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December 3,1998
The Banner
Page 7
Sports
Feimis team prepares for
jeason with productive fall
By Patrick Alderman
staff Writer
The men's and women’s tennis
cams are gearing up or a new sea-
on this spring. UNCA’s men fin-
;hed third in the Big South Con-
irence last season, and hope to
lave an even better
gan.
“The men’s team has a real shot,”
Silverstein said. “With the five
starters that we have from last
season, we have a chance to make
the NCAA tournament if we take
the conference championship.”
The women’s team will have
three starters returning from last
season.
Laura Hastay, a sophomore who
rfor
this
ear.
Head coach Dan
lilverstein believes
is teams have
nade great strides
lis fall in prepar-
for the 1999
lason.
‘if we work hard
ver the semester
reak and come
nto the spring sea-
on prepared, ready
believe in each
thers abilities,
len we will have a
;gitimate shot at
he BSC title,” said
lilverstein.
The men’s team
fompeted in four
ournaments this
all, while the
vomen’s team
ompeted in three
ournaments, and a
lual match against
)i'estern Carolina.
Four starters from
1st season’s third-
anked men’s team
vill return in the
pring. Brandon
Shupe, a senior and All-Confer-
(/ice selection from a year ago, will
return to lead the Bulldogs in the
lumber one position.
Sophomore Jimmy Langton will
itep in at the number two spot.
Langton finished last season with
13 wins, and will be heavily counted
on by the team for the upcoming
spring season.
Scott Prybys, a sophomore, held
the number five spot last season
and, due to his training over the
summer, is expected by the coach
ing staff to challenge for the num
ber three spot.
Jakub Jez is the last of the starters
returning form last year. A sopho
more, Jez will be playing between
tlie four and six positions.
Zack Molina, a freshman, is a
recent addition to the Bulldogs and
is expected to add a certain depth to
the team.
The men’s team welcomes two
new players - Ivar. Lalic and Jeff
Grimm. Lalic, hailing from Yugo
slavia, had a strong high school
career out of Gainesville, Fla., and
is expected to blossom at UNCA.
Grimm, a high school teammate
of Prybys, was a state qualifier all
four years of his career in Michi-
CLIP ART
will play in the top four positions,
was injured most of the 97-98
season, and is itching to show the
entire conference why she was so
highly recruited two years ago.
According to the coaching staff,
Hastay should be one of the top
players for the Bulldogs this sea
son.
“Laura worked extremely hard
last summer, and is going to be
looked upon as a leader for the
spring season,” Silverstein said.
Cathy Rhoney, a sophomore,
played in the sixth position last
year, and also held the team-best
record with 13 wins her freshman
year.
Jennifer Smith is a returning se
nior and will look to take the first
spot in the lineup.
“These three young ladies are
going to have to help the fresh
men through this upcoming
spring season for us to be success
ful,” Silverstein said.
The Bulldogs signed six new
freshmen to the women’s tennis
team last spring, resulting in what
Silverstein believes to be the deep
est team ever to play for UNCA.
Among those signed for the up-
coming season are Kristen
Houbenreich, Allison Hunt,
Nancy Livesay, Stephanie Shuba,
G.G. Strawn, and Janelle Watson.
The coaching staff is impressed
with all these freshmen’s fall re
sults, and expects them to play
important roles in the Big South
title chase.
“It’s going to be extremely hard
this spring deciding who plays at
what position,” Silverstein said.
“We have nine
girls who could
play at any time
and at any given
position.”
Silverstein’s faith
in his girls stems
from the results
of this fall’s tour
nament.
Transfer Janelle
Watson over
came the fourth
seed from the
University of
Louisville during
the East Region
Rolex Champi
onships the week
end of Nov. 6.
“Janelle played
two years at a top-
notch Division II
school (Flagler),
and has the tal
ent to be one of
the top players in
the BSC and the
East Region,”
Silverstein said.
Both Livsay and
Strawn reached
the semifinals of
the tournament
before falling to some tough op
ponents from central Florida.
Houbenreich, Hastay, Shuba,
Watson, and Livesay were all able
to dominate their opponents from
the Western Carolina team.
“Right now, we have six girls
who are going to challenge each
other for the number one spot,”
Silverstein said. “This team will
only get better as the year goes on,
and as they gain confidence, indi
vidually, and in their teammates.”
The spring season will begin on
on Feb. 9 as both the men's and
women’s teams’ face East Caro
lina.
The first home matches will be
played on Feb. 18 in the first
Big South Conference match
against Charleston Southern
University.
