The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

May 10, 1999

April 10 was Paul Scarpa Day at Furman University this year as Scarpa, the longtime men's tennis coach, was honored for his 1,000th match at the university. Scarpa is only the second Division I coach to oversee 1,000 matches at one school, joining Hawaii's Jim Schwitters in this exclusive club.

Scarpa currently is in his 33rd year at the helm of the Paladin program, and he is the third-winningest coach in Division I men's tennis. He has posted winning records in 29 of his 32 seasons at Furman, and he has had only one losing season since 1970.

Scarpa has tallied 620 victories at Furman, and he has a 656-398 record in 36 seasons as a collegiate coach.

Before the start of the 1,000th match, Furman honored Scarpa with a tribute in which Ned Caswell, a former Furman tennis standout, and John Block, vice-president for intercollegiate athletics at Furman, both made remarks.

Also, the Furman athletics department, the 1999 Furman men's tennis team and Georgia Southern University's tennis team all made presentations.

"Paul's successes and accomplishments are just some of the reasons why he's a great coach," Block said.

"But there are additional reasons that are really more important. Paul has always focused on teaching and helping young people, regardless of the setting.

"He's always had the understanding that a game is a means to teach values and lessons that will lead to lives lived at a higher level and in a more noble fashion. That's why Scarpa is a great coach."

After the match -- in which Georgia Southern's Ryan O'Keefe edged Furman's Brian Gill, 4-3 -- former players and friends paid tribute to Scarpa. United States Davis Cup team captain Tom Gullikson was among the participants.

A native of Charleston, South Carolina, Scarpa was a 1986 inductee into the South Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame.

He also was a 1994 inductee in the Furman Athletics Department Hall of Fame and the winner of numerous other awards over the years.

While Scarpa's influence has left its mark on Furman, it also has been felt at the national level.

In 1993 the NCAA began using a dual match scoring system developed by Scarpa in all men's dual match and championship play. Known as the "Scarpa system," the format specifies that all matches begin with doubles play, featuring eight-game pro sets, and that all three doubles teams play for one team doubles point.

The aim of the system was to shorten the time frame of a typical dual match, thus increasing overall intensity and interest.

ECAC launches Web site

The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) recently launched a new Web site, www.ecac.com, maintained by Springfield College.

"We will now have the ability to tremendously increase the ECAC technological presence through this new relationship with Springfield College," said ECAC commissioner Phil Buttafuoco.

The ECAC Web site will eventually include many conference functions, including up-to-date conference information about administration, championships, conventions, corporate partners, news features and many other services.

The site will be maintained by 25 Springfield College graduate and undergraduate students.

The ECAC is the nation's largest athletics conference, with 297 member institutions in all three NCAA divisions.

First and goal

Stonehill College junior Allie Riccio knows what it's like to be first. Ricco has scored the first goal in the school's history twice -- in lacrosse and in field hockey.

Riccio scored the first varsity lacrosse goal March 11 in a 13-11 win over Virginia Wesleyan College. She tallied the school's first varsity field hockey goal September 11, 1996, against Bentley College.

Riccio is the leading scorer for the Lady Chieftain's lacrosse team this spring, and she has been among the leading scorers for the field hockey team since her first goal.

Just a swingin'

The University of New Mexico Lobos have had a swinging baseball season so far. In early April, the team set an NCAA record when it combined with the Bulldogs of California State University, Fresno, for 68 hits in New Mexico's 27-26 victory. The teams shattered the previous combined record of 59, set during the U.S. Air Force Academy's 30-29 victory over the University of Denver in 1968.

Fresno State had 36 hits, the fourth-highest total in NCAA history, while the Lobos had a school-record 32 hits. The teams averaged a hit every three minutes and 16 seconds, a run every 4 minutes and 12 seconds, and an out every four minutes and 22 seconds.