Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / May 1, 2003, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page 4 The Blue Banner May 1,2003 Sports Banner Bark Opinions firom the Sports page Remember the Bugs Ashleigh Austin I am from Tampa Bay, as anyone who reads this will obviously know, and in my opinion this has been an exciting year in professional sports. Moving to North Carolina two years ago made watching my favorite sports teams nearly impossible. It was frustrating on football Sun day trying to scramble to one of the few places in Asheville that play the Buccaneers’ games. You have to secure a seat, plus you have to spend money because yeti' can’t take up space in a restaurant without buy ing anything. This is extremely bothersome. Because the Bucs became the Na tional Champs in the Super Bowl last J anuary, Almost every game they play in the upcoming season will be televised nationally, and I can fi nally again enjoy my team in the comfort of my own home. Although we are already into the draft picks for the 2003-2004 NFL season, I want to take this opportu nity to praise Tampa Bay for what I feel was and is an outstanding year in the sports world. Tampa Bay’s football program has come a long For all you people wondering how in the world this article could pos sibly relate to those who live in North Carolihi just'think of it as support f6r ButS quarterback Brad Johnson who just happens to be a native of Black Mountain. I used to go to Tampa Bay Bucca neer games in their old stadium, when they wore those hideous or ange uniforms and the stadium was never full because they never won. When the Bucs were first estab lished in 1976 they lost all 14games in their first season; a complete losing streak. The years after that became a slow crawl towards win ning a few more each year, but never winning more games than they lost in a season. Since the new Raymond James Stadium was built in 1998 with the famous cannon-shooting ship at the end of the field, the team gained a new logo, new colors, a new coach and a new winning attitude. Since 1998, the Bucs have never lost more games than they’ve won. Although Ex-Head Coach Tony Dungee raised the level of perfor mance and expectation of the Bucs to an incessant play-off appearance, he never got beyond that invisible barrier to gain a National Champi onship. Dungee brought great change to Tampa Bay’s program and much of their turn around is owed to him, but ex-Raiders Coach Jon Gruden was hired in 2002 as the Bucs sev enth head coach in history and the play-off plateau that the Bucs were stuck on finally vanished. Everyone questioned the decision to fire Dungee and take a $17.5 million risk on Gruden, not to mention the $8 million the Bucs paid Oakland and the draft picks that they gave up. Itwas ahuge risk, but well worth it in the end. What a thrill it was to see the Bucs so in control and dominant over the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, something fans have been expect ing for a long time and will remem ber forever. This Super Bowl win for the Buc caneers was long overdue and it finally validated them as the cham pions their faithful fans knew they See OPINION Page 5 Tennis squads play in BSC Tourney ALAN AMBROSE/ONUNE EDITOR The Bulldog tennis squads faced Liberty (above) and Winthrop Universities in the BSC Tournament ALAN AMBROSE/ONLINE EDITOR UNCA sophomore Natasha Lucki (above) paired with junior Emily Acker-Estes for a Bulldog win against High Point University. Adam Brooks Sports Reporter The UNCA men and women’s tennis teams competed in the Big South Tournament Apr. 17-18. The ttieii’s tearri defeated Liberty University with a score' of 4^ 1 in the quarterfinal round before facing off against Winthrop University. The women’s team faced High Point University in the quarterfinal round, but were unable to defeat the Pan thers, falling to them 4-1. “We were seeded sixth, they were seeded third. We got off to a great start against High Point,” said Head Coach Chase Hodges. “We won the doubles point, and then they were just too much for us in singles. ” “We’ve been preaching doubles all year and (the women’s team) really came together, which was a bright spot for us to catch that doubles point. It gave us a good lead going into singles, but High Point was just a little bit better than The doubles came in from two doubles match victories. Sopho more Natasha Lucki and junior Emily Acker-Estes defeated their Panther opponents with a score of 8-6. Sophomore Oksana Zaluzhna and senior Ashley Jones brought a vic tory in for the Bulldogs with an 8- 3 score. “I’m certainly proud of the girls. We finished 7-10 this year. Last year they won two matches. In my first year, weVe more than tripled the win total,” said Hodges. “That’s definitely an improve- :. We set the foundation on the women’s side and I’ve got players coming in that’ll make us better and better. I expect us to do even better next year.” The quarterfinal tournament match for the men’s team saw them competing with the Liberty Uni versity Flames at Burlington Ten nis Facility. Senior Alan Ambrose won his match with a score of 6-3, 6-4, freshman Paul Ambrose won 6-4, 6-2 and sophomore Adam Branks won 7-5, 6-3. Sophomore Damian Mulhane and j unior Nick Neal won by did-not-finish (DNF) decisions. “On the men’s side, we were the fifth seed. We pulled a minor upset against Liberty, the number four seed, in the first round,” said Hodges. The victory against Liberty was particularly welcome given that the Flames defeated the Bulldogs ear lier in the season, according to Hodges. “We just played extremely well that day.” Bulldog victories also came in during the doubles matches. Alan Ambrose and Neal, both recently selected to represent UNCA for the all-conference academics team, de feated their Flame opponents with a score of 8-3. A score of 8-5 made it a win for Paul Ambrose andMulhane, aswell. The Bulldog’s final score for the game was 