Women's Volleyball

Saturday, October 23 - The women's volleyball team had their opening weekend spoiled by the defending national champion , the University of Calgary Dinos. The Clan lost in three straight sets to the CIS' second-ranked Dinos on Saturday (25-23, 25-19, 25-18) and three sets to one on Friday (25-16, 21-25, 25-17, 25-8) in the West Gym.

On Friday, coming off a 9-1 preseason record, SFU split the first two sets with Calgary, showing grit and determination to stay close to the defending champs. Unfortunately, the Clan couldn't keep up with Calgary's pace and dropped the final two sets.

In the third set, SFU fell behind early and weren't able make up the deficit. The closest the Clan could get was within one point. Calgary came out strong in the fourth set and never looked back. They built a quick 8-1 advantage, and led by at least six points for the remainder of the set. The Dinos showed both strong offence and defence on their way to a definitive 25-8 victory.

SFU's Heather Androsoff had eight kills, and Andrea Frustraci had 14 digs.

On Saturday, the first set was close but Calgary was too strong and took advantage of some late mistakes by the Clan. It was much the same for the second set as the Dinos took a 2-0 lead in the match. The Dinos came out strong in the third, determined not to give the Clan any life. SFU fell behind by ten points three times in the set, and the match looked done as Calgary lead 23-13. The Clan rallied for a late set comeback, making a 5-1 run, but the Dinos easily finished off SFU with two quick points for the straight sets win.

"Calgary is a tough team to play. They create a lot of opportunities for themselves and problems for us," said Clan coach Lisa Sulatycki. "We played better tonight, but Calgary's focus and ability to capitalise on opportunities were stronger than ours."

SFU got strong performances from Rachelle Thomas (seven kills and seven digs), Androsoff (14 kills), and Frustaci with 14 digs.

Swimming & Diving

Saturday, October 23 - The Clan swimming and diving teams picked up where they left off last year as the defending NAIA national champions won their first dual meets of the season against Seattle University at SFU.

Senior Amber Dykes and sophomore Kathryn Rosberg each won two races and teamed up to pace SFU to a relay win, leading the Clan women's team to a 106-94 win over Seattle University. The five-time defending NAIA national champion Clan women's team has not lost a dual meet in six years. The women's team, which has won or tied 29 straight dual meets, last lost against the University of Washington Huskies on January 24, 1998.

Dykes and Rosberg shared the 2004 NAIA Outstanding Female Swimmer Award last season and were in top form again on Saturday. Dykes won the 100-metre freestyle in 59.21 seconds and the 200-metre freestyle in 2:08.15, while Rosberg finished first in the 800-metre freestyle in 9:06.94 and in the 400-metre freestyle in 4:24.24. Together they paced the Clan to victory in the 200-metre freestyle relay, winning in 1:50.39. The women's team won eight of 10 individual races and both relays.

The defending champion Clan men's team was led by Felix Steinhauer, who won the 200-metre individual medley in 2:09.45 and helped the Clan to a pair of relay wins. SFU captured six of 10 individual races and both relays for a 117-88 win over Seattle.

Women's Soccer

Saturday, October 23 - The next day, SFU's four game shutout streak was snapped in the first half. Fortunately, the Clan answered back with five straight second-half goals for a 5-1 win over Rocky Mountain College in Ellensburg, Washington.

It was the sixth consecutive win for the NAIA's fifth-ranked Clan.

Rawlings scored her fifth of the season in the 56th minute to draw the Clan even with RMC. Midfielder Anna Hilborn scored the game-winner a minute later. Senior midfielder Leslie Gibbens, freshman midfielder Sara Treloar, and sophomore Mallory Johnson added insurance markers.

Freshman goalkeeper Maegan Labreche picked up the win for the Clan.

Wednesday, October 27 - UBC goaltender Kelley McNabney stopped SFU freshman Charlotte Calon in the seventh round of an overtime shootout to give the Thunderbirds a 2-1 penalty kicks win over the Clan in the Challenge Cup at Swangard Stadium. The match went to penalty kicks after the two teams played to a 1-1 draw through 90 minutes of regulation time.

Fifth-year senior Amber Brownlee notched the game-winning penalty kick goal when she fired a hard shot that went off the finger tips of Clan goaltender Michele Gademans and into the net. On the next shot, McNabney stopped the Clan's Calon, diving to her left to block the low, hard shot.

The teams were tied 4-4 after the first five rounds of penalty kicks. Carlen Oates, Naomi Eguchi, Leslie Gibbens, and Sarah Miles scored for the Clan.

