Pointer kickers take control of WIAC race with win over UW-EC The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point women's soccer team in familiar territory once again - in the driver's seat of the WIAC race. With a big 2-1 win at UW-Eau Claire last Saturday, the Pointers took sole possession of first place in the conference. UW-SP is the three-time defending WIAC champion and is seeking the school's eighth conference crown. The Pointers are now 11-4 overall with all four losses coming to nationally ranked teams and seven of the 11 wins coming over teams currently with three losses or less. UW-SP is ranked fifth in the latest Division 3 Central Region poll. UW-SP edged the Blugolds Saturday in dramatic fashion as freshman Melissa Meadows (Neenah) scored her first career goal with eight minutes remaining to give the Pointers the victory and the inside track toward the WIAC title. UW-SP needs only one victory over UW-La Crosse Saturday or UW-Platteville on Oct. 18 to clinch the WIAC regular season title and home field advantage for the WIAC postseason tournament Oct. 24, 27 and 28. The Pointers also faced Midwest Conference frontrunner St. Norbert Wednesday in De Pere. The Pointers added to their big week with wins over Lake Michigan Conference leader Edgewood 4-0 last Wednesday in Madison and Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe St. Benedict 2-0 Sunday. Freshman Andrea Oswald (Cary, Ill.) scored goals in both non-conference wins. Football It's not getting any easier for the Pointers, who take their 0-5 record to UW-Whitewater Saturday. The Warhawks are 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the WIAC. UW-SP got off to a good start last Saturday at UW-River Falls as Lance Gast (Weston) ran 76 yards for a touchdown in the first two minutes of the game, giving the Pointers a 7-0 lead. But the Falcons scored 41 unanswered points and pulled away for a 49-20 victory, dropping the Pointers to 0-5 for the first time since 1971 and 0-3 in the WIAC for the first time since 1981. The Pointers also had touchdown runs by Wally Schmitt (Stratford) and Ian Zertler (Abbotsford) in the second half. UW-SP beat UW-Whitewater 23-7 last season. The Warhawks are coming off a 27-25 win over UW-Oshkosh last week. The game can be heard live on 99.9 FM WIZD and will also be available at http://www.broadcast.com through the UW-W radio broadcast. Cross country Senior Jesse Drake (Rhinelander) captured the individual title at the prestigious Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. to lead the Pointers' men's team to a fourth place finish. The 18-team meet featured several Division 1 teams and some of the nation's top Division 3 squads. Drake finished with a time of 25:07 and has been the top collegiate finisher at all four meets in which he has participated this season. The men's team dropped three spots in the latest rankings, to 10th in Division 3. The Pointers' women's team, which finished sixth at the 20-team pre-Midwest Regional meet in Colfax, fell from seventh to 24th. Senior Leah Juno (Brillion) and sophomore Becky Lebak (Burlington) both finished in the top five as Juno was fourth in 18:15 and Lebak was fifth in 18:16. Both the men's and women's teams compete at the UW-La Crosse Invitational Saturday. Women's golf Kathryn Carlson (Chippewa Falls) finished seventh overall to earn All-Conference honors for the second straight year, leading the Pointers at the WIAC championships in Janesville. Carlson finished with a two-day total of 175 at the tournament, which was held at Riverside Golf Course. She finished fifth with a 176 at last year's championships. Overall, the Pointers finished fourth at the meet with a 727. UW-O won its first-ever WIAC title with a 684, UW-EC was second at 689 and UW-W was third at 707. Other top UW-SP finishers included Andrea Miller (Sheboygan), who was 11th overall with a 180 and Rachel Sime (Tomah), who was 16th with a 184. Women's volleyball The Pointers improved to 6-17 with a home win over Viterbo Tuesday night. UW-SP was tied with the Viterbo (5-18) 7-7 in the first game before finishing with an 8-2 run. The Pointers jumped to a 10-1 lead in the second game but trailed 10-7 in the third before scoring the final eight points, five served by Raina Gagnow (Schofield). Carry Boehning had 11 kills while Gagnow had nine. Lucy Fisher had 11 assists. UW-SP plays four more non-conference matches this week after playing five straight road matches against WIAC foes over the past week. The Pointers lost to second-ranked UW-W in three games last Wednesday, but bounced back with a four-game victory over UW-Superior on Friday. UW-SP then lost to UW-EC in three games on Saturday to fall to 5-17 overall and 1-5 in the WIAC. Chrissy Klipstine (Denmark) led the Pointers for the week with 27 kills, 25 digs and seven blocks. Amy Smolcich (Menasha) had 15 kills and eight blocks. The Pointers face Carroll, Dominican and Milwaukee School of Engineering this weekend at the Carthage Tournament. Women's tennis UW-SP dropped a pair of matches last weekend, falling to Ripon in a non-conference match 5-4 on Friday and losing to perennial WIAC power UW-EC 9-0 on Saturday. Alison Mills (Brooklyn Center, Minn.) and Gretchen Weddig (Kewaskum) each recorded singles victories for the Pointers against Ripon. Anne Hildebrandt (Stevens Point) and Heather Janssen (Kimberly) paired for a win at No. 2 doubles and Jen Derse (Portage) and Rachel Ferge (Marshfield) teamed for a victory at No. 3 doubles. The Pointers had their final home match Wednesday afternoon against UW-O.