Sports – Page 422 – North Platte Post Archive

Goodell Meets 11 Former Players about NFL Conduct

Posted on September 23, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and chief assistant Troy Vincent have met with 11 former NFL players to discuss ways to improve the league’s personal conduct policy.

They met Tuesday with Hall of Famer Mike Singletary, plus Matt Birk, Eddie Mason, Patrick Kerney, Willie McGinest, Roman Oben, Marty Lyons, Charles Way, Tony Paige, Scott Turner and Robert Porcher. More meetings are planned between the league and former players.

Vincent is the NFL’s vice president of football operations.

The NFL has faced heavy criticism of its personal conduct policy after incidents this year involving Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald and Jonathan Dwyer. Goodell repeatedly has said he mishandled the punishment of Rice for punching his then-fiancee in a hotel elevator, and the league is re-examining how and when it should discipline players for violating the policy.

Boyd Epley Returns to Nebraska Athletics

Posted on September 23, 2014

Boyd Epley (Photo courtesy of boydepley.com

The University of Nebraska Athletics Department announced the hiring of Boyd Epley as Assistant Athletic Director for Strength and Conditioning. Epley will oversee the strength and conditioning staff and programs of all Husker athletic programs except football and will serve as the primary strength and conditioning coach for baseball.

Initially hired by former Athletic Director Bob Devaney to start a strength and conditioning program at Nebraska in 1969, Epley served 35 years as NU’s head strength coach before moving into an associate athletic director position. He retired from NU in 2006.

Most recently Epley served as director of coaching performance for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) in Colorado Springs, the organization he founded in 1978. There he secured sponsorships for the NSCA and helped Division I strength coaches gain certification to meet an NCAA requirement that goes into effect in 2015.

“Shawn Eichorst is committed to give Nebraska student-athletes an educational opportunity they can’t get anywhere else and he wants them to compete for championships. I want to be a part of that vision,” Boyd Epley said. “While my main priority will be working with Coach Darin Erstad and the baseball team, I also look forward to working with the other sport programs. My wife and I miss Nebraska and look forward to reuniting with the Husker Nation.”

Senior Associate Athletic Director for Performance and Strategic Research Steve Waterfield said, “We are excited to have Boyd return to Nebraska Athletics. His leadership, innovations, and experience in strength and conditioning have produced results that have improved student-athlete performance and helped propel teams to championships. We look forward to him working directly with the baseball program and collaborating with strength and conditioning staff to benefit Husker student-athletes.”

For his outstanding contribution in strength and conditioning, Epley was recently named a 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. He was honored at the Association’s annual meeting September 16th in Washington, D.C.

Epley will assume his new position at Nebraska on October 6th.

Huskers Begin Big Ten Play With Iowa

Posted on September 23, 2014

The No. 8 Nebraska volleyball team (6-3) begins Big Ten action this week with a home-and-home series with Iowa, beginning on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers make the trip to Iowa City on Saturday for a 7 p.m. match. The Huskers are entering their fourth year of Big Ten play and this will be the first time they’ve played the same conference opponent twice in the same week.

Media Information
Wednesday’s match will be streamed online only at BTN Plus, which fans can purchase for $9.95 for one month’s access. Fans can also listen to the action with John Baylor and Diane Mendenhall on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and The Wolf 93.3 FM in Omaha. Fans inside and outside the state of Nebraska will also be able to catch the live audio feed on Huskers.com for free. Free live stats will be available at Huskers.com as well.

Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series, 19-0. Seventeen of the 18 Husker victories have been sweeps. The only time Iowa has won a set against Nebraska was Sept. 5, 1987 in a match the Huskers won 3-1. The teams did not play from 2000 to 2010, but that changed when Nebraska joined the Big Ten. The Huskers won last year’s meeting in Lincoln on Oct. 23, 25-19, 25-21, 25-8. Kadie Rolfzen had 11 kills and 12 digs. Amber Rolfzen had eight kills, and Cecilia Hall had seven. The Huskers hit .388 in that match. Nebraska won in Iowa City on Nov. 27, 25-16, 25-18, 25-18. Kadie Rolfzen had nine kills, while Melanie Keil had six.

