Atlantic Sun Insider

USC Upstate's Emily Sanders Digs Her Role as A-Sun SAAC President

2012-01-26T09:08:00.037-05:00

Emily Sanders is a junior setter for the USC Upstate Spartan volleyball team. In 2011 she played in 103 of the team's 105 total sets, leading the Spartans in assists with 836 and finishing second on the team in digs with 335. Those numbers also ranked her eighth in assists and 11th in digs in the A-Sun. Sanders is also completing her service as the SAAC President for 2010-11.

A-Sun: Why are you involved with SAAC?
ES: I work with SAAC because I find it very important for student-athletes to have a voice in the athletics department. I also enjoy being involved in the university; this is just one of many clubs/organizations I am involved with on campus. As the president of SAAC, I find student-athlete welfare very important and I am dedicated to making sure that the student-athletes at Upstate have a positive college experience.

A-Sun: What is SAAC’s role on campus?

ES: SAAC's role on campus is to have a collective voice of student-athletes to the administration and to also promote service of student-athletes in the community. SAAC provides structure for student-athlete peer support and represents a high standard of character expected of all student-athletes. Another role of the SAAC is to promote the understanding of the NCAA and Atlantic Sun legislation.

A-Sun: What is the most rewarding community service project you have participated in with SAAC?

ES: Although we have had many rewarding community service projects, one of our proudest moments was last year (2011) when USC Upstate won the Atlantic Sun service project competition when we raised over $4,500 and donated the money to Gibb's Cancer Center at a local hospital. It felt good that we were able to raise that much money and be able to donate it within the community.

A-Sun: Why did you choose to attend USC Upstate and to play for a team in the A-Sun?

ES: I chose USC Upstate because I loved the size of the campus, the beautiful South Carolina weather, and I had an immediate connection with the girls on the volleyball team. I knew that Upstate was rapidly growing and would soon become a Division I program and wanted to be a part of it. I also knew that the Atlantic Sun was a very competitive conference and was excited to become a part of it as well.

A-Sun: What is a typical day for you as a Spartan entail?

ES: A typical day for me as a Spartan would be to wake up and go to my classes, attend a weights/conditioning session, then go to practice, then wake up and do it all over again.

A-Sun: How do you envision SAAC’s future role in the Spartanburg community?

ES: I envision our SAAC to continue making a difference within the community by fundraising and by continuing our community service activities. It is important for us as student-athletes to give back to a community that is so supportive of us.

A-Sun: Talk about being a part of the program’s transition from Division II to D-I.

ES: Our program's transition from Division II to Division I has been very exciting, and I know that a lot of our student-athletes were looking forward to it as well. This transition has given us eligibility for the conference tournaments at the end of each sport's season, and with that comes more motivation and excitement throughout the season. It has been a different feeling knowing that you have an opportunity to win the conference tournament at the end of the season.

A-Sun: What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time?

ES: In my spare time I enjoy eating sushi, listening to music and hanging out with my friends.

First-Year Coaches Find Themselves in Different Situations

2012-01-24T15:27:00.010-05:00

Above: Kennesaw State's Lewis Preston, FGCU's Andy Enfield and Stetson's Casey Alexander

Midway through their first season as head coaches, Stetson’s Casey Alexander, FGCU’s Andy Enfield and Kennesaw State’s Lewis Preston already have their own unique story to tell.

The first thing Alexander will tell you about his first season as a head coach is that he “loves coming to work.”

“I have encountered no surprises in my first year as a head coach,” Alexander says. “I appreciate the opportunities and responsibilities that come with the job. I think as a first-year head coach it has been important to remember to start with the big picture, and to stay focused on what we want to establish in the program. I think it is easy to lose track of that and begin to focus on standings, seedings and wins and losses.”

The former Belmont assistant calls this opportunity the right place that came at the right time. “I was at one school for a long time and was ready for something new. More and more I felt ready to run my own program,” he says. “I got to the point that I knew it was time for a change. I didn’t want to go just anywhere just to be a head coach, but to go somewhere where the philosophy in which I believed could transfer. I believe this is a good place for that.”

Alexander refers to the Hatters (7-13, 4-5) as a team who is more offensive-focused, as evidenced by the fact that eight of the 11 statistical categories in which they rank in the top half of the A-Sun are offensive. However, Stetson also leads the conference in rebounding offense, defensive rebounds and defensive rebounding percentage. Stetson also has three of the top 10 scorers in the conference, led by Adam Pegg (15.1 ppg), Chris Perez (13.3 ppg) and Aaron Graham (12.9 ppg).

So what will it take for the Hatters to find themselves in the mix in late February? Stetson is last in the A-Sun in scoring defense and in turnover margin, two areas of emphasis for Alexander moving forward. “Our nemesis all season has been taking care of the ball,” he says. “There are a lot of reasons we have struggled to do that, but that is the bottom line. In the big picture we are an offensive-minded team, and we have not been as committed to defense as much as we need to be.”

Enfield, whose FGCU team (9-10, 5-4) currently sits in a three-way tie for fourth in the conference, admits that he entered his first season with the Eagles with tempered expectations of the A-Sun.

“Coming from another conference, I really didn’t know what to expect from the A-Sun. I am pleasantly surprised with that I have seen halfway through my first year,” Enfield says. “There is a lot of talent in this league. You expect every team to have a good player or two, but there are talented players from top to bottom. Plus, the level of coaching is excellent.”

Enfield has some good players of his own, as the Eagles rank in the top half of the A-Sun in nine statistical categories. Bernard Thompson (11.9 ppg) and Sherwood Brown (11.3 ppg) average in double figures, while Brett Comer is the conference leader in assists (5.4 apg) and Christophe Varidel is the A-Sun’s top free throw shooter (.907) and No. 3 three-point shooter (.447).

In six of their first seven losses, the Eagles lost by six points or fewer in each contest. Enfield says that provided his older players the opportunity to show leadership, and gave his younger players a chance to grow up and to gain confidence.

“I think our veteran players have continued to improve, and our younger players are learning from them and from the close games we played early in the season,” says Enfield. “After coming through those games our freshmen are beginning to play like sophomore and juniors.”

“Now I think we just need to continue to play hard. We have identified our strengths and weaknesses and know what we have to do to overcome them. The level of success we enjoy in the second half of the season will be determined by how hard we play, and how much pay attention to details.”

Personally, making the transition from assistant to head coach in a new conference is one that Enfield is savoring. “I am enjoying being a head coach. It is always tough when you are in a new situation, and we are experiencing the growing pains that teams always experience,” he says. “Things pop up from time to time that now as a head coach I must deal with, but it is like that at any program.

“As a head coach I realize better how our time is stretched thin, particularly when helping our players do everything they have to do to become the best student-athletes they can.”

Lewis Preston will testify that while the growth process of his team in his first year has not been as expeditious as desired, it is still a process ripe with discovery about himself, his staff and his team.

“I think the adjustment from assistant to head coach in my first year has been a decent one, although the results have not turned out as well as I would have liked,” Preston says. “It has certainly provided an opportunity for growth, and for us to find out more about ourselves as a staff and a team.

“As much as I hate to say it, I have to focus more right now not neccesarily on wins and losses, but on recognizing that growth and hang my hat on that. It is going much slower than I would like, but I understand that we can overcome that by getting after it.”

Although featuring two of the A-Sun’s top two scorers in Markeith Cummings (15.8 ppg) and Spencer Dixon (13.2 ppg) and the conference’s top rebounder in Aaron Anderson (9.1 rpg), the Owls are winless in the A-Sun at 0-9 and 3-18 overall. Preston attributes his team’s struggles in part to the change in philosophy, and looks forward to becoming another of the A-Sun’s success stories.

“I think the biggest challenge for our team has been realizing how hard you have to work every day to be successful,” he says. “We stress with our players that you are not guaranteed anything for the next day, so you have to stay positive and continue to work hard. I pick out Cliff Warren at JU as an example of how through hard work and staying to the task, you build a good program.”

“There are many good stories right now in the A-Sun. A few that come to mind include Mercer, who is playing very well with a great class of sophomores that obviously have put it together. Belmont is going to be Belmont, and now USC Upstate has a good chance to continue its success.

Preston says that for him many similarities exist between being an assistant and a head coach, along with certainly some unique differences. “The amount of sleep that you lose is certainly a difference,” he jokes.

“I have to continue to understand the moment, and remain cool and unruffled in adversity or prosperity – and stay focused. I believe that mentality will transfer down to our staff and to our team. I think as coaches we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. I know that to some point we all have those visions of grandeur, but I have realized that it is a process.”

Lipscomb's Bree Thurman Talks SAAC with the A-Sun

2012-01-19T08:56:00.019-05:00

Lipscomb University's Bree Thurman is a junior outfielder on the Lady Bison softball team. In her freshman season (2010), Lipscomb won the A-Sun championship and played in the NCAA Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Highlights for her in 2011 included finishing second on the team with a .271 batting average, leading the Lady Bison in walks (33), OBP (.418) and steals (13) and playing error-free in the field for the second consecutive season. Her steals tied her for eighth in the A-Sun and she was also third in the conference in walks. Off the field she is a two-time member of the A-Sun All-Academic Team and in 2011 she earned NFCA Scholar Athlete honors. Today Bree talks about her involvement in the A-Sun's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

A-Sun: Why do you work with SAAC?
BT: I got involved with SAAC my freshman year because there was an opening and I had been told that it would look good on my resume. However, I continue to work with SAAC because I love getting involved with the community, and I have learned a lot about leading, organizing fundraisers, and the amount of work it takes to have such a large group of individuals come together. I truly believe that my time with SAAC has been one of the greatest experiences I've had in college in terms of preparing me for my future career.

A-Sun: What is SAAC’s role on campus?
BT: SAAC's main role is unifying fellow student athletes and bringing us together to raise awareness and fund raise for various community service projects.

A-Sun: What is the most rewarding community service project you have done with SAAC?
BT: Right now we are working on a project for the Contributor. It's this really cool newspaper that is actually written by the homeless. They write them and then go stand in the streets throughout the Nashville area and sell them for a dollar and get to keep most of that money for themselves. I know that my teammates— and several others— will literally dig through our cars to find money to give to these people when we see them. We know that they have worked hard to make money and it feels nice to be able to help them out. So raising money to help the Contributor is probably the most rewarding fundraiser we have done with SAAC, or at least for me personally.

A-Sun: Why did you choose to attend Lipscomb and to play for an A-Sun team?
BT: It was actually a very unconventional recruiting process for me to end up at Lipscomb. I was prepared to go play at a much bigger school but at the last minute I got a call from Coach Ryman. I decided to take the recruiting trip and I left really loving Coach Peck and Coach Myers. I wasn't thrilled about staying so close to home and going to such a small school, but for whatever reason I felt like it was the right choice. The school is in a great area and I also felt as though I had a chance to be a big part of a program that was on the rise. A lot of my friends chose to go to big schools that had already made their mark on the softball world. But I really liked the idea of being part of "the beginning" of a great program. I could not be happier about the decision I made to be a Bison.

A-Sun: What is a typical day for you as a Bison entail?
BT: Like just about every other student athlete would say, our lives are pretty much a routine. Wake up, go to class—or go to weights on those unfortunate days we have lifting at 6 a.m.— eat lunch, maybe have an hour break that most of us spend in the training room getting treatment, and then go straight to practice for the rest of the day. After about 4 hours of practice we eat dinner, do some homework, and then go to bed just to wake up and do it all over again. To some that might seem boring, but for me, I love it. We work hard at practice, but anyone who knows our team knows we like to have fun. We love spending time together. To be able to do that while also playing the sport we love is an incredible thing. Plus all the time and work we put in pays off on game day.

A-Sun: How do you envision SAAC’s role in the Nashville community in the future?
BT: I am hopeful that SAAC will be able to form longstanding relationships with the organizations we have worked with in the past. If we could turn our fundraisers into annual events that the community came to expect, I think we would be able to raise a lot of money and awareness for the organizations with whom we choose to work.

A-Sun: Talk a little about Lipscomb playing in NCAA Regional in Tuscaloosa in your first year.
BT: Playing in the Tuscaloosa Regional was one of my favorite softball experiences ever. To win the conference and make it to a regional felt great, but to get to play against the No. 1 team in the country was just an added bonus. We knew we had nothing to lose going into the tournament, and honestly we were not afraid. We beat some highly ranked teams that year and played some very stiff competition. At that point, and even still with our current team, big names didn’t scare us. However, it wasn't just who we got to play that was cool, it was the whole environment. We were playing in front of 3,000 people—it was invigorating. After our first game against Bama we really gained respect among the fans. I think we had a lot of Bama fans cheering for us when we played UAB later that day. After getting to play in that environment in my first year, I came to expect that level of success. After not making it back to a regional last season, our team is definitely hungry to return to that stage and we are excited for the opportunity this season.

A-Sun: What is your favorite thing to do in your spare time?
BT: This sounds incredibly lame, but we don't have ample amounts of spare time so honestly just sitting around the dorm rooms watching movies and hanging out with my teammates is one of my favorite things to do. Outside of that, Nashville is as they say, "Music City." There are always concerts going on. We can literally just pick a day to go downtown and there is likely some big-name country music star with an event. The best part is that they put on several free concerts which is always good for the "college kid" budget. Going to concerts or other events in beautiful downtown Nashville is at the top of my list of favorite things to do.

Atlantic Sun Primed for Return to Multi-Bid Status

2011-05-28T19:30:00.001-04:00

In most years, sixth seeds at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship don't realistically pose a major threat to walk out with the trophy. Most A-Sun sports don't feature six RPI top-90 teams however.

It had been since Jacksonville in the 2003 Baseball Championship that a sixth seed in any sport had won an A-Sun crown before Belmont ran through this year's tournament with a perfect 4-0 mark. No sixth seed had won the A-Sun Championship in undefeated fashion since UCF in 1997

The Bruins, who needed two wins at regular-season champion Stetson in the final weekend just to make the field, beat Stetson, Kennesaw State and Mercer twice to claim their first Baseball Championship. They began the week with an RPI rating of 88, according to WarrenNolan.com, and following the four-game run, moved up to No. 64.

"For us, accomplishing the goal of getting into the [A-Sun] Tournament was a major feat," Head Coach Dave Jarvis said. "This is such a good league, there's so much parity in this baseball league...I mean you can see that in results every weekend. I had that gut feeling that if we got into the tournament that we were going to win it. I kept telling our players that time and time and time again and they responded to that kind of challenge. At the end of the day they got the job done."

The narrow gap in talent among the six teams exemplified itself in the fact that the lower seeded team won eight of the 10 games played. Mercer, Belmont's opponent in the title game, counted three wins towards that total - only losing when facing Belmont.

The conference stands to return to its traditional place as one of the few elite leagues that earn multiple-bids to NCAA Regional play when the 64 teams are announced on Monday. The conference has earned 19 at-large selections since 1990 and placed multiple teams in the field every year from 1999 through 2007. Only one conference in the NCAA features more 35-win schools this year than the A-Sun's five (the ACC, six). The six schools that competed in the A-Sun Championship earned more than 40 victories against RPI top 50 schools and only once conference scored more non-conference victories against the East Division of the SEC than the seven the A-Sun earned.

"I see the league very much like it was 10 years ago when we first got in the [A-Sun] and our conference was getting three teams in a lot of years," Jarvis said. "[The A-Sun] is such a strong baseball conference - and I think it's recognized as a strong conference - but realistically not to the degree of difficulty that is. There is no place that you go in this league that...won't be very difficult situations."

Belmont will be able to relax until Monday afternoon's selection show knowing its name will appear in the bracket, but Jarvis is hopeful that multiple fellow conference members will enjoy the same fate.

"I think that this league deserves a lot of due credit," Jarvis said. "I know Stetson deserves their at-large bid and I really believe that when you look at what Mercer has accomplished with 39 wins, what Jacksonville's accomplished - finishing second in our league - and some of the non-conference wins that these teams have put together - there's no way you can overlook this conference."

J.T. Odom: Mercer's Very Own Rubberband Man

2011-05-27T23:18:00.004-04:00

Through Mercer's four games at the 2011 Atlantic Sun Championship the pitcher to have logged the most innings was not one of their four starting pitchers, but rather their sidearmed slinger J.T. Odom.

The Bears' senior closer has pitched in all four contests, working a total of 8 2/3 innings. In those innings he has struck out nine against only three hits and one walk. He has earned the save in all Mercer victories. However, one of those hits proved to be the deciding home run in their one loss - a loss that came early Friday afternoon.

"[After the Belmont loss] we just got on the bus and I just buried my head in my hotel bed to try and clear my head," the senior said. "I just tried to get ready for the next game because I knew I would probably [be] a big part in the outcome. I couldn't think any more about that game. I honestly had to pretend like that game didn't even happen."

Odom only had a few hours to forget that pitch as he was asked to face the league's top player, Adam Brett Walker while protecting a narrow 1-0 advantage in the eighth inning. Although Walker won that battle with a single, Odom again found himself on the mound recording the 27th out of the contest as he stepped on first receiving a toss from John Moreland to close the first 1-0 A-Sun Championship in 164 tournament games.

"He's been so good for us, his numbers are unbelievable - his strikeout to base-on-ball ratio (71-7 after Friday) is probably one of the top in the country," Mercer head coach Craig Gibson said. "[Belmont] got some good swings on him this morning, but he had success against [Jacksonville] a couple days ago so we wanted to run him out there again tonight."

With all the success Odom has enjoyed in 2011, Gibson has had to hold back on using him too much.

