YSU

YSU
Football
YOUNGSTOWN -- Senior tight end Mike Roberts, sophomore cornerback Jason Perry and senior wide receiver Matt Rycraft were named the Hill Barth & amp; King players of the game in the 34-28 loss at Southwest Missouri State.
Roberts was named the offensive player of the game after recording five catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.
Perry had nine total tackles in the game to earn defensive honors.
Rycraft, who had three catches for 15 yards, including a touchdown, was special teams player of the game. He had two kickoff returns for 112 yards, adding a career-long 75-yard return in the fourth quarter.
For the third time in the last four games, senior offensive guard Norris Kennedy was named the Jim Zdelar offensive lineman of the game. On defense, junior defensive end Brandon Brown was the Jermaine Hopkins player of the game for the third time this season.
Earning scout team awards were redshirt freshman offensive lineman Matt Kishman (offense), freshman defensive end Jose Galloza (defense) and freshman defensive back Tom Krupko (special teams).
For the second consecutive week, sophomore cornerback Justin Reams earned the Wash On Wheels/Derek Pixley Hit of the Week.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Tom Zetts was named the Haines Family player of the game by the YSU radio crew. Zetts completed 18-of-25 passes for 258 yards and three touchdowns against the Bears.
Volleyball
YOUNGSTOWN -- The 2004 Horizon League volleyball championship begins Thursday at Beeghly Center with regular season champion Wisconsin-Milwaukee the No. 1 seed.
The Panthers (19-7, 13-1) received a bye to the semifinals on Saturday along with No. 2 seed Butler (18-9, 12-2).
In the first match of the tournament, No. 6 seed Wisconsin-Green Bay (9-18, 6-8) will face No. 7 Wright State (4-25, 2-12) at 5 p.m., then No. 5 Illinois-Chicago (10-20, 6-8) will No. 8 Youngstown State (9-20, 1-13) at 7:30 p.m.
No. 3 Loyola (19-8, 10-4) then will play the winner of the UW-Green Bay/Wright State match Friday at 5 p.m., followed by No. 4 Cleveland State (13-12, 6-8) against the winner of the UIC/Youngstown State contest.
The championship match will be held Sunday at 1 p.m. with the winner receiving the Horizon League's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
LOCAL
Geneva falls in OT
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- Lataiva Escho scored 32 points as Nyack College opened its men's basketball season with a 103-102 overtime win at Geneva Monday.
Nate Conley led five double-figure scorers with 24 points for Geneva (2-2).
Stefan Grundberg and Tim Sawyer added 22 points apiece for Geneva.
Jr. Phantoms win
BOARDMAN -- The Youngstown Jr. Phantoms bantam travel hockey team opened its season with a 5-1 win over the Canton-Akron Penguins at the Ice Zone.
Leading the Phantoms was Ryan Rinko with two goals. Also scoring for Youngstown was Ryan Taylor, TJ Lindquest, and Steven Cornich. Jared Pack made 23 saves in goal.
Liberty 130-poundteams wins title
LIBERTY -- The Liberty Little Leopards 130-pound Midget team beat Hubbard Eagles 130 pound Midget team 16-6 for the Superbowl at Struthers Stadium on Nov. 7. Liberty finished the season with an 11-1 record.
Thiel's Brownwrestler of week
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- Thiel College junior heavyweight Kyle Brown earned the first Presidents' Athletic Conference wrestler of the week award.
Brown registered a 4-0 record at the Green Terror Duals, helping the Tomcats to 3-1 dual match record and a third-place finish. He won two matches by pin.
REGION
James named NBA's player of week
CLEVELAND -- Cavaliers forward LeBron James was named the NBA's player of the week on Monday after averaging 29 points and leading Cleveland to three straight wins.
James, the league's reigning rookie of the year, also had 9.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 3.3 steals and 2.3 blocks.
NATION
Indiana St. firesfootball coach
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- Tim McGuire was fired Monday after seven years without a winning record as football coach at Indiana State.
The Sycamores never won more than five games in a season since McGuire became coach in 1998. He was the team's defensive coordinator for five years before that.
McGuire's teams at Indiana State were 24-55, including 4-7 this season.
Darnell let goby Western Michigan
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Gary Darnell is trying to save Western Michigan from its first 10-season loss since 1975, even though it will be his last game coaching the Broncos.
Darnell was fired Sunday because the school can't sustain the losses in attendance and ticket revenue that have accompanied recent losing seasons.
Darnell has been at Western Michigan since 1997 and led the team to two MAC West championships.
Vindicator staff/wire reports