull up threes off of the fast break that help set the tone for the Rollins offense. Rollins went in at the break with a big lead of 48-30. The Tars nearly doubled up Southeastern on the boards 27-14, and held the pesky Fire to 41 percent shooting.

In the second half it was more of the same as the Tars put the game away. Rollins went on a 12-2 run to start off the second half and never looked back. The Tars extended the lead out to as much as 32 in the second. Southeastern was able to cut it back a few times to make it respectable, but the Tars still rolled 90-61. Junior shooting guard Deon Troupe led the Tars in scoring with 17 thanks to some hot shooting late in the second. Junior guard John Thinnes pumped in 11 points on 4-8 shooting from the floor and 3-6 from downtown. Sophomore Jonny Reibel added 16 points while dishing out seven assists and committing only three turnovers. The Tars frontcourt had a big night as center Jordan Kolosey (St. Petersburg, Fla.) put up 10 points and eight rebounds while junior forward Jon Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio) added nine points and six rebounds with sophomore Chauncey Gibbs (West Palm Beach, Fla.) having a career day with six points and a game high 11 rebounds.

Since the 2005-06 schedule was set back in August, the Tars had November 18 circled on the calendar as they would finally get a crack at UCF in a bragging rights “Showdown in O-Town.” The Tars hushed the packed UCF Arena for most of the first half, but were unable to overcome an early second half run from the Knights and fell 68-58.

John Thinnes was 5-8 from beyond the arc and poured in 20 points to lead the Tars (1-1) offense while Jonny Reibel played the entire game and added 14. Deon Troupe led Rollins on the boards with seven while Greg Sweeney and Jon Smith each gathered six. Troy Lindbeck came off the bench and dropped 20 on 5-9 shooting from long range to lead UCF (1-0) with Justin Rose putting up 12 and Anthony Williams added 10.

Not backing down one bit to the Division I Golden Knights, Rollins packed the middle on defense and kept the ball moving on offense and opened up an 11-7 lead after the first seven minutes. Thinnes and Sweeney each drained a pair of three's during the stretch with Reibel also adding a hoop. UCF then rattled off five quick points to take a one point lead only to have a Thinnes layup and Reibel long ball swing the momentum back to Rollins and put the Tars up four, 16-12. The Knights then went on a 9-2 run and grabbed a 32-23 advantage with 1:32 to play in the half. Kevin Hogan knocked down a trey and Sweeney added a lay up down the stretch for Rollins to make the score 32-28 at the break.

Thinnes began the second half the same as the first as he hit a long three pointer right out of the gate to pull Rollins to within one. The teams traded baskets for the next eight minutes as a Reibel layup with 12:01 to go made the score 42-39 in favor of UCF. The hosts then rolled up a 12-4 run over the next four minutes and jumped out to a 54-40 lead. After a Tars timeout, Reibel drained a three and was followed by back-to-back long balls from Thinnes to pull the Tars to within five at 54-49. That would be as close as the Tars would get, however as UCF outscored the visitors 14-9 down the stretch for the 10 point win.

Rollins shot 36 percent for the game and only 35% in the second half. The Golden Knights big bodied defense forced the Tars to extend their offense back to the perimeter. The result was a lot of jump shots in the second half on tired legs. The Knights being the bigger teamed pounded the ball inside and out-rebounded the Tars. The Knights grabbed 45 boards to the Tars 32.

The Tars will be back in action on Monday when they will welcome West Florida into the Alfond Sports Center. The Tars defeated the Argonauts 74-60 last season behind Deon Troupe and John Thinnes, who each dropped 16 points. The game will start at 7:30pm in Warden Arena.

The Rollins swim teams put up some of their best times of the young season, but fell to Tampa in a battle between a pair of nationally ranked schools. The Rollins men fell 114-86 while the Rollins women were downed 125-71. The Tars women entered the day ranked 15 th in the latest collegeswimming.com Division II poll while the men checked in at 17 th .

Jeff Mueller led the Tars men and Jessica Rothbiend highlighted the women's effort on the day.

Mueller posted a run-away victory in the 500-yard freestyle, stopping the clock at 4:58.82, three seconds ahead of second place. Senior sprinter Bill Burris just missed his fourth straight victory in the 50-yard freestyle as he finished in second place with a time of 22.03, just three-tenths off of the win. Trevor Hughes had a solid swim in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing in second place in 54.46. Chris Sparks took second place in the 100 yard breaststroke and the Tars 200 yard medley relay of Burris, Sparks, Hughes, and Carson Nicely finished in second place with a time of 1:42.53. Nicely, Hughes, and Burris joined Jonathan Mastin for a second place in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:31.79.

On the women's side, Rothbiend continued the blazing start to her Rollins career, winning the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:09.58, five seconds ahead of her nearest competitor. Casey Capron also had a big day for Rollins, as she took second in the 50 freestyle in a time of 26.40. Corie Kelly finished third in the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.83) while Amanda Terr took third in the 100-yard freestyle (59.40).

The Tars are back in action on Saturday, December 10 when they will travel to Atlanta for a meet against Division III opponent Emory.

WEEKLY RELEASE 2005-06 ARCHIVE

October 3, 2005