Other schedule highlights for
the men include nationally-
ranked teamssuch as North Caro
lina on Feb. 27, N.C. State on
March 6, Jacksonville University
on March 22, and Florida State
on March 23.
The women’s team will face Col
lege of Charleston at home on
March 12, Jacksonville on March
22, and Bethune-Cookman on
March 25.
1998 Chase NIT Tournament
Nov. 16
Charleston
Nov. 18
Nov. 25
Nov. 27
Georgia
Georaia
North Carolina
Fla. Inter.
North Carolina
UNC
North Carolina
III nhlRago
Purdue
Purdue
Purdue
Gonzaga
Gonzaoa
Memphis
unampionsnip
UNCA
St. Johns
St. Johns
St. Johns
Niaaara
U Mass
U. Mass
Stanford
So. Methodist
Stanford
Stanford
SWMIssour^t. . 3,^
Nov. 20
Missouii •
North Carolina
1998 NIT Champion
Bulldogs 0-5 in regular season
By Chris Walker
staff Writer
The UNCA women’s basketball
team lost to Auburn University on
Dec. 1. The loss to the Tigers is the
fourth in two weeks, and brings the
Bulldogs’ record to 0-5.
UNCA lost 74-42 while shooting
32 percent from the floor. The
Bulldogs also lost to UNC-
Wilmington 70-47. The Bulldogs
only shot 27 percent from the floor
against UNCW.
N.C. State scored 93 points, while
keeping UNCA to only 25. This
68-point margin of victory is the
biggest against UNCA this season.
In their closest game of the season,
the Bnlldops' lost to I INC-Greens-
boro 69-53.
UNCA has more tough games to
come, including games at Western
Carolina Universit)', University of
South Carolina, and Appalachian
State University.
The Bulldogs shot 40 percent from
the field in the first half against
Auburn to trail by only three at the
half
' Auburn kept UNCA to 24 per
cent from the floor and out-scored
the Bulldogs 45-16 in the second
half
Auburn won 45 rebounds to
UNCA’s 20, and forced 19 turn
overs. The Bulldogs made 16 of 50
field goals and forced 14 Auburn
turnovers.
The Bulldogs had trouble scoring
against UNCW in their 70-47 loss.
UNCA shot 27 percent from the
floor and made only one three
pointer out of 13 total attempts.
Senior Elisa Fellers led the Bull
dogs with 10 points, while Nicole
Sampson had six points and 13
rebounds. Freshman K’Shaki Short
added nine points.
Sixteenth-ranked N.C. State held
UNCA to 21 percent from the floor
and forced 35 turnovers. The
Wolfpack out-scored UNCA 50-
14 in the first half
“We don’t come in here thinking
we can beat N.C. State, but we
want to make things work,” said
head coach Kathleen Weber. “We
have to be able to execute on of
fense and defense to compete.”
Junior Emily Hill led the Bull
dogs with seven points, while jun
ior Marion Kuehn and junior trans
fer Izrawit Medhanie also scored
six. Medhanie had 10 of UNCA’s
riirnnvf=*r«;
In the UNCG game, the Spartans
led 33-18 at the halt, but UNCA
came back in the second half to
trail by only four with under four
niinutes left.
UNCG then went on a I 5-3 scor
ing run to end the game. UNCA
shot only 20 percent from the floor
in the first half, but was able to
finish the night shooting 34 per
cent from the floor.
Fellers again led the Bulldogs with
17 points and 6 rebounds.
Medhanie and Hill both scored 13
points. Hill also had seven assists
and played the full 40 minutes of
the game.
The Bulldogs have a 0-5 record,
and have been beaten by an average
of 41.2 points per game. The Bull
dogs have scored a total of 193
points to their opponents’ 399
points.
The Bulldogs were ranked fourth
in the Big South Conference be
hind Liberty, Radford, and Charles
ton Southern prior to the begin
ning of the season, despite going to
the Big South Conference Tourna-
ment championship game last sea
son.
The Bulldogs’ three returning se
niors are Fellers, Candy Credito,
and Kuehn.
UNCA’s power may be in it’s
junior class with Hill and transfer
Medhanie. Hill is on pace to be
only the fourth UNCA player to
score 1,000 points since UNCA
became a Division I school.
Hill led the Bulldogslastyear, and
was second in the Big South in
scoring, averaging 18.1 points per
game. Her 18.1 points per game
was the highest scoring average by a
1 JNCA nl;ivpr in 1 4 vpars She was
first team all-confcrence and the
Big South tmiriianient MVP last
year. Hill is only the third player to
be voted conference MVP while
not on a winning team.
