Broncos sport succesful year

By Bruce Martinez, Jack Ferdon, Josh Griffin

FALL

This year sports at Santa Clara will be remembered for one team: the national champion women's soccer squad. The team won it all on December 9 in Dallas when they notched a 1-0 victory over powerhouse North Carolina. Junior Aly Wagner, capping a magnificent season that saw her named National Player of the Year, scored the lone goal. Head coach Jerry Smith returns Wagner along with an excellent group of underclassmen including sophomore forward Veronica Zepeda and freshmen Leslie Osbourne and Jessica Ballweg. The team finished 22-2 on the season.

Men's soccer struggled throughout the season, as they had a difficult time scoring goals. They were able to overcome this deficiency and once again qualified for the NCAA tournament where they lost to Stanford in round two. The Broncos won their 8th WCC title and defender Jeff Stewart was named the WCC player of the year.

Women's volleyball finished the season 19-10, reaching their fourth straight NCAA tournament and finishing second in the WCC. In the tournament, the Broncos dropped a heartbreaking five game marathon to San Jose State, ending their season prematurely. The team entered last season ranked 22nd and look to remaina top-25 squad next year.

Cross country had an excellent season all-around. The women's squad won the WCC championship for the first time in SCU history, while the men finished a solid second. Both teams moved on to the NCAA regional in Tucson, Arizona. While there the men finished 16th and the women came in 21st. After a successful spring season both squads will be looking to take it to a new level next fall.

Men's water polo finished their season by winning their final game. On the season they were 10-14 and finished 7th at the Western Water Polo Association championship. This was a great finish for the Broncos who played 14 ranked opponents. The end of the season saw the end of the career of Bronco mainstay Jay Moorhead who had amassed 179 career goals.

WINTER

It was the best of times (for the women); it was the worst of times (for the men).

No, this doesn't refer to the '60s, when it was socially acceptable for women to let their leg hair grow. Rather, we're talking about the 2002 basketball season, which was groovy for Chris Denker's squad but felt like a bad acid trip for Dick Davey's boys.

The women - led by senior guards Becki Ashbaugh and Caroline Gruening and junior center Julie Butler - sped out of the starting gates to a 10-3 non-conference record, which included wins against two ranked teams, Utah and Washington

The team continued its winning ways in league play, winning six of its first eight contests, including a thriller against Saint Mary's. Gruening nailed a pair of buzzer-beaters to send the game into overtime and then win the game at the end of the extra period.

Then came a mini-slump, as the Broncos lost three of four. But they bounced back to end the WCC regular season with a sweep of Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine in their final homestand. Santa Clara was a perfect 12-0 at Leavey during the season.

After beating San Diego in the first round of the WCC tournament, the Broncos would face St. Mary's in the biggest game of the year. The Broncos' defense allowed 55 first-half points as the Gaels built an 18-point lead. The team woke up in the second half, taking the lead with five minutes to go. Junior forward Kendra Rhea's three-point play in the final minute clinched the game. Santa Clara lost to Pepperdine in the WCC championship.

Seeded 11th in the west region, the Broncos traveled to Colorado to play Louisiana State. Santa Clara outplayed the Tigers in the first half and stuck with them when they went on a 10-2 run late in the game. With less than three minutes remaining, the Broncos held a two-point lead, but their shooting went cold and the Tigers won 84-78.

The men, on the other hand, didn't even sniff the NIT. Davey was not able to replace the consistent scoring and leadership he lost when Brian Jones and Jamie Holmes graduated the year before. While sophomore point guard Kyle Bailey and senior swingman Steve Ross tried to fill the void, the men's team struggled to score points throughout the year.

The preseason was brutal for Santa Clara, with 20-point losses to Washington and Nevada and a 48-point crushing at Ohio State. Santa Clara played better in league, performing well against highly ranked Gonzaga and finishing tied for third place in the regular season. But their ineptitude on offense proved to be too much in the WCC tournament, as they lost in the first round to Saint Mary's, 72-67.

SPRING

The spring athletic season brought several programs to new heights, while others began the rebuilding process. Coach Mark O'Brien's baseball program fit within the latter, as it began the road back to consistency. The team started off on a high note, taking two out of three from then No. 13 Fresno State. The remainder of the preseason was tumultuous, and included the first of three five-game losing streaks that the Broncos would suffer during the season.

The team rebounded well for the conference season, finishing with a 15-14 conference record, 2.5 games behind division champ Pepperdine.

Senior outfielder Joey Gomes and junior catcher Jim Wallace led the team offensively, while the starting pitching triumvirate of junior Joe Diefenderfer, junior Matt Travis and sophomore John Redmond led the Broncos on the mound.

The softball season also played out as a crescendo, with the team finishing the season on its highest note. After the ups and downs of a 21-36 regular season, Santa Clara triumphed at the Western Independent Softball League Championships, upsetting favorite Loyola Marymount in the finals 12-5. Freshman first baseman Lacey Smale and junior outfielder Coresta Salas were named to the all-tournament team. Senior pitcher Deanna Rodriguez capped off her career by winning 14 games on a 2.08 earned run average.

The tennis programs reached new levels of success with their respective 2002 campaigns. The men's team, led by WCC Freshman of the Year Chris Lam, sophomore Michael Duong and senior Victor Camargo, finished the season a disappointing fourth in the WCC Tournament. However, they peaked at No. 55 in national rankings, the highest ever for the program.

The women's tennis program also found unprecedented success, finishing the regular season with a 14-9 record, and placing third in the WCC Tournament. The Broncos were led by senior Nicole McCord, junior Christine Limbers and WCC co-freshman of the year Janalle Kaloi.

Following in the footsteps of the tennis programs, the women's water polo team also made progress. The team compiled a 21-15 season record, and finished fourth in the Women's Western Water Polo Association (WWWPA) Championships, the best finish in the history of the program. The Broncos were led by juniors Kelley Mays (67 goals), Becky Hong and Elizabeth Goltzbach (56 goals apiece).

The men's and women's golf teams both struggled on the season, each finishing last in the year-ending WCC tournament. The best rounds by Santa Clara in the WCC tournament belonged to freshmen Jessica Lamberty and Jonathon Edwards, proving youth on the side of the Bronocs.

Finally, the crew program continued its long tradition of success in its 2002 season. The end of the season brought the men's program to the Pacific-10 championships, where the varsity eight finished seventh overall. The novice four also triumphed, defeating perennial powers Cal and Stanford en route to qualifying for the national championship. The women's program did not fare as well, finishing first in the third consolation final at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships.