ysu

ysu

Johnson named

ST. LOUIS — YSU sophomore punter Erik Johnson of Boardman was named special teams player of the week by the Missouri Valley Football Conference on Sunday.

Johnson, who punted just twice all season before Saturday’s 35-21 win over Indiana State, replaced injured starter Ben Nowicki.

His first first punt was downed at the ISU 7. His second punt pinned the Sycamores at their 16-yard line while his final kick in the fourth quarter was downed at the 18.

He had three punts for an average of 33.3 yards, with a long of 44.

Volleyball falls

MILWAUKEE, WIS. — YSU’s Kaitlin O’Hara tied a career-high with 16 kills, but Milwaukee used 12 aces and a balanced attack to defeat the Penguin volleyball team in four sets, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19, 26-24.

Ebony Barbosa chipped in with 11 kills and 10 digs for YSU (11-15, 4-11 Horizon) while Maddie Sueppel had 16 kills for the Horizon League-leading Panthers (18-8, 11-3).

YSU hit .412 en route to winning the first set. Seven of YSU’s nine errors in the final set came after it led 18-13.

area

Baseball Oldtimers

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Baseball Oldtimers will hold a meeting Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Kramer Field.

Food and refreshments will be served and plans for upcoming events will be discussed.

Sutton leads way

FORT KENT, Me. — L.J. Sutton (Cardinal Mooney) scored 12 points to help the Walsh University men’s basketball team defeat St. Thomas College, 111-56, at the Bengal Classic on Sunday.

Joe Shardo led the Cavaliers (2-0) with 22 points, while Jeremy Shardo added 17 points and seven assists.

Sutton also had five rebounds.

Swearingen picked

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. — The Presidents’ Athletic Conference recognized four Westminster College volleyball players with postseason awards and 16th-year Westminster head coach Tammy Swearingen as 2008 PAC Coach of the Year.

The host-team and No. 1-seeded Titans (24-10) won the PAC title for a second straight year.

Senior setter Traci Hassell (Hubbard) and libero Hannah Parker were named to the All-PAC First Team and Lindsay Speidel (Southeast) made the second team.

Hassell leads the Titans with 6.02 assists per set. Her 3,367 career assists ranks second at Westminster.

Hassell also leads Westminster with 33 service aces. This is the second straight year that Hassell has earned first-team honors.

Speidel ranks third on the team with 2.30 kills per set and second with a 0.76 block average.

Tri-City Speedway

FRANKLIN, PA — Tri-City Speedway concluded its 13th consecutive season of dirt track action in September.

Top drivers at the half-mile Venango County oval included Kevin Bolland (Engles Trucking DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds), Max Blair (4 Your Car Connection FASTRAK Late Models), Carl McKinney (RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods), Jason Reagle (E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks) and Bill Myers (Klapec Auto Body Thundercars).

nation

Children’s Miracle Network Classic

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Steve Marino shot a 6-under 66 for a share of the third-round lead with Scott Verplank in the season-ending Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney World.

Verplank had a 69 to match Marino at 19-under 197. Davis Love III (64) and Scott Sterling (66) were 17 under, and Tommy Gainey (66), Robert Garrigus (68) and Troy Matteson (69) were 16 under.

Nationwide Tour

MCKINNEY, Texas — Bryce Molder closed in on a PGA Tour card, shooting a 7-under 64 for a share of the third-round lead with Matt Bettencourt in the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship.

Molder, 32nd on the money list, needs to finish in the final top 25 in the earnings race to earn a 2009 PGA Tour card.

world

HSBC Champions

SHANGHAI, China — A Ryder Cup surprise two months ago, England’s Oliver Wilson was just 16 holes away from the first significant victory of his career.

The moment could come in the final round of the HSBC Champions on Monday. Rain washed out play Friday, delaying the third round — and a few holes of the fourth — until Sunday.

Wilson shot a 3-under 69 for a three-round total of 12-under 204.

Mizuno Classic

SHIMA, Japan — Shin Ji-yai won the Mizuno Classic for her second LPGA Tour title and ninth international victory of the year, shooting a 5-under 67 on Sunday to easily hold off Mayu Hattori at Kinetsu Kashikojima.

The Women’s British Open winner and the first player to sweep the Korea LPGA Tour’s three majors in a season, Shin finished at 15-under 201 for her second victory of the year in Japan.

Vindicator staff/wire reports