"I'll be honest, I want to start him," Gibson said with wide smile. "He's a guy that just goes - and this may be his last baseball - but he's going to give us everything he has and is going to leave everything between the lines for us. I'm kind of selfish...I want to use him all the time."

Mercer recently saw a former Bear, Cory Gearrin reach the majors with the Atlanta Braves. During this year, Gibson starting referring to Odom as "Gearrin" and Odom has backed up the praise with great performances each night.

"He didn't make all-conference and we thought he was one of the better relievers in the league and now he's getting the chance to show that he is," Gibson said. "I told him that he's really pitched better than Cory for us. You know we never won a championship with Cory and J.T. has given us that chance to do it."

During the Bears' run to the title in 2010, Odom only came into one game. Even with the knowledge that last year ended with a dogpile, he admitted to feeling more involved with this run.

"I would say I feel a little more a part of this [championship]," Odom said. "I've been in every game and been a key component in every game so that's been awesome. It's going to be something I'm going to remember the rest of my life."

Dolphins Keep Championship Hopes Alive

2011-05-27T20:25:00.004-04:00

‘Survive and Advance’ is usually a term saved for March and college basketball, but it also translates to the double elimination tournament being played at Lipscomb’s Dugan Field with the Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship.

Jacksonville became the latest example of that cliché in action with its 5-3 victory against top-seeded Stetson in the tournament’s third elimination game. The Dolphins now face that same situation again with a showdown against fourth-seeded Mercer, who already earned a 2-1 victory against JU on Thursday.

The Dolphins utilized strong pitching performances from three different hurlers, which included a three-inning save by Second Team All-Conference closer Chris Anderson to finish off Stetson, the regular-season champions.

“[Chris] Anderson was outstanding for us coming in the seventh as well as Appleby by getting that double play, while Eagerton has been a force us all year long even though he got a little tired out there today,” Head Coach Terry Alexander said of his Saturday pitching staff.

JU led throughout the game by picking up four runs in the first four innings to build their lead, but with a top-20 RPI team in the opposing dugout their lead was never safe as Stetson rallied to cut into the Dolphins’ advantage to two twice.

“[Stetson] is a quality team no doubt about it, we’re just going out there and try to play games as many as we can and win as many as we can and let it all shake out at the end,” Alexander on his team’s road ahead.

With three wins over the next 24 hours separating JU from its fifth A-Sun Championship in the past 13 years, the Dolphins will need the bats to come alive after only scoring eight total runs in their first three games.

“We just have to come out [against Mercer] and try our best by stretching out some runs and get behind some quality pitching,” Adam Brett Walker, the A-Sun Player of the Year pointed out.

The Bears will be awaiting the Dolphins at first pitch at 7:05 p.m. to see who will once again survive and advance.

Belmont's Run Highlights A-Sun Depth

2011-05-27T15:51:00.002-04:00

Belmont entered the 2011 A-Sun Baseball Championship seeded sixth in the tournament joining five other RPI Top-90 teams in field after clinching their spot on the final day of the regular season. Since securing their spot in the tournament at Lipscomb’s Dugan Field, Belmont has been a force to be reckoned with in a conference that is hoping to receive multiple at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament.

“The parity within this league is great when you look at the fact that Stetson has been in the top-20 all year long and then you have the teams come in this week and compete the way they have it is not a surprise,” Belmont Head Coach Dave Jarvis said of the A-Sun depth. “I think you could throw the seedings out of the window for this tournament at the beginning with the way the teams were playing coming in.”

The Bruins opened with a win against top-seeded Stetson (No. 19 RPI) on Wednesday in impressive fashion pummeling the Hatters 15-3 and then showed their grit with a close 4-1 triumph against Kennesaw State (No. 88 RPI) to eliminate the Owls from Nashville.

With a spot in the A-Sun Championship final on the line against fourth-seeded Mercer (No. 54 RPI), the Bruins twice battled back from two two-run deficits during the game before Derek Hamblen’s two-run shot in the top of the ninth inning gave Belmont the lead for good at 6-4 and advances them to Championship Saturday.

For Belmont, its senior class carried the Bruins to victory against the Bears with Hamblen, Matt Zeblo both going deep, Nate Woods getting the start on the mound and Tim Egerton and Jon Ivie adding contributions in the ninth to close out Mercer. Jarvis knows without them this season would have turned out differently.

“It shows a lot of great upperclassmen leadership especially from our two senior captains Derek Hamblen and Nate Woods who have grabbed ahold of the steering wheel and how all the other upperclassmen have followed them in that pursuit.”

Jarvis knows that his team is now in the driver seat for the remainder of the conference championship by needing only one win to take their first A-Sun Championship title, which would make them the first six seed to win the conference crown since 2003.

“Anyone we face has to win three games from this point forward. It has effects on pitching on kid’s rest and ability to just stay focused but at the end of the day it’s still just baseball and we have to come ready to play in the first inning.”

French Refuses to Surrender in Latest Gutty Win

2011-05-26T23:19:00.003-04:00

Almost from the start of Thursday's Atlantic Sun Championship between Mercer and Jacksonville, Bear starter Justice French found himself pitching out of the stretch position. Any one mistake could have opened the offensive floodgates for the Dolphins and put the Bears in an early deficit. However, he made the necessary pitches to wriggle out of multiples to pitch the Bears to a 2-1 victory.

In his 6.1 innings of work, 12 Jacksonville hitters reached base. Only one of those runners came in to score and that came when Adam Brett Walker did the work himself, homering in the fourth inning. He stranded runners in every inning except the third and on three occasions, he stranded multiple runners.

In the first inning, with Dolphins at first and second, he struck out Kevin Lehane. An inning later, the Dolphins put a runner at third with two away but induced a ground out by Esterlin Perozo. He threw a perfect third inning but in both the fourth and fifth inning he managed to get out of bases loaded jams. The fourth inning started with the Walker home run but concluded with a fly out by Taylor Ratliff only after three reached base.

"I was able to get those 'high-energy' pitches early in the game and I was able to get in a rhythm a little bit," French said. "They're a good hitting team and they're going to get hits, but I was able to limit the damage and that's what you need to do to win games."

In the fifth, he retired the first two batters of the frame but for a third straight at bat could not retire Walker as he singled to right. Lehane singled in front of Jimmy Howick. Howick beat out an infield hit to second base but crumbled to the Dugan Field grass in immense pain. While trainers tended to Howick, French used the time to stay warm and focus in on Colin Monagle, a pinch hitter. Monagle fouled out and in the following inning, the Bear offense rewarded French's efforts by scratching across a pair of runs, the only two runs needed in the 2-1 win.

"I thought that [the injury delay] was a big moment because [prior to it] they had strung together a couple of hits and I thought it kind of slowed down their momentum," French said. "I felt like I had to take advantage of [the moment] and I wanted to get the next guy and was able to do it."

For French, in-game adversity on the mound pails in comparison to some of the real-life challenges he has already beaten. In a story featured in the Atlantic Journal Constitution and on NCAA.com, French was diagnosed with melanoma last summer but through surgeries he has returned to full strength.

"He's a warrior and a competitor and he's fought hard," Mercer head coach Craig Gibson said. "He's always given us this type of outing most of the year...and that's what we needed from a great senior leader. He gave us his best game of the year at the best time."

Belmont Offense Efficiently Effective on Day Two

2011-05-26T20:20:00.002-04:00

The Belmont hot streak continued on Thursday as the Bruins picked up their 16th win in the last 21 games against A-Sun opponents with a 4-1 victory against Kennesaw State. On day one of the A-Sun Championship, Belmont’s offense platted 15 runs against top-seeded Stetson. In 10 of those 21 games, the Bruins’ offense registered at least eight runs to help Belmont to the six seed.

After platting 15 runs against Stetson in game one on seven extra-base hits – including three home runs – some would worry that Belmont wouldn’t be able to duplicate their run production again, but the Bruins front man Dave Jarvis didn’t want to waste the run production yesterday.

“There is an old saying about runs is that [runs] spoil so you can’t let them go to waste. You can’t keep them till the next day so you have to use them when you get them and then regenerate them again the next day and we were able to do that today.”

With Kennesaw State’s Bryan Blough (4-3, 3.51 ERA) on the bump for the Owls it looked as if the Belmont bats had gone stale early in the game as Blough retired the Bruins in order in each of the first three innings. Upon seeing Blough for a second time in the game, the Bruins started seeing success. Derek Hamblen singled leading off the fourth inning. After advancing to second a Dylan Craig sacrifice bunt, Nate Woods drove in Hamblen to give Belmont the game’s first run.

“Today we came in looking for a dogfight because we knew the kind of pitcher that Blough was and the great arm that he has so we knew we had to put things together against him to have an opportunity to score runs.”

More opportunities appeared in the sixth and eight innings to give the Bruins the 4-0 advantage and chase Blough from the game after 7.2 innings of work. With multi-hit performances coming from four different Belmont batters (Hamblen, Craig, Matt Zeblo and Jared Breen) the Bruins anxiously await their next opponent to see which batters will step up for BU again.

“This is as balanced of an offense that I have ever seen for us because we don’t have one kid that has off-the-chart average or off-the-chart power, but we have good balance throughout the lineup in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and RBI.”

Coach Jarvis and Belmont hope to continue their hot streak in the A-Sun Championship and that their two wins thus far don’t spoil and go to waste.

Hatters Down but not Out

2011-05-26T15:24:00.006-04:00

Stetson immediately put itself up against the wall with Wednesday's loss to Belmont sending the top seed to the consolation bracket. They began their road back by receiving clutch hitting from the bottom of the order as well as when facing two strikes to defeat ETSU on Thursday by a 7-2 score.

After allowing the Buccaneers to level the score at two and with the game moving into the late innings, the Hatters rallied twice with two-out rallies. They pushed across the go-ahead runs in the sixth inning. With runners at second and third, Mitchel Brennan, the eighth-place hitter, delivered a crushing blow to right center that plated the pair. After advancing to third, Kyle Zech continued the rally by scoring Brennan with an infield single.

"At the bottom of the order, you get a lot of pitches to see because [the pitcher] doesn't want to face the top of the order," Brennan said. "I was just sitting back on off-speed and I got one I could handle and drove it into the gap. My only thought was to get the runs any way I could."

As Hatter starter Will Dorsey and later Joe Dye continued to hold the potent Buccaneers' offense at bay, the Hatters strung together a final two-out rally to push the game to its final 7-2 margin. With two down and no one on base in the bottom of the eighth again the bottom of the order came through as Ryan Lashley, Brennan and Robert Bruce strung together three consecutive hits.

"I'm glad we [got those two-out hits] because twice early in the game we had [a runner] at third base with less than two out - which early in the year, we would cash that in every time," Pete Dunn, the Stetson head coach and 2011 A-Sun Coach of the Year said. "To be able to redeem ourselves with those two-out hits were huge. Good teams find a way to do that - and I think we're pretty good. We're beat up, but you have to come up big this time of year."

The Hatters are hardly off the mat just yet. They face as many as four more elimination games to claim the title that has eluded the six-time champions the past four years.

Brandon Loves Tournament Atmosphere

2011-05-25T23:18:00.006-04:00

Over the past two seasons Mercer's Brandon Love has made three appearances on the Dugan Field pitching mound. At the conclusion of all three trips to said mound, Love received the traditional postgame handshakes as the winning pitcher.

Wednesday's win, a 6-4 decision against Kennesaw State extended the Bears' recent run of team success on the Dugan Diamond. While Love improved to 3-0 at Dugan Field, the Bears own seven wins in their last eight contests at Lipscomb. They won the 2010 A-Sun Championship with a 4-0 record and they won last year's series against the Bisons by a 2-1 margin.

"It was huge for us to get a great start from [Brandon]" Mercer head coach Craig Gibson said. "He got in a little trouble early, but to his credit he settled in gave us another great outing. He's been good for two years and if we're going to have a chance to win this thing, you've got to have some great individual performances."

Last year, Love pitched the Bears into the title game by shutting down the potent ETSU offense. Over eight innings of work, he allowed only one unearned run. He spoke of the difference between regular-season outings and postseason starts.

"When everyone in the dugout is behind you, it's really to disappoint them," Love said. "You're out there battling for everyone else and luckily we got a win tonight. These games [have] much more energy. Everyone is ready to bring it and you really don't want to fall into that loser's bracket."

The Bears hope Love's start further continues to follow the similar path the 2010 Championship team established. Last year's team entered the tournament by winning 13 of their final 16 before rattling off the four straight wins. This year, they closed with 12 wins in their final 15 games. By beating the Owls, the Bears draw the opponent they had to beat twice during the 2010 Championship, Jacksonville, in a matchup of two Wednesday winners.

"We came into this tournament again hot and the team chemistry, we haven't missed a bit from last year," Love said. "I think this is real special group."

High-Powered Offenses No Match for Top Pitching

2011-05-25T20:16:00.004-04:00

The second and third ranked offenses in the Atlantic Sun squared off in game two of the A-Sun Baseball Championship and it wasn’t the batter’s box that showcased the fireworks, but rather the pitching mound.

Jacksonville’s Matthew Tomshaw and ETSU’s John Long highlighted the game with 12 combined strikeouts, five hits apiece and two earned runs allowed – both by Long. However, Tomshaw came away with the win and complete game – his second of the season – to give the Bucs the 2-1 victory.

“Tomshaw was incredible today,” stated JU Head Coach Terry Alexander. “He was magnificent and that’s what you need to have in tournament play - your ace has to step up and be there for you and he was there for us today.”

A unanimous A-Sun All-Conference selection, Dan Gulbransen, who recorded the game-winning two-RBI double in the fifth inning, knew that the opening game against the Bucs (No. 32 in the RPI) would be a dogfight.

“You can’t describe what (Tomshaw) did for us today going against a good ETSU team," the sophomore said. There wasn’t much offense to be had here today so you have to scratch and claw for every run.”

Throughout the season, ETSU averaged seven runs per outing, but could only muster a run on an infield error in the fifth inning, which gave them a brief lead over the Dolphins. The win was Tomshaw’s eighth of the season, which ties him for second most in the A-Sun, but more importantly advances JU to the winners’ bracket of day two and look to claim their fourth conference title in the past nine years.

Tomshaw’s dominant performance was nearly broken up in the ninth as ETSU tallied two hits with two outs to get the JU bullpen back up into action, but the senior pitcher never faded in his confidence.

“Every outing I feel as if I can go nine innings and when ETSU got two hits in the ninth inning all I thought was they weren’t going to score.”

His thought rang true as a grounder back to the mound ended the game and put the Dolphins up against the winner of Kennesaw State and Mercer at 7 p.m.

Bruins Continue Successful Run Against Hatters

2011-05-25T15:59:00.003-04:00

In Belmont's 15-3 defeat of Stetson in the first game of the 2011 Atlantic Sun Baseball Championships, the Bruins evened the all-time series at 16, but the recently history of this 10-year rivalry has tilted heavily northward as with Wednesday's win, the Bruins improved to 13-4 vs the Hatters over the last five years.

From the day the schedule was unveiled, Belmont knew its A-Sun regular season would conclude with a trip to DeLand. That trip looked more daunting after the Hatters opened the year with a three-game sweep of Georgia and compiled a 26-7 home record while the Bruins opened 3-8 in league play.

The Bruins got hot and won 11 of 13 conference contests and could have entered the Stetson series with a cushion on seventh-place FGCU but dropped two of three to the Eagles in the series immediately preceding the showdown with the Hatters. After a loss in the Thursday contest cut the Bruin advantage on the Eagles to one game, Matt Hamann and Nate Woods pitched the Bruins into the championship field with consecutive wins. The duo held the Hatters to only three earned runs in 13 innings of work.

"We got off to such a rough start in early conference play that we’ve almost been in a must-win situation for the last month, month-and-a-half," Belmont head coach Dave Jarvis said. "Our kids have responded to that. We’ve got really great upper classmen…and they’ve just turned our team around by their will. I think today was a reflection of that."

After beating the Hatters with is arm, Woods used his glove and bat to help secure victory. His acrobatic catch against the fence in fourth served as a prelude to his two-run home run in back-breaking fifth inning in which the Bruins extended a 3-0 lead to 7-0.

"[That catch] knocked the wind out of me, my lip almost caught on the fence like getting caught like a fish," Woods said. "I’m just glad I came out alive."

Hamann took to the mound on Wednesday and came close to matching his eight-inning, two-run effort from five days earlier. He took carried a no-hitter through 4.2 innings and turned in a six-inning, one-run effort to claim a school-record-tying ninth win.

"Matt’s mental toughness is incomparable," Jarvis said. "We took him from the back end of our bullpen in an extremely valuable role…our starting pitching was faltering and he stepped forward. We teamed [him and Josh Davis] with Chase Brookshire on our weekends and that’s been our difference."

With Brookshire waiting to pitch in Belmont's upcoming game, perhaps the Bruins could be lined up for a long week in the Championship.

A Championship Team; Five Years in the Making

2011-05-14T14:59:00.001-04:00

Five seasons ago, Jacksonville finished dead last in the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 4-14 mark and managed only 15 wins throughout the year.

That was Amanda Lehotak’s first season as the head coach of Jacksonville and also marked the beginning of a steady climb up the A-Sun softball ladder for the Dolphins. JU claimed five league wins in 2009 and finished 11th out of 12th in the first year of collegiate softball for now seniors; Katie Kelly, Kat Engler and Jackie Samuels.

The following season, the Dolphins qualified for the 2009 A-Sun Softball Championship for only the second time in program history. As the four seed in the tournament, Jacksonville dropped both of their games by a total six runs, but the team gained valuable championship experience with Amanda Schmidt, Melissa Morales and Sarah Sigrest all seeing action as freshmen.

