THE TARTAN Oct.

12, 2011

SPORTS

Volleyball climbing Big South standings Big South preseason

DOM BAYA
dbaya@radford.edu
Radford University Volleyball kicked off back-to-back road matches starting off with a victory on the road against Campbell University 3-1 on Oct. 7. They had a slow start in the beginning but fought back against their conference opponent play by winning 14-25, 25-23, 25-19 and 25-20. After losing in the first set, the Highs found themselves in a 6-1 deficit in the second set, but used a 4-0 run that later on evened out the set. They capitalized on a 10-3 run in the third set, and rallied in the winning set to earn their first conference win on the road. Freshman outside hitter Rachel Wiechecki had one of the best games this season by posting a double-double (career high 17 kills and 10 digs). On the defensive front, they pounded the Camels led by freshman libero Rachel Brummitts game high 28 digs. Trailing 14-13 in the second set, a 4-0 run put the Highs in the lead highlighted by freshman setter Christine Beckhams two aces. They would not trail the rest of the set as they closed it out with a block from freshman middle blocker Emma Deininger. The Highs controlled most of game three with a double digit leads despite the Camels effort to bring the game back within five points twice. The comeback was not enough for them as RU won the set due to a Campbell attack error. Wiecheckis seven kills and a late rally won the match in the fourth set. The Highs took a 13-9 lead before the Camels tied it at 15 apiece. Things then changed in favor of the Highs when a kill by senior middle blocker Carly Fleming started the game-clinching run. Fleming finished the match with eight kills, while a freshman duo of freshman setter Jena Braden and Beckham respectively recorded 21 and 18 assists. The Highs looked to carry their success onward to their next game against High Point but their dream seemed to falter as they dropped the game 3-2. In a thrilling match that contained 37 ties and 21 lead changes, the Panthers claimed the first and third sets (2514, 29-27) with the Highs winning the second and fourth sets (18-25, 22-25). In the final set, High Point led at 8-7 in the contest before scoring 7 of the final 9 points to win the set 15-9. Led by Deininger and Wiechecki, they paced the offense with a total of 27 kills. Deiningers 14 kills were tied for a game-high with an attack percentage of .444. Both had two blocks while Wiechecki recorded 8 digs. Brummitt had a match high 34 digs (a conference best 30 plus season digs), while adding eight digs in games two and four along with seven more in the final set. Carlins two kills was the spark that sent the Highs to the final set after finishing the fourth set on a 4-1 run. The Highs next match comes against non-conference opponent James Madison University Dukes on Oct. 11.

polls released
MATT HALBERG
mjhalberg@radford.edu
It was a tale of two seasons for Radford Universitys Men and Womens Basketball last season. The womens team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the rst round of the Big South conference tournament after catching re in the middle of the season, while the mens team mustered only ve wins throughout their entire season, and didnt win a game away from the Dedmon Center. Both teams are looking for redemption this season, however, as the college basketball season is just under a month away from tip-off. Oct. 11 was Media Day in the Big South conference, and the league released its ofcial preseason projection polls for both the All-Conference Team and the projected nishing places of all teams. Not surprisingly, the mens team is projected to nish last in the Big South, according to the preseason polls. UNC Asheville, on the other hand, is projected to nish in rst place while Coastal Carolina University is projected to nish in second. Despite elding several young promising players on the court, the Highlanders didnt have a player named to the ve-person AllConference team. The womens team is a different story, according to the preseason polls. Junior guard DaNaria Erwin Spencer was named to the All-Conference team. The Highs were also picked to nish third in the Big South conference for the 2011-2012 season. League powerhouse Liberty University is projected to nish in rst place. The womens season begins on Nov. 11 with a home game against Eastern Mennonite University, while the men will get their season started against Delaware University on the same day.

COURTNEY EARLL | The Tartan

Radford Volleyball has clawed their way to three tough wins over the past five matches to improve to 8-11 on the season.

FIELD: Highlanders win two out of three past games

From page 7
and she currently is RUs leading scorer. Hampton recorded a total of 15 saves for the Saints, while Encarnacion, close to the end of the second half, was only tested once for Radford and she was able to keep Limestone from recording any points. RU cooled down their attack in the second half, as Limestone was able to move the ball a little more, and even managed to get a couple of threats on the Highs side of the eld. Every offensive effort they made however was thwarted, and in the end they came up empty handed. A little less than two minutes into the second half, Wadolowski took advantage of a scoring opportunity to double the Highs lead. She managed to grab the ball on the right side as it was rebounded off of Hamptons pad, and a defenders foot. Once she did this, she red the shot that gave the Highs a 2-0 advantage. Her goal was the last one scored for the Highlanders. By the end of the game RUs numbers overall consisted of a 22-1 advantage in shots on goal, a 20-0 advantage in penalty corners, and it all tallied up to a 2-0 victory. We denitely gave up some good chances, said Head Coach Jeff Woods. We could have scored at least several more goals than we did. Coach Woods who, while he wanted more than just two goals, was very pleased with the teams efforts. We played great, Wadolowski said. We were able to connect very well. The score was only 2-0 but I think we could have had a lot more goals. RU will play their next game against Davidson University on Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.

BASEBALL: Club team making waves with beginning of new season

From page 7
the club team from Virginia Tech later this month. The match should be a good test for the RU team, as Virginia Tech made the National Collegiate World Series a year ago. Three weeks into the semester and the club has already achieved roughly the total amount of points they had for the entirety of last year. Its not all about points though. One thing the team wants to improve upon is giving back to the community. This has been an area where they have struggled in the past. Were starting to give back to the community by helping little league teams through practices, Belcher said. Were also teaming up with local organizations and foundations to help out with any events they may have. This year theres a lot of potential for this team at RU both on and off the eld.

Cooling down with

Ryan Taylor
Taylor, a junior, is the goalkeeper for the mens soccer team.

How do you prepare yourself mentally for an important Big South match? Before a match I just focus on all the prep work weve done leading up to the game and make sure Im concentrated so I have a good warm-up.

Courtesy of RU Athletics

How do you try to move on if you give up a goal within the rst 15 minutes of a match?
Ive got to move on, stay calm and make sure I stay focused on whats happening in front of me so that we dont concede again. Because we have plenty of time to get ourselves back into a position to win the game.

Whats your favorite way to celebrate a win?

My parents are always at the games so dinner with them and a few teammates after a win is always a good way to celebrate.
AJ SCHRANTZ | The Tartan

Junior forward Caroline Hollerbach has become a regular starter, starting nine of 13 matches.

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mjhalberg@radford.edu

Matt Halberg