John Fea, an historian special-izing in early American history, came to Grace College Friday, Sept. 16, to speak in chapel at 10:30 a.m. and give a more scholarly lecture on the question, “Was America founded as a Christian nation?” at 7 p.m.

Th e event was sponsored by Grace’s Offi ce of Faith, Learning and Scholarship.

John Fea is chair of the depart-ment of history at Messiah College in Grantham, Penn., as well as author of the book, “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?: A Historical Primer for Christians.”

Fea gave a short introduction to his topic during Friday’s chapel, challenging students to have “a Bi-ble in one hand and a newspaper in the other,” stressing the oft en-over-looked importance of current events to Christian college students.

Fea’s evening lecture addressed the topic in a deeper, more scholarly way, starting with the statement that the question “Was America founded as a Christian nation?” is a poorly de-fi ned question.

Fea argued that many people ap-proach the past with their own agen-das. “Th at doesn’t necessarily make him or her an historian,” Fea said. “A historian will do his or her best to look at the past in all its fullness. Th is is particularly important with this question.”

Fea said the answer depends on

how one defi nes the question’s terms. “Th ere are a lot of ways you could de-fi ne what a Christian nation is,” Fea said. If the founding fathers were Christians, would that make America a Christian nation? Or if the largest demographic portion of American citizens call themselves Christians, would that make America a Chris-tian nation?

Fea concluded that, although not all of the founding fathers were Christians, many of them wanted the American population to turn to Christianity, but oft en for ratio-nal, nation-building reasons. Some founders felt that Christianity cre-ated a moral population base, which would contribute to a strong repub-lic.

Th e lecture, which was held in Westminster Hall’s Rainbow Room, was followed by a question-and-an-swer segment, during which mem-bers of the audience could ask Fea any questions they had.

INDEXvolume 58, issue 4

Chicago Serve Teampage 2

New Librarianpage 3

Rugby Gallerypage 5

Comicspage 6

SOUNDING BOARDTHE

the voice of Grace College students since 1953Volume 58 Issue No. 04 Winona Lake, Indiana

September 29, 2011

On September 24, the Grace rubgy club opened their season against Indiana Wesleyan University. Th e Lancers defeated IWU 35-7. See page 5 for a photo gallery.

Rugby Fever

Sounding Board Photo | Octavia Lehman

Sounding Board Photo | Octavia LehmanAuthor and historian John Fea addresses students, faculty, and members of the community at Westminster Hall’s Rainbow Room.

America, the Christian Nation? by ETHAN SHECKLER

Copy Editor

“Although not all of the founding fathers were Chris-tians, many of them wanted

the American population to turn to Christianity, but oft en for rational, nation-

building reasons.”

On Sept. 17 the members of the Chicago Serve team travelled to Chicago for the fi rst trip of the year, where they spent the day net-working for local organizations.

Th e Chicago Serve team takes a trip to the city of nearly three million once every month out of the school year. Transportation to the city and meals are provided, and the trips are normally a full-day event.

Carlos Matt hew Melendez and Dominique Jackson are the student leaders of the team.

On the team’s fi rst trip of the school year, they partnered with North River Baptist Church, located in downtown Chicago near Moody Bible Institute. Th ey handed out fl yers and cards to pe-destrians to att ract more people to

the church, nicknamed “Th e Loft Church” due to its spot on the fi ft h fl oor in a loft building.

Later in the day, the team headed to a local park to hand out cards to spread the news about an organization that provides aft er-school programs for children.

Mae Roede, sophomore and a member of the team, said she was

inspired by the pastor from North River Baptist Church and his ex-ample of following God’s will to enter into full-time ministry. She also enjoyed gett ing to know and work “with a great group of Grace students.”

According to freshman Tricia Main, “Th e trip gave me a taste of what street evangelism is really like. I know what it feels like to go up to a stranger and invite them to church without knowing their religious background or anything about them.”

Main would recommend join-ing the Serve team to any student. Main plans on att ending as many Chicago trips as possible.

Th e next trip is planned for Oct. 14 and 15. Students will stay overnight in the city. Th e team plans on working with Inner City Impact, a Christian organization that helps lead children kindergar-

ten through high school to Christ. Inner City Impact has served

in the Chicago urban community since 1972. Th eir mission is to share the gospel with students, disciple them, and then see them integrated into the local church.

