The ultimate club's women's squad enjoyed a very successful weekend, winning five of six games to place second at the Chattanooga Invitational. Behind the stellar play of Christina Hegdes and Rachel Meeks, the youthful Irish opened by dominating Tennessee Chattanooga, 13-2, and College of Charleston, 13-4. The third-round match-up with Michigan State provided many highlights as the Irish edged the Spartans, 11-10. Nancy Powaga controlled the long field and endzone with many catches. Saint Mary's junior Stephanie Snyder, Kristine Dube and Jennifer Pruchnik all were pivotal in securing the win. In the semifinals against UNC Greensboro, freshmen Elizabeth Lee, Shields Duss and Shannon Morrison supported Mary Klinkhammer, Loretta Brown and Megan Davisson as the Irish rolled 13-5. The Irish were upended in the finals by Emory, 13-5, despite several defensive plays by Davisson. For the tournament, SMC's Stephanie Snyder was runner-up for the UTC Spirit Award, awarded for friendliness and sportsmanship. BowlingNotre Dame fielded a women's team for the first time this weekend, as it joined the men's squad in Ann Arbor as Michigan hosted the American Heartland Intercol-legiate Bowling Conference tournament. In their debut, the women finished sixth among the nine competing women's teams. Allison Klein posted a 153.4 average to lead a closely bunched line-up. Kim LaVigne followed at 152, with Denise Trgovich just behind at 151.4. Daniele LaFramboise and Rachael Schermitzler posted very solid averages of 140.8 and 132.4 respectively.The men's squad continues to make progress, moving up to 19th among 26 teams. Pavan Sadarangani had the fourth highest average of the tournament at 231, with a high game of 259 and a low game of 199. Van Koppersmith also averaged over 200, at 209.4, posting a high score of 257. Vance McClenton rolled games of 218 and 200 to pick his average up to 187, and JB Bertumen's 231 improved his average to 180.3.Tom Talamo and Jim Talamo averaged 166.3 and 174.8 as the Irish continue to improve their scores throughout the lineup. Women's Ice HockeyThe Irish women's hockey team suffered two tough losses this weekend at Lindenwood University in St. Louis.The rookie-filled Notre Dame team struggled against the veteran Lindenwood players, falling 15-0 on Friday night and 14-0 on Saturday night.The Irish women played with great effort until the end of each game, with the third period being the strongest for the Irish each night. Coach Dave Olson was satisfied with the hard work of the young team and expects better results as the season progresses.
