Menlo News
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MC - Mon, Feb. 14, 2011
Women's Basketball (16-11, 8-2): Thursday 5:30pm, Saturday 5:30pm

The Lady Oaks take their three game winning streak into the final week of the regular season with key matchups against William Jessup University on Thursday February 17 and Simpson University on Saturday February 19.
 
With a win against Jessup, Menlo will take second place in the California Pacific Conference for the fourth straight season. The Oaks are seemingly a confident group of girls in their attempt at second place, just ask senior Stephanie Truong. "It's a tight race in the conference but it's time. We are going to get it done," claimed the confident Truong.
 
Following Menlo's critical matchup with the Warriors, the Lady Oaks will return to Haynes-Prim Pavilion for their final home game of the season against Simpson University. For seniors Elisa Ayala, Monique Ayers-Calvello, and Stephanie Truong it's their last chance to impress the Menlo faithful.
 

Men's Basketball (12-12,8-2): Thursday 7:30pm, Saturday 7:30pm

Coming off a dramatic come from behind win last Saturday against Pacific Union, the Oaks are now a win against conference foe William Jessup away from their first California Pacific Conference title since 2002.
 
Jessup comes into Thursday's contest with an identical 8-2 conference record but an 81-72 Menlo victory in the first meeting between these two currently gives the Oaks the first place edge. However none of that will matter on Thursday as everything will be on the line and according to team co-captain Nick McCullar, Menlo will come into the game with their eyes on the prize. "It's obviously a great opportunity. The program has not been in this position since 2002 so we will be zoned in and really focused for this Thursday," remarked McCullar.
 
After their monster matchup against the Warriors, the Oaks will return home for their final home game of the season against Simpson University. Although it will mark the end of an era for the team's five seniors, they are committed to ending it on a high note with a regular season Cal Pac championship. "The end of the tunnel is coming but I'm just trying to help this team stay focused for this Thursday. To be honest I haven't even begin to think about this Saturday," said McCullar.
 
Baseball (5-3): Friday 2:00pm, Saturday Doubleheader 11:00am
Menlo will try to get back to their winning ways after a hard fought weekend series against San Francisco State that saw the Oaks drop two of three. Menlo's next test will be a weekend series against Westmont College beginning this Friday February 18 at 2:00pm.
 
The Warriors come into the series with a 5-2 record after splitting a double header against Oregon Tech last Saturday. For Oaks' right fielder Joel Hull, this weekend should serve as a good marking stick for Menlo's 2011 campaign. "This is an important series for us as Westmont is in the NAIA. It's a good series to base what the rest of our season could be like. Obviously a sweep would be ideal but we are just looking to come away with the series win," claimed Hull.
 
Look for Menlo starting pitcher Sean Sweeney to build on his strong beginning to the 2011 season. After a great outing against SF State the sophomore from Sonoma is now 3-0 with a 2.95 era as he looks for another strong performance.
 

Men's Wrestling: Saturday 9:00am
Wrestling kicks off one of its biggest weeks of the year with the NAIA Western Regionals beginning this Saturday February 19 in Prescott Arizona. Currently the Oaks have nine guys who have already qualified for the NAIA Nationals but are looking to send three more with big showings this weekend.
 

Although Regionals will be a daunting task for Menlo as four of the top ten ranked teams are in their region, head Coach Joey Martinez is confident in his group of guys. "We are hoping to go over there and compete and wrestle well to get 12 guys to the national tournament," commented Martinez. "If we come out ready to go we are just as good as any team in the region."

As a team, the Oaks are currently ranked 9th overall with five wrestlers nationally ranked. Regionals kick off at 9:00am.
 
Softball (1-7): Sunday Doubleheader 11:00am

Coming off their first win of the season in last weekend's Simpson Tournament, the Lady Oaks will set their sights on Hope International University for a Sunday doubleheader beginning at 11:00am.

Although their record in the six game tournament was only 1-5, there were a number of positives to take away which should help the Lady Oaks down the line, just ask captain Serina Stephens.
 
 "Honestly, overall the tournament went well. It was tough without some of our starters but we really held our own, " commented the team's only senior. Stephens also talked about one of the team's biggest needs for improvement, hitting with more consistency. "We hit well throughout the tournament but we really need to work on timely hitting and knocking people in when they are in scoring position." Hope International will come into the doubleheader with an overall record of 2-2.