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Thursday, November 1, 2007
SPORTS
Page 3
Mase
shines in
conference
By Gordon Gundblach
Staff Writer
Emily Mase
The UNC Asheville women’s
£TOSS country team took sixth and
the men’s team took seventh in the
Big South Conference Meet
Saturday at Jackson Park in
Hendersonville.
“We definitely made improve-
nients from the previous meet. We
made progress,” said Head Coach
Jesse Norman.
The Lady Bulldogs beat Winthrop
University and Charleston Southern
University with a score of 146, nar
rowly losing to Virginia Military
Institute, who received 143 points.
The men scored 205 to beat
Charleston Southern.
“As a team I feel that we did well
in conference this season,” said jun-
_ ior Adam
Matthews.
Senior Emily
Mase came in
11th place, with
a personal best
time of 18:17.
She also made
the Big South
All Academic
team. Senior
Ingrid Allstaedt
came in 18 th
with 18:56, a personal record.
Sophomore Katie Olert ran a 19:49
and came in 34th.
“I feel like we did pretty well com
pared to the rest of the season,”
Olert said.
Senior Liza Duncan came in 36th
with a time of 19:56. Sophomore
Emily Becker came in 50th, mnning
the 5K in 22:13, and freshman
Colleen Vetti ran 22:22 to get 52nd
place. Seventy-three women ran in
the race.
T felt really good. I did a minute
better than last race,” Vetti said.
Junior Andrew Burnett came in 25th
for the men, running the 8K in
27:34. Junior Adam Matthews ran a
time of 28:30 and scored 35th for
the team.
“We ran pretty well, maybe we
went out too fast. I tried to use some
of those hills to pick off opponents.
There are areas I should have gone
a little bit faster, a little bit harder,”
Burnett said.
Senior Joel Quirk ran a 30:13 and
earned 46th and a spot on the Big
South All Academic team.
Freshman Jay Barringer placed 48th
with 30:36, and sophomore Matt
Holman scored 50th with his 32:19
finish. Freshman Robert
Abrahamson ran 33:17 and placed
53rd. Sixty-four men participated
in the race.
“It was a tough course, but we
knew that going into it. I think
we’re all pretty pleased with how
we did,” Quirk said. “We’re all
feeling pretty spent, but that’s a
good thing.”
Liberty University took first in
Iwth the men’s and women’s com
petition. The men scored 27 points
und the women scored 36. Senior
Joshua McDougal came in first for
the men, running in at 24:11. For
the women. Coastal Carolina
University’s senior Diana
lepchirchir ran the race in 17:17 and
came in first.
High Point University came in
second for the men’s race with 58
points and third for the women’s
race with 68 points. Coastal
Carolina University’s women’s
team earned 39 points and came in
second. The Chanticleer’s men’s
t^ came in sixth with 118 points.
Winthrop University’s men’s team
placed third with 75 points, Radford
University’s men’s team received
points and earned fourth, and
rirginia Military Institute’s men’s
got 110 points and fifth place.
This is Norman’s first season
coaching the Bulldogs. “The biggest
th'ng coming in was convincing
^eryone that my system works.
We should get better in the next two
to feee years,” Norman said.
Players responded well to
Norman taking over the team this
year, according to Duncan.
“For
Basketball
teams dazzle
fans in
Jammin’ at
the Justice
ote. It was exciting. When you
By Devon Dow
Sports Editor
Women’s and men’s basketball
began their season preparation
with a UNC Asheville tradition,
Jammin’ at the Justice, giving fans
a preview of the teams’ schedules
and a showcase of their talent.
“This will be an exciting year
for both teams,” said Janet Cone,
UNC Asheville athletic director.
“Both teams are coming off good
seasons from last year and look to
improve on their game playing
this year.”
Both teams made their season
debut participating in team scrim
mages and skill events ranging
from a three-point shot contest to
a slam dunk contest.
“An event like this is good for
the community to be able to come
out and see the teams before the
season starts,” said men’s Head
Coach Eddie Biedenbach.
In the slam dunk contest, senior
Brian Smithson won after sopho
more John Williams missed his
final attempt on a dunk that
required Williams to place the ball
behind his back in mid air before
dunking the ball.