4-1 over the Flames. “To be honest, we beat Liberty fairly easily. The match probably would have turned out to be 6-1, but once you get four points, they call the match because they don’t want to finish it out,” said Hodges. “We pretty much dominated play against Liberty. We came out with more intensity, and my guys wanted to win more than they did. We just took it to them right from the doubles point. We beat a very good Liberty team. I have a lot of respect for Liberty and their program.” The win at the quarterfinal level allowed the men’s team to go on to face Winthrop University at the semifinal level. Winthrop was the number one seed in both men’s and women’s tennis. No wins came in for the Bulldogs in either singles or doubles matches, giving the Eagles a 4-0 victory. The Bulldogs met a similar defeat against the Eagles earlier in the season. “In the semifinal round, we lost to Winthrop. Winthrop was the num ber one seed. We lost the doubles point. Winthrop’s very good,” said Hodges. “We lost to them earlier in the season. They’ve just got a lot of talent over there, and they’re well coached. They were the better team that day.” Looking back over this season, the teams have made great improve ments which should continue i next year, according to Hodge; “The men finished with a record of 14-5, which is the best record school history. This same team last year (had a record of) 6-14. In first season, to have the same pi ers and have a record of 14-5 tribute to the players and how.hard they worked,” said Hodges. “They showed a big commitment this season. We surpassed all expec tations anybody had of us. We ba sically had a great season. I’m very happy with what we’ve acco plished. “ (The women) were 2-16 last yt (It was) something horrible. This year we’re 7-10, so we’re gradually making our way up. Eventually, we’ll have a winning program here. It just takes time.” Meet the coaches: tennis head coach Chase Hodges Jeremy Shrader Sports Reporter Like all athletes growing up. Head Tennis Coach Chase Hodges dreamed of making it big and win ning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Although those dreams didn’t come true, he did fulfill one of his goals: becoming a Division I tennis coach. Tve always known that this is what I want to do,” said Hodges. “Some people don’t know until af- college. I knew all the way through that I wanted to be a head coach.” The Player Before he knew he wanted to be coach, he was simplyChase Hodges, the three-sport athlete from Hickory, NC. ' I played a lot of sports growing up,” said Hodges. “I played high school football, basketball and ten- It kind of worked out because all three of those sports are in differ- :nt seasons.” But for Hodges, the fiiture always looked better on the hardcourt than >n the gridiron or basketball court. “I had the best future in tennis to play in college so I went with that,” he said. “I enjoy tennis and the one thing that attracted me to it is that there are a lot of mental aspects to lie game.” “It’s kind of like a boxing match without the gloves and without the physical contact because you have to think your way through matches a lot and it’s an individual sport so you have no one to blame except yourself” Hodges’ comparison of tennis to boxing was, in many ways, a de scription of the type of player he was during high school and college. “I was extremely intense as a player,” said Hodges. “I wasn’t in timidated by anybody. I mentally went into a match with the frame of mind that it was a war and I didn’t want to lose. I hate losing.” Losing was something that Hodges didn’t have to encounter often dur ing his high school and college- playing days. In high school, this Hickory High School alumnus won four consecutive high school-singles state championships. After two years of ACC tennis at NC State University, he decided to leave the triangle area and pursue warmer and better days on and off the tennis court by transferring to UNC Wilmington. “I left State (NC State) for a lot of reasons, number one being the coach,” said Hodges. “The UNC- W coach recruited me out of high school and it was my number two Hodges’ number two college choice turned out to be his best college decision as he earned all conference honors as a senior and n’s MVP his junior and TARA BARONE/STAPF PHOTOGRAPHER Chase Hodges made great strides in his first year as tennis head coach. Both men and women improved upon last season’s records. achievements on the court, he also After college ^d three years as a got the job done in the classroom, graduate assistant coach at UNC- He was a two-year Colonial Ath- W, Hodges took his skills to the senior seasons. In addition to his letic Association Scholar-Athlete. west coast and for a year played professionally in California where he shared a one-bedroom,^apart ment with his famous cousi% Evaii Marriott from Joe Millionai^. Itis also where he suffered theitimost embarrassing moment of his nis career. “I’ve only been bageled (losing 6- 0 in a set) once in my life and that was while I was playing profession ally in California,” said Hodges. “Getting beat 6-0,1 think any nis player would tell you, is defi nitely a test of your nerves and of your manhood. You don’t want tc get beat that bad.” The Coach After the professional tour didn’i work out, Hodges returned to his goal of being a collegiate tennis coach and accepted a head coach ing position at Longwood College in Farmville, Va. “I took the job at Longwood Col lege because I wanted to get even more experience,” he said. ‘‘It was a good experience for me. When the UNCAjob opportunity opened up it was a great opportunity " me to get back to this part of the state and try to build something successful here.” In only one year Hodges has done a pretty good job of building a successful tennis program at UNCA as he helped lead the men’s team to its best finish in school See HODGES Page 5
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