In 2010, Lehotak and the Dolphins has a breakthrough season by winning 33 games and posting only the program’s second winning record since joining the Atlantic Sun. The team added key pieces in with freshmen Olivia Kline, Sarah Simon, Morgan Kibler and transfer Annike Don, which helped the team win their first A-Sun Championship game since 2005 after finishing the season 10-10 in conference play.

With a balanced attack throughout the lineup, Jacksonville tore up the Atlantic Sun schedule with an 18-2 record to win the regular-season title, the program’s first. JU finished on a 12-game winning streak to enter the A-Sun Championship on the campus of USC Upstate as the top-seed.

In Spartanburg, Jacksonville saw contributions from every class. Starting with the underclassmen on Thursday with sophomore Sarah Simon’s two-RBI single in the second inning to key a 4-1 victory against Mercer, which advanced the Dolphins to Friday against Lipscomb where a freshman, Karson Tuck, drove a delivery over the left-field wall for a three-run trip around the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning when it looked like Lipscomb would take down the top seed.

On Championship Saturday, it was the upper-classmen that controlled the game with three seniors seeing action in the game including Kelly starting the game at short. Schmidt, a junior, made her mark on the game with two homers, while fellow junior Sigrest dealed mowed down Lipscomb batters with a complete game three-hitter for her third win and to earn the Tournament MVP honor.

The 7-1 win completed the Jacksonville turnaround in five short seasons under the tutelage of Lehotak and the coach put it best when describing the turnaround.

“Five seasons ago, we sold the seniors of a dream of winning the conference championship and to accomplish that this season in their final year makes me feel like a proud mother.”

See the Ball, Hit the Ball

2011-05-14T10:37:00.001-04:00

It’s a simple mantra: See the Ball, Hit the Ball

And that’s exactly what Lipscomb did on Friday in their elimination showdown with Campbell by notching seven runs on eight hits by seven different players.

Mackenzie Tucker led LU with two hits against the Camels occurring in the first and sixth frames, while her first baseman Kristen Sturdivant kicked off the game in the first with a two-RBI single to give Lipscomb a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“Our goal every game is to score first to take pressure off of our pitching and Kristen came through with a big hit in the first and battle throughout the count and got the big hit,” said LU Head Coach Kristin Ryman of their early-game strategy. “It took pressure off us early and the confidence is contagious with this team once we saw her get the hit everyone else wanted to follow.”

Having to face two of the dominant pitchers in the league in their first two contests – USC Upstate’s Morgan Childers and Jacksonville’s Sarah Sigrest – Lipscomb was held to only two runs so the offensive explosion was just what Lipscomb needed to return to the title game against Jacksonville.

“We knew that Campbell’s pitching staff was more of a changeup team and we knew they were going to keep us off balance so we had to adjust early and just stay back and get the first runs,” added Tucker.

For Lipscomb to claim back-to-back titles, they will need to defeat Jacksonville twice on Saturday in the championship showdown and if they stay true to their hitting strategy the Lady Bisons have has to like their chances.

March Win Translates to A-Sun Success for Sigrest

2011-05-12T15:58:00.000-04:00

Sarah Sigrest entered the March 17th showdown with No. 22 Texas A&M in the USF The Game Tournament with a 7-3 record for the 15-9 Jacksonville Dolphins. The A-Sun Pitcher of the Year, Sigrest, left that contest with a one-hit complete game 3-1 victory against the ranked Aggies and the confidence both her and JU needed to cruise to a 18-2 Atlantic Sun record.

“We realized after that game how good we actually were and that is when we started to turn it around and that we could be one of the best teams in the conference,” Sigrest said of the win.

Since the victory against the Big 12 Conference foe, Sigrest stands at 25-5 on the year with an ERA below one and the Dolphins behind four A-Sun First Team All-Conference members are 42-14. The 42 wins marks a program record as does Sigrest’s 25 wins, which helped JU to their program's first top seed in the Atlantic Sun Softball Championship.

Jacksonville entered their Thursday contest with Mercer in an interesting situation since Mercer had one game under the belt – a win against Campbell – while the Dolphins hadn’t played in a game since a week prior against Stetson.

Despite the week lay-off and early-game jitters from both Jacksonville and Sigrest; which included two-straight balls and two Mercer batters reaching base in the first inning, the A-Sun Pitcher of the Year led the Dolphins to a 4-1 victory against the Bears with a four-hit complete game and moved JU two wins away from their first A-Sun Championship title.

“Sarah is a gamer and today I was interested to see if she would come out fearless and she did," stated JU Head Coach Amanda Lehotak. "She’s confident and she went right after Mercer and wasn’t afraid to get hit and she just battled. She is a competitor.”

Following a 12-win freshman campaign, Sigrest struggled with a 6-6 record and a 3.43 ERA as a sophomore, but a dedicated summer training routine developed the junior hurler turned her into the dominant pitcher in the A-Sun this season.

“She worked really hard this summer so Sarah deserves all the credit," added Lehotak, the A-Sun Coach of the Year. "I still believe the turning point for her was the win against Texas A&M because they have a tremendous hitting team and came out fearless in that game because she knew she had nothing to lose and the win allowed her to develop into the (A-Sun) Pitcher of the Year.”

With at least two games remaining in her junior season, Sigrest and Jacksonville are sure to be a force next season as well.

Camels Digs the Long Ball

2011-05-12T13:02:00.000-04:00

Two swings of the bat on Thursday kept Campbell’s season alive and hopes for a third Atlantic Sun Softball Championship title.

The Camels hit 51 pitches over the fence this season – 17 more than their opponents – and according to head coach Drew Peterson it was no fluke to see the long ball in play against Kennesaw State in the tournament’s first elimination game.

“The long ball is a part of what we want to do offensively. We like to mix speed with power and have that balance throughout our lineup. The main thing with our girls is we want them to make confident swings, swing at good pitches and believe in themselves we feel in the course of a seven inning game two or three of our players will connect on one and give us a chance to win.”

Campbell’s balance was on display as the third batter, Lauren Stephan, and sixth batter, Raven Lee, both connected on three-run homers to propel the Camels to the 7-1 victory. Lee’s homer in the fourth inning put CU ahead, while Lauren Stephan’s four-bagger the following inning put the game out of reach.

With four homers this season against the Owls, Stephan showcased Campbell’s batting mentality in her third at-bat after failing to connect in her first two hitting appearances.

“I struck out in my first two at-bats so I went up there in my third try and I wanted to do whatever I could to help the team and give us a few more runs so I tried to battle with (Abbey Meixel) in the at-bat and then I saw a quality pitch and I swung at it.”

With elite pitching squads on all the remaining teams in the tournament, Peterson and the Camels are confident in their hitting prowess.

“We can’t in any way give (opposing pitchers) too much credit because they have to throw the ball over the plate three times and we only have to hit one of them and we have to keep that mentality against them.”

Spartans' Win Sends Coach Hawkins Packing

2011-05-11T20:18:00.000-04:00

With their 7-5 win against Kennesaw State, USC Upstate not only advanced to the next round of the 2011 Atlantic Sun Softball Championship but also sent their head coach Chris Hawkins packing for Las Vegas in December.

The victory at Cyrill Stadium gave Hawkins his 600th victory in his 17-year career and earns him recognition at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Convention for his milestone at the end of the year.

“I have been here for 17 years and I’ve been through a lot of battles and wars and won some and lost some, but to get to 600 and still be able to walk and breathe is a good feeling and I couldn’t have done it without everyone as this program and institution,” Hawkins stated of his accomplishment.

For Hawkins, the timing of the win accumulation is more important as it advances the Spartans to a rematch with Lipscomb, who swept Upstate in the regular season, and keeps the Spartans alive for another game.

“It’s a great feeling to go to sleep tonight knowing that if we lose our next game we are still in the tournament and it’s great for our program because we are trying to build here at USC Upstate and this is a big stepping stone for us.”

Not only did Hawkins reach 600 wins, but the Spartans claimed their 42nd win of the season, a program record, just ahead of last year’s mark of 41. For an institution that made the jump to Division I in 2007, USC Upstate has already accomplished a lot with a share of the 2008 A-Sun Regular Season title and then taking runner-up at last year’s A-Sun Championship.

“In Division II we were always up there competing and I knew when we went to Division I any little mistake would hurt us, but we changed our program philosophy in what we were trying to accomplish and we really work hard on defense and luckily we have the pitching that kept us in games,” Hawkins said of the transition.

Now the Spartans’ squad stands three wins away from an A-Sun Championship title and a trip of the their own to a NCAA Regional.

Pieces Fall Into Place for Bears

2011-05-11T17:38:00.000-04:00

The 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference season started off rough for Mercer with a 1-6 record in the first seven league games including sweeps at the hands of Campbell and Jacksonville to kick off the season.

However, the Bears rattled off nine wins in the final 14 games to clinch a spot in the A-Sun Championship as the five seed following a clutch sweep of Kennesaw State at home to finish off the slate.

“The start of the season had to do with us figuring out the chemistry of our team and how our team was going to play well together and who would fit into the right piece of the puzzle as we went from the start to today’s game there have been quite a few changes to our lineup,” said Mercer head coach Mike Raynor

One of those changes showed up in the tournament opener with senior pitcher Kari Chambers starting off the game and fellow senior hurler Jenni Holtz coming in to pick up her 12th win of the season by allowing no runs in four innings of work.

“For the first three years at Mercer, Jenni (Holtz) had been a starter for us and has most of the pitching records at Mercer, but she has taken on the role of a relief pitcher and she is doing an outstanding job there by giving a completely different look to opposing batters and she performed well today,” Raynor added.

Despite only averaging six hits a game in A-Sun play, Mercer’s bats were on fire to start the conference championship with nine base knocks through six innings but the Orange and Black were unable to convert by leaving 10 runners stranded on the base paths. Fortunately just like the early season start Raynor knew the team would turn it around and Tiffany Phillips did just that with a single up the middle to score Kassie Bailey and give Mercer the decisive run.

“You can get frustrated with that or you can continue to stay excited about it and I continued to stay excited because I knew if we continued to set the table with base runners eventually someone would step up and get a hit for us and fortunately Tiffany Phillips did for us.”

Mercer now gets a chance to prove they have completely solved the puzzle by facing top-seeded Jacksonville on Thursday.

Owls Championship Week Closes with Two Titles

2011-04-20T16:02:00.003-04:00

Kennesaw State knocked out two birds with one stone this week at the 2011 Atlantic Sun Men’s Golf Championship.

The Owls’ Jeff Karlsson carded a 6-under 207 to give Kennesaw State its first A-Sun individual medalist, while teammate Matt Nagy added a 3-under performance to join Karlsson on the All-Tournament team and lead the Owls to their first A-Sun Men’s Golf team title.

For a program whose previous best team performance came in 2008 with a tie for third and in the same year posted their best individual finish with Oliver West taking third these wins represent big steps0 for the Owls program.

“Words can’t really describe how awesome this is for our players, program and school to take away two trophies and for Jeff Karlsson being the medalist,” Owls head coach Jay Moseley stated. “It really shows the work that we have put into this program and how much we have improved over the last couple years.”

For a team that loses only one senior, Chad Wilson, the future looks bright for the Owls to claim back-to-back team titles next year when the tournament is once again held at Chateau Elan.

“Our program is in great shape right now, the guys are working hard and they just want to keep getting better,” Moseley added. “That has been our motto all year long, but we still have work to do but we feel like this team can go a long way and we are excited about the future of the program and encouraged by our performance this week.”

Karlsson entered the day with a one-shot lead over Belmont’s Daniel Smith and learned that he earned earned a spot on the European Team for the Palmer Cup, the amateur version of the Ryder Cup, which is set to be played from June 9th – 11th at the Stanwich Club outside Greenwich, Conn.

The pressure of being the leader going into the final day as well as earning such a high honor with Palmer Cup didn’t shake Karlsson and the Owls as he claimed two individual honors and helped the Owls to four tournament titles prior to the conference championship.

“We started out the season by winning a lot of tournaments so coming into the conference championship we knew that we could do this and we could win so having those wins prior to the tournament was really huge,” Karlsson added of the team’s win.

Smith Hoping to Ace Senior Golf Capstone

2011-04-19T17:11:00.002-04:00

Belmont’s No. 1 Golfer, Daniel Smith, entered the 2011 Atlantic Sun Men’s Golf Championship with only three top-10 finishes on the season and seven rounds at par or better. However, things have been on the upswing for Daniel as he wraps up his senior year after recently earning the title of the Belmont School of Business Student of the Year.

To go along with his academic accolade, Smith fired a 69 in the opener on Monday and followed that with a 68 in day two to put the Bournemouth, England native in second place – one stroke behind Kennesaw State’s Jeff Karlsson – going into the Wednesday finale.

“Daniel tried to prepare like any other golf tournament by staying in his routine and not do anything different once he got out on the golf course,” Belmont head coach Scott Flynn stated. “I know how excited he was to come back and play in the conference championship again.”

Smith’s hot putter sank eight birdies in the first two days and has given him a chance to etch his name into the Belmont record books by posting the best individual performance by a Bruin, besting Jeff Lanier’s seventh-place finish in 2005 as well as lead the Bruins to a new program-best finish. On three occasions the Bruins have finished in sixth - most recently in 2005.

“When you are out there and you’re in a good rhythm things start going well and eventually a couple of the putts fall and before you know it you are a few under part and are just riding the wave,” Smith said of his first two rounds.

However the 2011 A-Sun Men’s Golf Championship Final Round plays out, Smith can take solace in his improved putting and first two rounds once his college career has wrapped up.

“It would be great to put in a good performance tomorrow," he said. "If I play as well as I can and take it one shot at a time and try to hole some putts and see where we stand at the end of the day.”

Nagy's Return Bolters Owls Championship Hopes

2011-04-18T17:43:00.003-04:00

In 2007, Kennesaw State played in their first Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Golf Championship and left with a fifth-place finish. The following year, the Owls earned a tie for third place, which still stands as a program-best, behind the seventh-place performance of then-freshman Matt Nagy. However, since the 2008 tournament the Owls have only been able to muster eighth-place and a tie for seventh-place finishes in the last two seasons.

As a sophomore Nagy struggled at the 2009 A-Sun Championship finishing the three-day tournament in 40th place after a final day 81. However, that summer Nagy qualified for the 2009 US Open at Bethpage Black after running the gauntlet of local qualifying and sectional play. The experience of playing in one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world changed Nagy’s golf game forever.

“It was a life-changing experience for me - I get asked all the time about playing in it and the experience has helped out my golf game a ton,” he said.

Jeff Karlsson joined the Owls’ golf team in the fall of 2008 fresh out of Gothenburg, Sweden, where he first started playing golf as a freshman in high school. His top finish as a freshman with the Owls came at the Columbia Invitational where he claimed third place. His golf game only improved in his sophomore season as he earned an event win at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate and finished runner-up in the Samford Intercollegiate.

Like Nagy, Karlsson had the opportunity to play in a highly-prestigious event, the International European Amateur, where he competed against 144 of the best amateur players that Europe has to offer. Karlsson finished under-par in every single round en route to a 12-under par 276, good for fourth place.

Nagy and Karlsson’s experience in those tournaments helped them individually as well as the Owls’ team as Kennesaw State sits in first place after day one of the 2011 A-Sun Men’s Golf Championship at Chateau Elan. Karlsson’s four-under 67 put him in second place, while Nagy trails right behind his junior teammate with an opening-round 68. Nagy knows how much it would mean to win the conference tournament as the host school.

“I’ve been looking forward to [the conference tournament] all year,". Nagy said. "No matter the big tournaments we’ve played in against other schools it’s nothing like winning your conference and I definitely want a conference ring before I graduate and this year would make it special.”

With the continued play of Karlsson, Nagy and the rest of the Owls their dreams of a conference title could come true.

Armaly and Lawrence Push One Another in Triple Jump

2011-04-17T09:53:00.002-04:00

Kennesaw State’s Anjoun Armaly entered the 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships as one of the favorites to win the triple jump after capturing the event at the indoor championship in February. Campbell’s Diego Lawrence and Adonnis Jones also entered as threats to win the event.

Unfortunately for Armaly, he entered the event with a foot injury that prevented him from competing since February 19th when he captured the indoor title. The layoff in time for Armaly effected his performance and Lawrence entered the finals of the triple jump with the top qualifying distance.

However, words of encouragement and the spirit of competition from his toughest competitors – mainly Lawrence – propelled him to a first-place finish in the horizontal jump with his distance of 14.9m just ahead of Lawrence at 14.79m.

“Diego Lawrence is not a competitor that is easily beaten and he went out and set a great mark and with my injury I wasn’t sure I could match him, but his performance motivated me to continue in the event and pushed me to reach him,” Armaly said of Lawrence’s performance.

With Kennesaw State fighting for the lead in the overall points with ETSU, Armaly rose to the occasion and helped the Owls to their second-straight title in spite of the risk of further injury. With Armaly being only a junior, track & field fans will be privileged to more gutsy performances next season as well.

An ETSU Championship Roundtable

2011-04-17T02:35:00.002-04:00

For the third time in six years in the Atlantic Sun, ETSU holds the tournament champion trophies for both the men's and women's tennis. The women won back the title by beating the school that claimed the 2010 crown from the Lady Bucs, UNF. While for the fifth straight year the men denied Stetson its first Atlantic Sun title, winning a drama-filled 4-2 contest.

Following both victories, multiple members of the victorious ETSU squads participated in "round table chats" to discuss topics ranging from the Saturday victories, the program at large and preparation strategies.

For the women's round table, MVP Karina Kedzo, Kelly Holtzhausen and Paula Jaime made up the panel.

