With no wins to show for it, ECU Tim McCarty calls the 2009 season successful in some ways and it hasn’t slowed down his excitement for the upcoming season.

   In fact, if there are positives to point out from a 0-10 season, it would be the way McCarty’s Tigers finished the year, with a heartbreaking 27-26 loss against Southeastern Oklahoma. The Tigers trailed 27-0 in the first quarter but rallied with a touchdown in the final seconds to pull within one. Instead of forcing overtime, ECU went for the win, but the two-point conversion try was stopped at the 1, adding one more frustrating piece to the season.

   “We played 19 true freshmen last year and had nine freshmen starting for us,” McCarty recalled. “The thing that was good about that is they never quit and they got better each week.”

   ECU also had a 31-28 loss to eventual LSC North winner Texas A&M-Commerce.

   “We had some tough losses last year,” McCarty said. “It was a learning experience for us. But I think our kids grew up and it will prepare us better for this year.”

   ECU will have some options at quarterback in junior-college transfer Tyler Vanderzee, who appears to be the front-runner over Josh Phillips, who took most of the snaps last year and finished the season with 1,273 passing yards with 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

   The running game will rely on John Gaines and Shomari Grant, but the Tigers appear strong at receiver, thanks to All-LSC pick Zack Patteson, the team’s leading receiver in 2009 with 36 catches for 436 yards and six touchdowns. It was Patteson’s touchdown in the final seconds against SOSU that nearly gave ECU its only win.

   Johnathan Joe caught 26 balls last year and Joe Joe Euwins and LaQuan Harper both were contributors in the offensive production as well.

   The offensive line was young last year, but four of the five starters return, including All-LSC North selection Jon Ramos, who will move from tackle to guard. Chad Roardk and Trevor Suffal also should provide some stability.

   Defensively, senior end Travis Buchanan returns after leading the team with 10 ½ tackles for loss last year with four sacks.

   The linebackers will be an area of strength, led by sophomores Tyler McGrew, Amos Cherry and Airieus Ervin, a trio that learned on the run as true freshmen last year.

   The secondary will be anchored by sophomore Norris Wrenn (69 tackles), who was named second-team All-LSC last year. Charles Burks and Victor Cooper should be viable options as well.

   But getting that first win won’t be easy for the Tigers, who open the season at Fort Hays State (Sept. 4), followed by games against LSC South contenders Texas A&M-Kingsville and Abilene Christian. 

 

   The Tigers are hoping the third year of the ECU volleyball program will indeed be a charm. Head coach Dave Thorn is 26-43 in his first two seasons, including a 14-21 record in 2009 that included a 10th place LSC finish.

   Not only that, but the Tigers lose three All-LSC performers, including first-team setter Holly Hicks.

   So that means Thorn will have to rely on a healthy dose of newcomers, including five true freshmen. The Tigers did sign a pair of Hill College teammates in middle blocker Tatiana Booth and outside hitter Yakira Essix.

   Returners from last year include junior setter Shayla May, who ranked second on the squad last year with 611 sets, and junior libero Megan Kimak. Sophomore middle blockers Rachel Watson and Megan Waiki should provide some depth as well. 

   Thorn knows the Tigers must be more competitive in LSC play. Last year, ECU was 12-6 after a fourth-straight victory, only to finish the year 2-15 against mostly conference opponents. In losing their last six matches of the season, the Tigers won just three sets in those contests.

 

   While it wasn’t by leaps and bounds, progress was still made by ECU’s soccer team and first-year coach Riley Bailey, who is hoping for big improvements in the second year.

   Bailey’s Tigers finished 6-8-2 last year, one victory better than the 2008 total and last year’s 3-7 LSC record was an improvement from the 1-8-1 league mark from two years ago.

   This year, ECU returns junior forward Whitney Watts, a second-team All-LSC selection last year. Watts was the team’s leading scorer with 13 goals, nearly half of ECU’s total 28 goals. Watts had two game-winners last year and led the team by far with 28 shots on goal.

   Senior defender Ashleigh Peete was an honorable mention All-LSC pick last year. Other returning starters include junior goalkeeper Natalie Wilson (71 saves in 2009), senior forward Sydney Kromer, midfielder Juliana Cantu and junior midfielder Laura McNab and sophomore midfielder Molly Hummel.

 

   Fourth-year coach Steve Sawyer saw his Tigers finish eighth last season and picked eighth once again in the LSC preseason polls.

   But a strong recruiting class has Sawyer excited about the upcoming season.

   “I am very excited about this recruiting class.,” said Sawyer. "Since I have been here, this by far is the best men's recruiting class we have signed.”

   Among those male additions is Ezekiel Kissorio, who came to ECU in the spring 2010 semester and recently ran in several distance races at track and field meets.

   Kissorio, out of Eldoret, Kenya, is the brother of Silas Kissorio, a two-time NAIA national champion for Oklahoma Christian.

   "Ezekiel has shown his talents as he has taken over the No. 1 spot on the team, winning a 5-kilometer scrimmage meet against Cameron. He also won a 5k Oklahoma Christian meet in 15:23," Sawyer said.

    Also signed for the men's team are four more freshmen in Cale Eidson, Marcos Duran, Taylor Nasu and Ricardo Trejo.

 

   For the second straight year, ECU finished the LSC meet in third place and once again, that’s where the preseason polls had the Tigers finishing.

   But coach Steve Sawyer and his team will have its sight set on winning an LSC Championship. To do that, he’ll need strong performances from Carina Clemente and Jessica Nguyen. 

    On the women's side, ECU signed two junior college athletes in Caroline Masai and Jordan Earle.

   Masai comes to ECU from Colby Community College (Kan.) after spending one season at New Mexico Junior College as a freshman. 

   "Caroline is a great distance runner. She loves to run and has run sub 20 minutes in 5k cross country races," said Sawyer.