Exeter grad Wesley going hard for Canisius volleyball
Junior Sara Wesley continues to be a mainstay with the Canisius College women’s volleyball team.
The 5-foot-10 middle blocker, an Exeter Township grad, has played in all 25 sets and has 53 kills, 19 total blocks and six digs. She had a breakout year as a sophomore finishing third in kills with 194 and first in total blocks with 79.
“Sara is a consistent force on the team,” coach Lenika Vasquez. “I never have to tell her to go hard. We joke that she has two speeds – hard and harder.”
According to the coach, some people feel she’s a little undersized to play her position. Vasquez disagrees.
“Sara plays big and fast and those are her strengths,” she said.
The coach also lauds Wesley’s efforts off the court.
“Sara has helped push the culture of work ethic in the weight room as well as on the court,” Vasquez said. “She is consistently pushing to find her next level and I’m looking forward to seeing what she will accomplish this season.”
The Golden Griffins opened the season at 2-5 after going 1-3 in the strong Duquesne Invitational on Sept. 1-2 in Pittsburgh. Mark Forrest was named to the preseason Patriot League men’s soccer All-Star team and the Lehigh junior proved that it was a good call in the first game of the season.
Forrest, from Douglassville (The Hill School), scored all three goals in a 3-2 season-opening victory over Rider in a nonleague contest on Aug. 25 in Bethlehem. That made it easy on whom to mark in the Mountain Hawks next two games — losses to George Washington (1-0) on Aug. 27 and Ohio State (2-0) on Sept. 1. The 6-foot-3 forward was limited to a total of three shots in the two games.
Scoring goals is nothing new to Forrest. He led Lehigh with 11 goals with four game-winners and 26 total points as a freshman and led the Mountain Hawks in scoring with seven goals, four assists and 18 points with a game-winner last season. The sophomore had a perfect day as a placekicker for the Villanova football team in a season-opening 38-35 victory over Lehigh on Sept. 2 in Bethlehem. Kresge was a perfect 5-for-5 in extra points and his 32-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter gave the
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Wildcats, ranked 10th in the College Football Subdivision, a 38-28 lead and they held on against the No. 17 Mountain Hawks. Kresge didn’t kick as a freshman but he did earn Colonial Athletic Conference All-Academic honors.
The freshman collected her first collegiate goal and it was a gamewinner as her Slippery Rock field hockey team turned back Queens on Sept. 4 in Lexington, Va. She took three shots in the game. McKay’s playing time has increased with each game with The Rock, which is 2-1. She played 17 minutes in a season-opening 4-1 victory over American International and 43 minutes against Queens. On Sept. 6, she played 55 minutes in a 1-0 home loss to Mansfield.
The Wilmington (Del.) women’s volleyball team opened its season by going 1-3 in Bentley’s Hoffman Memorial Tournament Sept. 1-2 in Waltham, Mass, but the Wildcats got a big effort from the 5-foot-10 setter/opposite. Braunsberg was named to the All-Tournament team after recording 51 assists, 45 digs and 28 kills. She’s coming off a solid freshman season where she recorded 353 assists, 248 digs and 148 kills as Wilmington posted a 10-20 record.
The 5-foot-10 junior defensive specialist/libero helped the Rochester women’s volleyball team post a 3-1 record in the season-opening Red Dragon Tournament Sept. 1-2 in Cortland, N.Y. Vidovich had 73 digs (5.21 per set) and five service aces including a college career-high 28 digs in a 3-0 victory over Vassar on Sept. 2. She had 343 digs and 65 service aces in 60 matches and 181 sets entering this season to go along with 34 assists and 13 kills.
The senior is bidding to become a three-time All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference firstteam selection after a good start with the Monmouth field hockey team. Donohue scored two goals in a season-opening 6-2 victory over Bucknell on Aug. 25 and has picked up two assists to give her six points in the early going for the 2-2 Hawks. As a freshman, she was a second team All-MAAC pick and was named Rookie of the Year. Donohue has 25 goals and 20 assists in 63 games with 60 starts in her career.
The 5-foot-1 senior defender has helped the Bryant women’s soccer team get off to a 3-1-1 start, the Bears having given up just three goals with three shutouts. Riccione also has helped out on the offensive end picking up an assist in a 2-1 loss to Quinnipiac on Aug. 30 in Hamden, Conn. She has played in 52 games with 23 starts in her career with Bryant and picked up a goal as a sophomore and an assist as a junior. The senior defensive end led the team with five solo tackles and had eight tackles overall to help the
Case Western Reserve football team turn back the University of Chicago on Sept. 2 in Chicago. It was the 5-foot-11, 220-pounder’s first career start. He played in all 10 games off the bench with the Spartans last season and had 22 tackles including 4.5 for losses and four sacks. He played in six games in reserve as a sophomore and had six tackles in a game against Bethany, W.Va.