Lions Ledger: 11 Teams in Action This Week

Mar 30, 2021

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RECORDS: No. 8 Saint Leo 3-1, 3-1 SSC | Rollins 2-3, 2-3 SSC | No. 2 Barry 4-0, 4-0 SSC
No. 8 Saint Leo heads to Winter Park on Monday for the Lions' third straight match on the road. The Green and Gold captured wins at the first of the five-match road stretch at No. 20 Florida Southern (6-1) and Palm Beach Atlantic (6-1).
Molly Helgesson enters the week with a perfect 4-0 mark in first singles. Celeina Ermann has also had a fantastic season holding a singles 3-0 fifth flight and 1-0 fourth flight records. In doubles action, Helgesson and Lavinia Lancellotti are 3-1 in the first flight while Ermann and Marta Vicens Miquel have earned a 2-1 mark together.
Rollins bounced back from a 6-1 loss against No. 2 Barry on Saturday with a confident 7-0 victory over Eckerd on Sunday. Kaitlynn Groves has earned a 3-2 singles third flight record for the Tars. The Tars double team made up of Alexandra Borg and Georgina Growth are unbeaten in the first flight with a 5-0 record together.
History: The Tars and Lions last met on Thursday, April 4, 2019 where the then No. 3 Lions overwhelmed the No. 43 Rollins, 6-1.
No. 2 Barry remains undefeated with a 4-0 record. The Buccaneers have taken down Tampa (7-0), Embry-Riddle (5-0), Rollins (6-1), and Palm Beach Atlantic (7-0).
History: The Bucs and Lions were able to meet in 2020 before the COVID-19 Pandemic cut the season short. The then No. 1 Bucs swept the No. 6 Lions during an unusual cold and winder afternoon at the Saint Leo Tennis Center.

RECORDS: Saint Leo 5-1 | Tampa 8-8 | Florida Southern 0-8 | State College of Florida 0-0
Saint Leo beach volleyball will compete in a pair of road tri-matches this week. The Lions start out at Tampa on Wednesday as they face the host Spartans as well as rival Florida Southern. They will then travel to FSC on Saturday to face the Mocs a second time as well as the State College of Florida who visited Saint Leo last week.
The Lions moved to 5-1 on the season with a sweep of the State College of Florida. Saint Leo won both matches this past week 5-0 and did not drop a single game.
The Lions' previous number two pair, juniors Sydney Omtvedt and Arlaina Stephenson, moved into the No. 1 slot versus SCF this past week and improved their overall record on the year to 6-0 including 2-0 at No. 1 and 4-0 at No. 2. The previous No. 1 duo, seniors Brooke Turner and Nina Vattovaz, moved down to No. 2 and also went 2-0 to improve to 5-1 on the year including 3-1 at No. 1 and 2-0 at No. 2.
Saint Leo also has a very solid No. 3 pair, junior Lina Russo and freshman LeeAnn Potter, who moved to 4-0 this past week with a pair of wins versus SCF.
The Lions have not faced Tampa or Florida Southern since the 2019 season. The Lions went 2-1 against the Mocs including defeating them at the AVCA Small College Beach Championships while the Spartans were a perfect 3-0 versus the Lions including defeating Saint Leo in the postseason AVCA Championships. SCF traveled to Saint Leo this past week for a pair of matches that counted as exhibitions for the Manatees whose regular season starts in April.
Tampa is 8-8 on the year but has faced top-level competition including six matches against top-25 opponents and 10 matches against NCAA Division I programs. Their No. 1 duo, Julia Oswald and Rachel Rosequist is 8-6 this season. Their two top spots in terms of victories this season is at No. 3 where they are 10-6 and at No. 5 where they boast an 11-5 mark.
Florida Southern is 0-8 this season and have won just three individual matches. The Mocs fell 3-2 to Eckerd and 4-1 versus Florida International but all other matches have been 5-0 defeats.
State College of Florida dropped all 12 matches against the Lions this past week in their 2021 debut including an exhibition No. 6 match in each contest. The SCF roster is full of freshmen and redshirt freshmen who are competing in their first beach volleyball collegiate season.

