The Anderson University volleyball team clinched third place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference on Wednesday night, defeating Rose-Hulman in four games at the Hulman Center in Terre Haute.

The Ravens defeated the Engineers by scores 25-22, 25-19, 23-25 and 25-14.

Kasey Bollier led the Ravens with 47 assists, 14 digs, six service points and an ace in her final regular season game.

Allee Donaghy had 15 service points, two service aces and Jessica Berlin had 14 kills, 12 digs and 10 service points, including an ace. Carol Weatherford added 11 kills, four blocks.

Kate McCollum had 17 kills while Caitlin Morency added 24 digs, Tara Denham five blocks and Liz Turner four blocks.

AU (14-16, 6-2 HCAC) will play the No. 5 seed in the HCAC tournament on Nov. 8 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mt. St. Joseph will be the top seed and Defiance the No. 2 seed. The top six teams make the post-season tournament with the top seed hosting.

The Anderson University men’s basketball team was picked to finish second to defending Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference champion Defiance in the pre-season coaches poll on Wednesday.

The Yellow Jackets received 73 points and four first-place votes while the Ravens earned 65 points and two first-place votes. Franklin (63) and Transylvania (60) each received one vote and were predicted to finish third and fourth, respectively. Hanover was selected fifth (35), followed by Rose-Hulman (31), Mt. St. Joseph (30), Bluffton (28) and Manchester (20).

AU finished tied for second in the HCAC last year with an overall record of 15-12 and a 10-6 mark in the conference.

AU opens the season at Indiana University in an exhibition game on Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. The open the regular season at home against Alma on Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m.

The Anderson University women’s basketball team was selected first in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference pre-season coaches poll on Tuesday.

The Ravens received 75 points, including six first-place votes. Manchester was second (71 points), Hanover third (60) and Transylvania fourth (53), with each of those teams earning one first-place vote. Fifth was Franklin (46) followed by Rose-Hulman (30), Defiance (27), Mt. St. Joseph (26) and Bluffton (17).

The Ravens were 18-8 overall and 12-4 in the HCAC last season, winning their second conference title. They lost to Manchester in the championship game of the post-season tournament on a last-second shot.

AU opens the 2008-09 season at Robert Morris on Nov. 21 at 8 p.m.

When Anderson University men’s basketball coach Tom Slyder was a player for the Ravens in the late 1980s, the biggest names to fall on the team’s schedule involved the likes of Ohio University and Central Michigan.

Nothing too earth-shattering at the time, the 1988 AU graduate recalled, but a notable step for a NCAA Div. III school eager to compete.

“When I was a player, we played Central Michigan when Dan Majerle was there,” said Slyder, who will begin his third season as head coach this winter. “In the past few years, we’ve played (NCAA Div. I) Ball State, Murry State, Butler, IPFW … and Eastern Michigan.”

On Nov. 7, the Ravens will add Indiana University to the list — a historic one.

[Buy tickets or register for the alumni rally].

The Anderson University football team lost its second consecutive Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game on Saturday at Coressel Stadium, falling to Defiance College 21-13.

The Ravens were behind 21-6 in the fourth quarter, but got a touchdown run by John Sims and reached the Yellow Jackets’ 15-yard-line before losing the ball on downs to end the game.

Prior to the final drive, the AU defense had a goalline stand and a turnover inside the 10-yard line to give the offense a final chance.

Chase Thurston set a school record with 71 pass attempts in the game, completing 32 of them for a career-high 313 yards with an interception. The attempts broke Chris McKee’s previous mark of 68 set on Oct. 16, 2004 against Bluffton.

Zach Duke led the receiving corps with nine catches for 57 yards. Chris Russell had eight receptions for a team-high 92 yards and Nolan Bernard added six catches for 86 yards.

Darryl Stott led the ground game with 40 yards on nine carries, but left the game for good in the second quarter with an injury. Backup John Sims finished with 17 yards on six carries, including the 1-yard TD run with 7:50 left in the game.

