Volume XXI, Number 6
North Carolina Wesleyan College Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804
SPORTS
3
Tennis Teams
Serve New
Attitude
By Anthony DeGregorio
Decree Sports Editor
Along with a new coach, the tennis teams
come into the season with a new attitude. They are
more organized and excited to play.
The teams consist of 7 men and 4 women. “I
have always wanted to coach a team,” said head
coach Jacy Swartz, “and I believe I can use my
.^kground and experience to strengthen” the NC
Wesleyan program.
Swartz feels that her team is very talented
and that they now have the organization that they
lacked last year and everyone has the desire to be
there and play well. The teams do conditioning and
focus on strategy at every practice. In inclement
fl/eather, the players use the indoor courts and
fecility at Ford’s Colony, a unique resource for
small college teams.
In college tennis, teams play 6 singles and 3
doubles matches. The women’s team will have a
(fisadvantage in the fact that they only have 4 com
petitors and will be forced to forfeit 2 individual
.ttatches and 1 doubles match.
“Recruiting wasn’t as strong as it could
have been this year,” said Swartz. There were no
'feshmen brought in for the men’s team and only
one for the women’s team due to the coaching
Aange last year. Former coach Eric Allen left last
pmester for Wagner University for a graduate’s
^sistant job, leaving both tennis teams in disarray.
Swartz hopes to remedy the player shortage
by focusing her recruitment efforts in the East,
fix)m New England to Florida, a hotbed for tennis,
•^is year while I recruit I’m attacking the entire
East Coast,” said Swartz who has been sending out
letters and making phone calls to players as well as
their high school coaches.
I The men ’ s team lineup will depend on
iecent performances. Entermg the season, Swartz
said, sophomore Dustin Hale anchors the team,
fallowed in order by Daniel Pace, Zach Marks,
Jason Jolly, Drew McLachlan and Johnny Evans.
Jenna Gollub, a junior, will lead the women’s team
-^hose 2-4 players are Ashley Ball, Kayla Miller
and Vanessa Gore.
rm Both men and women will play in 14
^latches this spring, many of which are on the
same dates. Swartz hopes to see both of her teams
do well at the USA South Conference Tournament
j^hich will be April 13-15th in Burlington.
Swartz was named NCWC head tennis
Short-handed Women’s
Basketball Team
Endures Tough Season
By Trevor Seibert
Decree Sports Editor
The NCWC women’s basketball season
aided with a first-round loss to Greensboro
^^llege, 85-51, in the USA South Conference
,||umament.
^ The loss capped one of the worst seasons in
school history, as the Bishops finished with a 2-
23 record that included an 0-14 conference mark
and a season-ending 19-game losing streak.
With only seven available players on the
roster, the team struggled with a lack of numbers.
Its only victories came over Salem College,
which has only 8 players in its first year of
existence as a varsity basketball team.
During the season, the Bishops were led by
forward Liz Ansley, who averaged 12.3 points
and 7.6 rebounds points per game. Ansley was
4jX)ints short of the school record when she
topped 33 against Methodist on February 13th.
CKiard Kimberly High paced the team in assists
(4.3 per game) and steals (2.4) while her leader
ship helped in keeping the team together.
With three seniors on the team, the Bishops
hope for a successful recruitment season. If not,
look for another long season with fewer than ten
players on the roster. Every team needs depth,
and without it, teams will continue to wear down
the Bishop players, running them up and down
the court.
March Madness Talk Bubbles
., . Photo by Evelyn Hunter
New tennis coach Jacy Swartz
coach and admissions counselor over winter break.
She had been head pro at Ford’s Colony, a gated
community adjacent to the NCWC campus.
She grew up in Fort Pierce, Fla, where she
began playing tennis at age 3. During her youth,
she competed in junior tournaments and held state
and sectional rankings. She played four years
at John Carroll High school before receiving an
academic scholarship to Belmont Abbey College,
just outside of Charlotte. She led the Cmsaders to a
conference championship in her freshman year and
served as captain in her senior season.
After graduating in 2002, Swartz returned
to Florida where she worked as a tennis instmctor
prior to returning to North Carolina in August 2004.
Trevor’s Golf Diary:
Trading Pads for Plaids
(Editor's Note: With this issue, we introduce a nw
feature: “Trevor’s Diaiy." During the upcoming months, well
follow sophomore Tremr Seibert as he makes the tivnsition
from wide receiver to member of the NCWC golf team.)
At the end of summer, I was upbeat about the upcoming
football season. I had gained about 25 pounds of muscle, going
from 175 to 200, due to the tough spring workout our coaches
put us through and I was looking forward to having a big
impact on the team. All that changed on that fatefiil day, August
14,2005, if I remember right. The boys and I had just finished
some hardcore Halo playing and we were headed to dinner,
four days into football camp. As usual, I jumped onto (he bed
on William “Billy Bob” Paricer’s Ford Ranger and we were on
our way. The rest is a blur, but the next thing I know I’m riding
in an ambulance. I had fallen off the back of the track, and my
football career was over
A couple of months had gone by and it was starting to
look bleak. Sure, 1 now had a smdent coaching position on the
football team, but 1 was missing the competitive spirit of play
ing a sport. That’s when my good friend Anthony DeGregorio
toU me he wanted me to play in a golf tournament for the
school. He said that the team was short a player and really
needed me. 1 obliged although it had been a year or two since I
had played a serious round of golf. It was a Division 1 tourna
ment right down the road in Greenville, and I did nothing short
of embarrassing myself. Over three rounds, I shot 110,113, and
99, but finished next to last (one person was disqualified).