RECORDS: Saint Leo 4-6, 3-5 SSC | Rollins 5-3, 5-2 SSC
Saint Leo baseball returns to action this week with a three-game series against the Tars of Rollins College. The Lions will play at Rollins on Wednesday and Friday while hosting the Tars on Thursday.
The Lions are currently 4-6 on the season after defeating No. 24 Florida Southern this past week while also dropping 2-of-3 versus Lynn.
Redshirt junior Adrien Roa has regained the top-spot in terms of batting average on the team at .345 while redshirt senior Jake Vander Wal leads the team in runs scored (9), home runs (4) and RBI (11) while tying for the team lead in hits (11) with classmate Danny Torres.
Redshirt junior Devin Blair leads the pitching staff with a 2-0 record on the mound while two others are 1-0. Nathan Crissey (2.45), McCabe Sargent (2.70) and Andy Booth (3.00) all have 3.00 or below ERAs so far this season. Jestin Jones and Jimmy Burnette share the team lead in strikeouts with 13. Five different pitchers have started games for the Lions this season with Jones and Burnette leading the way with three each.
Rollins is 5-3 this season and most recently took 2-of-3 from No. 24 Florida Southern including two wins in Lakeland. Nick Santucci leads the team with a .367 batting average but Sam LaFontaine is not far behind at .364. Santucci has launched a team-best five home runs whilealso leading the team in RBI with eight. The Tars have used just three starting pitchers this season including Jaylyn Whitehead, Tate Stone-Frisina and Carson Hauben. Seven of their 11 pitchers who have seen action have a sub-3.00 ERA so far this season including three with a perfect 0.00. Whitehead leads the squad with 20 Ks over 17.0 innings.
HISTORY: The last meeting between the Lions and Tars came back in April of 2019. The Tars hold a slight lead the all-time series between the two programs 89-88 after taking two of three from the Lions in 2019.

RECORDSNo. 23 Saint Leo 12-4, 9-3 SSC | No. 5 Rollins 8-0, 6-0 SSC
No. 23 Saint Leo is set to take on Rollins in a top-25 matchup after sweeping the four-game series from Lynn last week. The Lions opened the series against the Fighting Knights with a 10-0 five-inning shutout before a 5-1 game two in Boca Raton. Saint Leo returned home and took the doubleheader with game scores of 2-1, 6-2. After the series, Madi Mott and Bayley Williams were named the Sunshine State Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively.
On her way to being named Player of the Week, Williams went 6-for-13 from the plate with four runs scored and three RBI. Mott tossed 8.1 innings of work in two relief appearances and earned wins in both outings. She tallied eight strikeouts and allowed just three hits and no runs on the week.
On the season, Morgan Shannon and Kacie Kelly continue to battle it out for the top spot for batting average in over 10 games played with averages of .395 and .392. Williams is the team leader through eight games with a .429 average. Kelly leads the team in hits (20), RBI (11), and doubles (4) which puts her tied for the program record of 50 career doubles.
Shannon leads the team in ERA (0.75) as Kayla Betts is the team leader in number of innings (42.0), wins (5-1), complete games (4), and strikeouts (48). The duo are paired with Sadi Avants, Rachel Bean and Mott for action in the circle while all five pitchers have sub-2.00 ERA's.
No. 5 Rollins comes into the meeting with undefeated record and a weekend off. The Tars last played Lynn on March 20 with a four-game series sweep with scored of 3-1, 8-0, 9-0, 5-4.
Ashley Troutman holds the teams high batting average at .474 having played six games while Chelsea Peace is second with eight games played at .409. The duo lead the team with Ashley Worrell with nine hits on the season.
The Tars toss two pitchers thus far in Ashley Worrell and Ali Shenefield. Both hold a sub-1.00 ERA with over 20 strikeouts a piece. Worrell lis 5-0 on the season in 27 innings of work while Shenefield is 3-0 in 23.0 innings hurled.
HISTORYThis regular three-game series will start April 1 and continue on April 2 with two games at Saint Leo. It's been a tight matchup between the two powerhouses with no easy sweeps and one team taking at least one game in the series. The Rollins-Saint Leo matchup in 2020 was the last SSC series for the Green and Gold where the Lions took two of three in Winter Park. Saint Leo opened up the series with a 1-0 win before dropping game two 4-1. Saint Leo came back to shutout the Tars 4-0.