“The contest was all fun and
games,” Smithson said. “It was
nice to be able to compete in it
again this year. The crowd
enjoyed it, which was what it was
all about.”
Senior Matt Day won the three-
point shooting contest for the men
and senior Ashton Barton won for
the women.
“Winning the contest was a high
note for me,” Day said. “It gives
me a little something to brag
about with the guys.”
Women’s Basketball Preview
The women’s team, coming off
their championship season with
an overall record of 21-12, will
return to the court with a younger
team than last year. Seven of the
11 players on the roster are fresh
men or sophomores.
“What we have to remember as
a team is that the success that we
had last year has been just that,
last year,” said women’s Head
Coach Betsy Blose. “We are a
young team this year. Our girls
have been practicing very hard
this year. We want to return this
year with the same intensity we
had ending last year, and I believe
that we can do that.”
Last year’s Big South Freshman
of the Year, Kyla Jones, returns to
the Bulldogs for her second sea-
j nome opener
9 vs. Furman
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Photo by Clint Lathinghouse - Staff Photographer
Senior guard Brian Smithson soars over sophomore pitcher Matt Dalby in the slam dunk contest during
the Jammin’ at the Justice celebration. The Middle Tennessee State transfer led the Bulldogs in scoring
last year averaging 12.2 points a game.
son. Jones scored 11 points and
grabbed 11 rebounds in the cham
pionship game last season that
propelled the Bulldogs to their
first ever Big South title over
Radford 67-57.
“Kyla had a great freshman
year,” Blose said. “Since last year,
I have seen her mature as a player
and young lady. This year she will
do even more for our team, as will
the rest of the team.”
This year the Bulldogs are pro
jected to finish third in the Big
South conference regular season.
“While we weren’t projected in
the preseason poll to be No. 1 in
our conference, anyone who plays
sports knows that predictions do
not matter,” Jones said. “Look at
our team and the women’s soccer
team last year.
Both teams were not predicted
to win the conference titles and
we still won. We have a strong
team this year.”This year the
women’s team added five fresh
men to their roster. Kendall
Shepard, Chioma Okoli, Arescia
Moore, Kiana Rainey and Lindsey
Montgomery join the Bulldogs in
a quest to repeat as conference
champions.
“We graduated five seniors last
year, but gained really good
young talent that has the potential
to be great college players,” Blose
said.
Men’s Basketball Preview
The men's team finished their
regular season strong last year, by
defeating Coastal Carolina
University on the road in the tirst
round of the Big South
Tournament: though the team lost
to Winthrop University, who went
on to win the eonferenee title in
Rock Hill, S.C. the Bulldogs plan
to build off last years success.
“Our team will be better this
year,” said junior Jason Ridenour.
“Coming off of last season, 1 leel
that we know what it takes to get
better as a team. The run at the end
of last season showed that we have
the talent to be a team jx;ople have
to look out for."
The men’s team will have tour
starters and 10 lettermen returning
this season. This year the men’s
team will have a tough non-con
ference sehedule playing against
Tennessee, Virginia Tech, UNC
Chapel Hill and South Carolina.
“The schedule is a good thing
for our players,” Biedenbach said.
“We have a competitive sched
ule this season but that is just what
our team needs. If we want to be a
better program we have to play
good programs. We played well
last year and made some noise in
the eonferenee tournament and
this year we hope to capitalize on
that success.”
Asheville returns its starting
backcourt in senior guard K.J.
Garland and senior guard Bryan
Smithson.
Garland was the Bulldogs’ sec
ond leading scorer last year with a
12.2 average and led the team in
assists with 126. He was among
the league leaders in assists-to-
turnover ratio and had just 59
turnovers. A lot was expected
from Smithson after he transferred
from Middle Tennessee .State, and
Sinith.son led the Bulldogs in scor
ing (14.6), for three-point shots
made (43), steals (60) and free
throw shooting (85.2 percent). His
free throw shooting percentage led
the Big South Conference.
“K.J. and Brian are great leaders
on the court. Their dedication is
tremendous. They work hard and
have been great examples for our
young players to learn from on and
off the court,” Biedenbach .said.
