Sports
November 4, 1992
Page 6
1992-1993 Women's Basketball
Players choose being pigs or chickens
Lynn Malkus
The Pendulum
Pigs are animals who are
totally committed their entire life
to becoming hams, while chickens
are only half-way committed
because they produce their eggs
without having to give up their
lives.
This season, the Elon College
women's basketball team will
have its choice between being
totally committed (pigs) or being
half-way committed (chickens).
Elon coach, Jackic Myers adopted
this idea of pigs and chickcns from
Feme Labati, University of
Miami's women's basketball
coach, in hopes that in February,
she can call the 1992-1993 team
"pigs."
With last year’s third place
finish and with ten players
returning from that season, Elon
has a tremendous shot at
becoming known as "the most
committed farm animal ever."
Four out of these ten players were
starters for the team last season.
Two freshman players, Pai^e
Fuller, known for her defense and
her three-point shots, and Letitia
Lee. known for her power and
depth, will also compliment
Elon's veterans in achieving any
goal they set.
"I think we have a really good
chance to finish about the same
place that we did last year," Myers
said.
As far as the difficulty in their
schedule and their competition is
concerned, Elon will definitely
have their hands full.
"Our schedule is probably the
toughest we've ever had but 1
think that the returning kids that
we have on the team have enough
experience and leadership that
they'll be able to handle it," Myers
said.
Within Elon's conference,
Wingate and Carson-Newman will
be the toughest teams they face.
To try to upset these teams,
Elon will once again focus on a
balanced attack, a fast-break type
offense and a pressing defense.
Key players, such as senior
forward Laura Case and senior
guard/forward Liz Ward, will
dramatically help in this focus.
But Elon will have some
barriers to overcome also. The
experience level at center is low
this year because Jana Siler, who
graduated last year, basically
dominated this position while
here. Elon's players will
definitely have to step-up their
playing in this position.
Another disadvantage is that
Elon does not have a home court
to practice or play on because of
the ongoing remodeling of
Alumni Gymnasium. The
women's team is currently
practicing at Western Middle
School and will be playing their
home games at Williams High
School. For a team that has
always played better on their home
court, this is a definite downfall.
"It has definitely been a
disadvantage. The middle school
has a smaller court, so we are
having to emphasize
conditioning," Myers said. ”Wc
will also loose part of our home-
court advantage."
Elon's first game of the
season is at home on November
23 at 5:45 p.m. against Longwood
College. This will be the public's
first opportunity to guess whether
Elon's team will be known as pigs
or chickens.
1992-1993
Women's Basketball
Schedule
11-23 Longwood
H 5:45
11-30 Lees-McRae
H 7:00
12-2
Wingate
A 5:45
12-8
use Spart
A 5:30
12-12 Pfeiffer
A 6:00
12-18
High Point
A 7:00
1-6
Mars Hill
H 5:45
1-9
Presbyterian
H 5:45
I-ll
Carson-Newman
A 6:00
1-13
Catawba
A 5:45
1-16
Lenoir-Rhyne
A 5:45
1-20
Gardner-Webb
H 5:45
1-23
Carson-Newman
H 5:45
1-25
Davis & Elkins
A 7:30
1-27
Longwood
A 5:15
1-30
Wingate
H 5:45
2-3
MarsHUl
A 5:45
2-6
Presbyterian
A 5:45
2-8
Gardner-Webb
A 7:00
2-10
Catawba
H 5:45
2-13
Lenoir-Rhyne
H 5:45
Mark Wheeler/The Pendulum
Eton's quarterback Maurice Blakeney pushed his team forward but it was not enough.
Elon loses its "big game"
Matt Ball
The Pendulum
The Elon Fightin' Christians
football team lost a hard fought
war to the Gardner-Webb
Bulldogs, 28 to 23. Saturday at
Burlington Memorial Stadium.
The loss dropped Elon to third
place in the SAC with just two
weeks left in the season.
"I thought we were more
aggressive tackling than any other
ball game this season," Coach
Han said.
Elon opened the scoring in
the first quarter with senior place
kicker Troy Ford connecting on a
41-yard field goal. Gardner-Webb
retaliated with a touchdown drive
to put themselves ahead 7 - 3
going into the second quarter.
During the second quarter,
senior quarterback Heath Hewett,
filling in for the injured Maurice
Blakeney, scored on a three-yard
quarterback sweep to make the
score 10-7.
A scoreless third quarter
preceded a 34-point combined
outburst by both teams with the
Bulldogs scoring 21 of them.
The Fightin' Christians
attacking defense limited the
Bulldogs to 269 yards of total
offense and 28 points. Coming
into the game, Gardner-Webb (8 -
1) was leading the NAIA Division
1 in total offense (497.5 yards per
game) and points scored (47.4) a
game.
Offensively, Elon slugged
through the mud for 184 yards
rushing. Junior Del Clark led the
way with 59 yards on 12 carries
and senior Bobby Johnson churned
for 44 yards on 19 carries.
Sophmore Rod Clark caught three
passes for 87 yards. Maurice
Blakeney, red-shirted as a
freshman, completed 8 of 18
attempts for 126 yards.
Elon volleyball wins SAC title
Lynn Malkus
The Pendulum
The combination ol
experience, talent, desire and
determination paid off for the 1992
Elon women's volleyball team.
With a record of 25-3 (7-0 in the
South Atlantic Conference), Elon
has guaranteed themselves an
automatic bid to the NAIA
District 26 Tournament which
will be held here on Nov. 13-14.
This weekend Elon will play
in the conference tournament at
Presbyterian College, but no "do
or die" pressure will be felt
because they have already reserved
a spot for themselves by winning
their conference.
"We knew from day one that
we had a chance at winning the
conference because of the amount
of experience we had," volleyball
coach Sue Leonard said. "I
expected this to be the year for
volleyball."
One of the reasons for this
year's success was cxpericnce.
Ten players returned from the
1991 season and eight of iho.sc had
a lot of playing time.
Experienced seniors Lynn
Hefty. Cheryl Spivey, Jill Taylur
and Candice Snider and junior
Velma Degree all contributed
greatly to the 1992 team.
"The seniors really wanted
this conference title," Leonard
said. "It was what they had been
shooting for all four years."
To prepare for the post-season
matches, Elon will be fine-tuning
their serving, blocking and hits.
If Elon wins the district
tournament, the by-di,stricts will
be held here at Elon on Nov. 21.
If a win occurs here, Elon will go
to the national tournament held at
Point Loma in San Diego.
With all of Elon's experience
and all of their key players, Elon
should be a threat in all of these
tournaments.
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