the stentorian | ncssm
sports
december 2009
7
Brother-Sister Halls Almost Win Something
By Vlad Krokhmal
Tuesday, September 15th
featured two intramural sports
matches, one between 2nd
West and 2nd Hill North at
4:30, immediately followed
by a match between 2nd Bryan
and 3rd Beall. Coincidentally,
the finals featured 2nd West
and 3rd Beall, a brother-sister
hall pair. This phenomenon
produced excitement due to the
possibility of the first brother-
sister hall IM soccer champion
duo in recent NCSSM history.
The men’s finals featured
an unexpected turn of events.
Johnathan Lara of 2nd West
scored an early goal and held
the advantage for most of the
first half Yet Jake Emerson
of 2nd Hill North retaliated
with an unexpected goal right
near the end of 1st half Sec
ond half began with fierce at
tempts by 2nd West to regain
advantage that were thwarted
by 2nd Hill’s goalkeeper Leo
B
H
2nd West displays brotherly affection and support for one of
3rd Beall’s IM games. •Photo by Dustin Burleson
Daniels. Yet, 2nd Hill was able
to sneak a goal past the 2nd
West goalkeeper in the second
half amidst the confusion of a
comer kick. The competition
became intense when Coach
Gonyeau announced three
minutes remaining. 2nd West
moved up all of their players
to offense and began desperate
attempts to score. The whistle
blew and the match ended as
did 2nd West’s dreams of be
coming IM soccer champions.
The women’s finals imme
diately succeeded the men’s
finals. The match pitted 2nd
Bryan - a hall noted for its
skilled soccer players - against
3rd Bryan, an unexpected chal
lenger. To match 2nd Bryan’s
soccer prowess, 3rd Beall held
numerous soccer practices and
was actually able to beat 2nd
Bryan earlier in the tourna
ment. Both halls came to the
IM fields to win, and by the
end of the 2nd half the score
remained zero-zero. The game
was decided by shootouts. The
first three penalty shots were
tied and the game went into
sudden death penalties. Sara
Eagle scored her penalty shot,
while 3rd Beall scored none,
thus gaining 2nd Bryan the
Championship trophy.
No matter the outcome,
both matches were unpredict
able and even matches. All
four teams practiced hard to
come this far.
“I was really proud of ev
eryone, especially seeing how
much effort everyone put into
practices and games,” said
Yusra Iftikhar, the captain of
the 3rd Beall team.
Although 2nd West and 3rd
Beall were not able to achieve
their desired brother-sister hall
IM Soccer Champions status,
it was interesting to see both
halls support each other and
learn from each other through
out the season.
“We lost in a really close
game to Royall last year and
we finally claimed the cham
pionship this year,” said Jenina
Rivera, the starting sweeper
for 2nd Bryan.
2nd Bryan was finally able
to secure the soccer champion
ship, after being less successful
last year and prove once again
the hall’s dedication to school
spirit and athletics. Both soc
cer champions demonstrated
skillful performance and start
ed the intramural sports off on
an amazing beginning.
Lady Uni Volleyball Squad
Spikes its Way to the Top
By Courtney Applewhite
The Ladies’ volleyball team
had a stand-out season with
15 victories, advancing to the
second round of playoffs and
only 4 defeats. The Lady Unis
opened the season with a big
victory over Cresset Christian
Academy, 3 games to zero with
scores 25-16,25-19,25-10. The
ladies also attended the Eastern
Alamance Tournament where
they played against teams from
all divisions and won 2"“* place
overall.
Leading the board in of
fense were seniors Mireille
Pardon and Colleen McGuire
(captain), with over 30 com
bined kills in only three games.
With five seniors and several
talented juniors on their side,
the team stayed competitive
within the conference. “We
have a tall offense and people
willing to dive after everything
on defense,” said McGuire.
Libero Rebecca Overcash
proved McGuire correct in a
competitive game against Ce
dar Ridge in which she dived
into sideline chairs to make
a pass. Overcash was rushed
to the hospital for stitches.
while the Unis went on to win
the tight match 3 games to 2.
Overcash made a speedy re
covery and only a few games
later returned to her defensive
position.
Losses against Southern
Vance and conference rival
Raleigh Charter did not put a
damper on expectations for the
girls. Hannah Wyatt (captain)
commented, “We [had] a stron
ger team than we’ve had in a
long time. We... had our ups
and downs over the [season]
but we still [had] the potential
to do great things.”
A key factor in the success
of the team was their support
from fans, especially the Uni
Boys. The group wore t-shirts
with the number of a player
on the back and letters on the
front, altogether spelling “Go_
Unis!” The Uni Boys attended
almost every game.
The Lady Unis ended the
season with a close loss in the
second round of the champion
ship playoffs.
Erica Konczal reaches over the net for the volleyball, while teammates Emily Revelle and Jordan Blanchard wait, prepared.
•Photo by Britt Brown