Campbell Named Horizon League Player of the Week
Valparaiso University senior goalkeeper Nico Campbell (Kingston, Jamaica/St. George’s College) has been named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week after surrendering just one goal over the Crusaders’ two games last week.
Campbell led the Crusaders as they held a clean sheet last Monday at MVC preseason favorite SIU Edwardsville, stopping three shots in goal in a scoreless draw – one in which Valpo was playing a man down for the final 50 minutes. Then on Sunday in the home opener with Western Illinois, Campbell made one save and patrolled his area well in a 3-1 Crusader victory.
For the week, Campbell posted a 1-0-1 record and a 0.45 GAA. The shutout at SIUE was the 16th of his career, leaving Campbell just one shy of second place in program history.
Softball Announces 2016 Fall Schedule
The Valparaiso University softball team will play eight games over four dates during the 2016 fall season. The schedule includes a pair of games on both Saturday and Sunday of Homecoming Weekend.
The Crusaders’ fall slate begins on Sunday, Sept. 18 at Grand Park in Westfield, as they will face Indiana State at noon CT, followed by IUPUI at 2 p.m.
Valpo then comes home for Homecoming Weekend the next weekend. The Crusaders will host former Horizon League rival Loyola for a doubleheader on Saturday, Sept. 24 at noon. They will then welcome Grand Valley State the next afternoon, Sunday, Sept. 25 at noon.
The fall competition slate concludes for Valpo on Sunday, Oct. 2 as the team travels to Bloomington, Ind. for a pair of games. The Crusaders take on Lake Land (Ill.) C.C. at 10 a.m. CT and then match up against host Indiana at 12:30 p.m.
Valpo returns 10 letterwinners from last year’s squad which won the Horizon League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the last five seasons. The Crusaders also welcome a pair of transfers and seven freshmen to the program this season.
Men’s Golf Second After Opening Day of Crusader Collegiate
Hosting its first tournament since 2009, the Valparaiso University men’s golf team closed out the first day of the Crusader Collegiate at Sand Creek C.C. in Chesterton in second place.
How It Happened
- The Crusaders finished the day with a 36-hole total of 597, good for second place out of the four competing teams. Valpo was just three shots back of Bradley after the opening round, but the Braves posted the best team round of the day in the second round to pull ahead by 18 strokes.
- Valpo enters the final 18 holes ahead of both fellow Horizon League teams in the field. The Crusaders are seven strokes clear of Wright State, while Detroit sits in fourth place entering Wednesday’s final round.
- Four Valpo golfers sit in the top-10 through 36 holes, led by junior Zach Cutler (O’Fallon, Mo./Timberland). Cutler posted rounds of 71 and 74 on Tuesday to finish the day in a tie for third place, just one shot back of the lead.
- Sophomore Mitchell Wittmann (Kaukauna, Wis./Kaukauna) shot rounds of 74 and 73 to post a score of 147 on Tuesday, good for seventh heading into the final round. Both senior Peter Webb (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial) and junior Michael Doherty (Lisle, Ill./Naperville North) sit at 154 through 36 holes and are tied for 10th place.
Inside the Tournament
- The Crusader Collegiate is just the second event the Valpo men’s golf program has hosted since its reinstatement in 2009. The only prior tournament was a dual match against Chicago State early in the 2009-10 season.
- Nine Crusaders in all are playing this week, with four Crusaders competing as individuals. Making their Valpo debuts as individuals are freshmen Matthew McCarthy (O’Fallon, Ill./Althoff Catholic) and Jeremy Wu (Medford, Ore./St. Mary’s).
Thoughts From Head Coach David Gring
“We played well in the morning round, with four out of five of our team scores at or under 75. The afternoon round was a struggle, with only two of the team scores under 75. Our birdie production really fell off in the second round with only eight birdies, versus eighteen in the first round. We simply did not have as many quality looks at birdie in the second round.”
“Zach and Mitch were very steady for us today. Mitch had eight birdies on the day and Zach had twenty-six pars, including fifteen in the first round alone. Both of the guys had a lot of good looks at birdie putts, and the greens were an excellent challenge for the entire team.”
“The golf course was in tremendous shape and it was a joy to putt on such excellent greens. We will look forward to tomorrow's round and chasing down the leaders.”
Next Up
The 54-hole event concludes on Wednesday morning, as the teams will be sent off in a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
Valpo Men’s Basketball Announces 2016-17 Schedule
Coming off a program-record 30-win season, the Valparaiso University men’s basketball team announced today its schedule for the upcoming 2016-17 season, featuring a total of 18 home games at the Athletics-Recreation Center and road games at national powers Kentucky and Oregon.
The Crusaders will take on Hillsdale in exhibition play on Saturday, Nov. 5 before starting the regular season with a busy stretch. Valpo will host three games at the ARC in a four-day stretch on the opening weekend of the season, starting with former Mid-Con rival Southern Utah on Friday, Nov. 11. The Crusaders then welcome Trinity Christian on Nov. 12 and Coppin State on Nov. 14.
Valpo’s first journey of the season away from home takes the team out west, as for the second straight year, the Crusaders will play at Pac-12 foe Oregon (Nov. 17). They will then head down to Las Vegas for the previously announced MGM Grand Main Event, taking on Alabama (Nov. 21) and then either BYU or Saint Louis (Nov. 23).
The Crusaders return home to the ARC to face Ball State (Nov. 27) and a Rhode Island squad which is earning preseason top-25 consideration (Nov. 29). Next up is a game at perennial national powerhouse Kentucky (Dec. 7), followed by a road game at Missouri State (Dec. 10).
Valpo closes out the non-league slate with three more home games, beginning Dec. 17 against Indiana State. The Crusaders will welcome Santa Clara in their final game before Christmas (Dec. 22), and then following the holiday, will host Chicago State (Dec. 28).
The Horizon League schedule kicks off Friday, Dec. 30 at UIC, while the league home opener comes one week later on Jan. 6 against Oakland in a matchup of last season’s top-two regular season finishers. Valpo will face each league team twice in the double round-robin slate, with its final regular season home game coming on Tuesday, Feb. 21 versus Milwaukee. The regular season finale is Sunday, Feb. 26 at Northern Kentucky, while Joe Louis Arena will again host the Horizon League Championship Mar. 3-7.
Television broadcast information for the 2016-17 season will be announced next week, while season tickets are on sale now by visiting the Valpo ticket office, calling 1-877-MY-VU-TIX or 219-464-5233, or by e-mailing ValpoAthletics@valpo.edu.
