Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / April 26, 2007, edition 1 / Page 8
Part of University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
th / Page 8 SPORTS 'Hic Blue lianncr - Scning the Universiu of North C:arolina at Asheville since 1982^ Thursday, April 26, 2007 Tennis season cut short in Tourney High Point Panthers maul baseball team lAi The ‘Dogs fall in three to High Point before falling Appalachian and dropping sixth in-a row to Ekt\ Iwl IM ISa Ithi I in iBi By Devon Dow Staff Writer Mauricio Correa and Rob Nunnery compete in a doubles match against Appalachian State earlier this sea son. Against Charleston Southern, the Bulldogs lost the doubles point in two sets. Sixth seeded men fall to Charleston Southern 4-0 and last seeded woman fall to Winthrop 4-0 By Emily Mase Staff Writfh After rain delays at Radford University, the No. 6 UNC Asheville men’s tennis battled it out at the Virginia Tech indoor courts Friday night and fell 4-0 in the first round of the Big South Conference Tournament against the No. 3 Charleston Southern Buccaneers. “It was a little disheartening not being able to compete and repre sent in the final tournament,” Head Coach Larry Hubbard said. “That’s an unusual circumstance because of the rain and there real ly was no other way around it.” The men’s team thought going up to the indoor courts would be a good surface for them and it would give them a better advantage, according to Hubbard. “We have a couple of guys who play doubles that have a big serve,” Hubbard said. “Nicholas Thuell who steps up and Damien Snare with a left handed serve. Throughout the year they have had success in indoor surfaces, which typically is a little bit faster and there are no disadvantages in terms of heat, wind, light and sun. It’s a pretty favorable environment. 1 just think Charleston Southern was very consistent.” For the men’s last match, rain delays forced both teams to drive to Virginia Tech from Radford to play indoors on Thursday night. The game is fought on the courts until a decision is made, according to Hubbard. Once the fourth point is won by either team, play seizes on all courts. “We went indoors. We played the doubles and lost the doubles point, and then there were only three courts available so we didn’t even put all six players on,” Hubbard said. “So as players fin ished, the first available court then took the next match.” In the regular season the Bulldogs won the doubles point against Charleston Southern, but they quickly lost it in the Big South Conference Tournament, according to Hubbard. “We played Rob Nunnery indoors which makes every thing a little faster. The points aren’t as long inside and everything is just quick,” said Senior Rob Nunnery. “We fell behind in doubles early and after that, it was kind of an uphill battle the whole way.” Charleston Southern’s Steven Dean and teammate Chris Peek downed Loic Hereson and Joe May, 8-3 at No. 2. Charleston Southern’s Jonathan Dean and Babar Akbar defeated Damien Snare and Nicholas Thuell. In singles play, the Buccaneers No. 1 Quentin Guichard defeated Hereson, 6-3, 6-3. The Bulldogs’ No. 3, Mauricio Correa fell 7-6, 7- 5. Steven Dean wrapped the match up with a 6-0, 6-2 win over junior Tyler Begg. “Our No. 5 player got out there and was on the court for 10 min utes and then our No. 6 player, Joe May never got on the court at all,” Hubbard said. In singles. Nunnery split sets. He won the first set, lost the second set and was in the middle of the third set on serve while No. 1 Hereson was playing an outstand ing match, a quick burst from the Buccaneers edged both Hereson and Nunnery out. Hereson lost 6-3, 6-3. ‘If you know tennis, one break a set is hardly anything to win a match. And Mauricio playing at No. 3 loses 7-6 at a tie break at 7- 5 in the tie break score,” Hubbard said. “So we are talking two points, two single points. Then he loses the second set 7-5. So both those matches finished and Rob was still on the court.” Nunnery said he wasn’t disap pointed with the effort at all. “You don’t want to lose but there is only so much you can do some times,” he said. Correa has played two seasons for Bulldogs, both of which he’s placed all-conference in doubles, according to Hubbard. “He’s an excellent doubles play er, and his singles have significant ly improved since his first year of competition,” Hubbard said. “It showed in the level of play and how they handled the pressure and how they competed.” Hubbard hopes the younger nucleus of players will gain some maturity before next season and be able to compete at a little more mature and experienced level. The women’s tennis season ended with 6-11 record as they fell 4-0 to the top-seeded Winthrop in the first round of the