On the men's side, the participants included MVP Grega Teraz, Sander Gille, Juan Ramirez and Roger Ordeig

'SuperBabies' to Undefeated Super Seniors

2011-04-16T22:39:00.002-04:00

Sometimes a coach knows when he puts together a great recruiting class. Ron Grigg possessed a pretty good idea when he brought his current seniors to campus.

“Four years ago we had a group that we called the ‘SuperBabies’. In the fall we knew they were going to be special and they grew up to be very special,” stated Grigg.

All this group did was go undefeated in A-Sun championship competition, pile up nearly 100 all-conference honors and another boatload of individual titles. They added to their legacy on Saturday night. From starting out the evening with a team win in the 4x100 relay and closing it with a conference record in the 4x400 relay, the seniors led the way.

“It is hard for me to find words to describe them. I think it was fitting for us to have seniors go 1-2-3 in the 200 at the end of the meet and then have three seniors run the final legs of the 4x400 relay that set a conference record,” reflected Grigg.

The team erased a 14-point day one deficit to realize their goal of an unbeaten career for the seniors.

“It was definitely a goal for us to finish the unbeaten run,” said Track Performer of the Meet Unique Singleton. “We have battled injury and our competition has been rising so it was really tough.”

While Singleton brought home the top track award, Ronnisha Hall was voted Field Performer of the Meet and Stacey Young racked up 38 points to claim Most Valuable Performer honors. Throw in event victories by fellow seniors Danielle Davenport(4x400 & 4x100), Louise Kiernan (100m & 4x100) and J’Zotta Rolle (4x400), it will be a day to remember in a career to remember for the Dolphins.

“They are so special to me personally. We are going to have our senior speeches at the end of the meet and I know it will be tough for all of us to talk. They have never lost a championship and no one will ever be able to break that record. I hope they have created an awareness of the strength of our program to help us attract quality people like them and help the team grow,” commented Grigg.

A hungry group of competitors in the conference will be awaiting the next wave of Dolphin standouts next year.

Zaatini Brings Two Teams to Championship Saturday

2011-04-16T01:54:00.002-04:00

In eight years leading the ETSU men’s tennis team, head coach Yaser Zaatini established the Buccaneer program as one of the Atlantic Sun Conference’s top dynasties across all sports. The Buccaneers own four regular-season championships and four tournament titles in six years in the A-Sun. With Friday night’s win against Campbell, they will go for a fifth tournament title Saturday against Stetson.

In July, his title changed to Director of Tennis at ETSU – a title that meant direct oversight of the ETSU women. Under other head coaches, the Lady Bucs put together a run in the A-Sun that closely mirrors the men, winning two titles, appearing in all five previous finals and claiming at least a share of four regular-season crowns.

Like the men, the Lady Buccaneers advanced to the Saturday’s title-game tilt. They took out the host Stetson and will take on UNF in a rematch of last year’s final, one won by the Ospreys. In just his first year at the helm for both teams, Zaatini became just the second coach in league history to be the head coach of both a school’s men’s and women’s program that made the respective title games. Pat Breen guided Samford to the finals in both tournaments in 1992.

“I didn’t get them both in the finals, they got themselves there,” Zaatini said. “I’m extremely proud of the way the players have performed throughout the year, and all the work that goes into it.”

Holding responsibilities for both teams means Zaatini has to put behind the tough defeats and refocus his coaching on his other team.

“The hardest thing is on the heart and the mind to come back after an emotional victory or a sad defeat and do it all over again,” Zaatini said. “But it’s my job, I love it, I love my school and I just hope we keep doing the best we can.”

When Breen got Samford to the finals in both sports in 1992, the team enjoyed mixed success. The men finished atop the tournament standings but the women took second to FIU. Zaatini isn’t ready to speculate how it might feel to leave DeLand, Fla., as the coach of two champions.

“I don’t want to think that far ahead,” Zaatini said. “Obviously, it would be a great accomplishment for the university, but tomorrow we’re facing huge challenges and great obstacles, and it’s just going to be tough. I can’t tell you right now where we’re going to get the four points. We’re just going to show up tomorrow, let the balls roll and hope it falls our way.”

Emotional Day Capped By Record Setting Performance For Crawford

2011-04-15T20:30:00.001-04:00

Every athlete writes a fairy tale ending to their playing days, but very few get to realize that finish.

USC Upstate’s Justin Crawford got his opportunity on day one of the Atlantic Sun Conference Track & Field Championship. And he made the most of it, matching the meet record and breaking his own school record with a vault of 4.75 meters.

“It was a real emotional day because this was my last collegiate meet,” reflected Crawford.

The senior faced some stiff competition on his way to the title.

Wind was gusting behind and across the runway at Hodges Stadium to such a degree that many potential-record breaking performances in the vertical jumps and sprints will likely be nullified.

“The wind was a real factor, but I was just in the zone. I was mentally prepared to compete today,” Crawford said.

UNF David Shepherd was the overwhelming favorite to win on paper. His vault of 4.95m is the top performance in the conference this year, but Crawford cleared 4.75m meters on his first attempt to put the pressure on the freshman. Shepherd would fault on all three attempts at the height to help seal Crawford’s gold medal.

Finally, a rough start to the season had cast some doubt on his season.

“The season started out rough for him and we were concerned,” stated Spartans head coach Jimmy Stephens. “The UNF guys have been jumping great and it was a battle with the wind, but Justin was tough and ready to go.”

That doubt all seemed to disappear today.

“I thought I could do it. Everyone will tell you they can but to actually coming out here and do it is something else. I was really proud of myself,” said Crawford. “I haven’t been jumping very well this year, but it all came together the last two weeks. I am really glad it did.”

Coach Stephens wrapped it up well as he reflected on Justin’s Friday afternoon effort.

“It’s awesome. Justin has always been one of the most consistent vaulters I have ever coached. Every time it comes down to crunch time he is there and ready to go. Obviously, it was very emotional for him and I was really happy for him,” Stephens said.

Mack Eyes Repeat and Personal Improvement

2011-04-15T19:21:00.001-04:00

Some people prefer to be the hunted and some prefer to be the hunter, but Kennesaw State’s heptathlete Naomi Mack can deal with either.

“It motivates me to come into the meet as the defending champion, but on the other hand I never really worry about my opponents and their performances I just try to focus on performing my best in each event.”

At last year’s meet, Mack entered her first A-Sun heptathlon with her only previous championship experience being a seventh-place finish in the 400-meter dash and a runner-up spot in the 4x400m as a freshman. However, Mack performed as a season veteran in the seven events with top-three finishes in every event except one and added a first-place finish in the 800m.

Her well-rounded performance gave Mack the gold medal in the heptathlon to go along with the A-Sun Championship Meet record by 300 points. Mack narrowly defeated Jacksonville’s Tiffany Bromfield by seven points, but had to storm back as the hunter from a 221-point deficit after day one to earn the gold medal.

In this championship, Mack begins day two on the other end of the spectrum as the hunted, leading her closest competitor by 164 points only three events remaining. Her event wins in the 100m hurdles and shot put have already trumped her win total from last season, but more importantly to Mack she has performed better three of the four events thus far.

“It’s a different mindset for me because if I can go into a meet and set a personal record in each of my events, but still not win then I feel better than if I win the heptathlon but don’t set any personal records.”

Tomorrow, Mack can get the best of both worlds by wrapping up the A-Sun Championship with a heptathlon gold medal as well as new personal records.

Pilote Hopes to Turn Near Misses into Celebrations

2011-04-15T01:08:00.004-04:00

Stetson head coach Pierre Pilote is no stranger to adversity. In his 18 years, the dean of A-Sun men's tennis coaches suffered more than seven losses just three times. The third time occurred this year, as the Hatters absorbed their most losses since 1995 - his second season at the helm.

The Hatters opened the 2011 dual match season with nine straight wins, and appeared well on their way to their fourth 20-win season in the last five years, but then junior captain Maksim Levanovic suffered a shoulder injury in the team's third conference match.

The injury sent Stetson into a tailspin, losing four of the next five matches, but with Levanovic back in time for the postseason, Pilote speaks of the invaluable experience his team gained competing without their captain.

"We started the season 9-0 and everybody was on full throttle," he said."We were looking forward to the nationally ranked teams we were about to start playing - we lost three very close matches. Then when Maksim Levanovic was about to beat the Player of the Year in the conference, [Campbell's] Davy Sum - serving at 5-3 he suffered an injury, an injury that kept him out for a month-and-a-half."

His squad's mental toughness has been forged in the furnace of heartbreak as well as injury. A year ago, the Hatters pushed the standard bearer of Atlantic Sun tennis, the (then) three-time defending champion ETSU Buccaneers, to the brink in the championship round. After finishing runner-up in the four previous A-Sun Championships, the previous three to ETSU, the Hatters finally had ETSU on the ropes, but a third-set injury to Didrik Berg severely limited the sophomore's mobility, and the Bucs' dynasty survived.

"After maybe three or four days of staying in my house, contemplating what just happened, I think everybody started looking forward to the season - a chance to show again what kind of team we have," Pilote said. "From the first practice on we didn't look back. We didn't want Didrik to feel that it was his fault in any way that we lost that conference championship. It was nothing he could have changed. It we keep bringing it up, it doesn't serve much purpose."

Through his career Pilote has coached numerous athletes, and holds a great deal of affection for all of them, but his fondness for this his 18th edition may exceed them all.

"It's a group - Maksim Levanovic, Njal Stene and Cesare Gallo - all came together as freshmen," Pilote said. "They were a group of men that look a long time to recruit...so that recruiting year was very important to us. They are just great young men; they're thoughtful, they work hard, they are amazing students without much motivation from me. They think about me - tonight we were supposed to go out to dinner, but they said 'no coach, you need your rest for tomorrow' you know I don't think many teams would pass a free dinner. I would just say they care."

If the Hatters can deliver a first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament, the painful memories of all the previous near-misses will wash away, and Pilote will finally celebrate an A-Sun championship with his players, his team, his friends.

New Coach Pleased with First Championship Win

2011-04-15T00:50:00.003-04:00

Interim UNF head coach Chastity Bradley walked into a championship situation. The Ospreys had claim their first Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Tennis Championship a year ago and entered 2011 among the favorites in the conference.

However, the team had to find a replacement for head coach Rodrigo Puebla after he left for Iowa State less than two weeks prior to the beginning of the spring season. After a 2-2 start, Bradley directed the Ospreys to nine wins in their next 10 matches – including a 4-3 victory against eventual regular-season champion ETSU.

“At the very beginning, I was hired and very next day I was holding practice,” Bradley said. “The girls were very welcoming. Every single day they showed up ready to practice at 110 percent. They did have a lot of expectations with winning the championship last year. I’ve told the girls from the very beginning ‘let’s go win one match at a time’ – which was our goal as this tournament. We didn’t worry about the seedings, but let’s just go out and win one match at a time.”

Narrow 4-3 losses to Campbell and Stetson resulted in UNF earning only the fourth seed for this week’s A-Sun Championship. After dispensing crosstown rival Jacksonville for the second time in less than a week, the Ospreys set up a rematch with ETSU. The Ospreys own the last two victories by A-Sun members against the Buccaneers. In addition to this year’s win in March, the Ospreys claimed that A-Sun Championship by toppling the top-seeded Buccaneers in the title match.

The UNF title defense opened in strong fashion starting with the teams of Victoria Krook/Melinda Doak and Danielle Day/Melanie Aguirre earning wins in doubles to snag the opening point. The lead grew to 3-0 when Aguirre and Day scored straight-set wins. However, Jacksonville scored a win from Virginia Iwinski and threatened to seize even more momentum until Krook quelled the comeback effort by defeating Flavia Nagayama in the third set after losing the second-set tie break.

“I had complete confidence in my girls,” Bradley said. “I was getting a little nervous at the end, but my senior [Krook] clinched it for me.”

Coach Bradley “one match at a time” mantra held up on Thursday, will it help carry the Ospreys back in to the final against ETSU? She and her team will find out beginning at 9 a.m.

Cardiac Hats Add to Lore

2011-04-13T23:30:00.002-04:00

The final round of Atlantic Sun Women’s Golf Championships used to be more formality or a coronation for the second-round leader. From 2003 through 2008, the second-round leader went on to claim the title.

Fortunes for those in back of the leader started changing in 2009. Stetson and Campbell swapped positions between the first and second records and the Camels entered the final round in front by three. However, thanks to a team score of even par, the Hatters became the first school to come back from a final-round deficit since Campbell rallied against UCF in 2002.

The Hatters made a more improbable comeback last year at Venetian Bay. They stood in fifth place and 12 strokes back of ETSU. Using a record-setting team score of 2-under 286, they successfully held off the competition by a single stroke, completing the largest comeback at the A-Sun Championship in 10 years.

These two comebacks all lead into today. Through the first two rounds, the Hatters fended off slow starts to stay within shouting distance of the leaders. On Monday, they played the opening nine holes in 8-over par to fall off the pace, but a closing nine score of 2-over brought them within four of first-round leader Kennesaw State. A slow front side again on Tuesday nearly cost the Hatters. The deficit within the second round approached double digits, but steadying play on the back nine, combined with other teams falling back to the pack meant the Hatters needed only to make up a deficit of three.

“I think that we always believe we have a chance to win,” junior Lauren Cate, who has been a part of all three comebacks, said. “We never stop trying and we know that we have a chance to win. We go out and leave everything on the table.”

After a four-over-par front side, the Hatters reached the top of the leaderboard, holding a one-stroke lead as they and the Camels hit the back nine. From there, the four scoring Hatters collected seven birdies, including three on No. 18, en route to shooting a 1-under par back nine and leaving the field behind, ending with a 12-stroke advantage.

“This morning [head coach Floyd Kerr] said not to play against Campbell and Kennesaw State, but more to just play the golf course and see what happens,” tournament medalist Alexandria Buelow said.

The A-Sun tournament started the day after the Masters, the tournament long associated with the phrase “it doesn’t start until the back nine on the final round.” Stetson’s back-nine charge locked up a third straight conference crown and put Hatter golf in exclusive company. They became just the third A-Sun school in the 22-year of the championship to win three straight conference titles.

The Hatters will make a third appearance at NCAA Regionals next month looking to build on consecutive 19th-place showings in 2009 and 2010.

Four¬-Way Fight in Store for Final Round

2011-04-12T20:10:00.002-04:00

In the 21 previous editions of the Atlantic Sun Women’s Golf Championship, the conference has never had to implement the team playoff format to determine a winner. Entering the final round of the 2011 A-Sun Championship, the league’s policy manual might have to be dusted off as four teams will begin play separated by three strokes.

Campbell moved up the board into top position thanks to consistent play from its four scoring golfers. The Camels overtook Kennesaw State to lead the Owls by two strokes. Due in part to ever-changing weather throughout the back nine on Tuesday, the Camels’ leading score of 24-over-par 600 represents the highest score to lead through 36 holes in five years.

As the leaderboard tightened late Tuesday, one team already in the clubhouse saw its deficit shrink to the three strokes it must now overcome. When two-time champion Stetson finished play on Tuesday, the Hatters stood in fourth place, eight back of then-leading Kennesaw State. However, once the final putts fell and the tallies came in for Kennesaw State, Campbell and ETSU, the Hatters had forged a tie with the Buccaneers for third and only three back. As head coach Floyd Kerr informed his team of its standing and of the knowledge that sophomore Alexandria Buelow had moved to the top of the individual leaderboard, the team collectively expressed surprise.

The Hatters have claimed each of their two A-Sun crowns by staging final-round comebacks. At this same course in 2009, they found themselves also trailing Campbell by three shots. They rallied by shooting the lowest team score in event history, an even-par 288 to nip the Camels by two strokes. Last year, they faced a more daunting task, entering the final day needing to overcome a 12-shot hole and surpass four teams. The “Comeback Hats” needed every bit of a second straight record-setting final round, a 2-under 286, to edge the Owls by a single stroke.

Not to be discounted in this four-way clash is ETSU. Like Campbell and Stetson, the Buccaneers have a championship pedigree, winning in 2008 and added an at-large selection to NCAA Regional play last year. Like the Hatters, the Buccaneers have shot rounds of 10-over 298 and 17-over 305 to sit three shots in back of the pace-setting Camels. The Buccaneers could gain an advantage by owning one of Wednesday’s early tee times. ETSU’s five will go out in front of Campbell, Kennesaw State and Stetson and like the Hatters last year, could post a number for everyone to try and match.

Despite their hiccups, the closest challenger remains Kennesaw State. The Owls can point to one hole, the par-5 ninth and with proper correction could reclaim the top spot. In Tuesday’s round, the five Owls played the hole in a collective 8-over par, with everyone taking at least a bogey. Contrast those performances with Monday’s, where the five made two pars and three bogeys on the hole. That five stroke difference contributed to the Owls going from three strokes up entering the day to the two behind they find themselves following the round.

Will the never-used team playoff come into effect in the early afternoon hours on Wednesday? Follow the progress at GolfStat.com.

Owls Take First Step Towards Completing Ascent

2011-04-11T23:14:00.002-04:00

When Kennesaw State made its first appearance in the Atlantic Sun Women's Golf Championship field - in 2009 - the Owls finished fourth. A year later, they moved up to second and during the final round found themselves atop the leaderboard only to be caught by a record-setting performance by Stetson.

The Owls returned to the site of their first A-Sun Championships, Victoria Hills Golf Club in Stetson's home city of DeLand, Fla. off a successful season that featured the first team victory under the direction of head coach Rhyll Brinesmead; the program's first A-Sun Golfer of the Month - awarded to Ket Preamchuen for November - and a ranking of No. 74 in the latest GolfWeek.com ratings - the best within the A-Sun.