Last Time Out
The Nebraska volleyball team fought toe-to-toe with No. 2 Texas but came up just short in a 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23, 8-15) thriller before 8,312 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday. Kadie Rolfzen paced the Huskers (6-3) with a career-high 21 kills and 16 digs. Alicia Ostrander, coming off a strong outing off the bench against Creighton, earned the start and tallied 14 kills and four blocks. Justine Wong-Orantes recorded a career-high 29 digs with no receiving errors, and Mary Pollmiller had 40 assists, a career-high six blocks and five kills. Meghan Haggerty had nine blocks to match her season high. Texas All-American Haley Eckerman led the Longhorns with 20 kills. Amy Neal added 15 kills, and Khat Bell had seven blocks for Texas. The Huskers hit .165, while Texas hit .189, the lowest it has hit all season. Texas (8-0) entered the match with the nation’s eighth-ranked attack at .307 percent, but NU held the Longhorns well under their season average. Texas had also lost just one set all season before the Huskers topped them twice on Saturday. Nebraska outblocked Texas (15-13) and outdug the Longhorns (78-76). The Big Red also committed fewer service errors with 11 to Texas’ 13. But in the fifth set with the match on the line, Texas produced nine kills on 22 attacks with one error for a .364 hitting percentage, while Nebraska put together five kills on 23 attacks with three errors for a .087 hitting percentage.

Up Next
The Huskers visit Iowa on Saturday for a 7 p.m. match at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Noting the Huskers
• Kadie Rolfzen set career highs with 21 kills and 51 attacks against No. 2 Texas last Saturday, surpassing her previous career high of 20 kills. The 2013 All-American also had 16 digs in the match and now has three of Nebraska’s four double-doubles this season (Mary Pollmiller has the other). Rolfzen is averaging a team-high 3.45 kills per set and is second in digs with 3.03 per set. She has double-digit kills in six of her last seven matches, with the outlier a nine-kill effort against Denver on just 22 swings.
• Nebraska ranks second in the Big Ten with 2.88 blocks per set, and the Huskers’ 31 solo blocks are tied with Northwestern for the most by any Big Ten team. Meghan Haggerty is fifth in the Big Ten with 1.29 blocks per set.
• The Huskers have just one solo block against them all season. The next closest Big Ten teams are Penn State and Michigan at seven.
• The Huskers rank third in the Big Ten in digs per set (15.00). Justine Wong-Orantes (4.16 per set) leads the Big Red and ranks ninth in the conference. She is coming off a career-high 29 digs against No. 2 Texas last weekend, the most by a Husker since Kayla Banwarth’s 32 against Baylor on Nov. 18, 2009.
• Mary Pollmiller, the Huskers’ lone senior, has 326 set assists for 10.19 per set. She also adds a defensive presence at the net with 22 blocks to rank third on the team and is fourth in digs with 56.
• The Huskers have held three opponents to single-digit sets so far this season, matching last year’s season total. The Huskers have beaten Eastern Kentucky 25-7, Bakersfield 25-8 and Colgate 25-9. Nebraska held two opponents to single digits in 2012 and one in 2011.
• Nebraska is 6-0 this season when recording as many or more service aces than its opponent.
• The Huskers are 227-0 when hitting .300 or better under John Cook. Nebraska is also 369-15 (.961) when winning the first set under Cook.
• John Cook is 138-40 (.775) against ranked opponents at Nebraska. Just over one-third of Cook’s total victories at Nebraska (419) have come against ranked teams.
• Nebraska volleyball leads the nation with 207 consecutive sellouts, the longest sellout streak in the history of NCAA women’s athletics. NU owns a 191-16 record during the streak.

Scouting the Iowa Hawkeyes
The Hawkeyes enter the week 8-3 overall. All three losses have been sweeps, but two of Iowa’s three losses have come to Top 25 teams in Texas A&M and Arizona State. The other was their most recent match, a sweep at Iowa State. The Hawkeyes will be playing their home opener against the Huskers, as they’ve gone 1-3 on the road and 7-0 in neutral games so far this season. Iowa ranks third in the Big Ten in blocks (2.65 per set) and service aces (1.61 per set).

Senior outside hitter Alex Lovell is the top attacker with 128 kills and 3.56 kills per set. She led the Hawkeyes last season as well with 216 kills. Sophomore setter Alyssa Klostermann has moved into the No. 1 setter role and has a team-high 228 assists for 6.33 per set. Jess Janota has been one of the Big Ten’s best freshmen this season, ranking fifth among freshmen with 2.66 kills per set (93 total) along with 26 blocks. Junior middle blocker Mikaela Gunderson has 40 blocks for Iowa.

