Lynah Faithful Respond to New Ticket System

In a few short months, hordes of fans will line up outside of Bartels Hall in order to claim the Holy Grail of Cornell sports: season hockey tickets. The Cornell Athletic Department recently announced a change to the ticket selling process. This marks the third alteration is as many years.

Two years ago, the seniority system of selling season tickets was done away with in order to ensure that the diehard fans would get the best seats. Students could start lining up two days before tickets went on sale, and were assigned line numbers so that they would not have to camp out overnight.

This past year, a few changes were made to the system. Students were told that tickets would go on sale at 5 PM on Friday, September 28 in Bartels Hall, but were not given further information. At 7 a.m. on Friday morning, the doors to Bartels opened, and those who were awake made a mad dash to receive their line numbers. Those who were still asleep during the initial rush found that they had been bumped back a hundred spaces. The doors to Bartels reopened sometime after 9 a.m., and a huge shoving match ensued, causing more people to be pushed farther back in line.

"I thought [the line] was a little bit unorganized. You sit outside all night long, and when it's time to go in, it's a big mad rush," remarked Allyson Miller '05. "Everything's all chaotic and everyone gets out of order."

The new system that will be implemented in the fall will be a two-day process. Students will be given out line numbers on Saturday, September 21 at 1 p.m. They will then be required to wait on line until 11 p.m. On Sunday, students will return at 9 a.m. to pick their seats.

"It seems like what [the ticket office] is doing is trying to filter out fans who really don't want to be there all day and really keep the dedicated fans," commented Rafael Dionello '05. "I don't really like the fact that we're going to have to spend all day [at Bartels]. I'd prefer spending all night."

Dionello was one of the first students in this year's line, and he was able to avoid the chaos that started soon after the doors were opened.

Once line numbers are given out, a student in line may only save one other person's spot. This will help lower the amount of cutting in line. If someone is found holding more than one spot, each line number held by that student will be taken away.

"I think that giving out numbers in line will definitely help keep people in their spots, instead of just a mad rush into [Bartels]," said Miller. "People, for the most part, are very respectful. Everyone that's out there is a pretty diehard fan. I think everyone is respectful of everyone else's place in line," she continued.

Dionello was concerned with the extra amount of waiting generated by the new ticket system.

"[Next year's line] might be really different. Maybe a lot of people next year won't wait in line because they know they have so much [waiting] ahead of them. It's not like you have to wait until seven in the morning. You have to wait until 1 p.m., then once 1 p.m. comes, you're going to have to wait until 11 p.m.. So it's really a full day."

With a more orderly and planned out process in place, the unruliness of last year's ticket line will be avoided. Hockey fans should be pleased that the Athletic Department did not revert back to the seniority system or impose general admission for all student tickets. In any case, expect a huge crowd well before 1 p.m. on September 21, as many eager fans will be camped out in order to secure prime seats for the 2002-2003 men's hockey season.

W. Tennis Ends Season With Losses to Penn, Princeton

The women's tennis team ended its spring season this weekend against Ivy rivals, No. 58 Penn (14-5, 7-0) and Princeton (9-9, 4-3). Despite a strong effort by the Red (11-10 1-6), the team came up short with two 6-1 losses.

On Friday at Penn, the netwomen faced their toughest competition of the year. Penn opened the match by sweeping all three doubles contests to clinch the doubles point. Junior Piper Lucas came away with the only point of the match for the Red, netting a straight-set victory at the No. 5 singles position. Freshman Akane Kokubo was unable to defend her perfect Ivy record, taking Penn's Nicole Ptak to three sets before falling 6-1 in the final set. The team played strongly in the singles contests, but the Quakers proved to be too much for the Red in the end. With a sweep of the Red and Columbia this weekend, Penn went perfect in Ivy play to clinch its second-straight conference title.

Returning home yesterday to face Princeton, the Red came out strong in doubles play. Junior co-captain Suzanne Wright and Kokubo posted an 8-4 win at the No. 1 doubles contest. Junior Nicole Chiu and freshman Erika Takeuchi lost an extremely close match at the No. 3 position, 9-8 (3).

"They outplayed us," commented head coach Angela Rudert. "We had some chances that we didn't capitalize on."

Rudert, nonetheless, was very pleased with the team's improvement in the doubles contests.

In singles play, Lucas again came up with the only win for the Red, winning in straight sets at the number five position to earn her fourth Ivy victory of the year. Kokubo finished her freshman year with an impressive 5-2 record in conference after losing at the number three contest.

Losing no one to graduation, the netwomen look to improve on this season's strong play in the fall.

"We've got four or five freshmen coming in," remarked Rudert. "We only expect to be stronger [in the fall]. This will be my fourth recruiting class, so we'll have four really strong classes next season."