“This [year] is our third competing at the A-Sun,” Brinesmead said. “We were fourth in 2009 and second last year. We’ve progressively moved up, so our goal this year is obviously to come away with the championship,” Brinesmead said.

Monday's first round saw FGCU, Mercer, Campbell and ETSU all hold the lead at various times during the day before the Owls rode a steady back nine performance to emerge from the pack atop the standings for day one. Their team total of 6-over-par 294 tied the lowest first-round score in A-Sun Championship history. History rests in the Owls’s favor as seven of the last eight first-round leaders have gone on to win the A-Sun title. Dating back to the start of the event, 1990, 14 of 21 first-round leaders went on to win the championship.

“We got off to a bit of a slow start – we turned at [6-over par] and maintained that, so a really solid back nine,” Brinesmead said. “Our goal was to come in and get off to a solid start – have a little cushion going in round two.”

A sign of the level where Brinsmead has lifted the program to comes from the fast that although it was only two years ago that the Owls debuted at the A-Sun Championship, the lineup has undergone a complete revamping as none of the players that played in 2009 made up this year’s championship lineup. Brinesmead brought pairs of sophomores and freshmen plus senior Abby Fitzgerald to DeLand this year.

The mostly young team handled early-round stumbles and with two rounds equal or better, the Owls could be flying back north with their first A-Sun crown.

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When the second round wraps up, where will Kennesaw State find itself in the standings? We welcome your thoughts in a comments section, at http://twitter.com/atlanticsun or facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference

State your Case: Belmont Bruins

2011-03-05T21:57:00.002-05:00

In its final chance to impress selection committee members, Belmont put on a clinic not seen in a General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball Championship title clash.

In beating UNF by an astounding 41 points, 87-46, the Bruins shattered the conference’s record for victory margin in a title game. UALR and Samford each won title games by 28 points, a decade apart in 1989 and 1999.

The 41-point margin, the 23 offensive rebounds and holding UNF to a season-low 46 points represent just some of the numbers that have amazed viewers of the Bruins over the course of this season.

First we have to look at the bench play. Head coach Rick Byrd has utilized an 11-man
rotation throughout the season with all 11 averaging double-digits in minutes while none taking on more than 24.8. During the season all 11 regulars posted a double-figure scoring game.

The productivity has proved to be the nation’s best. The Bruin back ups lead the nation in scoring, rebounding and assists per game. No team’s bench in the country has led in all three of those statistics since 1996-97. Throw in the fact that the bench also leads in 3-point field goals made per game, just for good measure.

Beyond depth, Belmont has exhibited excellence. In league games, the Bruins posted a 20.9 points per game scoring margin. No team has posted as wide a margin in 12 seasons. You have to go back to the national runner-up team of Duke in 1998-99 to find a more dominant team in conference play. While Belmont is strong, they don’t exactly feature future first-round stars like Elton Brand, Shane Battier, Trajan Langdon or Corey Maggette. After advancing to the title game in workman-like fashion in the form, the blowout win returned with tonight’s 41-point masterpiece.

With any team this strong, the wins are going to pile up. Belmont became the first Atlantic Sun conference team to post 30 wins in a season. Georgia State, in 2000-01, and College of Charleston in 1996-97 each won 29 games. Something else Belmont would also like to exceed those teams in would be NCAA Tournament wins. Both won first-round games, representing the last two for the conference.

It’s long been rumored that the committee likes teams that finish strong. If that’s the case, Belmont’s seeding has to be on the way up. Since December 24, they own a mark of 21-1, the best record in the nation and are one of just five with only one loss in that time span (Long Island, Bucknell, Utah State. Oakland). They put together win streaks of nine and 12 over than span.

Another rumored favorite stat of the committee iswith road/neutral wins. Chalk up another statistical win for Belmont. They share the national lead in road wins with 13 and now stand at 18-4 in road/neutral games. No team in the country owns as many wins away from home than the Bruins.

Lastly, the RPI. The tool long viewed as the top criteria used by the committee shows Belmont checking it at No. 50 after Saturday’s win. In five of the last six years, the No. 50-ranked team has moved on to the NCAA Tournament, and in three of the years, that team received an at-large bid. Marquette was placed as a No. 6 seed last year while VCU and Kansas State each earned No. 11 seeds in 2009 and 2008, respectively. Kansas State pulled off a first-round upset, while VCU lost by one to UCLA.

You have to dig, literally to the last page of the Atlantic Sun’s record book to find the last time the A-Sun NCAA representative received a seed better than a 14. The aforementioned Georgia State program in 2000-01 received an 11 and bested Wisconsin in the opening round. It will take quite the argument by the committee to judge Belmont not worthy of such a lofty seed.

Hatters' Three-Point Shot Equals Third Title

2011-03-05T15:32:00.001-05:00

Prior to the quarterfinals of the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Women’s Basketball Championship, no Stetson Hatter had hit five three-pointers in a single game since Feb. 9, 2008. Tierra Brown and Sasha Sims changed that note in twice in four days with the senior Brown going a perfect 5-for-5 from downtown, an A-Sun Tournament record, while Sims saved her best for last by nailing six first-half threes.

“Most of basketball is a mental game so for me to hit my first three it just keeps your confidence going to continue to make shots.” Sims

Sims wasted little time in the championship final to hit her first three as she struck 26 seconds into the game and continued her trifecta barrage with five more connections before finally missing an attempt late in the first half. Brown, Jessica Conner and Victoria McGowan thrived off Sims’ attack from deep by adding on one three apiece.

“We try to get off to a good start [from three] every game because we know if we do that we will feed off of each other and it makes everything easier and run smoother throughout the game.”

Things were running quite smooth for the Hatters as they led by 16 at the half and stretched their lead to 23 at the 11:27 mark of the second half on an old-fashioned three-point play by Victoria McGowan, who had her own success from behind-the-arc against Belmont in the semifinals.

Stetson’s success from three has extended past the A-Sun Tournament as the Hatters have hit six or more three pointers in 12 of 32 games this season and are 10-2 in those contests.

The Hatters 20 three-pointers throughout the three-game tournament earned Stetson their third A-Sun Tournament title (1989, 2005) and gives the Hatters a chance to make some noise the third month of the year.

Ospreys First Equals Final

2011-03-05T00:54:00.003-05:00

The 2011 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Basketball Championship started with UNF’s first-ever tournament victory and can now end with the program’s first-ever A-Sun Title. UNF has toppled third-seeded Jacksonville in the opening quarterfinals followed by Friday night’s four-point win against two-time defending champions, ETSU, in the semifinals.

Both wins marked program firsts for the Ospreys. It cemented the first-ever victory against the Bucs in 12 tries and propelled the Ospreys into the championship in only the program’s second appearance in the March tournament.

“Those wins are great, but we can’t be satisfied with what we have accomplished so far [in the tournament],” stated sophomore forward Andy Diaz. “We have to keep pushing until the final game to reach our goals.”

Now on Saturday, UNF and Head Coach Matthew Driscoll appear in their first-ever A-Sun Championship Final, where they will try to stretch their five-game win streak, a program Division I record, to six to clinch their first-ever A-Sun Championship.

The Ospreys’ championship opponent, top-seeded Belmont, has a winning streak of their own at 11 games, which is tied for second longest in the nation, and will give the Ospreys their toughest test of the four-day tournament.

“Coach [Driscoll] will start preparing for the game tomorrow immediately,” added Diaz. “He will have us ready to go tomorrow.”

Both teams will need to be at the top of their games in the championship final to clinch the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament and for UNF their tournament of firsts just might led them to finish first.

Bruins Overcome Hostile Crowd to Return to Finals

2011-03-04T23:07:00.000-05:00

A season ago, Belmont’s run in the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championships lasted all of one game as the Bruins succumb to injuries and a raucous student section in an 87-81 loss to the hosting Mercer.

Last season Belmont quickly built a 14-point lead midway through the first half, but lost Mick Hedgepeth to a leg injury and Jordan Campbell suffered a facial injury. Those losses combined with stellar performances from James Florence and Daniel Emerson sent the Bruins home in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2003.

Since that loss, Belmont’s only blemish in A-Sun play came at the hands of rival Lipscomb at a sold-out Allen Arena. Much like their 2010 Championship loss, the Bruins failed to preserve a double-digit advantage, relinquishing an 18-point advantage.

Returning to the scene of last season’s loss, the two Bruins lost to injury played key roles in the Bruins’ 80-72 victory. Jordan Campbell, who had averaged only 5.5 points in six career Championship games netted 17 while Hedgepeth notched 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds – six on the offensive end.

“We kind of expected them to come out with a lot of energy in this atmosphere and especially coming off a big win,” Kerron Johnson said. “We played our style and teams get tired, and we made our runs when we kind of took advantage of their fatigue. But they had a lot of energy at the end of the game and as well they should with that crowd, it was just a great environment to be in.”

Belmont has experienced mixed results playing on the home floors of opponents in Championship play. Prior to Friday night’s victory, Belmont’s lone win in three tries came in the 2007 title game when they used a 12-for-19 first-half shooting performance from the 3-point arc to trounce ETSU, 94-67. In addition to last year’s defeat, Belmont ‘s 2003 quarterfinal loss to Georgia State came at the GSU Arena.

Having cleared the home-town hurdle, Belmont seeks a fourth title, one that would tie UCF for the most in Atlantic Sun history. Belmont has several streaks to try and build on – the Bruins are 3-0 all-time in title games and are 16-0 this season when donning their home white jerseys.

McGowan Adds to Mystic of March Madness

2011-03-04T17:59:00.002-05:00

The final score for the Belmont-Stetson Women’s Basketball Atlantic Sun Conference Semifinal should have read 46-45 in favor of the Bruins, but this is March and that means only one thing. Expect the unexpected.

The Hatters led the Bruins, 45-43, after McGowan knocked down two free throws following a foul on a drive with 13 seconds remaining.

Following McGowan’s heroics at the charity stripe, Belmont’s Shaunda Strayhorn hit what was believed to be the game-winner when she drove to the right side of the bucket and laid up her sixth and seventh points of the game as she was fouled on the play and hit the subsequent free throw.

So with the clock reading 1.4 seconds, McGowan took an in-bound pass from Tierra Brown bounced the ball once and then made a lasting impression on the fans in attendance for a half-court winning shot.

Her 50-foot heave on the University Center court sent the Stetson bench into a frenzy as it banked of the glass and fell through to put the Hatters into the A-Sun Championship Finals for the first time since 2005.

The shot sent the Hatters’ faithful into a roar, but left the all-conference guard speechless after the game.

“Everybody was just ecstatic after the shot. There is really no way to describe that feeling we all had.”

March Madness at its finest.

Jacksonville Knocks Out Champ; Searches for Title

2011-03-04T16:57:00.000-05:00

At the end of prize fights, when the champion has lost, the announcer makes a pronounced declaration “the winner and NEW champion…” While Jacksonville can’t quite lay claim to the title, they did dethrone the three-time General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Women’s Champion, ETSU, and in the process, exorcised demons from Championships past.

Entering the 2008 Championship title game, neither the Dolphins nor the Lady Bucs had ever experienced a conference title or an NCAA Tournament berth. ETSU grabbed the title that season with a three-point win in Nashville. As customary in boxing, the two combatants met one year later in a rematch. ETSU retained the belt with a 58-52 victory. A UNF upset in the 2010 Championship semifinals prevented third straight finals showdown.

After the one-year hiatus, the two found themselves bracketed on the same side. After dispensing of UNF, head coach Jill Dunn and the Dolphins earned their third shot at the Lady Bucs.

“They [had] gotten the best of us the past couple years, but I think we’re ready for it,” Dunn said in advance of Friday’s contest. “I [thought] this [was] the year that we [had] to do whatever we [could] to take them out. You aren’t going to win the Atlantic Sun Tournament without facing ETSU. We [knew] that day [was] coming and we [were] looking forward to it.”

The Dolphins jumped on the Lady Bucs early and built a 13-point first-half lead. However, as the contest moved into the later rounds, the Dolphins couldn’t deliver the knock-out punch. Slowly the Lady Bucs worked their way back into the game, even taking one lead, 57-56, with 1:25 left.

“They came in on a mission and they came in with a lot of emotion and passion,” ETSU head coach Karen Kemp said. “They took us out of everything we tried to do in the first half, so I give them all the credit for that.”

Instead of throwing in the towel, Jacksonville got a critical steal and lay-up by Jessica George to give JU back the lead with one minute remaining. Despite missed free throws in the waning seconds, the Dolphins exhaled in victory when a 3-point try at the buzzer by Jasmine McIntosh rimmed off.

“I am just extremely proud of pulling that game out,” Dunn said. “Obviously we have had a huge monkey on our back with ETSU for a couple of years now. From day one I thought that this was the team that could get it done and I just like they believe in themselves, they are playing with confidence really showed the past two days.”

Having cleared the hurdle of ETSU, 40 minutes stands between Jacksonville and that elusive NCAA bid.

Mercer's Surviving Seniors Send Bears to Semis

2011-03-04T00:43:00.004-05:00

When Jeff Smith went down with a season-ending knee injury against Jacksonville on January 20, things looked bad for the Mercer Bears. When Brandon Moore went down with a season-ending leg injury of his own in the opening minutes at ETSU on January 31, things looked down right bleak.

But not to the two healthy seniors on the roster. Mark Hall and Brian Mills stared the challenge of losing two of the team’s most valuable pieces square in the face and turned it on its head. The duo lifted Mercer to seven wins in its last nine games and a spot in the 2011 General Shale Brick A-Sun Championship Semifinals with an impressive win against preseason favorite Lipscomb.

“We knew as seniors we would have to rally the troops and bring everyone together,” Mills said.

Both players described the opportunity that existed for the entire roster, a perspective that might have been lost on others.

“I just made sure that we let everyone know we all need to step up with two of our best scorers out,” commented Hall. “Brian and I talk all the time, but especially when B-Moore went down, we knew everyone would have to take advantage of their opportunity and step up. This is the opportunity everyone wants who is sitting on the bench, a chance to come in and make a difference.”

The victory at the expense of the Bisons - in front of a raucous crowd of over 2200 at the University Center - epitomized the impact the pair have had on their team. Hall scored the game’s first two baskets on aggressive drives to the basket, setting up the tone for the entire contest. Mills finished with 27 points and six boards, again shouldering the offensive burden.

“They have done a great job keeping us together. Our young guys have followed in stride,” stated head coach Bob Hoffman.

Mills has averaged over 19 points per game since the Smith injury and has become one of the most dangerous offensive players in the league over the last six weeks.

“He is a special guy. He has gotten into a rhythm and the guys are finding him in the right spots. Brian has put in countless hours to get to this point. When you see a guy put in that time and get a chance to get a return on his deposits, it is a real blessing,” Hoffman said.

Hall continues to turn in solid performances and sparks the team with tough baskets.

“Mark keeps doing things where I look at him and go ‘Mark, what are you doing?’,” reflected Hoffman. “He’s special. He really brought the energy to help get us get going at the start tonight and remained on point the whole game.”

While the team may rely on them, it sounds like they depend on each other.

“Mark is my wingman,” said Mills. “Sometimes I don’t get as vocal as I should, so he brings that. I told him tonight to make sure this wasn’t our last game and we did.”
Hall countered with praise for his teammate.

“He is the silent type, but he gets the job done. Brian will put you on his back and carry you if he has to.”

They will need another stellar outing on Friday when Mercer looks to eliminate A-Sun power Belmont from the conference championship for the second year in a row.

A Full Nelson Return Sparks Belmont’s Resurgence

2011-03-03T22:32:00.000-05:00

Belmont’s Haley Nelson entered the 2010-11 season fresh off a breakout season in which she averaged better than a double-double and landed on the Atlantic Sun’s Second-Team All-Conference squad. Her season got delayed three games, but quickly returned to form as she averaged 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds against Tennessee Tech and Central Arkansas.

Following a two-game dip in production, she ripped of a string of 11 straight double-figure scoring games, averaging 15.5 points in that span. Her streak came to an end with a seven-point outing against ETSU. She missed the next game, only to return against Stetson to score five points.

The Stetson contest would be the last action Nelson saw for two weeks. During that time, Belmont endured its longest losing streak in program history. It reached eight games leading up to a road contest at Campbell at a time when even Belmont’s standing for making the General Shale Atlantic Sun Championships was in doubt. Although she only scored five points in minutes of action, she grabbed seven rebounds and the anchored a defensive effort that limited the Camels to 33.3 percent shooting.

“I think if you look at us statistically, Haley Nelson is by far our player of the year,” Brittney Ezell, first-year head coach at Belmont said. “The way that she plays, the way that she competes, elevates our entire team. You can’t replace a player that has Haley’s talent level and passion.”

In close home losses to ETSU and USC Upstate, Nelson regained her scoring touch, averaging 14 points per game while shooting better than 57 point from the floor. In the final weekend of regular-season play, she led the Bruins to road wins at Mercer and Kennesaw State by averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds. The two wins elevated the Bruins up to the sixth seed and thus avoiding Stetson and ETSU in the quarterfinal round of the A-Sun Championship.

I have been calling her ‘Big T’ - it stands for Big Time,” Ezell said. “We tell her all the time, big time players make big time plays in big time games. And she has really asserted herself in that role.”

Back on the University Center floor for the second time in a week, Nelson keyed a defensive effort not seen before at the A-Sun Championships. The Bruins limited Campbell, who had scored 98 points in its most recent outing, to 42 points – the fewest points ever allowed in an A-Sun Championship game.

