Pointer football jumps into ninth in rankings; Aulenbacher could return By DON FRIDAY Special to The Gazette The euphoria associated with a 21-19 homecoming victory over UW-River Falls last Saturday and the elevation into the top 10 national rankings for the first time this season was accompanied by some sobering news in the UW-Stevens Point football camp this week. The Pointers, who extended their winning streak to 10 games, climbed into the No. 9 spot in the latest American Football Coaches Association Division 3 national poll. UW-SP, which remains the only undefeated collegiate team in Wisconsin, moved past two previous top 10 occupants who lost last week-No. 9 Buffalo State (N.Y.), which fell to No. 3 Rowan (N.J.) and No. 5 St. John (Minn.), which was upset by unranked Bethel (Minn.). Now 3-0 atop the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings and 5-0 overall, the Pointers prepare for yet another league opponent which comes here Saturday afternoon at the top of its game. Traditional rival UW-Whitewater (2-1, 2-4) invades Goerke Field for a 1 p.m. kickoff (Radio Station WIZD, 99.9-FM). After meeting the challenge of a River Falls team which was coming off a 47-0 win over UW-Stout, UW-SP takes on perennial WIAC title contender Whitewater. Like the Falcons, the Warhawks struggled early but put all the pieces of the puzzle together last week in a 53-20 massacre of UW-Oshkosh. UW-W, trailing 20-6 early, scored 47 unanswered points to dismantle the Titans. The victory over River Falls came with a steep price for the Pointers, who lost senior quarterback Ryan Aulenbacher for 4-6 weeks with a broken left collarbone sustained in the second quarter. Aulenbacher, the top returning quarterback in the WIAC, went down after completing 13 of 14 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. Pointer coach John Miech said there is a chance that the Hartford native may be available for post-season play, should the Pointers qualify for the playoffs. Lost for the season with a serious knee injury was freshman defensive tackle Ken Klatt (5-11, 307) of Mosinee who prepped at Schofield D.C. Everest. With Aulenbacher out, the responsibility of directing the offense falls on the shoulders of redshirt freshman Dave Berghuis, a former all-state first team selection at Kimberly High School, who performed admirably while seeing his first collegiate action against the Falcons. Berghuis (6-2, 180) completed 7 of 13 passes for 98 yards, was not intercepted and scored on a 1-yard sneak. Berghuis will be backed up by Wayne State (Neb.) sophomore transfer Brad Paulson (6-3, 235) and Waunakee freshman Scott Krause (6-4, 188). Pointer player of week honors went to senior wideout Larry Aschebrook of Clintonville on offense, senior linebacker Len Luedtke of Marshfield (Senior High) on defense and sophomore Scott Wendlandt of Appleton (East) on special teams. Aschebrook caught five passes for 71 yards. Luedtke had seven tackles in spearheading a defense which limited the Falcons' vaunted wishbone offense, fifth in the nation coming in, to 212 yards, 75 below their season average. Wendlandt led the coverage teams which held River Falls to averages of 4.5 yards on punt returns and 16 yards on kickoff returns. Soccer A rare defeat was followed by two impressive victories as the Pointers remained ranked among the top 25 in the NCAA Division 3 national soccer poll. After dropping a 2-0 decision to Chicago State early in the week, UW-SP rebounded to rout previously unbeaten UW-La Crosse, 7-0, in a WIAC first place showdown on Saturday, then blanked St. Norbert College, 2-0, on Sunday. The Pointers limited the Eagles to four shots on goal and the Green Knights to two shots. UW-SP, which fell from 20th to 24th in the national poll, leads the WIAC with a perfect 6-0 record. Overall, the Pointers are now 11-2. Hometown product Marie Muhvic was named the WIAC offensive player of the week following a big weekend against La Crosse and St. Norbert. A junior who was a prep standout at SPASH, Muhvic had three goals against the Eagles and scored the game-winner with six minutes left against the Green Knights. She leads the Pointers in scoring with 28 points on 11 goals and six assists and has contributed points in 11 of UW-SP's 13 matches. Senior midfielder Michelle Mauel of Verona was named Pointer defensive player of the week for her sterling play in the back-to-back shutout wins. Cross Country Earning runner of the week honors for the Pointers were Barabaoo sophomore Adam Freihoefer and Watertown junior Erin Dogwillo. The UW-SP men, which rested its top runners in the UW-Oshkosh invitational, were led by Freihoefer who was 84th overall in 26:39. The Pointers finished 17th in the 19-team field. Dowgwillo ran a personal best 19:24, good for 87th place overall, as the Pointer women placed 11 of 22 teams at Oshkosh. Both Pointer teams are entered in the annual Jim Drews Invitational hosted by UW-La Crosse Saturday. Volleyball The Pointers split a pair of matches Saturday in the Wartburg Invitational at Waverly, Iowa, good enough for a second place finish. UW-SP, now 10-13, opened with a 15-5, 14-16, 15-9, 15-3 win over Grand View College (Iowa), then lost to host Wartburg in the championship match, 15-1, 14-16, 15-9, 15-2. Against Grand View, Courtney Herremann had a career-high 20 kills along with 14 digs. Erin Carney had 39 assists and 13 digs while Amy Smolcich and Chrissy Klipstine had nine kills each. Against Wartburg, Sarah Kuhl had 11 kills while Carney contributed 26 assists and 16 digs. Both Kuhl and Carney were named to the all-tournament team. Earlier in the week, the Pointers won a pair of matches over Lincoln Christian College (Ill.) and St. Catherine (Minn.). Tennis A four-match winning streak came to an end for the Pointers who dropped a pair of WIAC matches over the weekend to UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse by identical 6-3 margins. The setbacks dropped UW-SP to 2-3 in the WIAC and 5-3 overall. Posting wins for the Pointers against the Warhawks were Aimee Strebig at No. 6 singles and two doubles teams, Tammy Byrne-Jennifer Oelke at No. 2 and Laura Henn-Jen Derse at No. 3. Winners against the Eagles were Byrne at No. 2 singles, Heather Janssen at No. 4 singles and Henn-Derse at No. 3 doubles. Hockey Northern Collegiate Hockey Association coaches have tabbed UW-SP for a fourth place finish in the fast approaching league race this season. The Pointers received 37 points in the pre-season poll, eight points behind third place St. Norbert and 11 points ahead of fifth place Lake Forest (Ill.). UW-Superior, which received six of a possible seven first place votes, was the consensus choice to succeed St. Norbert as NCHA champion. The Yellowjackets received 53 points. UW-River Falls, which had the other first place vote, finished second in the poll with 46 points. A year ago, the Pointers (17-11-1 overall) finished third in the conference with a 10-6 record. UW-SP will open its season by hosting St. Nobert on Oct. 29 at the Willett Arena. Metrodome Border Classic Tickets for the Pointers' final regular season football game against Bemidji (Minn.) State at the Metrodome in Minneapolis on Sunday, Nov. 14, are currently on sale at the UW-SP ticket office in Quandt Fieldhouse. The Pointers' outing is part of the "Border Battle" which will be staged Saturday and Sunday between members of the WIAC and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. UW-SP and Bemidji will tangle in the fifth game of the event at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 if purchased at the gate the day of the game. The tickets are good for all five games slated on Nov. 14.