CAP FOOTBALL THROTTLES JOHN CARROLL, OSU HOLDS SERVE AT HOME, CAP VOLLEYBALL TO SERVE MANY MORE

The past two days have been more than eventful in the realm of sports--at least the realm of sports that interests most of my readers. Let's start with a brief rundown, and then I will insert some of that insightful commentary you all crave.

FRIDAY'S OAC VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINALS

CAPITAL d. Ohio Northern (ranked No. 11 in the country and the No. 1 seed)
30-23, 30-13, 30-28. They advanced to the finals to play Baldwin-Wallace.

SATURDAY'S OAC VOLLEYBALL FINALS
CAPITAL d. Baldwin-Wallace
32-30, 18-30, 30-25, 30-21. They earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament, the first Capital team to ever do that.

SATURDAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL
OHIO STATE 40
ILLINOIS 2
CAPITAL 19
JOHN CARROLL 7

I covered the Crusaders' volleyball win over Ohio Northern in Ada Friday night. Ashamedly, it was the first time I had seen the team play all year, and I realized what I had been missing. I really wanted to stay for Saturday afternoon's championship game, but football back in Columbus. To put it simply, the ladies are terrific. Their size up front--Jordan Centers, Jenn Lilly, Jesse Hampson--is unstoppable. Anytime they get a kill opportunity, it's over for the other team. I would be shocked if anybody can matchup with this team's brute power. As I implied above, the team won the tournament, so they are A.) Capital's first OAC champions in volleyball and B.) Capital's first team to ever earn a bid to the NCAA tournament. Though the polls have underrated them all year, I have no doubt that if the volleyball can keep their momentum, they will earn more than their share of national attention.

I was fortunate enough to sit in C deck for the Buckeyes' slaughter of Illinois. I expected a massacre, but I didn't really get one until Ginn and Holmes starting breaking off the big play. It was one of the few times that I felt sympathy for the opposition. When Illinois's quarterback was pinned against his own goal line in the closed end of the Horseshoe, the crowd was in hysteria, and A.J. Hawk was licking his chops like a starved neanderthal, I thought to myself, "These guys have no chance." The media keeps talking about how strong of a game Smith had, and looking at the statistics it's hard to disagree, but I have to say he did not look sharp early. He hooked up for big plays with Holmes and Ginn, but it was against Illinois. On his eight incompletions, he missed badly. Some of you are reading this now thinking, "How big of a pessimist is this guy?" I am just saying the statistics--13-21, 299 yards, and 2 TDs--are somewhat misleading. He will need to be even sharper next week against Northwestern, whose spread offense WILL reach the end zone at least twice against the Buckeye defense.

The Capital Crusaders used their nationally fifth-ranked defense to slow down the John Carroll passing attack and win 19-7. John Carroll came into the game tied for first in the conference, and the Crusaders were looking to bump them into second. Kyle Hausler's three interceptions led the charge, while Collin O'Reilly added another 100-yards+ performance. Now 7-2, (6-2 OAC), the Crusaders are in a good position to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Assuming they hold serve at home against meager Wilmington, the Crusaders should not be ignored by the coaches.

Coming soon: an early-season analysis of the Cleveland Cavaliers. They're not just LeBron's team now. How much better are they?