Saint Leo men's and women's track heads back to Daytona Beach to compete in the Spikes Classic hosted by Embry-Riddle. Events are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. with the women's 3,000m steeplechase while the final event is slated for a 4:00 p.m. start and it's the men's 4x400m.
The Lions posted 18 top-10 finishes including four event victories in their most recent competition which took place March 20 at Embry-Riddle. Two of the wins came from sophomore Robyn Burrows who swept both the women's 100m and 200m events. Sophomore Pierre Galbourdin opened the day for the men by winning the 5,000m. Burrows picked up her two wins on the women's side while Tania Jarreau earned a victory in the 800m.
Senior Shane Bracken currently has the eighth fastest 800m time in NCAA Division II this season as well as the eighth fastest 1,500m time.
Saturday is the third of five scheduled trips to Daytona Beach for the Lions this season. Currently the meet on Tuesday, April 27 at Embry-Riddle is the final on the Saint Leo regular season schedule.

RECORDS: No. 3 Saint Leo 5-0, 5-0 SSC | Embry-Riddle 4-1, 4-1 SSC
No. 3 Saint Leo returns to the Saint Leo Tennis Center to host the Embry-Riddle Eagles. The Lions are hungry for their sixth win to preserve their perfect start to the 2021 season.
Alexander Parker went 3-0 last week in fourth singles and 3-0 in first doubles helping the Lions stay perfect, defeating No. 10 Lynn, Rollins, and Palm Beach Atlantic. The senior Englishman showcased a 7-5, 6-4 win against his Fighting Knight opponent and quick 6-4, 6-3 decisions against both Rollins and Palm Beach Atlantic. In doubles action, Parker and teammate Christopher Traut secured victories at the first flight in all three matches handing in 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 scores, respectively. The dominate week maintained Parker's clean season record of 5-0 at the fourth singles flight and 5-0 in doubles action; 4-0 first flight mark, 1-0 in the flight number two.
Embry-Riddle also looks to extend their win streak of three-matches. The Eagles have defeated Eckerd (6-1), Rollins (5-2), and Florida Southern (4-3). Juan Ortiz Couder fills the first singles slot with a 3-2 record followed by Andres Donayre with a 3-0 record in the second flight. In doubles action, Alvaro Rodrigo Diaz and Fernando Alonso have gone unbeaten with a third flight 5-0 mark. Meanwhile, Alexis Guedy and Lucas Bos have captured a second flight 4-1 record.
HISTORY: Last meeting on April 17, 2019, the No. 40 Eagles upset the No. 4 Lions, 4-2 in Saint Leo, Fla.

RECORDS No. 22 Saint Leo 1-2, 1-1 SSC | No. 10 Rollins 1-1, 1-1 SSC
No. 22 Saint Leo split the week after facing No. 8 Florida Southern (4-17) and No. 23 Florida Tech (19-6) while ranked 20th by the IWLCA poll. Despite moving its' ranking to No. 22, Saint Leo had a stellar game in Melbourne, Fla. on Saturday. The complete team effort saw multiple highlights on the offense, solid defense, competitiveness at the draw and on the ride, and an outstanding performance by Emma Crafton in the cage.
Fiona McLaughlin has made herself one of the newest threats for SSC teams on the women's lacrosse field. The freshman attacker netted eight goals off eight shots while facing #8 Florida Southern and #23 Florida Tech. The Marietta, Georgia product scored a two, picked up a ground balls, and won a draw control against the Mocs. In Melbourne, she came off the bench and tallied six goals, including the go-ahead goal against the Panthers, and a groundball.
On the season, McLaughlin leads the team in scoring with 10 goals followed by Delaney Chrisco with nine. Ashlee Wilsynski has earned nine points scoring six and assisting in three. Off the draw, Ashley Salvett leads the team with 11 draw controls. Chrisco, a graduate student midfielder, holds a team-high eight caused turnovers and eight ground balls. In the net, Crafton has started all three games earning 25 saves.
No. 10 Rollins will face Florida Tech on Wednesday before heading to Saint Leo on Saturday. The Tars opened the season with a 13-9 loss at No.10 Tampa but bounced back on Saturday in a 15-7 win against Lynn.
Eden Cooke paces the Tars with seven points scoring four goals, three assists. She is followed by Liz Fahey with six goals and Abigail Cawley with five goals and an assist. Madison McGarry leads the Tars off the draw with five draw controls. In the cage, Gabby Tanner has started and played all of both games where she has collected 13 saves.
HISTORY: Saint Leo opened the 2020 season against Rollins as a non-conference game on February 8. After a two-goal differentiation at the half, No. 23 Saint Leo dropped the season opener to No. 8 Rollins, 19-10 at University Turf Stadium. In the meeting, Ashlee Wilsynski tallied a hattrick while returners Kaci Archer, Meghan Bomleny, and Delaney Chrisco all found the back of the net. In between the pipes, Emma Crafton entered for 23 minutes and earned five saves.

