News and Notes from East Carolina, Conference USA and Beyond

PREVIOUS NUGGETS

11.05.06: Promotions aplenty for ECU-Marshall game ...
Ex-Tulsa great Largent gets humanitarian honor

11.04.06: Dougherty a semifinalist for Ray Guy Award ... Butch Davis deal with Tar Heels imminent? ... Cardinals talking national title, again ... Honors abound for ECU women's soccer team

11.03.06: Boise State rolls past Bulldogs ... Reale, Pirates earn seconds at Kitty Hawk ... ECU softball's Kozlowski promoted

11.02.06: Mustangs a win away from bowl eligibility ... Hunt, Icenhower lead East Carolina divers ... ECU's Moore earns academic honor with 4.0

11.01.06: Kragthorpe curtails Tar Heel speculation ... Pirates in C-USA women's soccer tourney ... Backup QB Lee to start for FSU against Cavs

10.31.06: Kickoff return nets
C-USA honor for Johnson ... Pirate volleyball streaks to school record ... Mountaineers on fringe of national title picture

10.30.06: ECU's Williams: 'I just wanted it more' ... Stokes plans to give Wynn time to develop ... Central Florida's 530 yards of offense not enough

10.29.06: ECU women's volleyball extends streak ... Pirate swimmers leave Towson behind ... UTEP takes muddy victory in Grimesland

10.28.06: Cougars quarterback piling up the numbers ... ECU vs. USM part of pay-per-view twinbill ... Hokies tame Tigers in key ACC battle

10.27.06: Rice's Almond named Wooden candidate ... Pirates hosting C-USA cross country ... ECU freshman Bools shares C-USA honor

10.26.06: Tickets for Troops promotion expands ... Another C-USA honor for ECU's Icenhower ... Report: Davis would have interest in Heels

10.25.06: Ex-Pirate Adams attempts PGA qualifying ...
C-USA names football players of week ... Tar Heels will retain many football recruits

10.24.06: New thumbnails: Baker, Byrd and Thompson ... Ore golden in Hokies' win over Southern Miss ... Unbeaten start for ECU swim teams ... Tar Heels picked first in ACC hoops

10.23.06: Jenkins' three lifts Gold in scrimmage ... ECU volleyball takes sixth straight C-USA win ... Bools finishes sixth in Lady Pirate golf

10.22.06: Pirates volleyball on record streak ... Mountaineers handle Huskies, stay unbeaten ... Georgia golfer gets call to play in South Africa

10.21.06: Report: UNC-Chapel Hill's Bunting to resign ... Coaches' challenges yield few reversals ... Southern Miss prepared for Hokies

10.20.06: ECU's Roach nominated for Draddy Award ... Memphis picked first in C-USA basketball ... 4th-ranked UTEP runners coming to Greenville

10.19.06: Koren Robinson suspended by NFL ... Miami broadcaster axed over brawl comments ... Dartmouth, Holy Cross row gets investigation

10.18.06: League teams busy; ECU ends homestand ... C-USA names football players of week ... ECU's Krug captures C-USA weekly honor

10.17.06: ACC, Miami announce additional suspensions ... More suspensions also on Sun Belt's agenda ... Duke lacrosse under "60 Minutes" scrutiny

10.16.06: Coker suspends eight Miami players after brawl ... Pirate volleyball continues roll at UCF ... Szilard leads ECU women's soccer win ... Harris Poll's top 5 varies from BCS Standings

10.15.06: Stokes convenes season's first hoops practice ... Pirate volleyball wins third straight ... ECU women open basketball practice at Rose

10.14.06: EA Sports video game features ECU baseball stadium ... Pirates announce Tickets for Troops drive ... Six C-USA gridders in All-American Classic

10.13.06: Pirate basketball gets national TV dates ... ECU women's hoops getting tube time, too ... East Carolina baseball to host winter camp

10.12.06: ECU hoops scrimmages set for Homecoming ... Camels stun No. 3 UNC-Chapel Hill in soccer ... ECU picked 7th in C-USA women's hoops

10.11.06: Dougherty gets
C-USA special teams honor ... Pirate promotions abound for Tulsa game ... UCF versus Pitt on TV Friday night

10.10.06: Tulsa netter Brugues takes national title ... Miami (OH) reeling after sixth loss ... Pirates host unique diving competition

10.09.06: Buckeyes, Trojans, Gators top Harris Poll ... Denny O'Brien's Harris Poll ballot ... Gators continue success in Swamp ... Pirates stun Memphis in volleyball ... ECU soccer shuts out Herd

10.08.06: Jeff Blake bows out of hall induction ... NCAA's tax status under investigation ... North Dakota challenges NCAA mascot policy

10.07.06: Amato continues mastery of Seminoles ... ECU volleyball triumphs at home over UAB ... Millican continues bid for spot on LPGA Tour

10.06.06: Big Ten announces fines, reprimands ... Central Florida wins late field goal battle ... Millican shoots 74 in qualifying event

10.05.06: Gold captures ECU World Series with 8-7 win ... Tulsa runs past Southern Miss ... Former ECU golfer Millican in LPGA qualifying

10.04.06: TV exposure continues for C-USA teams ... Former UVa stars make $1 million gift ... SMU takes two of three weekly league honors

10.03.06: Curry to receive Stagg award ... Inspired by fallen teammate, Rice whips Army ... ECU women's golf team finishes 11th

10.02.06: Takeaways, sacks mean good things for UVa ... Gators pull even with WVU in Harris BCS poll ... Swofford presented with Homer Rice Award ... Tulsa win streak continues at ECU's expense

10.01.06: Cavs blast Duke 37-0 in Durham ... Vols deal Memphis a resounding defeat ... Pirate women's cross country wins meet

The East Carolina volleyball team won its ninth match in ten tries Sunday afternoon, defeating Memphis 3-1 (30-23, 30-17, 24-30, 30-25).