Th e Serve team will be help-

ing reconstruct ICI’s new building. Th ey plan on taking at least ten students for the trip but are hop-ing for an even bigger turn out.

Students interested in gett ing involved with the Chicago Serve team should contact Melendez and Jackson.

2THE SOUNDING BOARD | SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

CAMPUS NEWS

SOUNDING BOARDTHE

the voice of Grace College students since 1953

The Sounding Board is a weekly publication of Grace Student Organizations and the Journalism Classes at Grace College. The Sound-ing Board exists to glorify God by impacting people’s lives with relevant and timely news that connects them with the campus and the greater community, by providing excellent education in the field of journalism and by acting as a medium of student expression. Editorials and opinions are those of student journalists and do not necessarily represent the official view of the administration of Grace College. All copy, art, and photography are property of The Sounding Board and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the editor. Letters/replies are encouraged and must be signed. Letters are limited to 250 words, and The Sounding Board reserves the right to print and edit for length and content as necessary. The Sounding Board is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and is printed in cooperation with The Papers, Inc. Please send emails to: soundingboard@grace.edu.

Editor-in-Chief: Octavia LehmanPhotography Editor: Cassie Gareiss

Layout Editor: Josh DillmanCopy Editor: Ethan Sheckler

Sports Editor: Zane GardWeb Editor: Jonathan Haag

Advisor: Dr. SaudersGrace College, 200 Seminary Dr., Winona Lake, IN 46590

Staff Writers:Christopher Tulley Paul Morales Emily Gruber Matthew Hiester Sarah Kraus Ashley MazelinJonathan Haag Jordan WoodruffHaley Bradfield

INBRIEFFriday, Sept. 30 is SAB’s Freshman/Sophomore Des-sert! Th e semi-formal will be held in Westminster lobby from 8-10 p.m.

Th e men’s basketball team’s annual Red-White Inter-squad scrimmage takes place Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7p.m. Admission is a bar of soap or bott le of shampoo.

On Saturday, Oct. 1, the alumni offi ce will host a bon-fi re near Miller Field. Dr. Bosch’s general ecology class has restored a prairie area. Th e bonfi re starts at 7:30 p.m. Students can enjoy s’mores and meet the new alumni di-rector and team.

On Friday, Oct. 6, Koscius-ko Community Senior Ser-vices will host a 5K Run and 1K Walk at Center Lake Pa-vilion in Warsaw. Th e event begins at 6 p.m.

Grace College & Seminary, Th e Remnant Trust and Liberty Fund are hosting an event to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible. Th is event will take place from 10 a.m-12 p.m. at Westmin-ster Hall on October 6.

If you would like information about your event included, please send an email to sound-ingboard@grace.edu

Most siblings are used to people telling them how much they look alike. Most siblings are used to get-ting called each other’s name, or be-ing seen as one unit with the same personality traits. But when they go to college, a whole new world is opened to them, where no one knows the his-tory of their family or the qualities that they share with their sibling - un-til Sibs Weekend at Grace College.

Suddenly mini-me’s and look-alikes appear on campus, reminiscing about hilarious family memories that include pranks, laughter and some-times tears.

Th is year, 90 siblings visited Grace during Sibs Weekend on Sept. 15 through Sept. 17. Siblings were

able to att end class, check out Alpha dining, take a walk on Grace campus, maybe try some long pong in Beta basement, and play an epic game of capture the fl ag that featured 100 par-ticipants.

“It was the best way I can think of to spend my weekend- hanging out with my best friend Mary, who is also my sis. I was literally counting down the days until she got here,” said Katie Blemker, a sophomore at Grace.

Chloe Guess, who is one of nine siblings (four of whom are students at Grace), agreed that Sibs Weekend was a lot of fun for her and two of her younger sisters (Esther and Ariana) who stayed with her.

“We went to class, watched a movie, went down to the shops in the Village and played capture the fl ag. My sisters said their favorite part of the whole weekend was capture the

fl ag, but a close second for Ariana was watching Esther fall asleep dur-ing a class, “ Guess said.

Th e girls also loved chapel and felt like they grew closer together aft er hanging out at college together. According to Guess, her sisters said that it is lonely to have so many of their siblings away at college, so they enjoyed gett ing to hang-out with all of them, even just for the weekend.

