WBB: Middle Atlantic Conference board archive

[roy_a]

I know these polls are just that but it sure is nice to see my team #1.......Let the arguements begin
!!!!!!!!!!!

                The Women's DIII News pre-season Top-25 poll is as follows:

1.                    The University of Scranton


2.                    Southern Maine

3.                    Baldwin-Wallace

4.                    Hope

5.                    New York University

6.                    DePauw

7.                    Bowdoin

8.                    Messiah

9.                    Wisconsin-Stout

10.                 Carroll

11.                 Bates

12.                 Bridgewater (Va.)

13.                 Mary Washington

14.                 Hardin-Simmons

15.                 Calvin

16.                 Wheaton (Ill.)

17.                 Wisconsin-Stevens Point

18.                 Wilmington

19.                 St. Benedict

20.                 Washington (Mo.)

21.                 McMurray

22.                 Williams

23.                 Maryville (Tenn.)

24.                 Simpson

25.                 Salem State

[kate]

Hello, Royal & Everyone - Congrats to the Lady Royals for being # 1 in pre-season polls!  Boy we are so lucky to be right there in your half of the MAC.  Still say we have to give you guys a real bang for the buck to get ya all ready!  We should make this a big year with a "farewell" tour for M & M (you will certainly miss those two).  Practice starts Sunday - do the Royals start at midnight?  Really wondering how things are going in D'town.  Anybody with info?  For all teams, PLEASE stay healthy in practices & scrimmages - THE MAC RULES!!!

[ronk]

Roy_a,
     
   The #1 ranking adds some pressure on the ladies with everyone pointing for them, but that's why they select a top program for which to play in the first place.

[roy_a]

Ronk,
Good point..Ironically tht pressure may very well be in place the 1st weekend of the season. The Lady Royals are in a tournament and may likely face Rochester. Rochester certainly gave them a battle last year so it will be a good indicator of where we are..

Kate,

Do the Aggies have any depth this year? Their starters are never the issue, the problem generally is that those starters are forced to play 35 min per game, every game...

[kate]

Del Val opens up in a tourney at Muhlenberg against Cortland State.  i'm really anxious for their roster to appear too.  i can imagine who their starting five will be, and as we've said before, sure hope they have a bench out to the street!   One more month!!  GO AGGIES!!!

[roy_a]

It's time for everyones pre-season predictions. Here are mine..
                MAC--Freedom
1.Scranton
2.Desales
3.Kings
4. FDU
5. Drew
6. DelVal
7. Wilkes
8. Lyco

Rationale: 
1. Scranton---Clearly they have as much firepower as any team in the country. They return 4 starters and many more who saw significant playing time. Taryn Mellody is a 2 time All American and she is joined by Allison Matt, one of the best point gaurds in the country. Forget just making it to the Final 4 this squad may very well win it all???

2. Desales---Last year Coach Richter had a very inexperienced squad who at times played as well as any team in the conference. Look out for Soph Leighanne Burke to bring this team back to where it belongs.

3.Kings--I stated last year that hiring a coach so late in the off-season would hurt and I think I was correct. But that was last year...this team has some talent for sure...Palumbo.Fiorini,Hochstuhl,Kendra. If they play as a team they will be back.

4.FDU--Tough pick here as I nearly flipped a coing on spots 4-5. But , Drew just hired a new coach and that can be problematic? FDU came back a bit last year and has the talent and coaching to make the playoffs and can be a thorn in the side.

5. Drew--A lot of talent, Cunningham,Kraft,Marquis, But 2 big questions???Is there enough depth so the top players do no get burned out, and secondly...coaching?

6. DelVal--No one ever argues the effort and toughness of the Aggies, but until they get some depth it will be tough to pursue any titles.

7. Wilkes--Hard times in WB--they some some very talented gaurds in Kaprowicz, Bolin. The cupboard may be a bit bare to compete this year?

8. Lyco--Hopefull they will tuen it around? Lyco can be a tough place to play, however, they have slipped abit over the last few years.

I look forward to seeing more predictions...

[kate]

It felt good to be able to post on this site's other board about yesterday's Aggie loss.  That being said, Matt & everyone down in D'town, tell us something good - like the roster maybe?   my heart still goes out to Drew, changing leagues & coaches & i hope that Aggie practices are going exceptionally well!

[kate]

Looking for 06-07 rosters, i notice that FDU has ll people, seven of whom are Freshmen - this is the best time of year, rosters popping up every day!

[roy_a]

Kate,

I wish I saw that before I made my picks, I probably would have made Drew my #4??  There is no way having 7 freshmen on a squad of 11 is good....Also, the more I think about Desales the more I see them in the NCAA Tourney, the addition of Dellegrotti as assistant coach will help immeasurably.