This year the men’s team wel
comes six new players to the team.
One to watch for this year is red
shirt freshman John Williams,
according to Biedenbach.
“John is going to be exciting to
watch,” Biedenbach said. “He’s
one of the most athletic talents that
UNC Asheville has ever recruited.
He continues to work on his game
and he will only get better.”
Both teams have had their pre
season schedules cancelled and
will begin play with their first
games of the regular season.
“The basketball seasons this
year are going to be great for both
programs,” Cone said. “The
women’s team defending their
title, and our men’s team looking
better than ever promise for excit
ing games this year at home. Both
teams have the talent to finish
well this year.”
‘Dogs win their first conference game of season
ave an excited coach, it makes the
toam more excited. He really moti-
''ates me,” Olert said. “He’s just a
^raxl guy, j’ve never seen him
angry.”
By Nora Stoney
Staff Writer
The women’s volleyball team
picked up their first conference
win of the season last week as
they downed Charleston Southern
3-1 in front of a packed Justice
Center during the Jammin’ at the
Justice celebration.
“This is a great win for our
team,” said Head Coach Julie
Torbett. “We’ve been playing bet
ter and tonight we really put
things together to beat a well-
coached and talented Charleston
Southern club.”
The Bulldogs won the match
28-30, 30-19, 30-25, 30-23.
“We had a lot of intensity the
whole game, and that had a lot to
do with our win,” said junior play
er Heather Bums.
UNC Asheville had four players
scored double figures in kills
against Coastal. Alysha Greer and
Kelsey Benorden both had 17 kills
each. Lauren Ficker finished with
15 kills and four blocks, while
Ashley Wrightenberry contributed
12 kills and eight blocks. Labero
Raquel Miotto had 25 digs.
“Right before the Coastal game
we had just gotten a win against
Gardner Webb, so we were defi
nitely feeding off the momentum
from that. It was also Jammin’ At
the Justice and there were a lot of
people there so that was very
helpful. Especially by the end of
the game, when it was really tight,
it was nice to have the cheerlead
ers and mascot and all the fans
supporting us,” Miotto said.
While the Buccaneers won the
first game, the Bulldogs took
charge in the second quickly
downing them 30-19 and went on
to win the next two, dominating
play and ending the match with a
score of 3-1.
“We finally put everyone
together as a team and not individ
uals,” Miotto said. “We played
together and we were passing well
setting well and hitting well. For
the first time since conference
started we played as a team.”
Unfortunately the Bulldogs two-
game winning streak broke when
they faced Coastal Carolina
University.
The Chanticleers won the match
3-1 the following Saturday after
noon, with scores 30-18, 29-31,
30-27,30-25.
66
55
finally put everyone
together as a team and not as
individuals.
Raquel Miorro
junior student
“Saturday everyone ended up
getting frustrated and didn’t work
together,” Bums said. “We let lit
tle mistakes mess us up because
we were so tense and fmstrated
that we weren’t doing well.”
“We were also tired mentally
because we had been focusing on
Charleston Southern’s game all
week long,” Miotto said. “This year
we’ve been playing one game after
another and so we had a short
amount of time in between to break
and think about the Coastal game.”
ecu controlled the first game
from the start and cmised to a 30-19
win. The Bulldogs rallied in the sec
ond game and built a 22-17 lead
only to see the (Thanticleers come
back to win it 29-31.
“Good passing is the main aspect
to winning a game and we passed
very badly against Coastal,” Miotto
Photo by Cunt Lathinghouse - Staft Photixjraphkr
The women’s team has one victory in conference play this season.
said. “It is definitely something we
will be working on before our next
game.”
Asheville took the lead in the third
game off a service ace from Miotto,
but Coastal rallied back to get anoth
er win, 30-27. The Chanticleers
sealed the deal in the fourth game,
keeping the lead and finishing with a
score of 30-25.
“We definitely could have
improved our communication and
working together,” Bums said. “We
are also going to ftx;us on service
receive and passing. We are offen
sively a very strong team, we just
need to work on perfecting our
game.”
UNC Asheville will host Radford
Friday night at the Justice Center.