Sibs Weekend was an oppor-tunity for siblings to reconnect and hang-out, and also snag a T-shirt from admissions that says, “I Heart My Sib.”

Sibs Weekend was also an op-portunity for the Grace campus to see another side to many of its stu-dents, watching them interact with siblings who have many of the same characteristics as they do.

by ASHLEY MAZELIN

Staff Writer

Nearly 100 visit during Sibs Weekend

Serve team impacts Chicagoby JORDAN WOODRUFF

Staff Writer

“Th e trip gave me a taste of what street evangelism is really like. I know what it feels like to go up to a stranger and invite them to church with-out knowing their re-ligious background.”

Sibs attend class, participate in capture the fl ag

Contributed Photo

Th e Chicago Serve team stopped at Giordano’s, the home of the famous deep dish pizza, aft er networking for local organizations in Chicago.

Th ere is plenty of change sweep-ing across Grace College this year, and Morgan Library has joined the wave with the retirement of its direc-tor, William Darr, in May.

Jim Swanson, Grace’s vice presi-dent of student aff airs and academic services, recently announced the po-sition has been fi lled by Tonya Faw-cett , a technical and public services librarian of 23 years.

“Along with our promising new library director, a lot of modernizing will hopefully be taking place at Mor-gan Library,” Swanson said.

“We want the library to be a place where our students want to go, and want to go hang out,” Swanson stated. Fawcett agrees with Swan-son’s vision. She hopes to draw stu-dents into a welcoming and helpful environment.

What are the plans for modern-ization? A major undertaking at Mor-gan Library is advancing the techno-logical opportunities. Fawcett is both passionate about the words on paper and on screen; the library is Grace’s

main resource when it comes to schoolwork. Th e mother of a Grace sophomore, Fawcett is aware of how the current generation is more com-fortable with modern technical re-sources.

Having advanced technical means, or “meeting the personality of today’s students,” would make the student’s research easier and more effi cient. It would even make them available aft er the library’s closing.

As of now, Morgan Library is the go-to place for all students, espe-cially when projects and exams are piling up at the end of the semester. Th e library, like any, is a quiet place to study, research, or fi nd alone time.

Students cannot argue with the comfy chairs set up perfectly for a nap, or with the availability of indi-vidual study rooms that can also hold group meetings; however, there are minor disadvantages students fi nd with the library. Some feel that it can be too quiet if they are there to work on a group project.

However, the biggest concern students have expressed would be the library’s no food or drink policy. Stu-dents are not looking to build a buff et table, but the allowance of water or

energy drinks during the long, fi ve-hour study sessions should be con-sidered. Swanson agrees and can only

say that, like all other possibilities, they’re looking into it. Swanson and Fawcett , as well as others, will look

into anything that will help improve Morgan Library’s service to Grace College students.

3THE SOUNDING BOARD | SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

CAMPUS NEWS

“How many classes are you tak-ing?” -- one of the most common questions asked among college stu-dents. At Grace College, the answers to this question used to be rather simple, but things have become a bit more complicated with the start of the 2011 - 2012 school year.

Grace students are now near the end of something new called “Fall A,” the fi rst section of a semes-ter that has been split in half for the fi rst time in Grace history. Students still sign up for a full semester’s load of classes, but they will only att end a portion of those classes during the fi rst half while the remaining classes will take place during the second.

Freshmen may have taken litt le notice of this, since they have not experienced any diff erent schedule format. Upperclassmen, however, are being challenged to adjust their old study routines and work with fewer subjects at a much faster pace. How has this system been working so far?

“I really like it,” said Aaron Je-sel, a fi rst-year student taking three classes this session. “Th e classes are longer, but I only have one class a day, so there’s more than enough time to get my work done.”

Th e main benefi t of Grace be-ing “reimagined” is that students can spend less time enrolled at school while completing their program at

an accelerated rate. Jesel is one of many students taking advantage of this opportunity; he plans to gradu-ate in three years with a degree in business administration.

“I love it because I can save so much on tuition,” Jesel said. “It means I’ll have to take summer classes, which is kind of annoying, but since it helps me save money, I’d think it’s worth it.”

For upperclassmen like Colin Horne, the new scheduling is a tough adjustment. “Th e biggest thing is that I’m sleep deprived,” Horne, who begins four days in the week with an early morning class, said. “But I like that I’m in classes that are more focused.” Horne is also taking three classes during Fall A, which he says allows him to focus bett er than he could when he was taking many more at one time. However, Horne

also admits, “I do feel hurried to get all of the work done.”

