Revamped Lady Cavs look to win PAC

by Nick Luchko staff writer

"Win the PAC." That is the only thing that is on the mind of coach Dan Welde and the women's basketball team. This year should be an interesting one in the women's basketball circuit here at Cabrini College. Not only does the team have a nucleus bound by a superstar, but a freshman class that is one of the most talented ever, according to Welde.

The Lady Cavs are coming off a 14-12 record where they went 10-3 in the PAC.

They also have everyone back from last year's squad except for junior Erin Barney and sophomore Theresa Milikin due to studies.

According to Welde, the PAC will be tough.

However, he considers the Lady Cavs to be one of the top two teams in the league.

According to Welde, Gwynedd-Mercy and Alvernia will be competitive teams.

Wesley, however, will be their toughest opponent.

Melissa Posse returns for her senior year. Posse averaged 24.3 ppg and 12.1 rpg last year, which earned her a first team All-PAC selection. She also hopes to advance her all-time records of scoring and rebounds at Cabrini.

Joining Posse is junior Jackie Pierangeli. She feels that this year's team is a real winner. «we have a good mix of players," Pierangeli said.

The All-PAC honorable mention selection will most likely start at point guard and hopes to advance on her 9.2 ppg average from last year.

Another set of hopeful participants will be sophomores Gina Virelli, Jackie Cooper and Lisa Reynolds. Virelli is considered to be a "steady" force on this team, according to Coach Welde.

As a first-year student last year, she averaged 14.4 ppg against PAC teams and made an astounding 52 three pointers during the season.

Cooper and Reynolds will be heavily relied on making an impact at the guard position.

Cooper returns with skills of hitting the three at crunch time.

Reynolds will trade in her field hockey stick for a pair of basketball sneakers.

There are two players also making a return to the Lady Cavs that should make contributions.

Junior Andrea Muller brings leadership and experience to the younger players.

Sophomore Marianne Zippi should provide a spark of energy off the bench.

To say that this year's freshman class is good is an under- 20 statement. Not only does each one have basketball skills, but 123 they include intangibles that some teams would kill for. 25

Erin Crawford is a 5'8" guard who has won three championships with Cardinal O'Hara in the Philadelphia Catholic 1 27 League during her high school years. Also from the Catholic 30 League is 5'9" forward Mary Ellen Murphy.

The pride of Delaware hits Cabrini women's team as Katie Barkostick and Wendi Wilson bring their skills to the PAC.

Colleen Dorrian and Jen Coughlin will provide help for Posse in the middle with their height and moves inside.

Cabrini women's team also has gone beyond the Mid-Atlantic States as well. All the way from California, Kendra Ryer is a 5'9" forward who looks to make an immediate impact.

"We are very focus this year and we know what we want: a PAC championship," Pierangeli said.

If they can keep everyone healthy and the first-year students come through, this goal will not only be a statement but a reality.

Melissa Posse Position:Center Year:Senior

Posse comes into this season leading the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference in scoring the past three years with no championship banner to show for it.

Posse is the all-time leader in scoring and rebounding for the Lady Cavaliers. However, there is one accomplishment that has not been achieved but may be the most important for her, a championship.

Before the season started, Posse guaranteed a victory in the PAC finals for the Lady Cavaliers. For the Lady Cavaliers to succeed Posse needs to take her game to an even higher level than was needed last year.

Posse needs to work around the constant triple coverage she gets down low to help get the PAC championship back to Cabrini. With contributions expected from first-year students and even better play from the returning players, Posse expects nothing short of the PAC title.

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Position:Forward Year:Sophomore

Gina Vrrelli comes into this season with one year under her belt as a Cavalier shooting guard/small forward. Virelli proved to be very important to the offense towards the end of the year. The one knock on her, though, is that she can be inconsistent at times.

For the Lady Cavaliers to make a serious run at the PAC title, Virelli will have to buckle down and work on shot selection.

It appeared she worked on her game a lot in the offseason during the exhibition game against Team Ireland.

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Reynolds really came into her own towards the end of the season last year.

She showed a lot of poise and consistency she lacked at the beginning of the year in some important PAC games. At times, Reynolds has problems with shooting the ball too much.

As it is with a lot of the Lady Cavaliers games, the outside scoring at times can carry them over the hump or can kill them.

For Posse to be effective down low, Virelli and Reynolds will have to pick up their game even more so than the solid first-year seasons.

Reynolds will probably end up playing a lot of point guard as well as shooting guard this year. Although Pierangeli is the star1 leynolds will be groomed to be the starting point gua1d someday.