SFU held a wide margin in play for much of the game but still trailed 1-0 at the half after UBC's Kerr scored a goal in the 41st minute. The Clan, which held a 19-8 edge in shots on goal, played with a sense of urgency throughout the second half. Eguchi finally found the net in the 68th minute when she took a pass from Jennifer Craig at the 18-yard line, beat a defender, and fired a shot on goal. Eguchi's first shot hit the post, but the rebound came right back to her and she made no mistake the second time, shooting the ball over a fallen McNabney for the equaliser.

Both universities will host championship games on November 5 and 6. SFU will play host to the NAIA Region I Championships with a title game berth on the line.

SFU, ranked fourth in the NAIA, remains unbeaten in 12 games, now 12-1-2 on the season. The two-time defending CIS champion and top-ranked T-birds improved their overall record to 14-2-1 in the Challenge Cup.

Men's Soccer

Wednesday, October 27 - Forward Nathan Ford scored in the 40th minute, lifting Evergreen State College to a 1-0 upset victory over SFU in Olympia, Washington.

The goal came on a defensive miscue by the Clan that allowed Ford to get behind the backline and race in on Clan goalkeeper Raegyn Hall.

SFU had controlled play for much of the first half and pressed for the tying goal in the second half, out shooting sESC 18-12.

The NAIA's eighth-ranked Clan men's soccer squad fell to 10-4-1 and is now winless in three games as the team heads into its final regular season game The Region I Championship is scheduled for November 5 and 6 at a site yet to be determined.

Football

Saturday, October 23 -Clan tailback Marty Kipps scored on an 18-yard run with five minutes and 19 seconds left in the game to lift SFU to a come-from-behind 14-12 win over the Calgary Dinos. The game had been delayed over an hour by a snow storm.

The win puts the Clan one step closer to the final playoff spot in the Canada West Conference.

SFU and Calgary both have 3-4 records but the Clan is fourth in the CWC by virtue of its two wins over the Dinos this season, the first tie-breaking method. SFU defeated Calgary 35-24 earlier this season at Swangard Stadium.

Trailing 12-4 going into the fourth quarter, SFU scored 10 points in the final period for the win. Luca Congi booted a 38-yard field goal to make it a five-point game two minutes into the quarter but it was the Clan defence that ignited the offence.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Calgary marched 72-yards in eight plays to the SFU four-yard line with first down. On the third down, Calgary's running back fumbled the ball into the end zone. The ball was recovered by Scott Kehoe and SFU took over at its own 20-yard line. Quarterback J.R. Davies, who came into the game in relief of starter Jason Marshall, marched the Clan 90 yards in seven plays for the game-winning touchdown by Kipps, the only major of the day for SFU.

Kipps finished with 160 yards on 24 carries, the third straight game he has rushed for more than 100 yards. He now has 871 yards in seven games this season.

Congi was good on two of three field-goal attempts and added a single. He booted a 30-yard field-goal in the third quarter, but missed from 42 yards out on the last play of the opening half.

Davies, the Clan's all-time leading passer, came into the game in the final minute of the first half and went 9-for-12 with 120 yards, while sophomore quarterback Jason Marshall was 4-of-8 with 30 yards in two quarters as the Clan starter. Wide receiver Brendan Mahoney caught four passes for 44 yards. SFU's offensive attack picked up 356 yards.

Kehoe was solid on defence for SFU with 11 solo tackles and the fumble recovery.

With the win, the team improves its record, and manages to stay alive in a tight playoff race.

Golf

Thursday, October 28 - SFU sophomore Andrew Holtz fired rounds of 78 and 72 for a total of 150 to take top spot and lead the Clan to a four-stroke victory over Concordia University in a head-to-head competition that finished Sunday in Portland, Oregon.

Holtz finished one shot in front of Chris Slaton of Concordia. Clan senior Matt Steinbach finished third at 153 (76 and 77). The Langdon Farms/Heron Lakes course was a 6,522-yard, par-71 layout for the first round and a 6,491-yard, par-72 layout on day two.

The six Clan men combined for 616 shots, four strokes ahead of host Concordia. Senior Adam Chamberlain tied for fifth, sophomore Matt Neilson was in seventh spot, and sophomore Chris Carmichael ended up in 11th.

Crystal Buchan and Jesse Sigurdson were the top two finishers as the Clan women's team finished well back of Concordia in the head-to-head competition. Buchan shot rounds of 97 and 86 (183) to finish fifth while Sigurdson carded rounds of 96 and 106 to finish at 202. The course was 5,810-yard par-73 on the first day and a 5,846-yard, par-72 on the second day.