Horne is not alone on this is-sue. Many upperclassmen are fi nd-ing it diffi cult to cover a semester’s worth of material in only half of the time, and some are unsure whether professors will be able to fi t the stan-dard three hours of credit into one session. “I feel like most professors have adjusted well, but from what I’ve heard, others just aren’t there yet,” upperclassman Jordan Weddle said. One can only imagine how much restructuring has been neces-sary to make this new curriculum possible.

Grace students have heard be-fore that change is good, so most have decided to give the eight-week model a chance to sink in before they begin to resist it, knowing it has strong potential to help students succeed.

by MATT HIESTER

Staff Writer

by HALEY BRADFIELD

Staff Writer

New director of Morgan Library hired

A look at transition: How students fare with the eight week model

All students are welcome to at-tend the Nocturnal II: Military Edi-tion event Saturday, Oct. 22, at Miller Field to test their true git.

Grace College’s Student Veteran Organization is working with other organizations to put on the event. Th e event will help support the 32 military students currently att ending Grace. Th ese students are dependents, active duty reservists, and veterans of wars dating as far back as the Vietnam War.

Th e event includes three races taking place at night, with the fi rst race, a 10-mile mountain bike trail race, beginning at 4 p.m.

Before the races begin, students will have the opportunity to come early for a helicopter landing at 3:30 p.m.

Any student interested in biking or running in one or all three races can visit Grace’s website to register. Stu-dents not interested in racing are still welcome to come out for an aft ernoon of fun. Th e majority of the proceeds raised will go to the military fund at Grace College. Part of the proceeds will also go to a local family in need.

Military representatives from the community will be att ending the event throughout the aft ernoon and evening.

During the aft ernoon, Marines will have a chin-up bar for students to test their strength against someone in the military. Th e event is an oppor-tunity for Grace students to interact with members of the community.

Th e three races include two for running and one for biking. Th e fi rst race is the “10 Mile Mountain Bike Trail.” Th is race includes three divi-sions of beginner, sport, and expert.

Th e second race of the evening is the “5K Evening Trail Race.” Th e race begins at 6 p.m. and includes multiple divisions.

Th e third race is the “Ridiculous Race,” which will begin at 7:30 p.m. Th e “Ridiculous Race” is in the dark with obstacles and surprises along the way. Wayne Th omas, the president of SVO, reccomends that students reg-ister together as a team for this race. “Teamwork is a big key to success,” Th omas said. Students can also regis-ter as individuals.

Each race will include prizes for the winners. Besides the fi rst place winners, the best costume for the bik-er and runner will also receive a prize. Another prize will be awarded to the coolest bike decorated with lights, refl ective tape, glow sticks, and more. However, the biggest prize of the eve-ning will be awarded to anyone who competes and fi nishes in all three rac-es. Th ose individuals will be entered to win a cash prize of $500.

Nocturnal II: Military Edition includes a post-event parade in which all the racers will travel through Wi-nona Lake at night. Th ere will also be a bonfi re and cookout following the last race at Miller Field. Grace stu-dents are welcome to come watch and participate to help support the mili-tary. More details about Nocturnal II: Military Edition is available Grace’s website.

by EMILY GRUBER

Staff Writer

Tonya Fawcett , the new director of Morgan Library, has more than one connection to Grace College. Fawcett is married to Dr. Fawcett , the new professor of business, and they have a daughter, Carrie, who is a student.

Sounding Board Photo | Cassie Gareiss

“I love it because I can save so much on tu-ition. It means I’ll have to take summer classes, which is kind of annoy-ing, but since it helps me save money, I think

it’s worth it.”

By the numbers

The number of

eight a.m.

classes:

37

Days until Fall

Session B:

20

Nocturnal II: Military EditionStudent Veterans Organization to host an evening of extreme challenges at Miller Field

4THE SOUNDING BOARD | SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

CAMPUS NEWS

RugbyTorrential rain did not stop the match, although the match did start a half-hour later than expected - the teams awaited the arrival of the referee.

Above: Fans weathered the torrential downpour to watch the team dominate IWU.

Above right: Jordan Gillett e runs the ball downfi eld.

Far Right: Jacob Crone defends against IWU.