“We also tell them before the game, we don’t have stars we’re trying to build constellations at Belmont,” Ezell said. “We want a bunch of stars.”

If’s Nelson’s star continues to rise, Belmont could very well back in the A-Sun title game for the first time since 2007.

UNF Gains Respect and Rivalry with Win

2011-03-03T19:06:00.001-05:00

Eleven attempts in the past five seasons came up empty for the UNF Ospreys men’s basketball team against the Jacksonville Dolphins. A four-point loss back in 2006 started UNF’s 11-game losing streak to JU.

During that span, UNF twice fell in overtime, lost by 20+ points twice and this season saw both games decided by just one bucket. The feelings around the UNF camp believed that the River City Rivalry was not necessarily a rivalry but more of a one-sided affair.

Then came the quarterfinal matchup between the two teams in the 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference Basketball Championship.

It marked the second appearance for UNF in the A-Sun Tournament after falling to the Dolphins in its inaugural appearance in the 2010 quarterfinals, but this year sophomore Jerron Granberry and the rest of the Ospreys broke through with a 68-64 victory to stop the slide to their crosstown foes and advance to the semifinals for the first time in program history.

“[The win] means we are moving forward as a program,” Granberry said. “Last year, we came in and almost were satisfied to be there, but this year we came here to win the A-Sun Championships as well as gain some respect across the league for UNF.”

Nearly perfect in the game, Granberry scored 23 on 7-of-8 shooting and 8-for-9 nine from the charity stripe to not only secure the comeback victory for the Ospreys, who trailed by six at the break, but also take the River City Rivalry to another level .

“It’s a rivalry now because it’s not a rivalry when they always beat us,” he said. “So now that we got a win the series is just going to be even better.”

With the program’s second win against Jacksonville and by knocking off the three seed in the championships, UNF has now accomplished one of their goals and with two more wins they can accomplish the second.

Dolphins Finish Off One Familiar Foe; Another Awaits

2011-03-03T15:33:00.001-05:00

Separated by less than 15 miles, Jacksonville and UNF know each other quite well. Since joining the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2005, the Ospreys have faced the Dolphins more frequently, 14 times, than any other conference foe.

In their two regular-season meetings, Jacksonville lost both contests since the two became league rivals. Dating back to last season UNF had claimed the latest four contests, including a win the 2010 Championships – a game that denied Jacksonville a chance of making three consecutive title games.

Jacksonville exhibited a stifling effort the first 10 minutes of Thursday’s contest¸ forcing 16 misses on UNF’s first 18 attempts in building a 15-point first-half margin. Despite surrendering the lead in the closing stages of the second half, the defense turned up the intensity again and held on to a 56-52 victory

“We are very disappointed because we won the two games against them in the regular season, but they won the game that counts,” UNF head coach Mary Tappmeyer said.

Jacksonville advanced to the semifinals for the fifth-straight year. Only one other school in the conference boasts as impressive a streak. That team, Jacksonville’s opponent, ETSU, has also made the semifinal round every year since 2007. In three of those previous years, the Dolphins and Lady Buccaneers collided. In 2007, ETSU knocked out Jacksonville in the semifinal round. In both 2008 and 2009, they met in the title game with berths to the NCAA Tournament on the line. In both finals, ETSU emerged victorious and established itself as the class of the conference.

“[They play] a very physical game, a very up-tempo game and they do a tremendous job on the boards,” Jacksonville head coach Jill Dunn said. “They have been here the past three years so they have experience and confidence to know what it takes to get to the championship game.”

Like those two title games, ETSU snared both victories during this year’s regular season. Jacksonville held its own with the top seed, falling by seven at home and by 10 in Johnson City, Tenn.

“They have gotten the best of us the past couple years, but I think we’re ready for it,” Dunn said. “I think this is the year that we have got to do whatever we can to take them out. You aren’t going to win the Atlantic Sun Tournament without facing ETSU. We know that day is coming and we are looking forward to it.”

Dunn’s premonition came true and now her Dolphins have a chance to flip the script of years past.

Smith and Bucs Experience Prevail in the End

2011-03-03T00:08:00.002-05:00

Late in the game there is no doubt who is going to make plays for the ETSU Buccaneers. Against Campbell Wednesday night, Mike Smith, the unanimous Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year, contributed on the last 13 points for the Bucs with 11 points and a spectacular assist for an Isiah Brown dunk.

The fifth-year senior averaged 16.9 points per outing this season, but the most important play he made in the quarterfinal showdown against the Camels came on the defensive end. With ETSU up by one and Campbell clinging to a chance to upset the second-seeded Bucs, Smith came away with a steal from Camels point guard Junard Hartley to clinch the fifth-straight semifinal appearance for the team from Johnson City.

“I’m one of the leaders of this team so I just wanted to play great for them and the team got the ball into my hands late and I just tried to make plays to help us win. With the game on the line at the end I needed to step up and I was in the right place at the right time and came away with the steal.”

The steal, one of four for Smith on the night, complete an all-around game for the Vandalia, Mo., native, who finished with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists.

As great as Smith was in the game for the Bucs, he did not carry them on his own as fellow seniors Micah Williams added nine points and seven rebounds, while Brown, a junior, added seven points, eight rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

“When you have seniors that have been here before in these kind of situations and have been to the NCAA (Tournament) it’s great for your confidence to have that experience and it really helps your momentum in the tournament.”

The Bucs, who have won their last seven A-Sun Championship games, now face the winner of the River City showdown between No. 3 Jacksonville and No. 6 UNF, who play at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday. Whomever the opponent, Smith and ETSU will be ready for their next opponent at the beginning of the game and at the end.

Hatter Turnaround Moves One Step Closer to Completion

2011-03-02T21:53:00.002-05:00

When you ask the Stetson Hatters about producing one of the nation’s top turnarounds since last year, they get a little defensive.

OK … a lot defensive. The Hatters point to the team’s defensive effort as the key to improving from six wins a year ago to 18 wins and a spot in the General Shale Brick A-Sun Championship semifinals on Friday afternoon.

“Our defensive intensity and our hard work in practice have made a big difference,” commented Tierra Brown. “Our commitment to defense really kicked in at the first of January and that has even helped our offense follow suit.”

Stetson’s shut-down performance against Kennesaw State in Wednesday night’s 65-47 quarterfinal victory certainly made the difference. The Hatters limited KSU to just 26 percent shooting for the game including a frigid 3-for-17 from the three-point arc. Throw in 20 forced turnovers and Stetson never trailed, cruising to its first tournament victory since claiming the title in 2005.

“I think we have played well. You can’t deny our body of work throughout the year,” stated third-year head coach Lynn Bria. “We want to be good defensively. We sold the kids on it and they bought into it. I told them before the year that if we play hard and play together that we’d win a lot of games.”

This team is not a one-trick pony, however. The Hatters rank second in the A-Sun in field goal percentage and shot a blistering 51 percent from the floor against Kennesaw State. Brown shouldered most of the load. The senior set a new A-Sun Championship record by drilling all five of her 3-point attempts on the way to a career-high 25 points.

“I know the end is near so I’ve been practicing and playing with a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” said Brown

Now she has a day’s rest as she and the rest of the team prepares for their next opportunity for a statement: a match-up with either No. 3 Campbell or No. 6 Belmont with a berth in the championship game on the line.

Bruins Learn Lesson from Rival Bisons to Advance

2011-03-02T19:38:00.002-05:00

For the second-straight General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Men’s Basketball Conference Championship, the event opened with a regular-season champion from Nashville facing Kennesaw State as the eighth seed.

A year ago, the Owls stunned Lipscomb, costing the Bisons a postseason opportunity. Kennesaw State opened Wednesday’s first half with intentions of repeating its upset ways, taking a 23-16 lead against the favored Bruins.

True to their ways, however, the Bruins turned their depth and the 3-point shot to flip the lead and close the half up seven. Four different players hit 3-pointers and eight total players scored over the final 6:30 of the first half as the Bruins scored 19 of the final 24 points of the opening stanza to take a 35-28 lead.

The Bruins pushed the lead to 10 early in the second half and never saw their led dip back into single digits over the final 17 minutes as they advanced to the semifinals with a 72-57 win.

“Coached talked about 1-8 game and I believe that when you get to the tournament it’s 0-0,” All-Atlantic Sun guard Ian Clark said. “It doesn’t matter what your record was before hand. Anybody can win and Kennesaw knew that coming out last year and I am pretty sure they had [Lipscomb’s loss] it in mind this year.”

Head coach Rick Byrd turned to one of his favorite hobbies to find the proper analogy when describing Kennesaw State’s early effort.

“You are always told as a golfer you expect your opponent to make the putt that way you are not surprised,” Byrd, the A-Sun’s Coach of the Year said. “And that is what I told them. We need to expect their best shot and we need to expect them to play well.”

Belmont’s next opponents shouldn’t offer up any surprises. The Bruins will face either long-time rival Lipscomb or the host Mercer, a school they faced and beat last week, in the semifinals. The Bisons and Bears own the last two defeats of the Bruins. Mercer ended Belmont’s 2010 season at the A-Sun Championships and Lipscomb handed Belmont its lone conference loss of the season.

New Faces Produce Same Results for ETSU

2011-03-02T15:06:00.002-05:00

The ETSU Lady Bucs still entered the 2011 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championship as the top seed and they still advanced to the semifinals of the tournament for the fifth consecutive year.

The similarities to the dominant championship teams of the last three years begin to break down at that point. Of the nine players to take the court today, only three (Tara Davis, Tosha Austin and Gwen Washington) scored in last year’s title game and the trio combined for just 15 points.

The three had a much larger impact on this year’s 83-75 victory over Lipscomb. Davis made the most of her 37 minutes on the court, scoring 23 points, grabbing seven rebounds and picking up five assists. Austin ripped down five boards including three on the offensive glass. Washington’s play off the bench may have been the key to ETSU’s come-from-behind victory as she netted a career-high 24 points.

“It has been different this entire season because we are so young and don’t have those great players like TaRonda (Wiles) and Sierre (Evans),” stated ETSU head coach Karen Kemp. “It was a lot of coaching for me … a lot more than the last few years. I’m really pleased to see our team grow and mature to be playing as well as they are at this point in the season.”

The glue for this team has been the senior duo of Latisha Belcher and Tara Davis.

“They know how to win. That is all they are accustomed to. TD gave us big buckets when we needed it,” Kemp said. “They are competitors and know how to win. It helps our whole team.”

Davis proved that in the second half. After managing just six points in the first half, the guard scored seven of the team’s final 11 points to put the victory on ice.

The young Bucs await the winner Thursday afternoon’s contest between No. 4 UNF and No. 5 Jacksonville. One more win and ETSU will match the conference record for consecutive tournament victories. They have knocked off Jacksonville or UNF in all their of title games - besting Jacksonville in 2008 and 2009 and UNF by a point last year.

Hall Brings Home Gold Medal for Daughter

2011-02-19T18:52:00.004-05:00

At the 2009 Atlantic Sun Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championships, Jacksonville’s Ronnisha Hall became the first in meet history to win both the shot put and weight throw at the same championship winning both in record fashion. She did not defend her titles because she took a redshirt year for the 2010 season. However, she didn’t miss a year of competition because of any kind of injury, but rather to go through pregnancy with her daughter, Madison.

At the encouragement of her coaches and her teammates, especially the fellow Dolphin throwers, Hall rejoined team for the 2011 indoor season. Returning to the A-Sun Championships, Hall entered with the top mark in the shot put and the second-best distance in the weight throw.

“The team pushed hard; because they kept calling during the summer asking ‘Are you coming back? Are you coming back?’” she said. “They made sure I came back and finished, not only to come back to track, but also to finish school. The throwers group [urged hardest] because they mean a lot to me and they told me I made a big impact on them. ”

All mothers seek to regain the form they held prior to giving birth. For Hall, in addition to returning to form physically, she had to return to the athletic form that produced those two Indoor titles.

“[Returning] took time because at first I had hip problems and then after I got past that [injury], I had knee problems,” she said. “It was hard getting back into shape but I made it and it got me first place!”

For all student-athletes, balancing school work with time dedicated to their sport can often prove plenty taxing. Adding motherhood to daily responsibilities put a premium on Hall’s time. Luckily she had willing assistance by her side.

“The balance is so hard, it’s so hard,” Hall said. “Right now, she is staying home with my sister right now. When she’s…with me, my teammates really help me out with watching her while I go to class – they help babysit. It’s like I have 40 babysitters. I pay them with [time] with Madison, they love her, so that’s the price.”

On Friday, she lost out on the shot put by 0.38 meters as teammate, Hillary Crook, won the event for a third time. Hall took second in the event. On Saturday, Hall finally reclaimed the top spot at an A-Sun Championship turning in a record-setting throw in the weight toss of 18.96 meters on her final attempt of the meet.

She topped Campbell’s Jessica Dunston, the woman who entered the A-Sun Championship with the conference’s best mark of the season, by more than a meter. Hall’s Saturday-morning win jumpstarted an onslaught of individual victories scored by the Dolphins on Saturday, as they eased to a sixth-straight A-Sun Indoor crown.

“It was tough today, because I thought [Dunston] was going to get me,” Hall said after the victory. “I tried to qualify for Nationals, but as long as I got my [personal record] and did my best”

Hall has not performed in front of Madison yet, but when the Outdoor Championships head to Jacksonville and the campus of UNF, she’ll be able to perform in front of her youngest fan.

“She’s got her JU onesie, bibs, hats and everything,” Hall said. “She is ready to come and be my number one fan.”

Different Starts Lead to Similar End

2011-02-19T14:16:00.003-05:00

Six Gold Medals. Four Runner-Up Finishes. Two Third-Place Performances.

That is the combined Atlantic Sun Indoor Championship throwing careers of seniors Joe Frye and Jarrod Burton.

A specialist in the weight throw, Belmont’s Frye started with the throwing squad as a walk-on in 2007 out of Roscommon, Mich., in search of a Music Business degree more so than A-Sun glory, but ended his A-Sun Indoor Championship career today with back-to-back titles in the weight throw to go along with a silver and bronze medal in the shot put.

“Coming into Belmont, I didn’t really get recruited out of high school and I actually came for the academics and didn’t even know weight throw was an event, he said.” “To see where I started my career at Belmont and to see how much that can change a person is impressive.”

ETSU’s Burton started out his career on top of the podium for the weight throw in 2007 and added a shot third-place finish. Now the Bastian, Va., native stands as the most decorated A-Sun Indoor thrower with eight total medals after passing Kennesaw State’s Joshua McNair seven-medal count this season.

“I would have liked…to pull out the win in weight, but I’ve never had more fun competing than in this year’s championship by being right in the thick of things and losing or winning by just inches,” Burton said. “I’ve enjoyed my time at ETSU under my coaches and throwing in this facility so it has been a great experience and I couldn’t have asked for more.”

After finishing first and third in the shot put in day one of the 2011 A-Sun Indoor Championship, the duo entered Saturday’s weight throw final as the favorites to earn the top-two spots. The pair more than delivered on expectations with both breaking the A-Sun meet record before Frye capped the day with a final record-setting heave of 19.50 meters to edge Burton for the gold.

“I knew it was going to be a battle between us here because of the success we achieved during the season and I started off with a great throw to break the record,” reflected Frye. “But I started to lose a little bit of my form and (Burton) started to post better tosses and then came up with a big throw to pass me and set the new record. So going into my second-to-last throw I knew I had to go big and leave it all on the table to win the event and thankfully I rose to the occasion.”

The pair could not have started on more different paths, but the duo embraced the A-Sun’s philosophy of “Building Winners for Life” to provide one of the highlights of the Atlantic Sun Indoor Championships.

Pearce's Will Results Wins On and Off the Track

2011-02-18T21:02:00.003-05:00

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - For UNF senior Will Pearce his focused has not centered on his upcoming competition at the 2011 Atlantic Sun Men’s Track & Field Championships, but rather on impressing interviewees at prospective medical schools.

Pearce, a biology major with a 3.9 grade-point average, only recently learned he had been accepted to the University of South Florida’s medical school, home to one of the nation’s top neurosurgery departments in the country.

“I heard I was getting into medical school [on Feb. 9] and it was such a relief of my shoulders,” he said. “All summer it was hard to focus - I had to run by myself because I was studying for the M-CAT all day and all night. All during cross country I was…busy with applications and now I’ve been busy with interviews through the winter – I’ve still got a couple coming up – but to hear that I’m in at a good school, USF is ranked very highly for what I want to do, it’s takes a monster weight off my chest.”

Nine days after learning of his acceptance to USF, Pearce tracked down USC Upstate’s Gilbert Kemboi - the A-Sun’s defending champion and record holder of the 3000-meter run - in the final backstretch to claim his first individual indoor gold medal. Less than two hours later, Pearce anchored UNF’s Distance Medley Relay team to a win.
Pearce - a mile runner by trade - had twice finished third in his specialty event at prior Indoor Championships. Trailing Kemboi throughout the 3000-meter run, Pearce cut the margin to a single stride in the closing laps. He overtook the reigning champion on the backstretch then used a strong kick to claim the win. In the process, he narrowly missed erasing Kemboi from the record book, finishing less than seven-tenths of a second off the Spartan’s record pace of a season ago.

“Will is on a high right now,” UNF head coach Mark VanAlstyne said. “He came in with some pretty big expectations and so far he has lived up to them and don’t count him out of anything [Saturday]. He’s a competitor to the bone and I’m going to be really sad when he’s gone.”

