The idea is to get as many people interested in WSU basketball as possible, and last season, the promotion lured 6,371 into the building, the third largest crowd (behind Butler and Wisconsin-Green Bay) of the season.
“Hopefully, this exposes different people to Wright State, and hopefully, they’ll come back,” WSU Athletic Director Bob Grant said.
If you don’t have any WSU gear, there will be stands set up with plenty of stuff for sale at gates 9 and 3.
Tough finish
No volleyball team in the Horizon League started off better than the Raiders at 7-1, but the bad times came shortly after that and the team has spiraled to an 11-19 record, 3-12 in league play and out of the postseason tournament entering today’s 7 p.m. home match with Dayton.
“We got in a downward spiral and couldn’t get out of it,” coach Trina Smith said. “This is probably one of the better teams I’ve had here. It’s been mental for us. Mentally, we started to believe we wouldn’t win.”
Wright State lost four of five matches before the first league match at Valparaiso, led 2-1, then lost the final two sets. The Raiders ended up losing 15 of 17 matches before defeating Green Bay on Saturday.
In addition to Dayton, a final match will be played against Youngstown on Senior Day at 4 p.m. Saturday. Tina Paunicka, Michelle Hammond, Lexi Leonhard and Becca Awaa will play their final match, and Leonhard will add to her all-time school dig record.
“I’m hoping it’s just a little bump in the road,” Smith said of her team’s record. “We have some young kids in the program (only three juniors on this year’s roster).”
Building block
Men’s soccer also failed to make the pared-down postseason tournament, but first-year coach Bryan Davis’ team finished strong, winning four of its last six matches following a 1-6-1 start. The Raiders (2-5-1) finished just behind Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2-4-2) for the last spot in the tournament.
Senior Braden Fleak led the Raiders with eight goals and 17 points, and is one of only four seniors the team loses. Brad Bamberger, a freshman from Fairmont High School, and Brian Cothern, a redshirt sophomore, each had 12 points. Bamberger scored six goals and Cothern four.
About the Author