YSU’s Cavanaugh top defender in Horizon
YSU’s Cavanaugh top defender in Horizon
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown State senior Jenna Cavanaugh has been voted the Horizon League Volleyball Defensive Player of the Year, and YSU junior Alexis Egler has joined her on the All-Horizon League team, the conference office announced on Monday.
Cavanaugh is the first Penguin to earn conference player-of-the-year honors since 1995. Egler and Cavanaugh are the first YSU duo to earn all-league accolades in the same season since 1999.
Cavanaugh led the circuit in blocking for the second straight season. A native of Cold Spring, Ky., she ranks 14th in the country with 1.47 blocks per set.
Egler, of Clarkston, Mich., became Youngstown State’s primary offensive weapon in October and responded to average 2.98 kills per set in Horizon League play, the seventh-most in the conference.
Pirates name Branson new hitting coach
PITTSBURGH
The Pirates have hired Jeff Branson as hitting coach and added Jeff Livesey to the major league coaching staff.
Branson replaces Jay Bell, who left the organization last week to take a job with the Cincinnati Reds. Branson worked with Bell last season to implement the team’s hitting program. The Pirates won 94 games to make the playoffs for the first time in 21 years but struggled offensively. Tressel, Hanlon set for ‘The Game’ appearance
WARREN
Former coaches Jim Tressel and Jerry Hanlon will be the featured guests on Thursday when the Warren Sports Hall of Fame presents its annual “The Game” event.
The evening, which includes a social hour from 6 to 7 p.m. and dinner at 7, annually brings former participants of the Ohio State-Michigan football rivalry together. Fans can get autographs and hear inside stories about one of the greatest rivalries in organized sports. The dinner will be held at DiVieste Banquet Hall in Warren. Dinner tickets are $100.
Poland begins selling basketball tickets
POLAND
The Poland High athletic department will be selling reserved seats for boys basketball beginning Monday at 8 a.m. to all current season ticket holders. Season ticket sales to the public will begin Dec. 2 at 8 a.m.
Crestview’s Hill is PAC 1st team at Waynesburg
WAYNESBURG, Pa.
Record-setting junior quarterback Carter Hill was Waynesburg’s lone first-team offensive representative. Hill had arguably the greatest year ever for a Yellow Jacket signal caller after setting new program single-season program standards for passing yards (2,883), touchdown passes (27), pass completions (273) and pass attempts (425), while throwing just five interceptions.
Junior defensive lineman J.T. Thompson from East Liverpool was a second team choice.
Honorable mention selections include offensive lineman David Bobby from Poland, linebacker John Sikora from Campbell and wide receiver Andrew English from East Liverpool.
Cavs G Waiters back at practice, denies fight
CLEVELAND
Dion Waiters insists the only thing he’s been fighting is the flu. The Cavaliers’ starting guard returned to practice Monday after missing two games with “flu-like symptoms” and denied he had been in a physical confrontation during a players-only meeting last week.
The Cavs, who have struggled during the early portion of this season, were blown out by 29 points last week by the Timberwolves. After the game, Cleveland’s players met privately to clear the air.
“We got it off our chests,” he said. “I think we needed it and we can move forward. We’re men. Nobody got into no altercations or anything like that. We got everything off our chests that we needed. That’s that. All the other rumors, man, are rumors. Don’t believe it. It’s not true. We talked. Everybody talked. Nobody put their hands on nobody.”
Staff reports/Associated Press