RECORDS Saint Leo 1-1, 1-0 SSC | Rollins 0-0, 0-0 SSC (game 3/31)
Saint Leo won its' conference opener on Saturday defeating the Florida Tech Panthers, 18-15. Tyler Eames paced the successful offensive day with four points scoring two goals and two assists followed by Guy Bistrow with a pair of goals and an assist for three points. Justin Williams had a tremendous day scoring a career-high hat-trick off three shots. Devin Sparks and Ryan Marek joined the fun with two goals apiece while Peyton Tyson contributed two points with a goal and an assist. Michael Flores earned a game-high eight ground balls going 10-for-19 at the face. Sharing the responsibilities at the 'X', Jordan Williams earned four ground balls going 9-for-16. Gunnar Luckoski earned the win in the cage with 15 saves in 60 minutes of work.
For his work in the cage, Gunnar Luckoski was named SSC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
Justin Williams enters the week as the team's leading scorer with four goals while Matt Shand is the Green and Gold's point leader with a pair of goals and three assists. Bistrow, Liam Mueller, and Eames have also tallied four points after the two games. Flores has won 19-of-50 at the X for the Lions. Luckoski has started and played in all 120 minutes of action of the young season. The senior goalkeeper has earned 30 saves.
Rollins is set to open the season at Florida Tech on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Due to COVID-19 protocols, the Tars games scheduled against Tampa and Lynn were previously postponed.
HISTORY:The programs last met on Saturday, April 6, 2019 where the Lions fell at Rollins, 11-10, despite Thomas Tatarian's season-high 17 saves.

Men's golf gets set for their final tournament of the regular season as they travel to Pensacola, Fla. to compete in the Argonaut Invitational.
In the previous tournament, it was Colin Kresl leading all Saint Leo golfers with a fourth place finish at one-under for the tournament after firing a four-under 66 Tuesday for a two day score of 209 (-1). Oliver Lilliedahl carded an even-par 70 Tuesday to finish at 214 (+4) in 11th place. Alberto Castagnara climbed nine spots to finish in the top-half of the field at 219 (+9). Also, Kresl was named to the Bobcat Invitational All-Tournament Team
After this, the Lions will have two weeks to prepare until the Sunshine State Conference Championpship, which is slated for April 19 & 20.
Last year's Argonaut Invitational was canceled due to Covid-19.

Women's golf gets set for their final tournament of the regular season as they travel to Boca Raton, Fla. to compete in the Lynn Invitational.
Lions best finish on the year was a 2nd place finish at the Saint Leo Invitational. The Lions prevailed from the bottom of the pack to take second at their home tournament. Francesca Santoni paced the Lions wire-to-wire for a third-place finish, climbing one spot on the final day, at two-over 218. Rose Morissette capped her top-10 finish at 11-over while Synne Laurizten and Louise Henningsson both finished inside the top-25 of the 50-player field as Laurizten tied for 21st and Henningsson 25th. Jasmin Pnaiser rounded out the players for the Green and Gold with a 35th place finish.
After this, the Lions will be right back in action next week as they compete in the Sunshins State Conference Championship in Vero Beach, Fla. on April 12 & 13.
Last year's Lynn Invitational was canceled due to Covid-19.

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