SPORTSFriday, November 15, 2013 • SeCTioN b

SPORTSSPORTSEditor: Ryan Finley / 520-573-4312 / sportsed@azstarnet.com

ARIZONA FOOTBALL

By Bruce PascoeARIZONADAILY STAR

SANDIEGO—SanDiegoState’srowdy fans couldn’t do it.TheAz-tecs’ full-court press couldn’t doit. Nor, certainly, could well-re-gardedSDSUbigman JoshDavis.

Only one thing ultimatelystopped the Arizona Wildcats onThursday, and that came aftertheir 69-60 win over San DiegoState: The fog.

It rolled in during the game, somuch so that Arizona wasn’t al-lowed tofire up their charter flightto go home immediately after thegame.

Oh well. Arizona staffersbooked the Wildcats into anotherhotel, and everyone walked out ofViejasArena in a goodmood, any-way.

Whywouldn’t they be in a goodmood? A true road game in No-vember,ataplacewhere theywereembarrassed in a 63-46 loss fouryears earlier?

A place where this time, a14-point leadshrank to just four inthe finalminutes and fanswere on

their feet rooting for a collapse.But then … an alley-oop in-

bounds pass from T.J. McCon-

nell to Aaron Gordon resulted in adunk that moved UA’s lead to six,then a few defensive stops and itwas all over.

“I’m just proud of the fact thatwe came here and played,” UAcoach SeanMiller said. “We camein here not knowing how it wouldwork out and … the fact that weplayed well enough to win willcontinue to give us confidence.”

It alsohelpedMiller continue tomove keyUAplayers into the roleshewants them tobe in.

On top of Gordon’s 16 athlet-ically created points and moresteady ballhandling from McCo-nnell, Nick Johnson moved fur-ther into his role as a leader forthe Wildcats. The junior scored ateam-high 23 points,with 8-of-15shooting (though hemissed 5 of 6

Wildcatshappytohangon

EL TOUR DE TUCSON

By Shannon ConnerSPECIALTO THEARIZONADAILY STAR

As her family held the donatedmountain bike seat, 37-year-oldMelinda Leyva put her feet on thepedals, gripped the handlebarsandwobbled.

Shewas teachingherself how toride.

Feet have led to miles as sherides on Tucson’s west side andaround the Pascua Yaqui Reser-vation.

OnNov. 23, Leyvawill be one ofabout 30 Yaqui team riders in ElTour de Tucson; she will ride the38-mile race. The Yaqui teamwillride as part of the reservation’sDiabetes Prevention and Treat-ment Program.

“Whenwestarted talkingaboutthis race last year, I thought itwould be awesome,” the adminis-trative assistant said.“But I didn’tknowhow to ride. So I taughtmy-self.”

Leyva started cycling to helpsave her life.

The training has been solitaryfor Leyva, who was diagnosedwith Type 2 diabetes about 10years ago. She works out daily atthe Yaqui Wellness Center, andrides on theweekends. “I’ve pret-ty much had to change myself.

(Diabetes) is a huge thing,” shesaid. “You’ve got to get on track,change your food, diet, exercise,keeping upwithmedication.”

Yaqui cyclist inspires, educates

BENJIE SANDERS / ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Melinda Leyva, who has Type 2 diabetes, will ride in this month’s El Tourde Tucson as part of a Yaqui team cycling to raise diabetes awareness.

IF YOU GO•What: El Tour deTucson presentedby Casino del Sol Resort

•When: Nov. 23•Who:About 9,000 cyclists inseven races

• Register online: perimeterbicy-cling.com/el-tour-de-tucson

On StarNet: Check out oursearchable database of resultsfrom El Tour de Tucson from

2006-2012 at azstarnet.com/online/databases

See EL TOUR, B3

FC TUCSON

By Dave OrdARIZONADAILY STAR

Can you hold a reunion whenyou’ve only been around threeyears?

FC Tucson is going to give itthe old pro development leaguetry tonight, when a team com-prisedmainly of the soccer club’sformer players takes the fieldagainst Major League Soccer’sChivas USA. The exhibition willchristen the new Kino SportsComplexNorthStadium.Kickoffis set for 7.

The reunion is unofficial andwill certainly take a back seat, inthe new 1,700-seat grandstand,to the new venue. But withoutthose players who representedtheclub inFCTucson’sfirst threeyears, thereprobablywouldn’t bea newstadium to celebrate.

Fourteen of the 22 names ontheFCTucsonroster for tonight’smatch have put on the black uni-

form at some point since theclub’s inception in 2011. Thatgroup includes four members— Kareem Smith, Reid Schmitt,Michael Kraus and Dom Papa —of the 2012 team that reached theplayoffs in the franchise’s firstyear in the USL Premier Devel-opment League.

“We thought this would bea really cool thing to give toguys like Kareem and Reid andMike Kraus and Dom becausethey took a chance on us at thevery beginning — a lot like the

ReunitedFCTucsontochristenstadiumagainstMLSclub

By Daniel BerkARIZONADAILY STAR

When he was a 23-year-oldhigh school assistant coach,Paul Volero drove four of hisplayers from Miami, Fla., torural West Virginia to play forcoach Rich Rodriguez’s Glen-ville State Pioneers.

After two days in Glenville,W.Va., the always-resourcefulRodriguez pulled the well-builtVolero aside.

“At the end of the weekend,he said, ‘You still look half-de-cent — you wanna play forus?’” a laughing Volero recalledThursday. “I said sure. And therest is history.”

Volero had played two sea-sons at Arizona Western Col-lege. But after he didn’t get anyoffers to continue his career,Volero moved back to SouthFlorida to coach high schoolfootball.

When Rodriguez asked himif he wanted to restart his play-ing career, Volero jumped at thechance.

He played two years for Ro-driguez at Glenville and was onthe 1993 team that played for anNAIAnational championship.

Following his playing career,Volero served as Rodriguez’sdefensive line coach for a seasonatGlenville and thenworked forhimagain for threeyearsatWestVirginia as a graduate assistant.

The two will be back on thesame field Saturday at ArizonaStadium.Volero, now 43, servesas Washington State’s outsidelinebackers coach.

“During the season, we hav-en’t been able to talk, but in theoffseason we do, and he’s stillclose with some other guys onour staff,” Rodriguez said thisweek. “Paul’s a great guy. Hewas always a good recruiter, butmore than anything, he’s justalways had awaywith the kids.”

Volero was teammates withUA quarterbacks coach RodSmith at Glenville. Voleroalso worked with current UA

Volero,RichRodreadyforreunion

UP NEXT•What:Washington State atArizona

•When: Noon Saturday• TV; radio: Pac-12 Arizona;1290-AM, 107.5-FM, 990-AM(Spanish)

See FOOTBALL, B6

NO. 6 ARIZONA 69, SAN DIEGO STATE 60

PHOTOS BYMAMTA POPAT / ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Arizona Wildcats center Kaleb Tarczewski (35) reacts after teammate Aaron Gordon (11) completed an alley-oop against San Diego State.

TODAY•Who: FC Tucson vs. Chivas USA•When: 7 p.m.•Where: Kino Sports ComplexNorth Stadium• Tickets: fctucson.com

See FC TUCSON, B3

Ua holds off aztecsto claim road victoryin difficult environs

UA guard Nick Johnson drives to the basket and past SDSU forward MattShrigley in the second half Thursday.

UP NEXT•What: Fairleigh Dickinson atArizona

•When: 9 p.m., Monday• TV; radio: ESPNU; 1290-AM

See BASKETBALL, B5