The Pitt News hands out its fall semester awards

Just because Pitt sports struggled throughout the fall – aside from cross country which… Just because Pitt sports struggled throughout the fall – aside from cross country which doesn’t keep records, only the volleyball team finished above .500 – doesn’t mean that there isn’t hardware to pass out.

As voted on by The Pitt News, here are the recipients of the most sought-after awards as handed out by the sports section that has always got you covered.

MALE ATHLETE OF THE FALL: H.B. Blades, junior linebacker, football

You can talk all you want about H.B. Blades.

You can talk about his 121 tackles, which led the Big East. You can talk about his 11 tackles per game, which ranked 12th nationally. Or you can talk about his selection to the first team all-Big East for the second consecutive year.

Whatever you talk about, you can’t say anything bad. The junior defender had another stellar season, leading the team in both solo and total tackles. In addition, he broke up the third-most passes on the team (behind only cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Bernard “Josh” Lay).

Blades earned Big East Player of the Week honors for the week of Oct. 24 after recording 11 tackles, returning an interception for a touchdown and recovering a fumble against Syracuse. He followed with a 20-tackle showing against Louisville in the Panthers’ next game.

-Brian Weaver, Assistant Sports Editor

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE FALL: Megan McGrane, senior libero, volleyball

Megan McGrane came to Pitt as just another walk-on athlete, hoping to make any kind of impact on the Panther volleyball team. Four years later, she is leaving as arguably one of the Panthers’ all-time greatest volleyball players.

The senior started all four of her seasons with the Panthers at the libero position, leading the team in digs each year. In 2005 alone, she had 621 digs in 110 games en route to leading the Panthers back to the Big East tournament.

It took McGrane just two and a half seasons to break the school record for digs in October of 2004 with a mark of 1,493, passing Sara Mitchell, who finished her career with 1,492. By September of this year, McGrane became the first Panther to surpass 2,000 digs in a career and eventually finished with 2,424 digs, ranking her fourth all time in NCAA history.

McGrane has twice been named an AVCA All-Northeast Region honoree, an honorable mention All-American, first team Big East and is currently the two-time defending conference Libero of the Year.

-Matt Sortino, Staff Writer

MALE ROOKIE OF THE FALL: Jordan Marks, freshman goalkeeper, soccer

The Pitt men’s soccer team finished with just three wins on the season.

Two of them, however, came with redshirt freshman goalie Jordan Marks between the pipes – including a 1-0 shutout against Marquette on Oct. 8.

Marks, of nearby McMurray, Pa., tallied a 2-4 record in his six starts, while limiting the opposition to just two goals per game. He ranked first on the team in wins, saves, save percentage and goals-against average.

With a talented, young goalie in the net, a bright future could be on the horizon for head coach Joe Luxbacher and his Panther soccer team.

-Alan Smodic, Senior Staff Writer

FEMALE ROOKIE OF THE FALL: Nicole Taurence, freshman setter, volleyball

Although the freshman ended up splitting time with junior setter Azadeh Boroumand down the stretch of the 2005 season, Nicole Taurence gave the Panthers a different look offensively this year, one that helped Pitt to a six-match winning streak in the middle of the season.

Taurence tallied 855 assists, including a season-high 69 assists in a five-set win over Rutgers on Sept. 25. The total was the highest by a freshman since Carrie Norris’ 867 in 1999.

She and Boroumand, who is a junior, will battle for the starting setter position, giving head coach Chris Beerman plenty of options for the 2006 season.

-Dave Siegal, Staff Writer

COACH OF THE FALL: Alonzo Webb, men’s and women’s cross-country/track and field

Alonzo Webb has had successful seasons before, but this fall may be his best work yet.

The 2005 cross-country team was forced to overcome not one, but several key injuries throughout the season, one which Webb admitted was “the worst season since I’ve been here for injuries.” The Panthers lost their top women’s runner, Lauren Shaffer, for the season just prior to the first meet of the season. Shortly after that, the men’s team also lost two of their top five runners, Andy Tomaswick and Eric Fleming, to season-ending injuries. In spite of all the obstacles, the Panthers recorded a number of team and individual accolades.

Nicki Angstadt placed 17th at the Big East Championships, the fourth best finish ever by a female Pitt runner, leading the women’s team to a respectable eighth place finish. The men’s No. 1 runner, Sam Bair, set many personal records this season; finishing 12th at the Big East Championships, the highest men’s individual finish since 1994, and ninth at the Mid-East Regional Championships, missing a national qualifying spot by one. Most remarkably, Bair led the Pitt men’s team to a seventh place overall finish at the Regional meet, the best-ever finish by a Pitt team.

-Joe Balestrino, Senior Staff Writer

TEAM OF THE FALL: Volleyball

As Pitt’s only winning team of the season, finishing with a 17-13 overall record, the volleyball team was an easy pick. While falling short in the postseason after a tough loss to Syracuse in the first round of the Big East Tournament, Pitt certainly had its shining moments.

From the upset win over the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame to maturing as a team, the Panthers not only posted the numbers, outdoing their opponents in nearly every statistical category, but they did it in style. The seniors led with determination to continue a legacy they helped build. The veterans fought hard, with players like Diana Andreyko and Megan McGrane earning All-Big East team selections. And even the freshmen contributed immensely to the success of this season.

Though the Panthers fell short of their third-straight NCAA tournament berth, a young team gives sixth-year head coach Chris Beerman much to build on for the coming years.

-Jacque Skowvron, Staff Writer