Right: Number nine, Joey Hamby, prefers not playing in the rain. “I’m a technical guy, and in this weather you can’t

do technical stuff ,” Hamby said.

Grace and IWU gather together for prayer aft er the game. As per rugby tradition, the teams enjoy a meal together aft er the game.

Scenes fr om the season opener

Photography by Octavia Lehman and Scott Schloss

5THE SOUNDING BOARD | SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

ARTS & CULTURE

Charlotte’s Imaginary Friends by: Allison Hagedon

Dog Dayz By Stephanie Johnston

#stuff myprofsays#stuff myprofsays“Where’s my yarn? It’s not a question I ask myself very

often.”

-Dr. Roberts, during Group Techniques of Counseling when

preparing to do a group activity

“I’m going down - you wait.”

-Dr. Roberts, talking abou tripping over wires in Group Tech-

niques of Counseling

“The super creative people go into marketing, the super

creative accountants go to jail.”

-Dr. Fawcett, during Marketing Principles

Submit your quotes to soundingboard@grace.edu

Editorial: Christian fi lms lack artistic quality

by PAUL MORALES

Arts & Culture Writer

There is a sad, sad reason that so-called Christian

movies get a bad rap among contem-porary audiences: on the whole, they are horrible.

Now, let us not confuse qual-ity with enjoyment – lest I get a slew of hate mail in my mailbox or stink bombs going off in my car. I was just saying Sunday night to a friend of mine how horrible the Fantastic 4 fi lms were as cinema, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying them at all. At one point in my collecting career, I owned them both and I had paid good money for them.

Well, I paid for them, anyway.What I’m talking about is fi lm as

art, incorporat-ing all of the cre-ativity and tech-nical skill that we expect (or should expect) from fi lms not p i ge o n - h o l e d into the category of Christianity. I would never tell anyone that he shouldn’t enjoy fi lms like “Left Behind,” “Fire-proof,” or “Fac-ing the Giants” – but I would argue that these are not high quality movies. Here are a few reasons why.

For one, God does not make a great character. Unless he’s being played by Morgan Freeman (and even then, the characterization is questionable), God has a hard time showing up as an exciting, active agent in a story. He doesn’t tend to say much, doesn’t off er a whole lot of emotive facial expression, and he doesn’t learn, grow, or change. All of these things are important for an audience to deeply connect with a character. Th ey have to feel human – something God is certainly not.

Secondly, because God is oft en off -screen, it’s hard for a person to act opposite of him. Scripts in Chris-

tian fi lms oft en resort to over-acting and melodrama in an eff ort to try to communicate to the audience that the character is communicating with God. It oft en rings false, as though somehow the character believed that he wouldn’t get what he wanted un-less he made his situation look much worse than it was.

Th e fi nal reason that Christian fi lms don’t tend to be good fi lms is that they don’t att ract much talent. Sorry, Kirk Cameron is not winning an Oscar any time soon – in fact, al-most every award he’s ever won was for the TV show “Growing Pains” back in the ‘80s.

Part of this has to do with the hard-earned stigma that has devel-oped against them in the past decade or so. It also has to do with the fact that Christian fi lms are not typi-

cally produced by major com-panies, and in turn they have small budgets (“Facing the Giants”’ bud-get was a mere $100,000). All the fi lmmak-ers’ salaries are pulled from this budget, in addi-tion to any and all production costs. It’s partic-ularly trouble-some to att ract

quality actors and fi lmmakers when the budget can’t aff ord to pay them.

Some of the greatest fi lms in Hollywood history could be called Christian cinema, such as Cecil B. DeMille’s “Th e Ten Commandments” or William Wyler’s “Ben Hur.” Th ere was, in these fi lms, a remarkable com-mitment to the artistry of cinema as much as to the gospel message. I feel that many contemporary Christian fi lms lack this same commitment.

Th e time has come for Christian fi lmmakers to place as much value in the channel for the message as they do in the message itself if they intend for it to reach people besides those who already know it.

“Some of the greatest fi lms in

Hollywood history could be called Chris-tian cinema, such as

Cecil B. DeMille’s “Th e Ten Commandments”

or William Wyler’s “Ben Hur.”

“Mom! Tripod rejected his implant.”