Pearce’s journey to the winner’s circle began after leaving Florida. He became a Gator as a preferred walk-on, but left the program for UNF after getting caught up in a numbers game at Florida. His family, devout Gator fans who had taken Will to countless football games at “The Swamp” struggled to see their son leave the program.

“I was still pretty upset about leaving,” Pearce said. “Until I starting being their runners.”

While Pearce already has his acceptance to USF, among the schools he could still enroll at includes Florida, a return he would welcome, as he still has many friends in Gainesville.

Charles in Charge at Indoors

2011-02-18T20:10:00.006-05:00

No one expected a marathon on the first day of the A-Sun Indoor Track & Field Championship except maybe Charlene Charles and her head coach Ron Grigg.

The JU standout dominated competition from the sound of the gun to start the pentathlon at 8:30 a.m. until her final leap in the high jump at 7 p.m. In between, she competed in five events where she racked up 28 points to stake the Dolphins a 25-point lead at the conclusion of day one.

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Watch Charles Video Interview
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“I knew today would feel like a decathlon ,” reflected Charles. “The combined events are my specialty so that is ok with me. But I am tired though.”

Anticipating a hard charge from River City rival UNF, Grigg used his entries aggressively in an attempt to run the team’s championship streak to six-straight titles. That meant a heavy dose of Charles.

“The University of North Florida is a very good team and we are trying our best to win the championship,” Grigg state while discussing his liberal use of the standout. “We needed to put up a lot of points and try to get away from them a little bit before the end of the meet. I’m not sure we can match them in the 5000-meters and the 4x4 (1600m relay). Plus she is really good.”

She makes that evident when you review the quality of today’s effort. A record-setting performance in the pentathlon opened the onslaught. Charles followed with a second place showing in the long jump. The sophomore then posted the second-fastest time in the 60m hurdle preliminaries and won her heat in the 60-meter dash preliminaries before claiming the high jump title as well. Her 28 points would outscore over half of the teams by itself.

“Not only is she talented, but she is also fiercely competitive. That is a big part of what makes her so good,” commented Grigg. “I wanted her to take a couple fewer long jumps to conserve energy, but she wouldn’t stop because she wasn’t winning. She is an inspiration to the rest of her team.”

Charles sees more work on the horizon tomorrow as she will appear in the triple jump, 60m dash finals, 60m hurdles final and the 4x400m relay. Despite the long day on Friday, Charles thinks she will be ready for championship Saturday.

“I need to take care of myself mentally and physically tonight. With the right preparation, I will be able to go 100 percent tomorrow,” stated Charles.

With North Florida lurking, another MVP-caliber effort may be needed from Charles for Jacksonville to lift another trophy.

Around the A-Sun in 360 Degrees

2011-01-26T16:12:00.007-05:00

In consecutive days, two of the Atlantic Sun's most exciting dunkers, ETSU's Justin Tubbs and Jacksonville's Travis Cohn successfully pulled off 360-degree slams. While comparing the two might be like comparing the acting ability of Tom Hanks and George Clooney or the quarterbacking skills of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, we always want to declare a winner, so now we turn to fans of the A-Sun to decide which was better.

We have posted both below. Now its your chance to vote. As is often the case, turnout is key. If you really like one be sure to pass this entry to your friends and help Justin or Travis win the A-Sun's limited version of a slam-dunk contest.

Which 360-degree slam dunk was better?

Justin Tubbs (ETSU) vs Lipscomb
Travis Cohn (Jacksonville) vs Kennesaw State

view results

Lipscomb's Championship Experience Pays Off in Comeback Victory

2010-11-20T20:03:00.004-05:00

Having dropped only five sets all season in conference games, one can imagine the shock on the Lipscomb bench when ETSU opened up the Atlantic Sun Conference Volleyball Championship by claiming the first two sets.

“We had a great year with winning matches 3-0 so when lost the opening set we kind of looked around and wondered what was happening, but at the same time ETSU was playing great volleyball to start the game,” stated Tournament MVP Alex Kelly of falling behind 2-0.

Lipscomb, who hasn’t lost an A-Sun contest since falling to Belmont in the 2008 A-Sun Championship final in which they also fell behind 2-0 to start the match, understood what they were facing down two sets going into the break. Having played in four consecutive title games, Lipscomb had plenty of leadership and experience to pull of the comeback.

“We were just trying too much - we were trying to make every spectacular play and we need to play our brand of volleyball and that’s what disappointed me most about our play in the first two sets,” Lipscomb head coach Brandon Rosenthal said of the team’s opening play. “To have the experience of players that have been in the title game before was great because they understodd the situation we were in down two and they listened to what our coaching staff was saying to them and went out and executed in the final three sets.”

Set three went Lipscomb’s way with the Lady Bisons winning 25-16 and the momentum started to go the way of the defending champions as they started their trek back to winning the A-Sun title after taking the fourth set as well, 25-22.

“The seniors didn’t want to finish their careers by losing to ETSU, 3-0, in the finals so we came out much stronger in the third set and after claiming the fourth I think the whole team knew that we were going to win the final set,” Kelly added.

With a dominating performance in the final set, 15-8, the Lady Bisons completed a comeback only seen once before in an A-Sun title match by outscoring the Bucs 65-46 in the final three sets to claim back-to-back titles and send Lipscomb to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season and third in the past four even if it wasn’t the way the team imagined it would happen.

Rosenthal added of the match, “We didn’t think it would play out like that, but that’s volleyball."

Bucs Sail into Title Game Riding Wave of Momentum

2010-11-20T00:06:00.000-05:00

With three games remaining in the regular season, ETSU stood at 6-1 in the Atlantic Sun Conference with a chance to claim the overall No. 1 seed in the A-Sun Championship, but the Buccaneers fell to Kennesaw State and Mercer, 3-1, in consecutive matches to drop to the third seed in the postseason tournament.

However, ETSU head coach Lindsey Devine and the Bucs recollected themselves in the season finale to sweep USC Upstate and now have claimed victories in their first two matches against No. 6 UNF and No. 2 Kennesaw State to advance to the program’s first A-Sun Championship Final with a showdown against No. 1 Lipscomb.

“This game of volleyball is all about momentum and I know that if our team plays emotional we will make errors, but if we stay calm and continue to talk to one another we will continue with our great play,” Devine said.

In the A-Sun Semifinal against Kennesaw State, ETSU busted out of the gate to a 2-0 lead against the Owls in search of revenge for their late-season loss to the Owls. After falling in the third set, 30-28, the Bucs regained their composure to rebound for a 25-22 triumph in the fourth set to take down the Owls giving ETSU their vindication with the four-set victory and now also a chance to claim the program’s first-ever title.

“Revenge is sweet,” Lauren Baufield stated of the win over the Owls. “We knew coming into the tournament we would probably face Kennesaw State in the semifinals and as a team we were all ready and the momentum took us past them.”

“I feel that our squad is in such a great spot in regards to the way they are playing it wouldn’t have mattered who was on the other side of the net tonight because the focus, the spirit and competitiveness we showed after falling in the third set really exemplifies our team,” said coach Devine of the exciting third set. “We could have folded after that and lost the match, but we kept competing and came away victorious.”

With only Lipscomb standing in their way for an A-Sun title, the Bucs will need to once again regain their composure and show that same competitive spirit in order to defeat the Lady Bisons, who dismissed Belmont 3-0 in the prior semifinal and enter with a 14-match winning streak.

Pease and Kelly: The Foundation for Lipscomb's Success

2010-11-19T20:05:00.002-05:00

In the 2005 and 2006 seasons, the Lipscomb volleyball team finished fourth in the A-Sun Conference with a combined 27-37 record and 11-7 in conference play. Then the freshman class of Alex Kelly and Stefine “Jake” Pease enrolled on the Lipscomb University campus in Nashville, Tenn. and the program began to see great success with a 91-33 mark with 54 conference victories since 2007.

In their freshman seasons, the Lady Bisons increased their win total by seven games and entered the A-Sun Championship as the four seed. Once there, the Lady Bisons defeated No. 5 Mercer in the opening round, top-seeded Belmont in the semifinals and then captured the conference tournament with a sweep of Jacksonville to give Lipscomb its first tournament title in program history.

Kelly and Pease were both named to the All-Tournament team during that run, which was just the beginning of the awards that were about to pile in for the duo as two years later Lipscomb picked up its second team title defeating FGCU in the final.

“Jake (Pease) and Alex (Kelly) have really raised the bar for our program,” head coach Brandon Rosenthal stated of the duo. “It’s really rewarding and great to see them pick up all of these awards over the span of their careers because they have earned them by being the hardest workers day in and day out.”

Now after adding Elly Kaiser for the 2008 season and one year later the tandem of Meghan Hinemeyer and Tory Ashcraft jumped on board to form the five-person senior class for the Bisons that have won 35-straight A-Sun regular-season matches, which currently ranks as the second longest in the nation.

“We expect to go out and win and I like that because that is where our program has transitioned to,” Rosenthal added of the program’s improvement over the past four years. “That is a level back in the day we weren’t at, but these girls have worked really hard to improve the program to where it is today.”

On Saturday, the Lipscomb senior class has the chance to win the program’s third A-Sun title in four years and become the conference’s first back-to-back tournament winners since UCF claimed three-straight from 2001-2003, but not only that they can cement their legacy as the best class in program history.

“The impact that our five seniors have had on the program is immeasurable, it really is. I think back to recruiting those two girls and to where the program is now and it’s just amazing how far they have taken us.”

ETSU's Blocking Abilities Propel Bucs to Semifinals

2010-11-18T22:42:00.002-05:00

The art of blocking has been an area of volleyball that the ETSU Buccaneers coaching staff has preached to their 14 student-athletes throughout the season and in the Atlantic Sun Championship it showed as the Bucs dominated the Ospreys with 15 blocks in the match to sweep away UNF in the first round of play.

With 11 players on the team that are 5-foot-9 or taller, it would seem as if height would be the key to being the 23rd best team in the nation good at blocking, but ETSU Head Coach Lindsey Devine knows it is more than that.

“We have broken down the skill a lot with our team with the fundamentals of how to approach footwork, hand placement and among other things and we have really reinforced that with our girls to try and excel at.”

Middle blockers Alysa Long and Jamie Stancliff each had a block solo and five block assists to lead the Bucs to their fourth appearance in the A-Sun Semifinals in the past five seasons. In order to advance to the program’s first A-Sun Championship Final they need to defeat the second seed, Kennesaw State, who defeated ETSU 3-1 in the regular season.

“We will definitely need those big blocks when we face Kennesaw State because their players with Sabrita Gulley, Alyssa Lang and Grace Hoyt we will really need to be on our game going against them,” Devine added. “Tonight was just one step closer to our goal - Kennesaw State is a great team and tomorrow is really going to be a battle between them and us.”

Long and Stancliff rank first and second in the conference in blocks per set and they know that in order for the Bucs to continue their run in the A-Sun Championship, the team’s blocking will need to continue to make a difference.

“Our blocking today was a really big difference in the outcome of the contest today and it really allowed us to pick up some momentum against UNF,” stated Long. “We focused on that area of the game in practice coming and we came out and executed in the game.”

With an Owls squad that features five six-foot-tall players, the Bucs need to continue to focus on what their coaches have been teaching them since the beginning of the season in order to move onto the championship final.

Nashville Programs Continue Success at A-Sun Championship

2010-11-18T20:33:00.004-05:00

Nashville might be known as Music City, USA, but if Belmont and Lipscomb continue their dominance in the Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship, the town might be due for a new nickname. The Bruins and Lady Bisons have combined to win the past four A-Sun titles with Lipscomb claiming last year’s crown and Belmont was the victor in 2008.

After Belmont took down the Mercer Bears in the opening match of the A-Sun Championship, 3-1, behind the performances of A-Sun All-Conference members Kayla Albritton and Maggie Johnson, the Bruins face their crosstown rival for the third time this season, after falling to the Lady Bisons in the first two matchups.

“The game with Lipscomb is exciting because each time we have faced them the winner of that match has gone on to win the tournament title,” Bruins head coach Deane Webb said of the rivalry. “That is exciting for our region, for Nashville and for Middle Tennessee to know that our area can sustain and support two quality programs.”

The Bruins and Lady Bisons now square off against one another for the fifth-straight A-Sun Championship on Friday at 5 p.m. in the semifinal. Each team has claimed two victories during that time span, but Lipscomb holds a 2-1 advantage in semifinal matches.

“What impresses me most about Lipscomb is their low errors because they really make you earn your points against them,” Webb stated. “We are going to need to put an entire match together in order to be successful against Lipscomb.”

The Lady Bisons enter the tournament as the clear favorite after sweeping through the conference regular season at 10-0, which included a 3-1 victory against the Bruins in the season finale. The two teams also met in the non-conference ending with the same result.

“I’m excited to face off with Lipscomb,” junior outside hitter Maggie Johnson added. “I think our whole team is (excited) because we feel as if we need that challenge of facing them in this tournament and we will need to play great defense in order to beat them.”

No matter what the outcome on Saturday, the Fort Myers crowd is likely to see a great match as Lipscomb enters the match with a 13-game winning streak and Belmont has recorded seven victories in the past nine matches.

Big-Game Bucs Survive and Advance

2010-11-13T18:35:00.002-05:00

The past four games for the ETSU Buccaneers all required extra time for to be decided, but in each game the Bucs had the same mentality ‘Survive and Advance.’ In possibly the program’s biggest game in ETSU’s three-year history, a freshman, Itode Fubara, gave the Bucs the A-Sun Championship with a header in the 95th minute of play.

“Fubara is a very mature player for us even though he is a freshman and to be honest he isn’t the best at heading the ball since he is only 5-foot-7 but he timed the ball great and he was able to lift us to the victory,” Bucs’ Head Coach Scott Calabese said of the A-Sun Tournament MVP.

Despite coming out on top in the game, ETSU had its fair share of big-game nerves compared to the defending A-Sun Champion Hatters, who have appeared in the championship final in four of the past six seasons. The Hatters held the advantage on corners, 4-0, and shots on goal, 3-1 through the match’s first 45 minutes.

“We came out in the first half and were a little shaky and since Stetson had gone through this type of atmosphere before they really took it to us,” Calabrese added of being outshot 6-2 in the opening half. “Once we settled in at halftime, we came out and were able to create opportunities and chances to get us the goal.”

The Bucs will need the same survival mindset to continue their season as they advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history in which another big game will await ETSU.

“The more big games you play in the more you are prepared to compete in them,” Calabrese added. “With the past couple games we played in were all important so we are starting to become more accustomed to the big stage, but the NCAA Tournament is a completely different animal so we will have to come out of the gate with the right mentality.”

Whenever their NCAA Tournament run ends, the Bucs will be set for several years to come with only one senior leaving the program and 14 underclassmen returning for next season.

“We are a really young team with mostly freshman and juniors, but there is a lot of talent on this team and moving forward we are going to see a lot success in this program because of that,” said Fubara.

Bucs' Meteoric Rise Leads to A-Sun Championship Final

2010-11-11T22:24:00.001-05:00

In 2008, ETSU kicked off its inaugural season in the Atlantic Sun Conference and finished the season with only one conference victory. Fast forward to 2010 and the Bucs entered their A-Sun Championship semifinal as the host and top-seed against No. 4 Lipscomb with a 13-5 record and seven conference victories, more A-Sun wins than the first two years combined.

“The support that this team has received from the whole athletic staff at ETSU has really been the driving force behind the success of the program and they allowed us to achieve what we have so quickly,” said ETSU’s lone senior Guilherme Reis.

Now the Bucs have a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament after claiming a 1-0 double overtime victory on a last-second goal by Theo Yang, a sophomore midfielder. Yang’s goal with 7.2 seconds left in the second overtime sent the Buccaneer faithful at Summers-Taylor Stadium into a frenzy as the Bucs team stormed the field to celebrate the game-winner.

“The players have worked so hard over the three-year period and they have improved considerably and the staff has worked to bring in quality student-athletes to the program and try to build a tradition towards the right direction,” head coach Scott Calabrese said of his team.

ETSU’s quick rise to success might come as a surprise to most around the conference, but for ETSU Head Coach Scott Calabrese it was all a part of the Bucs’ master plan.

“Believe it or not, we planned to be in the final of the A-Sun Championship, which was a very ambitious goal for us considering how competitive Division I soccer is. However, the ambition of the staff and of the players is to compete hard each time we come out.”

With only one team between ETSU and a guaranteed berth in the NCAA Tournament, the Bucs now face Stetson, who is 4-0 all-time against ETSU, after the Hatters defeated Jacksonville 1-0 in the opening semifinal.

“Stetson is a team that we have not beaten since the inception of the program and we have beaten every other A-Sun team in the past three seasons and they knocked us out of the tournament last year,” Calabrese said of their pending opponent. “So in order for us to achieve our goal of beating every team in the conference this season we will have to be at our absolute finest on Saturday.”

Hatters Attempt to Build Championship Tradition

2010-11-11T19:03:00.001-05:00

For the fourth time in the past six Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Finals, a familiar name will appear as the Stetson Hatters leaped past the Jacksonville Dolphins with a strike from the head of senior all-conference defender, Ryan Corning, in the 83rd minute to give the defending champions a 1-0 victory in the opening semifinal.

However, the Hatters will be looking for more than just their third A-Sun title and back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Corning and the rest of the Hatters’ squad will be searching to extend the program’s legacy and increase the men’s soccer tradition in DeLand, Fla.

“We expect to make it the final of the A-Sun Championship every year now and we have been building the program every season since my freshman season and even before that and over that time we have become a better team in hopes of becoming a top-25 program.”

