8
Sports
Wednesday, October 29, 2014 H www.NorthernStar.info/Sports
Online
Facebook: Facebook.com/NorthernStarSports Twitter: @NSSports Email: Sports@NorthernStar.info
Volleyball
Senior middle blocker Emily Paschke earned a starting spot with the Huskies in her final season at NIU, putting her defensive prowess on display. Page 7.
Women’s Basketball
The Huskies have been plagued with injuries during the offseason. Who’s injured? How long will they be gone? How will the Huskies handle their loss? Page 7.
High expectations set for men’s basketball Steve Shonder Staff Writer H @NSSportsShonder
will battle for the two-guard spot. The experience on the roster positions the Huskies to make another leap in the win-loss column after putting together a 15-win campaign last year. “It puts us all a little bit better,” said redshirt senior center Jordan Threloff. “We did play in Cleveland. We had [a] tough loss against Eastern Michigan. We now have a taste of what it takes to win and advance.” NIU will feature an experienced frontcourt that returns Threloff, junior Darrell Bowie and redshirt senior Pete Rakocevic. Adding to that will be redshirt freshman Marin Maric, who missed most of last season with a broken foot. Jordan Threloff The size on the in- Center terior is expected to help the Huskies hold onto their title as the MAC’s top rebounding team.
DeKalb | Men’s basketball will lean on a veteran lineup as it gears up for another season it hopes ends with a trip to the MAC Tournament in Cleveland. The Huskies are returning their top six scorers and four of their five starters. On top of that, redshirt senior Anthony Johnson and redshirt sophomore Michael Orris, who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, will be eligible to play. The wealth of experience has given head coach Mark Montgomery a spring in his step. “It’s the first year that I can say we have no freshmen that we have to rely on, and that’s kind of excit- Mark ing,” Montgomery Montgomery Head coach said. “I think our guys — our student athletes — have been through the wars. They understand the travel. They understand the other teams in the league. They understand the Offense toughness of how hard it is to win on the One of the biggest struggles for the road. So, we’re going to use that experi- Huskies last season came on offense, as ence to our advantage this coming year.” they only averaged 62.2 points per game. Montgomery said they’re focusing on Depth getting fast breaks and utilizing their NIU features a lot of depth at each po- size on the interior to score in the paint. sition, especially in the backcourt. Or“I think the vision, how I see it, how ris will challenge junior Travon Baker our staff sees it, … we want to be more for the role of starting point guard, and of an up-tempo team,” Montgomery Johnson and senior Aaron Armstead said. “We want to use our depth. We
Opening week
Vs. Aurora 3 p.m. Nov. 15 at the Convocation Center Vs. Idaho 8 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Convocation Center want to press. We want to fast break. We want to definitely pound the basketball inside on [the] offensive side of the ball.” Expectations After last season’s 15-17 finish, the Huskies are facing high expectations. In the MAC preseason poll, NIU was selected to finish fourth in the Darrell Bowie MAC West. Bowie Wing said the players feel the pressure, but they know what they need to do to meet those expectations. “The bar has been set high, especially around campus and everything,” Bowie said. “We got a lot of our fans … excited. Staff, players are excited. Expectations are high. We just [have to] continue to work hard and build in practice, just get our team chemistry down pat. “I don’t think it’s going to come as quick as everybody would like, but we just [have to] keep on practicing, and we’ll be where we need to be by the time [the] playoffs come.”
Like Northern Star Sports on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ NorthernStarSports.
5 minutes with...
Lorena Martin
Rhema Rhea Staff Writer H @NSSportsRhea
DeKalb | Lorena Martin, freshman cross country runner, is picking up ground quickly in her first season with the Huskies after her club team, Atletismo Valladolid, won fourstraight national championships in Spain. Martin, of Salamanca, Spain, finished third (22:25.9) among the Huskies’ runners Oct. 17 in Peoria at the Bradley Classic. She ran a personal best 5K time in the 6K race.
Northern Star: You ran cross country and track in Spain. Do you prefer one over the other? Lorena Martin: In Spain I did cross country, but I preferred … track. But, I knew that if I came here I’d have to do cross country. But, I don’t care; I’m having fun with cross country. NS: What is the biggest difference between running in Spain and in the United States? LM: In Spain normally when I run I finished in the top 10 in cross country, and here one competition I was 200th … so there are the same amount of people in races in Spain, but here they are better. NS: Your club team won four-straight national championships in Spain. How did you finish individually during those title races? LM: Freshman year I was 24th. Sophomore year I was 18th. Junior year I was 20th. And my last year I was eighth. NS: You struggled to start off your NIU career in the first couple races, with the transitioning over being a big factor in that, I’m sure. Can you talk about how you felt your first couple races went? LM: It was so hard. It was so bad the first race; I felt like so bad. But, in the third one — the last one — I felt so comfortable, and I think the next race I’m going to be even better than the other one, but I think I need more races here. NS: How was your approach to the Bradley race different than some of the other courses this year? LM: It’s because coach [Greg Hipp] told me to only focus on my race and not everyone else’s race. NS: Hipp mentioned you currently do not have a phone. So, how do you communicate with your family back home? How often? LM: I talk to my family every day because I have Skype, but I don’t need a phone here because I can talk to coach by Twitter … .
For breaking news about NIU Athletics, follow Northern Star Sports on Twitter at @NSSports.