Iowa finished 11-21 last season and 2-18 in the Big Ten for an 11th-place finish. The Hawkeyes have six starters back though and 10 total letterwinners.

Huskers Extend Record Poll Streak to 467 Weeks
With its No. 8 ranking, Nebraska has appeared in every one of the AVCA’s 467 all-time weekly polls. NU and Stanford are the only two programs to appear in every AVCA poll, dating back to its inception in 1982. Nebraska has spent a nation-leading 420 weeks in the top 10.

Mo’ne Davis to Donate Jersey to BB Hall of Fame

Posted on September 23, 2014

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Philadelphia Little League sensation Mo’ne Davis is headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Davis, the first girl to win a game at the Little League Baseball World Series, will donate the jersey she wore during the game to the museum on Thursday. She’ll be accompanied by teammates from both her Little League World Series team and the travel team she’s played on since she was seven.

Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, a former Negro Leagues pitcher and one of only three women to play in the Negro Leagues, will also attend Thursday’s event at the Hall of Fame.

Afterward, Davis and her teammates will face a team from upstate New York in an exhibition game at Doubleday Field.

Davis pitched Taney Little League into the Little League World Series, becoming the fourth American girl to appear in the tournament. In her first game, she shut out a team from Nashville 4-0 over six full innings while featuring a fastball that reached 70 miles per hour.

Nebraska AP High School Football Rankings

Posted on September 23, 2014September 23, 2014

Here are the Associated Press Nebraska high school football rankings in Classes A through D-2. Listings include name of school, season record, previous week’s ranking, previous week’s result and this week’s opponent (NR-not ranked). The rankings are based on a formula that includes ratings from the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star plus experts for each class. Class A: Dale Miller, Grand Island Independent. Class B: Jeff Fielder, Scottsbluff Star-Herald. Class C1: Tom Behmer, Norfolk Daily News. Class C2: Brent Wasinius, Fremont Tribune. Class D1: Andrew Bottrell, North Platte Telegraph. Class D2: Nick Blasnitz, Hastings Tribune.

CLASS A

1. Omaha North (4-0), 1, def. Bellevue West 62-21, at Creighton Preparatory School.

2. Millard North (4-0), 3, def. Lincoln Southwest 35-14, Lincoln North Star.

3. Grand Island (4-0), 4, def. Columbus 56-19, Omaha Westside.

4. Creighton Preparatory School (4-0), 5, def. Omaha South 65-12, Omaha North.

5. Bellevue West (3-1), 2, lost to Omaha North 62-21, Bellevue East.

6. Papillion-La Vista South (3-1), 6, def. Lincoln High 49-14, at Lincoln Southwest.

7. Omaha Central (3-1), 7, def. Omaha Burke 20-10, Omaha South.

8. Millard West (2-2), 8, def. Omaha Bryan 55-7, Millard South.

9. Kearney (3-1), 9, def. Papillion-La Vista 45-16, Lincoln Southeast.

10. Omaha Westside (2-2), 10, def. Lincoln Northeast 55-14, at Grand Island.

Others receiving votes: None.

CLASS B

1. Omaha Skutt Catholic (4-0), 1, def. Omaha Roncalli Catholic 52-13, at Blair.

2. McCook (4-0), 2, def. Sidney 20-19, at Aurora.

3. Gretna (4-0), 3, def. Schuyler 75-0, at Platteview.

4. Elkhorn (4-0), 4, def. Omaha Benson 58-6, at Nebraska City.

5. Elkhorn South (4-0), 5, def. Norris 45-14, Ralston.

6. Crete (3-1), 6, def. Waverly 14-7, at York.

7. Aurora (3-1), 7, def. Hastings 32-7, McCook.

8. Sidney (3-1), 8, lost to McCook 20-19, Lexington.

9. Scottsbluff (3-1), 9, def. Adams Central 36-19, Northwest.

10. Beatrice (2-2), 10, def. Nebraska City 55-6, Mount Michael Benedictine.

Others receiving votes: None.