Crazy Prophet By Natalie Huebner

6THE SOUNDING BOARD | SEPTMEBER 29, 2011

SPORTSKNOW YOUR

- Sports Information

4 the number of men’s soccer players ranked in the top seven in assists per game in the MCC.

7 the number of freshmen who start for the women’s soccer team.

NU

MB

ER

S

.341 the hitting percentage for sophomore volleyball player Dana Johnston, first in the MCC.

741 the number of kills senior volleyball player R achel Bult has, top in the MCC.

GUESS WHAT

Daneil Sanchez, men’s tennis, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Intercollege Tennis A ssociation tournament onSept. 17.

Kristin Cassidy, women’s tennis, advanced to the semifinals of the Intercollege Tennis A ssociation tournament on Sept. 17.

Men’s and Women’s Soccer both rank in the top five for total assists in NAIA Division 1.

- Sports Information

8 the number of goals the women’s soccer team scored against Holy Cross University on Sept. 21.

Holly Bennet, women’s soccer, ranks in the top four in both total goals and total assists in the MCC.

Coaches: Volleyball

Years coached: 9 years

Years coached at Grace: 4 years

Current family: Brian Harshman (married for four years) son Gaige (age 4) and Titus (5 months)

Favorite college athletics memory: Winning a match at an NAIA National championship

Why did you come to Grace: God opened the door and shut all the other ones. I grew up

10 minutes from here, so this was the last place I was going to come. But God knew better and He prodded and prodded until I finally opened my heart to the idea. It was the absolute best decision I have ever made.

Goals for your program: That we be women of God that fearlessly live out our faith, encourage those younger than we are, learn from those wiser than we are, and that we never stop glorifying Christ through our sport.

Favorite coaching moment: 1. Coaching on Notre Dame staff against Russ Rose (1,033 career wins) at Penn State. 2. My first win over my college coach (Candace Moats) in my second year of coaching at Grace. 3. Our match against Huntington University on Sept 24, 2010, our first match back in the gym after the death of player Mallori Kastner. I was so proud of my team and the strength that it took for them to gear up and handle life’s adversities and play.

Most embarrassing coaching moment: In my first year at Grace, I was walking down the bleachers to clean up after a basketball game when I clipped my heel on the third step from the bottom. My right foot stayed on that step as I pounded down the steps. As my first foot finally hit the floor, I was in a slight split position and fell flat on my back when I turned around. I thought most people were gone already, but when I looked up, the entire visiting team was standing there.

Gett ing to Know: Andria Harshman

Janelle Hess, women’s tennis, helped Grace defeat Man-chester College 5-4 on the final point of the match on Sept. 26.

Mid-Season Stock Watch

Men’s Soccer

Th is far into the season, the Lancers have already proved that they want to win a conference title, with a record of 5-2-1 so far. Just starting MCC play, the team won 5-0 against Huntington University on Sept. 24. Shane Barthuly is the leading goal scorer with seven goals this season. Barthuly had three assists against Huntington. Th e Lancers have also received signifi cant contributions from freshman Austin Altimus and Nikola Blazic. Th e men’s soccer team will look to build on one of the program’s best starts this decade. In order to do so, they must continue to rely on their high-scoring off ense that is one of the best in the MCC.

Stock: Quickly rising

Women’s Soccer

Entering MCC play, the Lady Lancers’ soccer team is searching for a conference title. Th e team is now 5-4-1 aft ertying Marian University in the team’s MCC opener on Sept. 24. Th e team is relying heavily on freshman Holly Bennet, who is the leading scorer for the team with seven goals this season, and sophomore goalkeeper Carmen Barnhill who has 36 saves this season. While their record might not show it due to the strength of schedule, the women’s soccer team is making headway. With two other ranked teams in the MCC, the upcoming schedule will be diffi cult, but a top fi nish in the MCC is not out of reach.

Stock: Slowly rising

Volleyball

Off the cusp of a 12-game winning streak, the Lady Lancers’ volleyball team is well into their season with a record of 14-6. Much has been made of the Lady Lancers’ success so far, but the team’s resillience will be put to the test as they try to bounce back from a two-game losing streak. Th e team’s latest lost was one many fans were outraged about. Seniors Stephanie Lawson and Enrica Verrett have served as the team’s go-to players,

combining for 397 total kills this season through 20 games. Great team play has led the Lady Lancers to start receiving votes in the top-25 poll. Fift een games are left to play for the volleyball team, with enough time left to make a run at an MCC title.