Big South Tournament in Radford. “With the girls, it was as it was,” Hubbard said. “We are young.” Winthrop won the doubles point with the Eagles’ Paty Coimbra and Antonija Bagaric defeating fresh men Tania Mateva and Leslie Smith at No. 2. Sophomore Sara Marie Holland and Rachel Pool losing to the Winthrop Eagles’ Yelena Fadina and Larisa Bekmetova 8-0. The No. 1 team of freshman Louise Bottomley and senior Rachel Rhoney did not complete their match. The eighth inning proved disas trous for the baseball team this weekend, as they fell in all three games against the High Point Panthers. The Panthers edged the Bulldogs (17-29, 7-8 BSC) in the first two games with eighth inning production, scoring a combined eight runs in the penultimate inning this weekend. “This just wasn’t our series,” said Head Coach Willie Stewart. “High Point did a good job at cap italizing on our mistakes and we just couldn’t get a rally going to take the lead back in the first two games.” “In the final game, it was just a lot of mental errors that our guys have to work on and great pitch ing and fielding from their side. If we want to finish the season strong we cannot play flat, we must play well mentally as well as the physical aspects of the game.” Against Appalachian State (23- 19), the Bulldogs fell 11-12 on Tuesday in a game that saw five Mountaineer home runs, includ ing two from Nick DeRose. The Mountaineers won the game in the ninth inning off a David Rubinstein hit a single with the bases loaded. Against Elon (24-20) on Wednesday night, the Bulldogs fell 7-4, pushing their loosing streak to six. Kevin Mattison went 2-5 from the plate, but the Bulldogs failed to capitalize on a comeback opportunity leaving three runners stranded in the ninth. In game one of the High Point series, played at Greenwood Field, Bulldog starter Alan DeRatt (4-4) kept the score low, giving up only three runs off of three hits in seven innings of play. With the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning and the score tied 2-2, the Panthers hit a sacri- i fice fly into the outfield bringing in the go ahead run to take the lead 3-2, which held for the remainder of the contest. Despite DeRatf s strong pitching perform ance he picked up the loss while the Panther’s Eammon Portice grabbed the win. “That was a tough loss for us,” ! DeRatt said. “They played well against us. I am not taking any thing from them. They are a good team in our conference, but if we i could have taken advantage of some of the openings that they gave us, I have a feeling that we could have pulled it out.” Both game two and three were played at McCormick Field. In game two, senior outfielder Rob Vernon put on a hitting extrava ganza recording four hits, two RBIs, and three runs scored. ••.-Art. . ‘fj AilViV.. •• Trey Bouvier - Staff Phokwr.® Elliot Arrington strides the bases in the second High Point, Bulldoj matchup of the weekend. Arrington went 2-4 in the Bulldog’s 11 1! loss to the Appalachian State Mountaineers Senior outfielder David Williams with two runs off three hits to s and sophomore Edmund Locklear both recorded two doubles. But in the eighth inning trailing 8-5, the Panthers rallied yet again, posting four runs and holding off the ii Bulldog counter- the Bulldogs out again, infielder Elliot Arrington led Jilt Bulldogs from the plate in Ik j final loss going 3-5. “High Poinli, — a good tem’ Arrington sai Bulldog counter- j /-Ainug.w,. attack, winning want to vcpccit os chotn- If we the game 9-8. pions this year, we have to repeat as “It was just a continue to work on closing pions '^is yj^’ J game we let slip games. High Point is now in we have to coil away,” Locklear place, not us. " said. “I thought thought we had a great day at the plate. The team was stepping up, but toward the end of the game, it just seemed that we let the game get away from us. This loss along with the first one were winnable games for us. We just need to work on closing teams out.” In game three, the Panthers (23- 20, 9-6 BSC) came out aggres sively to take a first inning 3-0 lead. The Bulldogs made an attempt to close the three-run gap, rally ing for two runs in the second. With the score 5-3 in the eighth, the Panthers closed the inning Elliot Arrington Junior Infielder tinue to world closing gaw High Point ! now in tki place, not 1 With the seas coming close to an end soonj need to realize that there are alj of really good teams in our c ference this year, and if wo' to stay champions, we have play better.” . The Bulldogs dropped to place in the Big Sff Conference. To retake third,!) must win their last two coil ence series opponents of the f the sixth place VMI Keydets. 