Hands on Balls

"Hands on Balls", that is Womens Club Volleyball's motto said sophomore outside hitter Sarah Bannister. Although their season has not started, their practices are well underway. "There are not as many returning players this year as we would have liked, but we do have a fair amount of freshman players who have played before, and that is a good sign for the future of the club," stated sophomore middle hitter Allison Scott.
The team is looking to improve after an average 2007-2008 season. Although they won a few games the team was not able to win a tournament. "That is one of our bigger goals this year, to win a tournament," Bannister commented, "as we like to say, go big or go home".
The team is still recruiting new members for this years up coming season. They encourage anyone who wants to join to participate in their practices Monday and Wednesday at the Recreation Center or contact Nicole St. Pierre on first class.

Ox Wingnuts Given Second Chance to Finish Moxie but Can't

Team Moxie advances to the finals after defeating Ox Wingnuts 12-6. After a 7-2 first half, Team Moxie came out in the second half ready to pick up where they left off. Team Moxie’s Tania “The Snake” Riegelman had a career high two touchdown catches in the first half. Team Moxie was very well balanced in their victory tonight seeing as how their leading scorer, Greg “Grease” Pease, had four touchdown catches. The starting line-up connected for eleven of the twelve points, and all but one Moxie player caught a touchdown.
Before the game Michael “Boomer” Cronin proclaimed, “Our strategy tonight is to score more than the other team. If we do that I think we will be able to win”. Cronin contributed to the victory with three catches and four passes. About the finals Cronin admitted, “We have a 50% chance of winning the finals. I feel that we will be able to compete with whoever we face”.
Although Team Moxie was able to walk away from tonight’s game with a victory they were not a complete team. Impact player Taylor “Killer” LaPierre was not able to make it to the game today, because the game conflicted with one of his classes. “We wanted to win this one for him (LaPierre). We knew that (LaPierre) would have been very disappointed if he wasn’t able to make the last game because of class, so we dedicate this win to him” stated Mathew “Pinto” Pintar. LaPierre is looking forward to be able to help Moxie in the final game Oct. 8 at 8:30pm in the Mahaney Dome.

Pretty Pease

University of Maine's Club Volleyball Captain Gregory Pease is not only here for volleyball. Pease, from Chelmsford, Mass. came here because he "wanted a fresh start". He goes on to say that "Most of my friends went to colleges in Massachusetts, and I wanted to meet new people and be the little fish in the big pond, so I decided to go to UMaine". Pease admits that he did not have a major in mind first year but decided to be a Construction Management Major after the first year because "My two interests were engineering and business, and this major seemed to be the two combined".
Pease was not always a volleyball superstar. In fact, in high school he rarely played, and although his team was really good he did not get his chance to shine. However, when he came to Maine he found out that "Volleyball just isn't as big up here as it is in Massachusetts". This gave Pease the chance to lead the Club Volleyball Team as a sophomore after only playing on it for one year. When asked why he was selected to lead the team Pease stated "There was really no other options, I was the only one who was not a graduate student, and I like to think I was picked because I know what I'm doing when it comes to Volleyball.
Although Pease really enjoys volleyball he also has many other interests. Pease being an Eagle Scout, enjoys being in the outdoors whether it's biking, hiking, canoeing, or rock climbing. Also, he likes to get involved in other intramural sports such as Frisbee, flag football, and soccer. When he is not playing volleyball or doing school work you can usually find him having a good time whether it be in his room or with his girlfriend Jacqueline Ducharme.

New Faces New Places

The Men's Club Volleyball team is looking forward to the start of their season. However, with only three returning players the team was put in a difficult situation. Club President and sophomore Construction Management Major Gregory Pease had to recruit a whole new team. On the issue Pease admits that he "Went to intramural games trying to find fresh new talent. I knew I wasn't going to find many people who already knew how to play volleyball because this is Maine. My new strategy was to find athletic people and turn them into volleyball players". Which is exactly what he's done. He was able to go from a team of seven members last year to fifteen traveling players this year while maintaining a separate practice to accomadate the new members who are looking to learn new skills. Maine's first test as a new team is Oct. 26 at the MSVBA adult league tournament. Pease says "We just need to play our game, and hopefully the rest will follow".

Maine Wins ... and Loses

The traditional Blue/White game took place on Saturday in Alfond Arena, Orono. Maine’s Blue Team came off the ice victorious, defeating the White Team 5-1. This was not a normal game; it was just a scrimmage, except with fans. Another difference between this game and a real game is that they played two 25-minute halves and had a full team shootout at the end of regulation. Although it was not an official game it still brought in quite a crowd, some fans said that the arena was about half full.
Blue Team forward Glenn Belmore lead both teams with two goals in the games. Some rookies also contributed to the scoreboard, which is promising for the upcoming season.
Kate Bowring a first year student “(was) impressed by some of the new talent”. She went to say how much she looks forward to the start of this season, which will be on Oct. 24 against Northeastern.

Image and statistics provided by http://goblackbears.cstv.com/sports/m-hockey/recaps/100408aaa.html

Slam Pigs Can't Down Moxie

Team Moxie is one step closer to becoming intramural champions after an unconventional 12-7 win on Wednesday night. With seven minutes remaining in play Moxie pulled ahead 12-7 with a touchdown catch by Michael "Boomer" Cronin. Following the touchdown, Slam Pigs captain offers Team Moxie a forfeit, so his team could go watch the first Red Sox playoff game. This unexpected forfeit caused Moxie player Taylor LaPierre to put forth, "A win is a win, and we won". When asked about the key to tonight's victory, Moxie forward Mathew "Pinto" Pintar exclaims, "We really didn't play that well. We were able to win because we had some amazing catches that compensated for our awful throws".
With this win Team Moxie advances to the "Flying Four" where they will face Ox Wingnuts for the second time this season. The first time these two teams tempers flared as some rules were challenged. Team Moxie was able to win the first match between these two teams with a score of 8-7. This rematch will take place Monday, Oct. 6 at 7:45pm in Mahaney Dome.

Men's Hockey Blue/White Game

The University of Maine Men's Ice Hockey Team takes to the ice Saturday for their traditional Blue/White Game. Although this game is only an exhibition game where Maine scrimmages against themselves, many fans are looking forward to this event as it is the unofficial start of the hockey season.
Maine is looking to turn around this year after a disappointing 13-18-3 finish last year. Fans are also hoping that this year will be different. One fan said “It would make it a lot easier to wait outside for two hours before the game if our team was better”. Seeing as how the first official home game is not until Oct. 24 many fans are hoping to get a up close look at the team before they leave for their road games.

Image provided by banforinfo.com/recreation.html