Stock: Quickly rising

Men’s Tennis

With a 5-2 record in MCC play so far this year, the men’s tennis team is taking large steps to build on a 6-5 record last season. Th e Lancers have done so with contribution from every spot. Most notably, Daniel Sanchez has yet to lose a match in singles play, making an immediate impact as a freshman. Gett ing No. 1 singles player Michael Blevins back on track will be essential for the men’s tennis team to make a stong post-season push. He is currently 2-6 in singles. With just one match remaining before the MCC Championship on Oct. 4-8, the Lancers have a shot at great success.

Stock: Slowly rising

Women’s Tennis

Heading into the season, the women’s tennis team knew it would be no small task to replace graduated seniors Jessica Stolle, Alisha Anthony, and Meghan Redhair, who accounted for 225 wins from 2007-10. Yet aft er pulling out a close win over Manchester College, the team sits at a mediocre 4-4. It was this time last year that the team caught fi re and had a string of nine consecutive victories. Th e women’s tennis program will not be able to reach the ten-win plateau as it has the past two seasons, but a turnaround is within reach. Seniors Jenessa Jergensen, Andrea Redhair, and Kelli Hamstra, the team’s top three singles players have gone a combined 11-13 in singles matches. If the team is to be successful moving forward, it will be dependent on how far their leadership takes them.

Stock: Slightly declining

by ZANE GARD

and CHRISTOPHER TULLEY

A Look at How Fall Programs are Doing

Holly Bennet will be a key to the continued success of the Lady Lancers on the fi eld.

Daniel Sanchez, who is undefeated this season, will continue to give the Lancers’ tennis team a boost.

7THE SOUNDING BOARD | SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

SPORTS

WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace’s volleyball team swept the weeky awards from the Mid-Central Col-lege Conference.

Stephanie Lawson was named the Player of the Week and the Hitter of the Week, Rachel Bult was the Setter of the Week, and Bethany Whitcraft rounded out the awards with the Libero of the Week.

Lawson averaged 11 kills in six wins on the week for the Lady Lancers. She amassed a match-high 17 kills in a three-set victory over Union (Ky.) and also tallied six service aces and turned in 18 digs in a 3-2 win over Shorter College.

Bult has been a key factor to Grace’s current eight-game winning streak, including a perfect 6-0 record this week. She had a tremendous 41 assists in a three-game set over No. 22 Indiana Wesleyan and also recorded 57 assists against Shorter College.

Whitcraft tallied double-digit digs in three of Grace’s wins, helping the Lady Lancers to a perfect week. In their win over Shorter College, she tallied an incredible 30 digs (a new career high).

Grace is currently in the heart of the MCC season with away matches on Friday (Bethel, 7 p.m.) and Saturday (Goshen, 3 p.m.).

-Sports Information

Th ough most Grace students could not locate Serbia on a map, they will certainly want to know its location when watching the men’s soccer’s new star midfi elder play this fall.

Nikola Blazic, a Serbian native, is making his presence known on the pitch early on, despite only coming to the United States a month ago. Blazic is currently tied for fourth in the Mid-Central College Conference in assists with four, one behind the league lead-er.

Th e key to any successful soccer team is an outstanding midfi elder. A midfi elder is responsible for play-ing both off ense and defense and re-quires a number of skills and top ath-letic shape. Midfi elders have to tackle, dribble, shoot, and pass during every match. Th is need will be fi lled for Grace through Blazic.

Blazic describes his soccer game as creative and opportunistic. He loves to pass and provide opportunities for his teammates to score. He oft en does so at the expense of his opponents, who are left in the dust when his speed and foot skills are put on display.

Blazic did not take long to make an impact on the Lancers soccer team. In the fi rst game of the season against An-drews University, he registered three assists, a team single-game high. Blazic has taken the momentum from his big debut and has continued to play well in his fi rst eight games wearing the Grace red and black.

Following his impressive debut, Blazic had another assist against Cin-cinnati Christian. Six games later, Blazic’s fi rst goal came against rival

Huntington University in Grace’s Mid-Central College Conference opener—a 5-0 Lancers win. As he gets more and more acclimated with the college game and his teammates, Blazic will continue to add more goals and assists onto an already impressive freshman resume.

