Bethany College Athletics Weekly Recap (Sept. 18-24)
The week of September 18th saw a limited number of athletic competitions for Bethany. Despite the lack of games, there was still plenty of exciting news. Here's a quick recap of the week in Bethany's fall sports.
Women's Soccer: The Women's Soccer team lost their only game of the week, 2-0 to Allegheny.
Men's Soccer: The Men's Soccer team went 1-0 on the week with a 1-0 win against PAC foe, Allegheny. Sebastian Arrocain scored the lone Bethany goal and Matteo Pintus locked down the goal to shutout the Gators.
Women's Volleyball: BCVB won the week, sweeping Waynesburg and Washington and Jefferson in two dominant performances.
Men's Golf: Men's Golf hosted the "Bethany Invitational" on September 19th. Freshmen Payton Hildebrand and impressed as the Bison finished fifth.
Women's Golf: Women's Golf hosted the "Bethany Invitational" on September 19th, where Bayle Yarbrough shot a 145 and Olivia Masciantoni shot a 149.
Football: The Bison football team lost to Allegheny by a score of 31-20. Turnovers haunt Bethany as they surrender an early 10-0 lead.
Cross Country: The Bison competed in the Roaring Lion Invitational on September 23rd. Alexander Blair (5th) and Jacob Soyars (13th) led the men's team while Mary Tracey (13th) led the women's team.
Storylines of the Week:
BCVB dominates, Baseball begins intersquads, Turnovers force football to 0-3
BCVB wins the week in dominant fashion, going 2-0 without dropping a set
This may sound repetitive, but Bethany Women's Volleyball dominated the week, again. They went 2-0 against two PAC opponents, although it was non-conference play. Neither one of the games seemed very competitive as the Bison swept both Waynesburg and Washington and Jefferson without a hiccup.
On Thursday, W&J forced Bethany to two competitive sets to begin the match, where BCVB would take each set. In the third set, it was all Bethany as they took the W with a 25-10 masterclass of a third set. Olivia Koehler continued her amazing play while Asia Crim, Destiny Goodnight, Riley Felton and Emma Marthins anchored the defense.
On Saturday, Bethany handled Waynesburg in three sets as well. Crim, Koehler and Anna Taylor all recorded double digit digs in the match. Lynn Burton recorded a season high 34 assists while Marthins added four solo blocks and two assisted blocks.
Baseball begins intersquads under new head coach Michael Finlan
When it was announced that former head coach, Justin Thomas, had resigned and taken a Division I pitching Coach job with Jackson State, there laid a ton of question marks around the next head coach of the baseball team. These questions have been answered with a seamless transition to new head coach, Michael Finlan, who has the Bison practicing and playing with intensity, purpose and energy so far.
This weekend, Finlan got his team together to compete in a few intersquads to kick off the Fall.
Trey Mantle anchored the team's pitching staff, tossing two shutout innings while allowing one walk and striking out four. With Finlan's pitching background, Bethany looks to take major leaps forward on the mound this season.
A ton of hitters stood out for Bethany this week. They hit a lot of doubles and stole a lot of bases, but, most notably, freshman Hunter Rhoades stood out. He recorded a double and two walks in game one. Rhoades, an Oak Glen product, would slug a home run, walk and be hit by a pitch in game two.
Hayden Fox added a home run in game one while multiple Bison slugged impressive extra base hits, including a Josh Speaker triple.
Four turnovers haunt Bison football in 31-20 loss to Allegheny
Bethany traveled to Meadville, Pennsylvania to take on Allegheny in a PAC matchup this week. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead following a Jack Sella field goal and a Kayrus Sam passing touchdown to Deon Parker.
Bethany would turn the ball over four different times before the game was over. Sam would throw two interceptions and fumble once while running back Charlie Mills would fumble as well. Mills' fumble was returned for an Allegheny touchdown. Bethany would fall 31-20 to the Gators.
It's hard to imagine there are too many positives for the Bison following an 0-3 start, but that's far from the case. Sam has shown serious promise while Mills and Parker have both seen multi-touchdown games. The special team's unit has been impressive, blocking multiple kicks through three games. 0-3 isn't an ideal spot for Bethany to be in, but there still remains seven games to continue improving in 2023.
This Week's Breakdown
Monday (9/25): No Bison athletic events.
Tuesday (9/26): Women's Soccer vs Geneva (4:00 PM), Women's Volleyball at Franciscan (7:00 PM)
Wednesday (9/27): Men's Soccer vs Geneva (4:30 PM)
Thursday (9/28): No Bison athletic events.
Friday (9/29): No Bison athletic events.
Saturday (9/30): Women's Volleyball vs St. Vincent (12:30 PM), Women's Soccer at Franciscan (1:00 PM), Football vs Case Western Reserve (2:30 PM), Men's Soccer at Franciscan (3:30 PM)
Sunday (10/1): No Bison athletic events.