13, 5-7 BSC), and the first p» Coastal Carolina (33-8, BSC). Pearson and Little receive Big South all-conference honor .... . .1 . Riillrlrtoc rftmp in C l>Aiv4VfcrmflIlCCS By Gordon Gundlach Staff Writer Senior Taylor Little and fresh man Natalie Pearson both earned all-conference honors at the Big South Conference meet this week end. Little came in second in the 5000-meter finishing in 14;59 sec onds and earning the Bulldogs eight team points. The first place competitor Josh McDougal, from Liberty, won the men’s 10000-meter, 5000, and 1500-meter. “He’s the fifth best distance run ner of all time in NCAA history. Only four people in collegiate his tory have been faster,” said Head Coach Dean Duncan said. McDougal’s 5000 time was 14:06.88. Pearson did better in the prelim inaries of the women’s 100-meter dash, coming in second with 11.97. She came in third for finals at 12.04 seconds. In the 200 meter Pearson ran a better time in the final race, running 24.47 versus her preliminary run of 24.69, but she came in sixth in the finals and forth in the preliminaries. She contributed a total of nine points to the lady Bulldog team. ‘The 200 was another school record and personal record,” Duncan said. “We think there’s a lot more there, nevertheless it was a good run. In the 100, she’s not far at all from qualifying for regionals, it just comes down to the right track, right day, right con ditions. We hope to find a good track sur- T'avlor Little face. Soft tracks are good for dis tance, not sprints.” Neither athlete qualified for regionals with their times, so both athletes plan to continue compet ing in hopes of hitting the regional qualifying time. “Got to find a race that’s fast enough,” Little said. The Bulldogs still have meets at Duke and Georgia Tech “We’re hoping to see what we can do there,” Duncan said. Junior Brandon Hamilton took fourth place in the final 400-meter hurdles, running in 55.60 and get ting five team points for the men. “Hamilton did very well. He got a personal record in both the pre liminaries and the semifinals, one on Friday, one on Saturday. The competition went out really hard, two fell down. He kept to his game plan, and passed everybody but in front of him in the last 150 meters. He ran a good solid race,” Duncan said. “That’s five, or six personal records in a row for him. Every time he steps on he gets a little faster,” said Assistant Coach Kyle Wies. Sophomore Morgan Weeks par ticipated in the heptathlon, and ran in both the 4-by-400-meter relay and the 4-by-100-meter relay. “She got a personal record in six of the seven events. Helped out the team a lot, it was a good effort on her part.” Duncan said. Weeks came in sixth in the hep tathlon with 3,700 points, earning the ladies three team points. In both relays the Bulldogs came in sixth place, earning a total of six team points. “Sara Huckbody got a personal record and scored for us in the women’s 1500. She brought her ‘A’ game in the 1500.We’re happy for her. She That’s five or six personal records in a row for him. Every time he steps on he gets a little faster. place 3 i'A Natalie Pcars(.)n works hard,” Duncan said. Huckbody came in eighth with a 4:57.65 time, earning the Bulldogs one team point. In the men’s 400-meter, freshman Dane Kyle Wies on Brandon Hamilton Top 8 Performances women EVENT Natalie Pearson 100 Emily Mase 10000 Morgan Weeks Heptath. Emily Mase 5000 Natalie Pearson 200 Sara Huckbody 1500 5 6 6 I 6 Corriher ran 49.47, a school record and a personal best. “The men’s 400 is really deep this year. Corriher has been trying to break 50 seconds all year,” Duncan said. Freshman Corrie Trotter high jumped for 1.55 meters, earning eighth place and one point for the team. “Trotter jumped well in high jump and scored. It’s a good men tal barrier to overcome. She’s nervous and a freshman, and she’s getting some experience,” Duncan said. Senior Troy Young came in fifth place with a 55.34 meters throw in the javelin, scoring the Bulldogs four points. ‘Troy was very consistent in his throws, he did a good job,” Duncan said. Senior Root Kirbach ran the 5000 and the 10000, placing eighth in the 10000 and raking in a point for the team with his 32:14 time. “Root ran a solid race in the lOK, we’re happy with the lOK,” Duncan said. The women’s team tied for sev enth place with VMI. The men 2 Hi mm Taylor Little 5000 Brandon Hamilton 400 hurd. 4 1 Troy Young javelin ^ Root Kirbach H*®) * JGSOVJJ! c 0 H r c K e •> c ^ placed eighth. Liberty | place on both the ^ f women’s side of track. J ^ j fifth time in seven years ^ has earned first in both women’s track and 6®'“' “We just don’t have thj of people,” Duncan said^ three people in each evenl well.”
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 26, 2007, edition 1
8
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75