W. Tennis Finishes Ivy Season

The women's tennis team wraps up its spring season this weekend, with a match today versus defending Ivy champ No. 58 Penn (12-5, 5-0) in Philadelphia, followed by a Sunday match versus Princeton (6-8, 2-3) back in Ithaca. The Red (11-7, 1-4) will look to rebound after losing two close matches to Brown and Yale. In the fall, the netwomen faced the Tigers at the ECAC championship, with the Tigers coming out on top. Last spring, the Quakers bested the Red 6-1.

The Quakers are on the verge of winning their second straight Ivy League crown. Having swept Dartmouth and No. 59 Harvard, Penn is riding a lot of momentum coming into this match. The team is led by No. 20 Alice Pirsu, who is undefeated in Ivy play. Earlier this season, she knocked off Harvard's Courtney Bergman, currently ranked 29th in the country. In order to stay close with Penn, the Red will need to secure the doubles point, something it hasn't been able to do in its recent matches.

Returning home on Sunday, the Red looks to avenge its loss in the fall to the Tigers. The first singles contest will feature a rematch between junior co-captain Suzanne Wright and No. 51 Kavitha Krishnamurthy of Princeton. The two met at the ITA Eastern Regional Championships in October, with Krishnamurthy coming off with a win in the round of 32.

Wright and freshman Akane Kokubo have been very strong in Ivy play this season. Last weekend, they knocked off Yale's All-Ivy First Doubles team, and both boast impressive singles records. Wright has a 4-1 Ivy record, while Kokubo is undefeated in conference play.

Sunday's match against Princeton begins at noon at Reis Tennis Center.

Now What? A Look at Athletics in the Offseason

Part Two: Coaching staffs' year-round job of recruiting athletes to the East Hill

Cornell's recruiting process, while varying across different sports, has one thing in common: it is not limited to the offseason. It may be easier for coaches to commit time to recruiting during the offseasons, but in order to recruit the highest caliber athletes, a coach must work year round to bring in new talent.

"You never stop [recruiting], you're always looking out for new kids, you're always writing letters, trying to find out whether they're good students or not," commented wrestling head coach Rob Koll.

With the majority of the 2002-2003 recruits already locked in to Cornell, coaches must focus on recruiting the next class. This is done through written contact and unofficial visits during a prospect's junior year in high school. Unofficial visits are not paid for by Cornell, and a prospect may make several of them to campus before his or her senior year. Official visits occur during the fall of senior year and are paid for by Cornell.

The means by which coaches recruit players differ according to the sport. Jamie Russell, assistant coach of the men's hockey team, scours the junior hockey leagues across the U.S. and Canada for prospective players.

"High school recruits are rare. We haven't had a lot of success with prep school kids. It's a big jump for them. When a kid comes from junior hockey, they are able to make a better transition [to the college game]," said Russell.

With high school athletes comprising the bulk of the recruiting classes of the other sports, coaches must find ways to locate the best players.

"People write to us from everywhere [expressing interest in the program]," commented women's soccer head coach Berhane Andeberhan. "There are tournaments with the best teams from all over the country, so we'll go to them if we have leads [on recruits]."

Sometimes, the best recruits can come from the most unlikely places. Freshman All-American wrestler Travis Lee is from Hawaii, a state not particularly known for its wrestling. After Lee expressed an interest in Cornell wrestling, Koll asked him to send a video.

"[Lee] sent me a tape, I watched it, put it away. I was a little bit impressed. On a whim, I decided to watch it again. By the end of the video, I was like 'Oh my goodness, this kid has something special,'" recalled Koll. "His intensity level was something you could see on tape. Technique aside, I knew he was a winner."

Unofficial visits can expose prospective recruits to the atmosphere and excitement of Cornell sports that they can't get through phone and written contact. With the women's lacrosse team making a run for the Ivy League title, head coach Jenny Graap '86 is having many of her 2003 recruits come to the East Hill this weekend.

"Our 'Junior Day' will take place this Saturday in conjunction with our Yale game," explained Graap. "They see our team play and get a chance to meet administrators and coaches as well as support staff. We answer questions and try to give them a feel for what our program is all about."

Typically, teams try to get their recruits to apply early so as to lock up the recruiting class before the spring decisions. Also, since the acceptance rate is higher for early decision applicants, coaches can secure more of their prospects.

"You have to get the application going because the earlier you get your application in to Cornell, the better chance you'll have of getting accepted," said Koll. "We try to get as many kids to go early decision as possible. We try to get our whole class to go early, but realistically that never happens, so we then continue recruiting these kids in the late fall and winter."

