The Seattle University athletic department’s transition to Division I has not stopped the success of the teams in competition, as the men’s soccer, women’s soccer, and volleyball teams all won their initial contests against Division I opposition to start the 2008 season.
On Aug. 22, the women’s soccer team kicked off the 2008 campaign with a match against of the Big Sky Conference. After falling behind 1-0 early in the second half, quickly tied the match, and then scored again several minutes later on its way to a 2-1 victory over the Wildcats in . The team just recently completed a weekend in which it posted ties against Big Sky favorite and WAC school on the road.
One week later, the volleyball team started its season on Aug. 29 with a matchup against of the Western Athletic Conference. In front of an announced crowd of 711, mostly supporters of the hometown Broncos, swept , 25-21. 25-18, and 25-19. Just over 12 hours later, the Redhawks nearly pulled out another victory, falling to Pac-10 school in five sets.
To complete the sweep of season openers, the men’s soccer team used its mix of youth and experience to defeat Horizon League member Cleveland State, 1-0, last Saturday, Aug. 30, at the UC Irvine College Classic. Senior Luis Gamez set up freshman Marshall Kosaka for the only goal of the match, and junior Emerson DeOliveira notched his sixth shutout in 11 matches played for since the start of the 2007 season.
“We are thrilled with the terrific start of all three of our fall sports teams. The coaches and student-athletes have worked very hard preparing for this difficult challenge as part of the transition back to Division I requires mostly road games in 2008,” noted Bill Hogan, Director of Athletics.
The volleyball team earns the honor of hosting the first Division I competition in over 28 years when comes to the Tuesday, Sept. 2, beginning at 6 p.m. The first 100 fans to come to the will receive a special T-shirt commemorating the occasion.
is in Year One of the reclassification process towards NCAA Division I status. All three fall team sports are playing the majority of their matches against Division I opponents in 2008.