Tristan Cork booted two more field goals, including a 45-yarder in the third quarter. The second field goal tied Mike Roberts single season record of nine. Roberts made 9-of-17 field goals during the 1996 season. Cork now has three of the four longest kicks in school history, including last week’s school record 51-yarder. He has also been named HCAC Special Teams Player of the Week for two weeks running and three times this year.

Jeremiah Townsell led the defense with 13 tackles, two tackles-for-loss and a sack. Kaleb Donahue had 10 tackles and safeties Chance Benbow and Luke Hurst each had nine tackles.

The Ravens also picked off three more passing on Saturday, bringing their season total to 17. Michael Capstick, Cory Perrin and Jared Millikan each had one interception against the Yellow Jackets.

AU (3-4, 2-2 HCAC) hosts Bluffton on Saturday at Macholtz Stadium. The game will be carried live on the internet broadcast at 1:30 p.m.

The Anderson University volleyball team lost to Marian College 25-18, 21-25, 25-15 and 27-25 on Thursday night in Indianapolis.

Jessica Berlin led the Ravens with 17 kills and 14 digs. Kate McCollum had 16 kills, four blocks and Carol Weatherford had seven kills, six service points and four blocks.

Kasey Bollier had 46 assists, nine digs and Caitlin Morency had 24 digs and six service points. Allee Donaghy added nine digs, nine service points and Emily Bell six service points.

AU (13-16, 5-2 HCAC) travels to Rose-Hulman next Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Anderson University recently announced that Dr. Carl H. Caldwell, vice-president for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, will retire at the conclusion of the 2008-09 academic year. Upon retirement, Dr. Caldwell will conclude a distinguished career of 38 years in academic and administrative leadership. He has served at Anderson University since the spring of 1996.

“Carl has been a wonderful colleague in our work together,” said Dr. James L. Edwards, president of Anderson University. “He has cared deeply for our faculty and our students and has demonstrated a love for learning that is inspiring. We hope he will continue to invest his talents in this university even has he pursues other interests in his retirement years.”

For the first time in the 10-year history of the series, the Anderson University volleyball team defeated Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference power and No. 25 ranked Mt. St. Joseph.

The Ravens snapped their 15-game losing streak to the Lions, winning by scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-22 on Tuesday night at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium for Senior Night.

The Lions have won nine of 10 conference championships since joining the league in 1998 and entered the match with a 70-2 regular season mark in conference play.

Seniors Emily Bell and Kasey Bollier finished with 10 service points, four kills and 41 assists, five digs and four kills, respectively, in their final home matches.

Carol Weatherford led the Ravens with eight service points, seven kills, two blocks and two digs.

Kate McCollum had 12 kills, three digs and Jessica Berlin had seven kills, seven digs and three service points. Caitlin Morency had 22 digs, six service points and Tara Denham five kills and two digs. Liz Turner added 10 kills and Allee Donaghy 11 digs.

AU (13-15, 5-2 HCAC) travels to Marian on Thursday at 7 p.m.

This week AU is hosting Brian McLaren, author and pastor, at chapel sessions and evening services for Spiritual Emphasis Week.His book, A Generous Orthodoxy , is a personal confession and has been called a “manifesto” of the emerging church conversation.

McLaren will offer four sessions at AU entitled: “The Story We Find Ourselves In,” “A Whole-Hearted Gospel,” “Christianity as Way and Practice,” and “More Ready Than You Realize: Evangelism in the Emerging Culture.” All services will be conducted October 21-23 on the Anderson University campus.  Morning services will be conducted during chapel/convocation at 10 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday in Reardon Auditorium.  Evening services will also be conducted Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in Reardon Auditorium. The services are free and open to the public.

For the third time in four weeks, Anderson University’s Tristan Cork has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Special Team’s Player of the Week in football.

Cork set a school-record with a 51-yard field goal in the Ravens’ 56-27 loss to Franklin on Saturday.  The 51-yarder breaks the record previously held by Jason Gilman in 1988 of 46-yards.

The junior was also named the Special Team’s Player of the Week last week in a victory over Mount St. Joseph.

AU (3-3, 2-1 HCAC) plays Defiance College on Saturday at Defiance, Ohio.  The game will be carried live on the internet broadcast from Coressel Stadium at 1:30 p.m.