Saratoga---are you still out there???  Ronk, Royalgator, any predictions??  Also--ADK I know your reading, might as well chime in on Kings.....

[saratoga]

Hi Roy, Kate & Assorted other MAC Fans...Can't wait to get it started!!! I wish the Royals would get their roster up already, considering they return about 10 kids I doubt there will be many new faces so I can't figure the delay. I certainly hope they were able to add a true point guard so that person can get some minutes & learn the game from playing against Allie all year in practice. While they're at it, a clone of Taryn, Tiffiany and Casey would be nice additions as well.

[ronk]

    No MAC predictions since I usually only see the Royals against non-conference foes.
    Wondering who will be playing the tough defense this year since we've lost the best from last year in Erin and Kelly. In the absence of camdidates, the Royals might have to stress a team defense funneling everyone into the middle where Tiffany can reject them.
   A good test will be Rochester if they get to play them in the opening tournament. Alex Porter gave us a lot of trouble inside in the NCAA last year as a frosh and she should provide some early clues as to the Royals defense like the Catholic and Johns Hopkins games did early last season. 

[roy_a]

Saratoga--Here is the roster.  Ronk--good point about the possible Rochester matchup but if I remember correctly we probably would have won last years meeting by about 10-12 if not for the 3pt shooting of #12, her name escapes me presently. She, however, did graduate.

Roster

No. Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Hometown/High School
10 Ryan Mooney G 5-7 Fr. Spring City, Pa./Piux X
12 Taryn Mellody G 6-0 Sr. Dunmore, Pa./Bishop O'Hara
20 Stephanie Remington G 5-11 Jr. Catasauqua, Pa./Catasauqua
22 Casey Thran G/F 5-10 Sr. Dalton, Pa./Abington Heights
23 Kathleen Daly F 6-0 Jr. Bryn Mawr, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy
24 Michelle Fabio F 5-11 Jr. Brick, N.J./Saint Rose
25 Coleen Healy G 5-8 Fr. Drexel Hill, Pa./Archbishop Prendergast
30 Allison Matt G 5-7 Sr. Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic
32 Julie Brophy G 5-9 Jr. Exton, Pa./Downingtown East
33 Tiffaney Williams C 6-2 Sr. Scranton, Pa./Scranton
34 Claire Davis G 5-6 Jr. Havertown, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy
40 Marisa Healy F 6-1 Jr. Columbus, N.J./St. Basil Academy (Pa.)
42 Molly Klusek C 6-3 So. Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll
55 Tammy Waiters F 5-9 Sr. Scranton, Pa./Scranton

[saratoga]

Hi Roy...Well, a few things jump out at me looking at Scranton's roster. First, two of the three freshmen from last season did not make it to their sophmore years on the team. Second, it looks like Erin Healy's younger sister decided to become a Lady Royal over a Lady Leopard at Lafayette, it also appears like they picked up a junior transfer (Claire Davis) who attended the same high school as Kathleen Daly and lastly, it looks on paper like they are at least two deep at every position...except point guard. It is also apparent that a particular point they were after decided to go elsewhere. That is the one area that they truly needed to bring someone in so that they could gain valuable minutes this year so they could take over for Allie next season. Oh well...win some, lose some. Perhaps Claire is a point & will help out there because Julie & Steph are true off guards & are somewhat out of position when called on to run the offense. The talent is most certainly there...I just hope they actually run some high/lows & screens for Tiffany to use her talent better this year than was utilized last season...it is a must for Scranton to let someone with her inside skills dominate & become much more involved in the offense. Lastly, congrats to the entire Lady Royal program for the D-III Hoops choice for the Pre-Season #1 ranking...however, I think everyone in Lady Royaland would agree...let's have that ranking at the end of the season when Springfield can be painted a serious shade of Purple in 07'.

[saratoga]

One last thing regarding Scranton's roster...it is very nice to see that Marisa Healy is back & given the ok to play. As a freshman she tore her ACL and after at least 3 operations & a ton of hard work...she is back and ready to play. If she never scores a point this year the fact that she has remained so close to this team during her rehab. is paramount to her character & work ethic. Best of luck & welcome back!

[kate]

Del Val's roster is up,  & it looks (on paper of course) that all's right with the Aggie basketball world.  One Senior, three Juniors, three Sophomores, & four Freshmen.  Only one freshman did not return, but the three that did along with the four new people, and they shouldn't mind too much not having Jen & Kate come off the bench.  It's neat that Jen (McCarthy) will be an assistant this season &  and also, that Hank (Kristen Henry) will be back this year.  Anxiously looking forward to the Scotty Wood Opening Tourney at Muhlenberg two weeks from today!!!  GO AGGIES