The victory completed the Pirates' sweep of the Tigers this season, according to an ECU athletic media relations release. East Carolina improves to 19-10, 10-5 in Conference USA, while Memphis drops to 23-7, 9-5 in the league.

Kelley Wernert recorded a match high 24 kills, adding 12 digs for her 12th double-double of the season while also registering six total blocks. Heidi Krug also tallied a double-double with 49 assists and 13 digs. In all, four Pirates recorded double figure digs, with Trish Monroe leading ECU with 20, while Hannah Fenker added 14 and Stephanie Turner had 12.

Sarah Bury led the Tigers with 18 kills and 16 digs. Ashley Liford and Shelby Burton also recorded double-digit kills with 15 and 10 respectively. Christen Clayton topped the Tigers with 18 digs while Laura Cote added 10.

East Carolina returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 11, as the team travels to Huntington, WV, to face Marshall in the Pirates’ final regular season match of 2006. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m.

O'BRIEN'S TOP 25
1. Ohio State
2. Louisville
3. Michigan
4. Texas
5. West Virginia
6. Florida
7. Auburn
8. California
9. Notre Dame
10. Southern Cal
11. Arkansas
12. Louisiana State
13. Rutgers
14. Boise State
15. Tennessee
16. Wisconsin
17. Oklahoma
18. Georgia Tech
19. Wake Forest
20. Oregon
21. Boston College
22. Brigham Young
23. Virginia Tech
24. Texas A&M
25. Hawaii

Denny O'Brien is a member of the 2006 voting panel for the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, commissioned by the Bowl Championship Series. O'Brien is also the editor of The Pirates' Chest magazine, a senior writer for Bonesville Magazine and co-host of WNCT-AM Talk 1070's Game Day Countdown Show.

The Harris Poll is a component of the BCS Standings. The season's fourth BCS Standings were released on Sunday.

O'Brien's team-by-team ballot for this week's Harris Poll, conducted by Harris Interactive, is listed in the gray table to the left.

The East Carolina men and women's swimming and diving teams each improved their overall teams records Saturday in a quad-meet with Duquesne, host Marshall and West Virginia.

The Lady Pirates improved to 7-1 with wins over Duquesne (231-63) and Marshall (212-88), while suffering its first setback of the season to the Mountaineers (140.5-159.5).

The men's team also defeated Duquesne (196-96) to post its fifth win of the year, while it also suffered its first loss of the year to WVU (101.5-195.5).

"This was a very good meet for us," said Pirate head coach Rick Kobe. "We posted some very fast times today and have a lot of confidence heading into the Nike Cup."

The junior diving tandem of Ryan Hunt and Christie Icenhower continued their outstanding seasons as they combined to sweep all four of the diving events. Hunt and Icenhower each claimed first place scores on the one-meter and three-meter boards.

Four members of the Lady Pirates won individual events led by a pair of Greenville natives, Rebecca Perry and Megan Pulaski.

Pulaski won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:10.89, nearly two seconds better than second place finisher Lindsey Largo of West Virginia. Perry claimed her first non-50 or 100-yard freestyle victory of the season, winning the 200-yardfreestyle with a time of 1:51.09.

Senior Kate Gordon posted the Lady Pirates' third top finish of the meet, winning the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 0:56.90, 0:00.22 better than WVU's Taylor Stallings.

Freshman Jacquelynn Jones turned in another first place finish in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:07.76.

ECU returns to competition November 16-18 at the prestigious Nike Cup in Chapel Hill.

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno suffered injuries to his left leg after being involved in a collision along the sidelines during Saturday's 13-3 loss at Wisconsin.

Paterno suffered a tibial plateau fracture of his left leg and ligament damage in his knee, according to Dr. Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State director of athletic medicine.

Sebastianelli examined Paterno last night and earlier today in State College, PA, with the examinations revealing the fracture of the top of his left shin bone and the knee injuries.

A decision on whether to operate or rehabilitate the injuries will be based upon what will be the most expedient manner of recovery.

Paterno has attempted to have as close to a normal routine as possible today, meeting with the coaching staff, reviewing yesterday's game and beginning preparations for Saturday's home game with Temple. He expects to prepare for and coach in the game against Temple, which begins at 3:30 p.m. in Beaver Stadium.

Paterno was injured early in the third quarter when Penn State tight end Andrew Quarless and Wisconsin's DeAndre Levy spilled into him after a Quarless catch and tackle by the Badger linebacker near the Penn State sideline. Paterno left the field after the third period and, immediately after the game, returned to State College on a University plane to be further examined.

At the statue of Coach Paterno outside Beaver Stadium, a fan bandaged the left leg overnight. A sign was hung on the statue that read: "Get well soon JoePa, we love you!"

Selected the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Coach of the Year an unprecedented five times during his legendary career, including 2005, Paterno is in his 41st season as head coach of the Nittany Lions. He is second in all-time victories among major college coaches and fourth in wins for all four NCAA divisions.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from electronic services and other sources. Copyright 2006 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.