PAGE 6 I THE MEREDITH HERALD 1 OCTOBER 1. 2008
-'■V^
•eiv'
'.•'vvvic*!;
IT’S ALL RIGHT HERE!
By Michael Novak
Contributing Writer
I know. This is ACC country. Most people who are fans
follow their favorite Division I college teams for men’s
and women’s sports: The Pack. The Pirates. The Heels.
The Demons. That place over in Durham. It’s in the air
around here and hard to escape. Despite the price, the
parking, the crowds, we all go when we can. And we
almost never meet or know the athletes we work so hard
to follow. Can’t tell ‘em from Adam’s housecat.
But you are missing something amazing if you don’t
look closer to campus. Right here in your classes and
dorms are some of the most remarkable athletes I have
seen in over 50 years of playing and following orga
nized sports. And there is something extraordinary about
watching people you know compete at a very high level
of athletic achievement.
This last week afforded some excellent examples of
what is available five minutes from your dorm.
On Friday in the late afternoon sun I watched our
cross country team in a three team race against Peace
and N.C. Wesleyan. (I’ve seen them practice: you run
until you can’t breathe and then run a bunch more, try
ing to shave thirty seconds off your best time for a 3+
mile run.) Off they all went, down a course that would
force them through woods and up hills, pounding
against ground that was uneven, sustained only by their
own will and conditioning.
We got a few updates, but in the end waited for the
long finish up a half mile of hill, hoping our team would
finish five runners with better times than any other
team’s best five. What a thrill as we saw the jerseys
begin to appear up the hill-^one, two, three, four—all
the first four finishers in the/beautiful maroon of Mer
edith. And by their styles of run we knew that Joyce,
Audrey, Lauren and Katie had guaranteed our win. I left
feeling great.
On Saturday, a beautiful day, 1 watched our soccer
team play the 4th best Dill team in the entire nation. It
was free and the seats were front row. And beyond all
belief, our team played them dead even for the entire
first half and, in fact, for most of the game. Things like
MEREDITH
AVENGING ANGELS
this don’t often happen in sports. We didn’t win, but right
to the end we were in it even though we shouldn’t have
been. And the reason we were in it was because people
I knew from class—Anna, Sam, Maggie —played their
hearts out and did astonishing things that are still fresh
in memory. Again I left feeling great.
And then on Wednesday, our volleyball team faced
a conference powerhouse that our current players and
coach had never beaten. We had come off some tough
losses and could have caved in when Methodist took a
quick lead with the first game. But we—Leslie, Mal
lory, Laura—fought back and won two of the next three.
Remarkable.
It went all five games, with the lead changing hands
many times and never growing greater than four points,
and as the final game built toward an incredible finish,
we—MaryBeth, Morgan, Sarah, Kayla, Emily—played
some of the best volleyball I have ever seen and came
from behind to win! 1 left the electrified gym so excited
that 1 went home and graded exams for two hours and
didn’t even notice. Imagine that.
1 rest my case. There is a special thrill in watching
your friends do remarkable things. Take an hour or two
and see what 1 mean. ■
UPCOMING
EVENTS
Friday, Oct. 3
Volleyball vs. Mary Baldwin
Volleyball @ Averett
Saturday, Oct. 4
Cross Country @ Hagan Stone Park
Cross Country Classic
Soccer @ Ferrum
Tuesday, Oct. 7
Tennis @ Catawba
Volleyball @ Roanoke
Wednesday, Oct. 8
Soccer @ Salem
Friday, Oct. 10
Soccer @ Guilford
Saturday, Oct. 11
Soccer @ Averett
Wednesday, Oct. 15
Volleyball @ NC Wesleyan
SPORTS OVERVIEW: CONFERENCE VICTORIES
By Apiffany Gaither
Sports Editor
On Weds., Sept. 24th, Meredith’s
soccer team beat N.C. Wesleyan
with a 4-3 advantage to gain their
first conference victory. The team
beat the Battling Bishops with a
score of 20 to 10. Two goals each
were scored by both Maggie Hart
and Alex Calvert. Calvert scored
the game point with an assist from
Anna Buryk; Hart was the high
point scorer with five on the assist
to Calvert.
Falling behind early on Sat.
27th, Meredith gave up two goals
to Christopher Newport. With a 2-0
advantage, the Captains headed into
halftime. The Captains then shot
another goal at the beginning of the
second half to secure the win for
Christopher Newport. Next, Mer
edith journeys to Ferrum on Satur
day, Oct. 4, to challenge the Pan
thers at 2 pm.
Weds., Meredith volleyball
gained their first USA South confer
ence triumph over Methodist, win
ning the match in five sets. Meredith
unfortunately lost the first set with
a score of 22 to 25. The team coun
tered from their shortfall to tie the
match at 1-1 with a 25-22 win. The
Avenging Angels gained the third
set with a 25 to 20 success. Method
ist took the fourth set with a score of
25-22 allowing for a fifth and final
set. Winning 16-14, Meredith gained
another set. Morgan White led the
team with 18 kills and two block
assists. Mallory Booker inserted 10
kills and 17 digs. At the net, Les
ley Bass remained tough with two
solo blocks and three block assists.
With 43 assists and 11 digs, Laura
Sayabouth encouraged the team
to victory.
On Sat., the Avenging Angels
gained another conference success
by slamming Shenandoah in the first
match of the day with a win of 3-0.
With 12 kills on 22 attempts, Mor
gan White led the way to a win. The
Meredith volleyball team proceeded
to host Greensboro in the second
game of the day. The Pride won the
match 3-0. Meredith next travels to
cross-town rival Peace College on
Tuesday, October 1 at 7pm. ■