My drives were all over the place in that tournament
One would go dead right with a 90 degree slice and then
another one would go straight, and then the next would go left.
My irons were horrific. Every shot was a shank—dead right,
dead right, dead right My putting and chipping saved me fitim
embarrassing myself any further. I have always been a great
short game player.
Following my performance last fall, I was very disap
pointed and frustrated and I figured that Coach Dalton would
not want me to play in tfie spring. So 1 started practicing furi
ously and so far it’s have been working out With a little help
fiDm Anthony and a little help from the Medicus (a popular
swing training club), my drives go about 280 right down the
middle and my irons are, for the most part high and straight
One important part about golf is, the more you play, the more.
you leam about yourself 1 know that I’m too aggressive on the
course, but that’s a side effect of football.
I now shoot in the 90’s regularly and I’m starting to
gain some confidence with my swing. In high school I used
to shoot in the high 70’s-low 80’s, which is where I want to be
before the end of this season. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make as
big of an impact on the golf team as I would have matte on the
football team.
Addendum: Here’s an analysis by Anthony DeGrego
rio, co-sports editor, and golf teammate:
When Trevor began playing with the golf team at the
end of the fall semester his swing was atrocious, his tempo was
tenrible and his scores were dreadful. As he played more and
got more advice, he began playing better and scoring lower.
Tournament play is much more difficult than playing witfi
friends. Tlje conversations are limited and the pressure on every
swing grows throughout die round. I’m interested to see how
well he can score in tournaments and hope not to see his name
at the bottom of the leaderboaid. All aspects of his game are
coming akmg well, but he needs to be more consistent and not
let his bad shots cost him more than one stroke.
Speak Your Mind: Trevor Seibert
and Anthony DeGregorio Debate
AD: March is coming soon and there are still a
lot of teams who haven’t locked up their spot in
the NCAA toumey yet.
TS: Yeah, March 5th is selection Sunday and
there will be some pretty pissed off teams this
year. Teams like Connecticut, Duke, Memphis,
and ViUanova are looking Uke probable #I seeds
and will just sit back and wait to see what team
they have to play in the first round. Think we’ll
see a #16 beat a #1 this year?
AD: I don’t think so. There are too many good
teams. My picks for the #1 seeds this year are
Duke, Uconn, Memphis and Texas.
TS: Wow. Not sure about those picks. If I were
going to guess who the #1 seeds were going to be,
with the schedules and conference tournaments
left this season, I would have to go with Duke,
Memphis, Tennessee, and Gonzaga. UConn is
good but they’ll lose one more game this season
and I don’t see them winning the conference
toumey this year. The Big ^t is just too good
of a conference this year with 5 ranked teams.
The lower teams in that conference all have the
capabilities to upset a team on any given day. Just
look at Seton Hall which has upset N.C. State,
Syracuse, and now West Virginia. You also have
Syracuse, which is sitting at the bottom half of the
conference. The Orangemen can get hot really quick
with great leadership from Gerry McNamara.
AD: The Big East is by far the deepest and will
have 7 or 8 teams in the toumey. I still think that
UConn can afford one more loss and still get a 1
seed. As of right now, their only losses have come
to Marquette, because diey blew it at the free
throw line hitting only .500 and Novak just caught
fire and had 41 points and over 15 rebounds. Their
other loss was a tough road game at ViUanova, a
team they WILL beat on their home court.
TS: I think WILL is too definite of a statement
there because I don’t think that Connecticut
matches up very well with ViUanova and I
think that you’U see UConn lose another one to
ViUanova as well as to a lower ranked team in the
conference toumey. I see them becoming a 2 or
even possibly a 3 seed. I diink I’U go on a hmb
and say that 9 Big East teams get mto the toumey.
Right now they have 9 teams ranked in the top 33
in the RPI rankings and usually the top 34 make
it into the toumey. So, who do you see as possible
bracket busters this season?
AD: With the Big East toumey being so deep
you’U see some of those bubble teams like Seton
Hall, Marquette, Cincy or Louisville go down
in the first round which wiU kUl their chances
of getting a spot. Unless Cincy or LouisvUle has
a good conference toumament, I don’t believe
they belong in the toumey, with losing records in
conference play. As far as bracket busters, I think
you’U see a bunch of solid #3 and #4 seeds such
as Pitt, lUinois, Rorida, and Georgetown go far,
possibly even winning it aU.
