Nov 5, 2009 By Herald Standard Staff 2 min read

Sports shorts Volleyball

Although the season came to an end for Bethany (W.Va.) with a loss to Washington & Jefferson in the PAC quarterfinals, Laurel Highlands graduate Jessica Zavatchen had a record-breaking performance Tuesday night.

The freshman distributed a career-high 54 assists in the 3-2 loss to the Presidents, pushing her season total to 989 and surpassing the mark of 964 set by Acacia Iwaniec in 2001. Zavatchen also had 13 digs for the Bison.

Soccer Macioce hits winning goal

Laurel Highlands graduate Molly Macioce broke a 1-1 tie with a goal in the 105th minute Tuesday to lift Washington & Jefferson to a 2-1 Presidents’ Athletic Conference semifinal victory over Thomas More (Ky.).

The victory places the Presidents (11-6-2) in Saturday’s conference title game at Grove City College. The Wolverines defeated the Presidents, 3-2, in their lone regular season meeting. The conference champion earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III tournament.

Maccioce, a second-team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, is second on the team with five assists and tied for third in goals with five. The Presidents are led by Elizabeth Bendick’s eight goals, with Ringgold’s Tiffany Sherred and Norwin’s Chrissy Marcius netting six each.

Basketball Thomas loses FIU debut

MIAMI (AP) – Isiah Thomas lost his coaching debut at Florida International on Wednesday night when Northwood, an NAIA school coached By Rollie Massimino, beat the Panthers 71-61 in an exhibition game.

Thomas, the Basketball Hall of Famer and most recently coach of the New York Knicks, faced Massimino, who coached Villanova to the 1985 NCAA title and is entering his fourth season at the West Palm Beach, Fla. school.

Lester Hunte scored 18 points for Northwood, while Patrick Horstmann had 13. Jay Duncan scored seven of his 10 points in the final minutes as Northwood pulled away.

Marvin Roberts and Phil Gary Jr. both scored 15 points for FIU, which opens the regular season Monday at No. 6 North Carolina, the defending NCAA champions.