The men's hockey team benefits from its ability to recruit players that are no longer in high school. Since the majority of the recruits are from junior hockey leagues, the team can sign recruits to play two seasons from now. With the 2002 recruits already committed, Russell already has two more players committed for the 2003 season.

"We work ahead of the curve," commented Russell. "Most Ivy League schools have their recruiting done by January, whereas the schools that offer athletic scholarships take players in as late as the summer."

A major obstacle for Cornell in getting the best recruits is the fact that it is in the Ivy League, which prohibits the university from giving athletic scholarships. Thus, recruits can be lured to other schools promising free rides. Despite this disadvantage, Cornell is still able to bring in stellar athletes because of its academics. Coaches make sure to imprint on their prospects that Cornell is a superb academic institute that offers high quality athletics.

"When going up against a DI school which offers athletic scholarships, I emphasize the value of an Ivy League education. I talk about the investment they would be making in their future," said Graap. "Scholarships have their downsides too, and having coached for seven years in the DI lacrosse world where scholarships dominated, I can point out the negatives of accepting money to play a sport. Philosophically, I believe money corrupts, and thus, it's easy for me to sell the benefits of a non-scholarship athletic experience."

Competing against schools that give scholarships for recruits can be tough, but competing with top-tier schools that do not give scholarships can be equally as challenging. In this case, the coach must be able to stress the value of a Cornell education.

"Lots of soccer players are excellent students. They come from families who value education," noted Andeberhan. "We will lose players to schools who can offer scholarships, but [our main competition] for recruits is with good schools who don't offer scholarships."

Having a successful season also helps bring in the top prospects. The men's hockey team, ranked ninth in the country, received an incredible amount of press during its run to the NCAA quarterfinals. Because of the team's successful season, the program is now being recognized as one of the top teams in the nation, and should undoubtedly attract new talent. Combine that with a first-rate education, and that makes Cornell even easier to sell.

"Players are attracted to Cornell because we can combine an Ivy League education with a great hockey program. Our players come out of Cornell with an Ivy League degree in their pocket. After their hockey career is over, they're set for life," commented Russell. "Lynah is a big selling point. There are better and newer facilities elsewhere in the country, but the crowd here is one of a kind."

Recruiting players is a year-round effort. Being able to find new talent during the offseason is especially important, as it should be the main focus of the coaching staff's energy. The effort expended by coaches on recruiting is the reason Cornell is able to maintain a strong athletic program.

W. Tennis Loses Two at Home to Yale, Brown

The women's tennis team (11-7, 1-4) lost two close 4-3 matches this past weekend to Brown (12-4, 2-2) and Yale (13-5, 3-2) on Friday and Saturday, respectively, at Reis Tennis Center. In each of the matches, the Red split the singles contests, but failed to secure the doubles point.

The team bested Brown in its last meeting at the ECAC championship in the fall, however the netwomen fell just short of the win. The Bears opened the match by winning each of the three doubles contests 8-5.

Junior co-captain Suzanne Wright put the Red on the board with a straight-set victory at the No. 1 singles position. Junior Piper Lucas also won her singles match at the fifth position in straight sets to put the Red up 2-1. The four remaining singles contests all went to three sets, but only freshman Akane Kokubo was able to pull a victory. She won at the third slot.

No. 2 singles, sophomore Laura Leigh Tallent, who was playing in the deciding match, won the second-set tiebreaker to force a third but could not eke out the victory.

"We are both pretty [evenly-matched] teams, but Brown was the tougher team that day," said head coach Angela Rudert. "We failed to win the majority of our three-set matches."

Yale opened the match on Saturday by winning two of three doubles contests. Wright and Kokubo, who were both undefeated on the day, won at the No. 1 position by a close score of 9-8. Wright was again a winner in straight sets at the No. 1 singles position. Kokubo also secured a straight-set win in the No. 3 match.

No. 4 singles freshman Erika Takeuchi came from behind to win her match in three sets. Unfortunately for the Red, the Elis took the rest of the singles contests and pulled off the win by one point.

"We're now extra hungry to win," commented Rudert on the two tight losses, adding, "the team is not feeling dejected at all."

Despite the two loses, Rudert was pleased all around with the team's performance. Wright and Kokubo defeated Yale's All-Ivy First Team Doubles players Andrea Goldberg and Elizabeth Kaufman. Kokubo remains perfect in Ivy play with a record of 5-0 and Wright also boasts an impressive 4-1 Ivy record.

The netwomen wrap up their season next weekend with a Friday contest at Penn. The team returns home on Sunday for its final match of the season against Princeton.

Red Unable to Handle Harvard, Dartmouth

The women's tennis team lost two close Ivy matches this weekend at Harvard (6-7, 2-0) and Dartmouth (11-4, 2-0), bringing the team's record to 11-5, 1-2.