Th ough only a twenty-year-old freshman, Blazic has plenty of experi-ence playing at a high level. In his soc-cer career, he has played for the Un-der-16 Serbian national team in several international friendly matches against Slovenia, Slovakia, and Croatia. He has also played for a variety of professional teams’ junior teams. He spent most of his time on the youth squad of the pro team he grew up cheering for—Pro-leter Zrenjanin.

From just sitt ing and watching a game with Grace’s newest att acking midfi elder, it is easily seen how his knowledge of the game makes him such a great player. Perhaps it is time for Grace to learn more about their star midfi elder.

Face-OffIt is a diffi cult challenge for a

freshman to have a true impact in sports at the collegiate level, but freshman volleyball player Calah Kruse is certainly up for the task at Grace.

Kruse, a 5’9” outside hitt er from Auburn, Ind., has been a pivotal role player for the Lady Lancers throughout the season thus far. While Kruse does not start, she makes the most of her opportunities when she is on the court.

On a team that is aiming for the top of the Mid-Central College Conference, Kruse will be an invaluable piece. In a typical game, Kruse comes in during the fi rst set. Kruse wants her impact to be immediate.

“When I come into the game I want to positively aff ect our team or how the game is being played,” Kruse said.

Her impact has been felt already. Last Friday, despite the Lady Lancers losing to Spring Arbor University, Kruse tied for match honors with 17 digs. Two games before that, she also tied for match honors with 12 kills in a win against Goshen College. On the year, Kruse is second on the team in digs with 188 through Sept. 27.

Kruse has been able to step in and succeed so far at the college level due to her constant eff ort to improve her game and skill set. “I work on not just the weaknesses of my game, but continuing to improve on my strengths as well,” she explained.

One thing that will work in Kruse’s favor is that her drive to compete is fueled by her teammates and her opponents. Th e bett er the team Kruse

plays, the bett er she plays. In a sport where unit is the key, Kruse relies on her teammates to push her to get bett er. Th e competition Kruse sees at the collegiate level will unquestionably continue to aid her in gett ing bett er.

For Kruse to continue to positively impact the volleyball team, she must learn to overcome an obstacle that most freshmen have—facing new physical and mental challenges. Kruse admitt ed that one of the biggest challenges she faces is the mental aspect of the game. To overcome this, her goal is “not focusing on the past, but rather focusing on the task at hand.”

Kruse is well on her way to becoming a future leader of the volleyball team. If she continues to produce the numbers that she has already this season, the Lady Lancers volleyball team will continue to win games in the second half of the season.

So much for needing time to learn the ropes.

Topic: Which fall program freshman will make the biggest impact in 2011?

Sports Information Photo

Sophomore forward Shane Barthuly once again takes Player of the Week honors after helping Grace defeat Huntington University on Sept. 24.

Barthuly recorded a hat trick in assists leading Grace to a 5-0 win in their MCC opener.

Barthuly is now first in the MCC with 0.88 goals per game and is tied in assists with 0.63 assists per game on the season.

Player of the WeekShane Barthuly

Men’s Soccer WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The Grace men’s soccer team was impressive in their Mid-Central College Conference opener, winning 5-0 on the road against Huntington University on Saturday.

Shane Barthuly accounted for three assists, and freshman Austin Altimus scored a pair of late goals for the Lancers (5-2-1; 1-0 MCC).

Grace showed tremendous balance, holding the Foresters (2-6-1; 0-1 MCC) to 10 shots while recording 27 on the offensive end.

Freshmen Nikola Blazic and Trent Smith notched their first collegiate goals in the victory. Blazic scored first at the 12:40 mark from an assist by Devin Kemmerer to put the Lancers on the board.

Smith grabbed his goal before halftime in the 38th minute off a pass from Adam Kitchens.In the second half, all roads led through Barthuly. The first-year Lancer (sophomore transfer)

recorded a second-half assist hat trick, first assisting Kitchens at the 62:35 mark.He then found Altimus twice in the span of 1:32 near the end of regulation to reach the final margin.Freshman Jacob Cole was credited with the shutout, although he only needed to make one save in 90

minutes in front of the net.-Sports Information

Offense Surges with Five Goals in MCC OpenerThis week in Lancer Athletics...

Sports Information Photo

Nikola BlazicMen’s Soccer

Calah KruseVolleyball

by SCOTT HOFFMAN

Sports Writer

by BEN HYDE

Sports Writer

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