CLASS C1

1. Boone Central/Newman Grove (4-0), 1, def. Grand Island Central Catholic 49-18, at West Point-Beemer.

2. Norfolk Catholic (4-0), 2, def. David City 47-7, Madison.

3. Ashland-Greenwood (4-0), 3, def. Lincoln Christian 55-7, Arlington.

4. Kearney Catholic (4-0), 4, def. Cozad 27-20, St. Paul.

5. Columbus Scotus (3-1), 7, def. Pierce 28-14, at David City.

6. Wilber-Clatonia (4-0), 8, def. Conestoga 60-7, Lincoln Lutheran.

7. Pierce (3-1), 5, lost to Columbus Scotus 28-14, Wayne.

8. Cozad (3-1), 6, lost to Kearney Catholic 27-20, at Gothenburg.

9. Raymond Central (4-0), NR, def. Auburn 20-13, at Lincoln Christian.

10. Chadron (3-1), NR, def. Broken Bow 33-6, Ogallala.

Others receiving votes: Syracuse.

CLASS C2

1. Battle Creek (4-0), 1, def. Ponca 63-0, at Crofton.

2. Hastings St. Cecilia (4-0), 2, def. Cambridge 42-8, Doniphan-Trumbull.

3. North Platte St. Patrick’s (4-0), 3, def. Ravenna 51-7, at Hershey.

4. Aquinas Catholic (3-1), 4, def. Weeping Water 61-0, at Yutan.

5. Hartington Cedar Catholic (3-1), 5, def. Homer 39-0, West Holt.

6. Archbishop Bergan (3-1), 6, def. Elmwood-Murdock 58-14, Tekamah-Herman.

7. Sutton (4-0), 7, def. Shelby-Rising City 56-6, at Sandy Creek.

8. Lutheran High Northeast (3-1), 8, def. Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 66-26, at Ainsworth.

9. Malcolm (4-0), 9, def. Southern 22-7, Tri County.

10. Oakland-Craig (3-1), 10, def. Crofton 34-0, at Ponca.

Others receiving votes: Doniphan-Trumbull.

CLASS D1

1. Hemingford (3-0), 1, def. South Loup 48-0, at Perkins County.

2. Creighton (3-0), 3, bye Bloomfield.

3. Guardian Angels Central Catholic (3-0), 4, def. Howells-Dodge 48-34, Plainview.

4. Heartland (3-0), 5, def. Blue Hill 50-32, High Plains Community.

5. BDS (4-0), 6, def. High Plains Community 68-44, bye.

6. Elm Creek (3-0), 7, def. Sutherland 59-24, Shelton.

7. Amherst (3-0), 8, def. Franklin 54-20, at Central Valley.

8. Howells-Dodge (2-1), 2, lost to Guardian Angels Central Catholic 48-34, at Clarkson/Leigh.

9. Diller-Odell (3-0), 9, def. Mead 62-12, Pawnee City.

10. Scribner-Snyder (3-0), NR, def. Cedar Bluffs 54-18, at Omaha Nation.

Others receiving votes: North Central.

CLASS D2

1. Falls City Sacred Heart (2-1), 1, bye, Johnson-Brock.

2. Stuart (3-0), 2, def. Sandhills/Thedford 54-33, Wausa.

3. Exeter-Milligan (3-0), 3, def. Johnson-Brock 56-14, Giltner.

4. Humphrey St. Francis (3-0), 4, def. CWC 50-43, at Palmer.

5. Giltner (2-1), 7, def. Overton 68-16, at Exeter-Milligan.

6. Anselmo-Merna (3-0), 8, def. Elwood 80-52, Pleasanton.

7. Kenesaw (2-1), 10, bye, Alma.

8. Brady (3-0), NR, def. Medicine Valley 36-35, at Maxwell.

9. St. Mary’s (3-0), NR, bye, Osmond.

10. CWC (2-1), 9, lost to Humphrey St. Francis 50-43, Randolph.

Others receiving votes: Bancroft-Rosalie, Elwood.

Stults Pitches Streaking Padres past Rockies 1-0

Posted on September 23, 2014

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eric Stults pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the San Diego Padres won their fifth straight game, beating the Colorado Rockies 1-0 on Monday night.

Stults (8-17), who is tied with Philadelphia right-hander A.J. Burnett for the major league lead in losses, scattered seven hits and a walk over 6 1-3 innings in beating the Rockies for the first time this season after two defeats. Kevin Quackenbush pitched the ninth for his sixth save, ending Colorado’s season-high, six-game winning streak.

San Diego went ahead in the first inning when Rene Rivera’s double scored Jedd Gyorko, who walked. It was Rivera’s fifth RBI and third double in four games.

Rockies starter Tyler Matzek (6-11) struck out eight in six innings. He allowed one run, four hits and three walks.

