The Nevada Sagebrush

Briefs

By: Lukas Eggen

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 1:29 AM

FOOTBALL

Boise State moves up in BCS ranking

Despite a scare from Louisiana Tech Saturday, Boise State’s football team moved up one spot in the Bowl Championship Series Rankings this week from No. 7 to No. 6.

The Broncos defeated Louisiana Tech 45-35 on Friday; however, the game was much closer than expected.

Boise State is ranked behind Florida, Alabama, Texas, TCU and Cincinnati.

The ranking is the Broncos’ second-highest ranking in the BCS this season. The team’s highest ranking came when the team was ranked No. 4 in the season’s first BCS rankings. Boise State is also ranked No. 6 in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Fresno State received two votes for the AP Top 25 as well after the Bulldogs defeated Idaho 31-21 on Saturday. This is the first time Fresno State has received votes this season.

The Bulldogs are the third team from the Western Athletic Conference to receive votes for the AP Top 25. Boise State and Idaho are the other two teams to receive votes.

The Wolf Pack hosts Fresno State on Saturday and plays at Boise State Nov. 27.

BASKETBALL

Fresno, Louisiana Tech receieve votes

Louisiana Tech’s and Fresno State’s women’s basketball teams received votes in the AP preseason poll.

The Lady Techsters received 11 votes while the Bulldogs received three.

Last season, Louisiana Tech and Fresno State shared the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title.

The Bulldogs won the WAC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

Nevada will face both Louisiana Tech and Fresno State twice this season. The Wolf Pack’s first meeting with the Bulldogs is Jan. 21. Nevada will follow up that game five days later when it hosts Louisiana Tech.

MEN’S TENNIS

Two qualify for quarterfinals

Nevada tennis players Wessim Derbel and Kristian Kuharszky fell in the quarterfinals round of the Gael Classic on Nov. 6-8.

In the Red A singles flight, Derbel received a first round bye and then defeated Cal’s Tommie Murphy 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5) in the second round to qualify for the quarterfinals. Derbel lost to USF’s Thai Tu 7-5; 6-3.

Competing in the White A flight, Kuharszky defeated Connor Olson 6-4; 6-3 and St. Mary’s Yousef Bouzkouri 3-6; 6-2; 1-0 (10-5) to move into the quarterfinals.

Kuharszky fell in the round to Santa Clara’s Tom Pham 6-1; 6-0.

Also competing were Gabe Kanzelmeyer, Tony Bulich and Alex Daruty.

Kanzelmeyer and Bulich were eliminated in the first round, while Daruty fell in the second round.

The tournament was Nevada’s last of the fall season. The Wolf Pack’s next match will be Jan. 11 when the team travels to Hawaii to compete at the Training Camp Invitational.

The Wolf Pack opens its conference season on Jan. 16 when the Wolf Pack takes on Hawaii.

BASKETBALL

WAC preseason coaches polls

The Wolf Pack’s men’s basketball team was picked second in the 2009-10 preseason men’s basketball coaches poll.

Nevada received one first place vote and 53 points overall.

The Wolf Pack finished the 2008-09 season with a 21-13 record overall and made it to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game before losing to the Utah State Aggies 72-62.

Sophomore Luke Babbitt and junior Armon Johnson were named to the preseason all-WAC team.

Utah State, which won the WAC regular season and tournament championships, was picked first and received eight of the nine first place votes.

On the women’s side, Fresno State was picked to win the WAC, receiving five first place votes.

The Wolf Pack, which finished 18-14 last season, was picked to finish sixth out of nine teams. The women’s team will play its first regular season game Friday when the Wolf Pack hosts CSU Monterey Bay.

The men’s team starts its regular season a day later when the team plays Montana State.

NFL

Burleson shines again for Seahawks

Former Nevada wide receiver Nate Burleson had another solid game for the Seattle Seahawks.

Burleson had seven receptions for 75 yards as the Seahawks defeated the Detroit Lions 32-20 Sunday.

The 75 yards was second on the team behind running back Julius Jones, who had 78 receiving yards.

Burleson competed for the Wolf Pack from 2000-03. During his career with Nevada, he had 248 receptions for 3,293 yards.

Burleson was originally drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2003 National Football League Draft.

Former wide receiver Marko Mitchell recorded his first two catches in the NFL as the Washington Redskins lost to the Atlanta Falcons 31-17.

Mitchell had two receptions for 22 yards in the loss as the Redskins fell to 2-6 on the season.

Mitchell played for the Wolf Pack from 2006-08 where he became one of the Wolf Pack’s leading receivers. He had 153 receptions for 2,763 yards and 22 touchdowns.

He was drafted by the Redskins in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft.

FOOTBALL

WAC suspends replay official

Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson announced on Thursday that football replay official Michael Goshima was suspended.

Goshima was the replay official during the San Jose State vs. Boise State football game Oct. 31.

The suspension is the result of a play when a runner was called short of a first down.

Goshima confirmed the call after play went under review, however, after closer inspection, the runner clearly made the first down. Boise State won the game 45-7.

Goshima was given a one-game suspension which went into effect last weekend.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Team ready for final tourney ’til January

The women’s tennis team will compete at the Fresno Invitational this Friday through Sunday in Fresno, Calif.

The invitational will be Nevada’s last tournament of fall season.

The Wolf Pack begin conference play against Hawaii on Jan. 11 at the Training Camp Invitational.

Freshman Emma Verberne will be looking to continue her strong fall season after reaching the quarterfinals of the Wilson/ITA Regional Championships at Las Vegas.

Sophomore Florence De Vyre, will be looking to improve.

Last season, De Vyre was named the Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year after going 12-14 in singles play.

Last season, the women’s tennis team finished 13-9 overall and lost to Boise State in the semifinals of the WAC Championships.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at leggen@nevadasagebrush.com.