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Lion Earns Honor

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By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

ST. LEO - The Saint Leo men's soccer team began its Sunshine State Conference schedule with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory against then-No. 25 Tampa at University Field last Tuesday, earning some awards for its effort.

The Lions (4-2, 1-0) outshot the Spartans (5-1-1, 0-1) 20-6, including two second-half goals from sophomore Jonathan Glenn and one from their leading scorer, Eusebio Montoya.

Junior D Leonardo Nogueira played 44 minutes and led a defense that held UT to just one goal and six shots. He was named the SSC defensive player of the week.

Saint Leo, which is 4-0 at home but 0-2 on the road, plays its next two matches off campus: at Flagler in a Tuesday match that was not complete at press time, and at Florida Tech on Saturday at 3:30. The next home game is Oct. 1, against Eckerd.

VOLLEYBALL STRUGGLES: After losing matches to Eckerd, Tampa and West Texas A&M in the past week, the Lions' volleyball team (12-3) fell three spots to No. 25 in the AVCA Division II Top 25 and is 0-2 in SSC play.

Despite a 15 of 25 hitting day for Jenna Jordan, the Lions were swept in three close games by Eckerd in St. Petersburg last Wednesday. MB Kaitlin McKenna tied a season low with four kills on nine attempts. Eckerd hit .333 in the match.

They returned home to face No. 4 Tampa in a "whiteout" match, with the crowd of 508 was mostly dressed in white. But Saint Leo got off to another poor start, losing the first two games, 25-18 and 25-23, before winning Game 3, 29-27. A 25-23 loss in the fourth game ended the match. Jordan again led the offense with 14 kills, with Leah Perry adding 11 and posting a .391 hitting percentage.

The Lions were back in St. Petersburg the next day to play West Texas A&M, ranked No. 5 in Division II. After winning Games 1 and 3, they lost a five-set marathon to finish a disappointing week.
Saint Leo is traveling to Valdosta, Ga., this week for a Friday and Saturday tournament, where they will play two matches each day (Montevallo and West Georgia on Friday, Alabama-Huntsville and Valdosta State on Saturday).

DAVENPORT UP FOR HONOR: Former women's soccer player and current assistant coach Ginger Davenport was named one of 130 conference and independent nominees for the 18th annual NCAA Woman of the Year award.

The four-year starting defender, who juggled a double-major in criminal justice and social work, earned high academic marks and served as President of Saint Leo's Student Athlete Advisory Committee while playing. She was named to the All-SSC and All-South Region teams as a senior.

NOTEWORTHY: The men's cross county team finished 12th at the Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville on Saturday, and the women's team was 14th. For the men, Javier Beuzeville was the top individual finisher (25th, 26 minutes, 24.09 seconds) while Kelsey Bradley was the top SLU women's finisher. ... The No. 20 women's soccer team played at home against No. 23 Tampa on Tuesday but the match was not complete by press time.

Correspondent Bart O'Connell can be reached at tampasport@gmail.com.

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