Blackbirds Set to Kick Off Fall Sports Schedule

8/22/06 --The Long Island University fall sports teams will begin regular season play this weekend as a trio of teams will see action. The women’s volleyball team will take part in the Jasper Invitational on Aug. 25-26, opening with Stony Brook at 2:00 p.m. on Friday. In men’s soccer action, the Blackbirds take to the pitch at the Radford (Va.) Tournament, playing host Radford on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The women’s soccer team opens up with a West Coast swing, visiting St. Mary’s and Pacific.

Volleyball has been selected as the preseason favorite to capture the 2006 Northeast Conference championship. The Blackbirds received six first place tallies in a vote among league head coaches.

LIU, winners of the past two straight NEC tournament titles, recorded the league’s first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament last fall with a 3-0 triumph over Cornell. The Blackbirds finished last season with a 26-14 ledger and a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play.

Reigning NEC Coach of the Year Toby Rens reloads for his third season, returning three players from last year’s squad. Junior outside hitter Martina Wagner (Friedrichshafen, Germay), an all-conference first team honoree, ranked third in the league in kills (3.83 per game) and service aces (0.49 a game) last year.

The Blackbirds complete competition at the Jasper Invitational with a match against Rhode Island on Aug. 25 at 6:00 p.m., and a Saturday matchup with host Manhattan at 4:00 p.m.

The men’s soccer team was tabbed sixth in the Northeast Conference preseason men’s soccer poll released last week by the league office.

Fielding one of the youngest teams in the region a year ago, Long Island (6-9-1, 3-5-1 NEC) continues the youth movement this fall. The roster for eighth-year head coach TJ Kostecky features just two seniors and 14 underclassmen on its roster.

One of the leaders for LIU is Second Team All-NEC midfielder Josh Merchant (New Orleans, La.), who contributed three goals and four assists as a freshman in 2005. Sophomore forward Jukka Lehto (Lahti, Finland) was the team’s leading scorer last season and ranked second in the league with 11 points.

The Blackbirds will also play Virginia Military Institute on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 1:00 p.m., as part of the Radford Tournament.

Coming off the most wins in program history and its highest regular season finish in the Northeast Conference, the women’s soccer team was predicted to finish second in the NEC this season in a vote by the league’s coaches. The Blackbirds received three first place votes.

LIU (13-6-1, 7-1-1 NEC) finished in second place last year and reached its first conference title match since winning the championship in 1999. Seventh-year head coach Tracey Bartholomew returns seven starters in 2006, including a pair of second team All-NEC selections in seniors Allison Andreano (Denville, N.J.) and Stephanie Kansky (Bellevue, Wash.).

The Blackbirds will take on the St. Mary’s Gaels on Friday at 7:30 p.m., before visiting the Pacific Tigers on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.