Medhanie, who is originally from
Sweden, came to UNCA from
SeminoieJunior College in Florida.
Medhanie’s sister is a senior guard
at Duke.
Medhanie has scored 42 points
through five games for an average
of 8.4 points per game.
Sampson is the only returning
sophomore. Sampson leads the
Bulldogs with 26 rebounds in four
games for an average of 6.5 re
bounds per game.
UNCA’s freshman class is made
up of Short, Casey Hunter, and
Tynisha King. So far this season,
these three freshmen have com
bined for 45 points.
Freshman basketball player helps
Bulldogs on and off the court
graphic by CHRIS GARNER AND JASON COOPER
By Kjrsten Keane
staff Writer
A UNCA women’s basketball
player is learning what it takes to
participate in Division I college ath
letics and be an active member of
the UNCA community.
Casey Hunter, a 6-2 freshman
from Flaleigh, will be backing up
senior Candy Credito this season as
a center for the Bulldogs.
“It’s been hard coming in as a fresh
man,” said Hunter. “The difference
between high school basketball and
college is just a big step.”
“We really like (Casey)because she
has a lot of potential,” said head
coach Kathleen Weber. “Casey is
physically very strong and she’ll do
a good job lebounding.”
Hunter said she feels that, as a
freshman, she has to work harder
than a lot of other people on the
team.
“We don’t know a lot of the drills
and the plays,” said Hunter. “The
intensity of the workouts, the run
ning we do, it’s just completely
different from high school.”
“With the addition of our new
players, I think we’ll be lot quicker
and more athletic this year,” said
Weber. “This will enable us to play
more full-court basketball and ex
tend our running game.”
Hunter said that the Bulldogs have
a strong sense of unity this season,
one which she hopes will continue
to be demonstrated on the court.
“We’ve been through a lot to
gether, especially the older kids,”
said Hunter. “We have senior men
tors who work along with [fresh
men] and they back you up the
whole way.”
Weber encouraged a strong com
munity spirit in her team even be
fore the season began, Hunter said.
“In preseason, (Weber) set aside
one hour (per week) where we just
sat down and talked,” said Hunter.
“It helped keep our spirits up in the
battles with the teams we play.”
The team has been working to
gether off court with community
service projects this season.
“We did Walk For Life,” said
Hunter. “I’ve always enjoyed do
ing that kind of stuff”
Weber actively encouraged the
teairi to participate in the commu
nity, Hunter said.
“She tells her team when they
come into the program, ‘ifyou don’t
want to put anything into the com
munity, then you don’t need to be
here’,” said Hunter.
Hunter said she likes the tough
schedule Weber has helped set for
the season.
“I know that we’ve had a rocky
start,” said Hunter. “Clemson and
NC State were pretty bad losses.
But I’d rather work so that we can
compete ai the Big South Confer
ence, and I think it’s really going to
help us.”
It is a team goal to rise to the
challenge of the Big South Cham
pionships this season. Hunter said.
“I want us to be number one in the
Big South this year,” said Hunter.
“We sat down and wrote our goals
out and that was one of our biggest.
The girls got into the champion
ship game last year, and they’re
wanting to go back with a different
ending.”
Hunter said she considered Lib
erty, another Big South school,
along with UNCA in the process of
choosing a school.
“When I came here, it was very
different. It was smaller,” said
Hunter. “I think that’s really why
I decided to come here.”
“The Big South is really a great
conference that’s getting better and
better every year,” said Weber.
“Liberty gave our league a lot of
great exposure last season with their
undefeated record, and they’ll cer
tainly be very good again this year.”
Academically, Hunter said she is
considering majoring in psychol
ogy at UNCA and then speech pa
thology in graduate school, con
centrating on work with children.
“It gives you a really good feeling
to know you have made a differ
ence,” said Hunter.
One community service project
the Bulldogs are considering. Bull
dog Buddies, is especially close to
her field.
“Bulldog Buddies is where some
of the athletes go to middle schools
and elementary schools and sit down
and help kid with any academic
problems,” said Hunter.
Many of UNCA’s athletes have
signed up to work with this pro
gram one or two hours per week.
“It’s really good to get the team
out there,” sai d Hunter. “(Bulldog
Buddies) gets the team together
and we get to do it with people who
are really into it.”
The Bulldogs face Western Caro
lina University Dec. 4 at the Ramsey
Center in Cullowhee.
“I’m really looking forward to it,”
said Hunter. “I’m ready to win
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