After losing to Harvard in the fall 7-0, the Red came a lot closer, posting two impressive wins in singles in the 5-2 loss on Friday. In the doubles contests, junior co-captain Suzanne Wright and freshman Akane Kokubo lost a very close match at the first position, 9-7. Sophomores Kate Sternberg and Laura Leigh Tallent prevailed at the second position, winning 8-6. Harvard secured the doubles point by defeating junior Nicole Chiu and freshman Erika Takeuchi at the third position 8-3. In singles, Kokubo and Sternberg came up with straight-set wins at the No. 3 and No. 6 positions, respectively.

"Some of our players played their best tennis ever [this weekend], and it was exciting to see them on a hot streak," commented head coach Angela Rudert.

On Saturday, the Red lost a another close match at Hanover, 4-3. In doubles, the Red played very competitively at the second and third positions, losing both matches by a score of 9-7.

The singles play also exemplified close play, with three of the matches going to three sets. Last season, Wright accounted for Dartmouth's Sarita Yardi's only Ivy loss and was able to defeat her again in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 1 position.

Junior Piper Lucas was also a winner in straight sets at the No. 6 position. Kokubo was a winner in three sets at the No. 3 position, dispatching Jayme Ahmed 6-1, 6-7, 6-1. In the end, Dartmouth prevailed, as Takeuchi took Dartmouth's Arden Fredeking to three sets before falling 4-6, 6-0, 2-6.

"The match was down to the wire," Rudert commented. "The homecourt advantage [was a big factor]. Dartmouth had about 50 fans, who were all very loud."

Despite the losses, Rudert was very pleased with her team's performance.

"I think the matches taught all our players that just because a team or a player has a ranking doesn't mean that they are out of reach," said Rudert.

In what will be their first home matches since Spring Break, the netwomen return home to face No. 70 Brown on Friday and No. 75 Yale on Saturday at Reis Tennis Center.

W. Tennis Travels to Harvard, Dartmouth

Coming off a win against Columbia in its Ivy opener, the women's tennis team hits the road again for two more Ivy League matches. Today the women play at Harvard and tomorrow at Dartmouth. The Red (11-3, 1-0 Ivy) bested the Lions last week 4-3. Harvard (4-7, 0-0) and Dartmouth (9-4, 0-0) also edged out 4-3 wins last week against No. 42 Pepperdine and Boston University, respectively.

"We're geared up to play Harvard," said head coach Angela Rudert. "[The team] is not holding back. We're just going to go for it and put it out on the line."

Harvard's losing record is deceptive, as the Crimson's schedule is much harder than either Cornell or Dartmouth's, with matches against five top-25 programs, including No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 Duke. Its lineup boasts three nationally ranked freshmen. The Crimson's number one singles player, Courtney Bergman, is currently ranked 23rd in the country and captured the ITA Eastern Regional Championship back in October. Harvard will be one of the toughest opponents that the Red will face this spring.

"We're excited for the challenge. It's nice to be the underdog," commented Rudert.

While not as strong a team as Harvard, Dartmouth will also pose a challenge for the Red. The Big Green have faced some tough opponents this spring, dropping contests to No. 2 Georgia and No. 51 Maryland. Last spring, the Red handed Dartmouth a convincing 6-1 defeat.

"We're not underestimating Dartmouth. It's always a bit tougher on the road," Rudert said.

The netwomen return home next weekend to face No. 70 Brown on April 12 and No. 75 Yale on April 13 at Reis Tennis Center.

Netters Come Up With Victories Against Columbia

The women's tennis team (11-3, 1-0 Ivy) opened its Ivy League season with a 4-3 win at Columbia (8-5, 0-1) on Friday.

The netwomen started the match by winning the doubles point, with junior Suzanne Wright and freshman Akane Kokubo winning at the number one position, 8-2. Sophomores Kate Sternberg and Laura Leigh Tallent lost a close match at the number two position, 9-8 (5), while junior Nicole Chiu and freshman Erika Takeuchi took the win at the number three position 8-3 to clinch the doubles point.

Head coach Angela Rudert was pleased with the doubles performance.

"Having played tougher teams in Louisiana [during Spring Break] really helped us out," she said.

In singles play, the Red took three of the first four matches to clinch the win. Kokubo was a winner in straight sets at the number three position 6-0, 6-3. Takeuchi was also a winner in straight sets at the number four position 6-1, 7-6 (5). Wright was able to secure the fourth point at the number one position with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win.

"There's always a lot of nerves for the first Ivy match and we were able to overcome those nerves more than Columbia," remarked Rudert.

Next week, the Red continues its Ivy play on the road with matches against Harvard and Dartmouth on Friday and Saturday, respectively.