The Lady Dawgs Run-Rule No. 10 Lincoln Southeast

Posted on September 22, 2014September 23, 2014

The North Platte Bulldogs softball team won its third straight game by beating No. 10 Lincoln Southeast 10-0 in four innings Monday.

The two teams met on a rainy evening at the Dowhower Softball Complex in North Platte. North Platte jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a two-run home run from senior catcher Mikenzi Wiseman. Wiseman’s home run landed in the pond beyond the left field fence.

The Lady Dawgs added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore Willow Chitty showcased some textbook hitting in the second inning. North Platte had already scored one run and sophomore Kylie Engleman was on third with two outs when Chitty roped a single through the 3-4 hole to drive in Engleman.

The Lady Dawgs were shutout in the third inning, but the defense came up with North Platte’s first traditional double play of the season. Lincoln Southeast’s Madison Otte hit a hard ground ball to senior shortstop Marissa Ramos, who flipped it to Chitty at second base, who threw to senior first baseman Jenny Keck for the 6-4-3 double play to end the top of the third inning.

The infielders for North Platte apparently thought it was fun once so they turned another double play in the fourth inning. Engleman backhanded a hard hit ground ball down the third base line, made a perfect throw to Chitty at second, who threw to Keck at first for a 5-4-3 double play and the first two outs of the inning on Hailey Davis’ ground ball.

North Platte scored three more runs in the fourth inning to secure the 10-0 run-rule victory. Engleman struck out to begin the inning but reached first base on the pitch in the dirt. Wiseman scored a run after drawing a walk and Chitty came across the plate on a wild pitch to end the game.

Senior pitcher Kaite Franzen threw the shutout inside the circle for North Platte. Franzen only gave up three hits in four innings of work, she also struck out one batter while issuing four walks. Franzen also went 1-2 at the plate with a run scored.

Wiseman led the way at the plate by going 1-2 with a home run, a walk, two RBI and two runs scored. Keck went 1-3 with three RBI and a run scored and Engleman went 1-3 with three runs scored and an RBI.

North Platte is now 13-8 on the season and next plays Tuesday night at home against McCook.

Royals Beat Indians 2-0, Gain on Tigers

Posted on September 22, 2014

CLEVELAND (AP) — Danny Duffy pitched six shutout innings for his first win in more than a month as the Kansas City Royals moved closer to the top of the AL Central and kept some distance over Cleveland in the wild-card race, beating the Indians 2-0 on Monday night.

Duffy (9-11), who had thrown just one pitch in September before the start, held the Indians to six hits. The left-hander had been sidelined since Sept. 6 with a sore shoulder.

Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 44th save as the Royals, seeking their first postseason appearance since 1985, moved within one game of first-place Detroit. The Tigers lost 2-0 at home to the White Sox.

Carlos Carrasco (8-6) couldn’t keep the momentum going for the Indians, who earlier completed a 4-3 win in 10 innings in a game suspended on Aug. 31 in Kansas City.

Chargers Running Back Woodhead Out for Year

Posted on September 22, 2014

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Chargers coach Mike McCoy says running back Danny Woodhead has a broken lower right leg and will miss the rest of the season.

Woodhead was hurt on the first drive of the Chargers’ 22-10 win at Buffalo. He was stopped after a 1-yard gain by diving defensive tackle Kyle Williams. Williams hit Woodhead directly in the right ankle, which appeared to twist underneath the player.

Woodhead has been a big contributor to the Chargers since he joined them before the 2013 season.

With Ryan Mathews out for several weeks with a knee injury, McCoy says he and general manager Tom Telesco will decide later Monday how to go about adding a running back. Donald Brown, who carried 31 times for 62 yards, and rookie Branden Oliver are the only healthy backs on the roster.

Manfred, Clark on MLB Length of Games Committee

Posted on September 22, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Incoming baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and players’ association head Tony Clark have been selected to participate in a new Major League Baseball committee tasked with decreasing the times of games.

The committee announced Monday by outgoing Commissioner Bud Selig will be chaired by Atlanta Braves President John Schuerholz. The group includes Boston Red Sox Chairman Tim Werner and partner Michael Gordon, New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson and Major League Baseball Executive Vice President Joe Torre.

The average time of a nine-inning game has increased from 2 hours, 33 minutes in 1981 to a record 3:03 this year.

Selig says the group plans to make recommendations for the 2015 season.