TS: Good call with those teams, but do you see
any teams ranked lower than 8 or 9 going all the
way this season? Last year there were only two
#1 seeds that made it to the Final Four. I believe
that we’U see some similar results this year and
I’ll say that only ONE number one seed makes it
to the Final Four and I do think that Duke is going
to win it aU. I can see a team from the Colonial
Conference or even the Missouri Valley Confer
ence causing some major messes in the brackets
this season. You always have to look out for the
Salukis from Southern lUinois!
AO: I don’t see that happening unless some
of the high quality teams like West Virginia or
those teams I just mentioned do miserably down
the stretch. If they shoot themselves in the foot
and end up with a low seed, I don’t think you’ll
see many upsets until the later rounds with 4 or
5 seeds beating #l’s. So who are your picks to
reach the Final Four this year and who is your
champion?
TS: Picking the final four without seeing the
brackets is like trying to find a snowbaU in Miami.
But we’re the experts so we’U take a shot at this
one. My final four pick wiU be Duke, Texas, Con
necticut, and the defending champs UNC-Chapel
Hill. People’s jaws probably have hit the ground
but I’m going to stick by those picks until I see the
brackets on March 5th.
AD: I prefer to use the analogy of tiying to fitid
a former high school footbaU player in eastern
North Carolina who hasn’t concussed Trevor
Seibert. My final four picks are going to be Duke,
Pittsburgh, UConn and ViUanova. Nova was a
tough pick for me but the two games they lost
were both against ranked teams and both losses
were by less than 5 points. I think you’U eventu
ally see the Blue Devils cutting down the nets this
year for three reasons: Tliey have the best coach in
the nation; they have the best shooter in the nation
in J.J. Reddick; and they have the best big man in
the nation in Sheldon WUUams.
TS: I’ll give you two of the three, Anth. The
third disappears because he looks like a mixture
of Chewbacca and Martin Luther King Jr. No
offense to Dr. King, it’s the Chewbaca thing that
gets me. So, because of that, the tie between him
and Pitt center Aaron Gray goes to Gray. Gray
averages more rebounds a game, and that’s ALL
that matters with a big man. They’re about tied •
in block per game. Sheldon is the ugliest person I
have ever seen in my life and for that reason alone,
he’s off the hst.
AD: You have to be kidding me! He is
averaging almost a double-double and is close to
20 points per game as the second option, with JJ
getting most of the touches. He is a complete big
man, with 4 blocks per game, 2 steals per game,
over 50% fiom the field in all four years he has
played! And he’s a solid free throw shooter. Don’t
argue with me on that. Gray is good and will most
likely be the best big man in the nation next year,
should he stay in college, but Williams is stUl my
top pick for a big man.
TS: I’m not arguing his skUls, but you can’t
disagree that he is the ugliest thing you have seen
in your entire life (if you exclude the countless
times you’ve looked in the mirror). Next subject
is players that we have seen that are doing very
weU, but you’ve never heard of them. First on
my list would be Andre CoUins from Loyola,
Maryland. This guy is not only ranked third
in scoring average behind Reddick and Adam
Morrison of Gonzaga, but he’s also ranked second
in 3-pointers a game, 7th in free-throw percentage,
and 20th in steals per game. So not only is this
guy a great offensive player, but a great defensive
player as weU.
AD: I wUl take Keydren Clark on my team any
day. He’s been a starter since his fijeshman year
when he averaged 24.9 PPG. He has significantly
improved to a total player which is shown in his
improved steals average. He’s gone fiom the 1.4
steals per game his freshman year to 3.3 last year
and 2.7 this year. He is the lone bright spot on a
sorry St. Peters basketball team. He’s a great fipee
throw shooter, making over 90% this year. I’U be
very surprised if an NBA team does not take a
chance on this kid with a second round pick in the
draft next year.
TS: Very good pick there, Anth, I don’t think
that he’s as good as CoUins, but he is an overaU
good player. Second round draft pick, maybe.
My next guy is going to be Jose Juan Barea
who not only is a great scorer, but a great passer
as weU. This kid from Northeastern CoUege is
averaging 8.4 assists per game just .2 behind
the leader in that category. He’s the 18th leading
scorer this year in the NCAA and could possibly
lead his above-,500 team to a conference toumey
championship and go to the big dance. That’s a
scary looking guard to go up against in the NCAA
toumament.
AD: One of the better big guys who doesn’t get
any recognition is Paul MiUsap out of Louisiana
Tech. With that 6’8” 250 pound frame, he is built
like an Elton Brand and is putting up statistics that
are very similar. He is averaging over 20 points
per game and pulling down 12.6 rebounds a game,
tying him for the most in Division One. He’s a
solid defender in the post, averaging 2.2 blocks
and 1.5 steals. As a fteshman, he scored 15.6 and
pulled down 12.5 rebounds and his sophomore
year improved his scoring to 20.4 points per game
and remained a dominant rebounder with 12.4
a game. He’s already the best rebounder in the
NCAA and hasn’t even entered his senior year yet.
TS: It’s too bad that he has to play for a team
like Louisiana Tech, though.
AD: It shouW be an exciting toumament—pure
madness.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to take issue
with our opinions or recommend a topic for
debate, contact us at Trevl986@aol.com, or
AD285203@mail.ncwc.edu.