In order to accomplish the feat of becoming a traditional top-25 program, Stetson will need to take down top-seeded ETSU or No. 4 seed Lipscomb, but for Hatters Head Coach Logan Fleck the tough game is over with, “Everyone says there is more pressure to win in the championship final, but I think getting to the championship is much harder.”

With the victory, Stetson has one day off to recuperate both mentally and physically for another championship game, which contrasts from their 11-day layoff from their season finale against Jacksonville on Oct. 31st.

“The idea for our team now is to revamp and to come out on Saturday and play our type of game,” Fleck stated. “This can be a special team because no Stetson team has been able to win back-to-back titles and advance to the NCAA Tournament. This team has accomplished a lot of special things together and they can add to that on Saturday.”

Corning’s goal was extra sweet for the Hatters after a 1-1 tie to the Dolphins in the finale cost Stetson the overall number one seed and host opportunity for the A-Sun Championship.

“It’s a great feeling to come back and get the win over a team we have a rivalry with and we have a lot of respect for Jacksonville’s program and they came out fighting, but we were able to get our revenge from the season finale and a chance for the A-Sun title.”

The VolleyBlog - November 11th Edition

2010-11-11T07:48:00.005-05:00

After a late-season bye, the VolleyBlog is back for the final time of the regular season. While five teams know they are bound for Fort Myers, Fla. and next week's Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship, only two know their seeding and one game will decide the final spot.

Bisons Secure Perfect Season
With a four-set win against Boulevard rival Belmont, Lipscomb completed the Atlantic Sun portion of its schedule an unblemished 10-0, becoming the first team in the country to complete perfect conference regular-season records spanning the past two years. Only Northern Iowa from the Missouri Valley and Hawaii from the WAC could join Lipscomb on this list. The 2010 Bisons join UCF teams from 1999 and 2003, ETSU's 2006 and last year's team as the only five in A-Sun single-division history to turn in undefeated conference records. Only last year's Bisons and the 2003 Knights would also win the A-Sun Conference Tournament Championship.

River City Rumble to Determine Final A-Sun Championship Spot

Jacksonville and UNF both beat Campbell at home last weekend to first, eliminate the Camels from contention for making the A-Sun Championship field, and second, to set up a winner-take-all contest between the crosstown rivals for the sixth seed. In a non-conference match last month, the Dolphins rallied for a five-set win. The Dolphins hit .433 and .500 respectively in the final two sets to pull out the win. In 17 all-time meetings, the Dolphins own a 9-8 lead.

20x2; 20x4
With 12 wins in its last 13 games, Lipscomb reached the 20-win mark, giving the conference multiple 20-win teams for the 10th time in the last 11 years joining ETSU. Lipscomb has now posted 20-win seasons in four consecutive years. Only one other current A-Sun school, Belmont, has recorded four straight 20-win campaigns while in the conference. The Bruins won at least 20 games every season from 2004 through 2008. Former members College of Charleston (1991-95) and Southeastern Louisiana (1992-96) and UCF (1993-1997 also put together five straight 20-win seasons while Georgia State strung together four such years in a row, 2000-03.

Owls Continue Ascent
Although its program-best eight-game win streak ended with a loss to Georgia, Kennesaw State has not lost to a conference foe in more than a month. With wins against ETSU and USC Upstate last weekend, the Owls locked up the second seed for the A-Sun Championship. Sabrita Gulley earned A-Sun Player of the Week honors and Collegiate Volleyball Update (CVU.com) tabbed her as a "Top Performer" for the week.

Unique Monique
Sophomore libero Monique Russell became the first Stetson volleyball player since 1997 to record 400 digs in a single season. She reached that milestone in Hatters' Saturday contest against Lipscomb. Russell now has 405 digs in 2010, the first Hatter since Melissa Roy 13 years ago to surpass the 400 mark, and is tied for second on the Stetson single-season list. Cindy Benge set the record with 455 digs in 1991; after totaling 19 digs in the Hatters' 5-set win against Bethune-Cookman, Russell needs 31 digs Saturday at FGCU to tie the record.

Mercer Seniors Lead the Way to Championship

2010-11-06T16:30:00.003-04:00

The battle between youth and experience exuded at the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Soccer Championship final with the Mercer Bears putting six seniors on the pitch, while only one Jacksonville Dolphin senior saw the field. However, through all of that experience for Mercer a freshman created the last image of the championship, scoring the decisive game-winner.

Nadja Kolliesuah only played in 16 games coming into Saturday’s showdown between the two top seeds and had tallied one goal up to that point, but a corner kick from Lizzy Shaughnessy deflected by Patricia-Anne Upson landed at the feet of the Columbus, Ohio native.

With one strike from the left side of the box Kolliesuah’s shot drove into the corner of the net past the diving Alexa Rooney as the freshman put the senior-laden Bears in front 1-0 only one minute into the second half.

“As a freshman, it was really exciting to score the game-winner in the A-Sun Championship game,” Kolliesuah said of the match-deciding shot. “Even if someone else had scored the goal for us it would have been extremely exciting, but I’m just glad that I could help out our team with the goal.”

Despite the strike from the freshman, Mercer’s seniors set the tone for the championship final with Kacie Hudson and Raschelle Riley disturbing the Dolphins offensive attack holding their offense to a minimal three shots, one of which on frame, while midfielders Shaughnessy and Kaelyn Horton possessed the ball for the Bears throughout the game and played great passes down the sidelines to forwards Sara Elliot and Lauren Johnson.

“All of our seniors were major contributors particularly today and we relied on them quite a bit this season,” Mercer head coach Grant Serafy stated of his seven seniors. “We were hard on them this whole year and they really came through today and I think was the difference in the game.”

For the Dolphins, they wrap their season up with a 13-5-2 record, but the future is bright for Jacksonville as they return ten of the starters from the A-Sun Final including all-tournament team members Courtney Conrad, Liz Fink and Lisa Hensley.

Serafy added of today’s opposition, “Jacksonville has a really talented team and a great coaching staff so they will rebound from this game and it’s not going to detract from their season at all because they accomplished a lot this year.”

This class of Mercer seniors has twice had to rebound from losses in A-Sun finals in their careers, but this time around the Bears upperclassmen came out victorious with the program’s first A-Sun Championship.

Dolphins Taking Advantage of Home Field Advantage

2010-11-04T23:51:00.003-04:00

One of the popular axioms in sports is "Defend the home turf." Sports apparel companies have even built entire ad campaigns around "Defending this House." For the past 13 months and 14 home games, the Jacksonville women's soccer team has adhered to that saying and in Friday's Atlantic Sun Championship semifinal, they gave their fans of excuses to get riled up, shutting out the reigning champions, Kennesaw State, 3-0.

That win extended a home unbeaten streak that dates back 14 matches, to last season's regular-season meeting with Kennesaw State. The Dolphins won that meeting by a 3-1 margin beginning a run during which time, they boast a 10-0-4 mark and have outscored the opposition by a staggering 28-5 count (21-2 in nine matches this season). Ten of the contests have finished in shutouts.

By virtue of finishing as top seed, Jacksonville earned the right to host the semifinals and title game, something it has never done in the A-Sun. The players and their fans had to sit through more than a hour delay due to afternoon rain that befell the city before the first semifinal. For at least one game, playing in front of the home crowd proved to be a welcome change from the years of road trips and hostile venues.

"Being a senior and having everybody here, all your fans - even with the rain delay - you can't explain it, your heart is racing, everything is good" senior JU defender Devon Dowell said. "It's different to play at home; you bring out the fans and everyone wants to play for your home team. Your family is there; you have your friends, all your professors...you play for them, you play for your teammates."

As fate should have it, the team that last emerged from the visitors dressing room and returned home with a victory against Jacksonville will be the Dolphins opponent in Saturday's title tilt. Better than 13 months ago, Mercer pulled out a 1-0 victory on a header by All-Atlantic Sun defender Kacie Hudson. The Bears and Dolphins would meet again in an A-Sun Championship first-round match later that month and the Dolphins advanced following a shootout.

"It's great to play in front of the home crowd - I really think the campus and the community has rallied around this team and really has come up to support and make noise," Jacksonville head coach Brian Copham, the 2010 A-Sun Coach of the Year said.

Schools hosting the A-Sun Women's Championship have enjoyed great success in the 16 previous playings of the event. In 12 of those years, the school hosting the title match was in that game and in eight they emerged as the champion. The Dolphins have played for five A-Sun Women's Soccer Championships, never as the home team. In three they went up against the host, winning once, (2000, at FAU).

"When you've got a couple hundred people that are your fans at a conference tournament, or championship game, I think it's always in your favor to have the crowd behind you," Copham said. "It always lifts you up when you're tired, pushes you on, urges you for that goal. Anytime you've got a chance to play for a title, people want to come out and see it. I think they will respond, it will be the only thing...on campus this weekend and I think there will be a lot of fans to make some noise, and a lot of the other athletes that are rallying behind us and hopefully going to push us to a conference championship."

Redemption on Minds of Bears as They Return to Finals

2010-11-04T21:11:00.004-04:00

Thirty-one days ago, Stetson and Mercer met in a regular-season contest and the Hatters came away with a 5-1 home victory against the Bears in which they led 4-0 at halftime. Fast forward to the 2010 A-Sun Championship Semifinal showdown between the two and a different story was to be told.

“That Stetson loss was a real big eye-opener for us and ever since then we knew we had to come out and play our hardest in every single game,” All-Atlantic Sun defender Kacie Hudson mentioned of the earlier loss to the Hatter.

This time, the Bears dominated the opening half behind three goals from All-Conference members Olivia Tucker and Sarah Elliot as well as junior Emerald Phillips to give Mercer the upper hand and ultimately enact revenge for the earlier loss.

“We were just ready to have another shot at them and we came in extremely prepared for them and the result is exactly what we were dreaming about,” Hudson added.

After adding two more goals in the second half from the feet of Tucker and Elliot, the Bears
claimed the largest margin of victory in an A-Sun Championship game since 2000.

“This win serves as a little bit of redemption for the team because we had a bit of a dip in the middle of the season and we knew that wasn’t an example of the type of team we are,” Serafy stated of the three losses from Sept. 24th to Oct. 3rd. “I give the players a lot of credit because they overcame a lot of adversity and they showed a lot of hard work and enthusiasm at the end of the season.”

The 5-0 victory now sets up head coach Grant Serafy and the Bears for their third A-Sun Championship Final appearance in the past four seasons, where they are winless in program history. For a team that boasts seven seniors on the roster, the two losses in the championship game are still fresh in their memory and this time they expect to be on the winning end.

“We set a goal for ourselves at the beginning of the year to capture the A-Sun Championship,” Hudson proclaimed. “To make it to the finals in previous seasons was great, but this season we are looking to take the championship home.”

The Bears now get their shot to claim the school’s first A-Sun Women’s Soccer Championship after falling in 2007 to Kennesaw State, 2-1, and Belmont the following year in penalty kicks.

The two-goal scorer, Tucker added, “We just have to win, there is no other thing that I want than to win the conference championship.”

Hometown Fans Cheer on a Champion

2010-10-30T13:56:00.006-04:00

In the previous 20 Atlantic Sun Men's Cross Country Championships, at only one, the 2004 race, had the hosting school also produced the individual champion. On Saturday, as USC Upstate hosted its first A-Sun Championship in any sport, fans of the Spartans witnessed sophomore Gilbert Kemboi leave the rest of the field in his wake in one of the most dominating performances in Championship history.

Kemboi turned in the third-fastest time in conference history and won by a whopping 41 seconds - a winning margin not seen in the A-Sun since Georgia State's Andrew Letherby won the second of his three A-Sun titles in 1996.

Campbell's Terence Attema hung with Kemboi through the first mile of the race, but as the competition drew on, Kemboi built up his lead to such margins that the home stretch was little more than a coronation for the man whose year concludes with four individual titles and an eye-popping 755-2 record in head-to-head competition.

"It was very fantastic having all these fans cheering," Kemboi said. "It kept me pushing and pushing. I was watching my watch and I knew I was very close [to the course record]. That's what I was after. I missed it by something like six seconds but I still have time to do something about that."

Only a third-place showing at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Classic (where he finished less than two second behind the winner) prevented Kemboi from putting together a perfect season.

"Gilbert's an amazing athlete...he's the leader of our team," USC Upstate head coach Jimmy Stephens. "This year he stepped up and won every race, except for Louisville where he was third and was leading that race with 200 meters to go. On his home course, I knew he would step up."

In winning A-Sun Runner of the Year, Kemboi became just the fourth Spartan in the program's four-year history in the conference to garner a conference superlative award. Emily Tangwar won Track Athlete of the Year at the 2008 Indoor Track & Field Championship, Anna Novo picked up the Player of the Year in women's tennis in 2008, Morgan Childers received the softball Pitcher of the Year award in 2008, and Perrish Goggins earned Field Athlete of the Year at the 2009 Indoor Track & Field Championships.

With two years in Spartanburg still in front of Kemboi and the Spartans gaining access to NCAA Championships in one year, opportunities exist for Kemboi to chisel his name into both A-Sun and USC Upstate lore.

"Next year when we are NCAA eligible, we're going to shoot for nationals," Stephens said. "We're looking for people to push him and make him better. He's just going to continue to get better because his work ethic is amazing."

Patient Building Process Works for Ospreys

2010-10-30T13:41:00.000-04:00

A lot of prognosticators saw the Atlantic Sun Women’s Cross Country Championship trophy staying in Jacksonville for another year … but not many of them predicted the UNF Ospreys emerging the ones taking it with them.

The Ospreys swooped into Spartanburg as a confident bunch that knew a title was within their reach if everyone performed at their anticipated level, even if their coach wasn’t quite as relaxed.

“I was a basket-case the whole race but tried to project a confident image,” UNF head coach Mark VanAlstyne observed. “Honestly, we performed exactly the way we wanted to. Everyone just did what they needed to do and followed the plan.”

While UNF placed four runners in the top 12, one of the key performances came from Kayla Conrad who bested her fastest 5K of the season by over a minute to finish 24th and help the team out-last runner-up Lipscomb. With Conrad anchoring the scoring runners, sophomore Shelby Kittrell did exactly what everyone expected - race at the front of the pack. Kittrell chased winner Mackenzie Howe around nearly the whole course, giving herself a chance to overtake the favorite in the final 100 meters before settling for runner-up finish.

“I didn’t feel any more pressure than anyone else,” Kittrell said. We went into the race knowing what we needed to do for each other. We like being together and connect really well.”

The arduous transition from Division II to Division I had taken its toll on the program and returning to a position as conference front-runner has taken some time. However, UNF does not feature a senior on its roster and the results of focused recruiting paid off on the course.

“It has been a process; the transition from Division II to I is worse than anyone says,” VanAlstyne reflected. “A couple years ago we started this recruiting process with Kayla and Erin…before adding Meggie and Shelby last year. The pieces have just been falling into place.”

A record seven runners broke the 18-minute barrier in this race including a pair of Osprey sophomores. Does this set the Ospreys up as the next potential women’s cross country dynasty? VanAlstyne acknowledges that it will not be easy in this new-look A-Sun.

“It scares me because I look at Lipscomb’s young crew and all the other youth in the league,” he said. “A few of our coaches were talking about the transformation the A-Sun has seen the last few years. When we joined the league, the good teams had three runners breaking 19 minutes. Now if you want a chance to win, you better have that many breaking 18 minutes. The bar has definitely been raised.”

Well at least for a little while, UNF can enjoy its perch atop the A-Sun.

The VolleyBlog - October 26th Edition

2010-10-26T11:05:00.002-04:00

After a week-long break from conference play, the push towards making the six-team Atlantic Sun Volleyball Championship in Fort Myers, Fla., begins again with nine league games slated for the weekend. The conference's top teams could lock in their spots by the end of play on Saturday. If you have ways we can improve the VolleyBlog, we'll take all suggestions in our comments section, through our Facebook page or via Twitter.

ETSU Returns to 20-Win Status
With sweeps against Wofford and Presbyterian, ETSU became the first A-Sun school reach 20 wins. The Bucs last won 20 games in 2006 when they finished 25-7. ETSU joins only 13 schools in country to have reached that mark already in 2010. The Atlantic Sun has featured multiple 20-win teams in nine of the previous 10 years and Lipscomb stands as the favorite to join ETSU. The Lady Bisons enter the week 16-6 with six regular-season games remaining.

Mercer's Hurley at Near-Record Clip
In Mercer's four-set victory against Florida A&M, senior Krista Hurley totaled 12 kills - a number alone that would not pop out - when upon seeing her chances total, 14, and the following hitting percentage, a staggering .857, suddenly its a note worth talking about. No player in the conference had posted as high a percentage (with at least 12 kills) since Belmont's Jaye Schuler hit an equal .857 (12-0-14) against Stetson on Sept 29, 2006. A former Bear, Andrea Shipley, holds the conference record of .923 (12-0-13) set against Alabama A&M on October 30, 2002.

A Grand Achievement
Two A-Sun volleyball players reached career milestones during the past week. In Jacksonville's contest with Seattle, the Dolphins' Aidan Yeager surpassed 1,000 kills for her career. In the same Mercer match in which Hurley posted her. 857 hitting percentage, her teammate, Aimee Frutchey, became the 6th in school history to total 1,000 digs.

20-20 Vision
Campbell's Allyson Goldbach won the league's Player of the Week award after posting the league's third 20-20 performance of the year. Against Coastal Carolina she totaled 21 kills and 23 digs. The conference's two other 20-20 games came in the first weekend of the season. Lipscomb's Alex Kelly collected 20 kills and 21 digs against Kansas and FGCU's Camil Dominguez tallied 21 digs and 41 assists against FAU.

First Clinchings
The first spots for next month's A-Sun Championship could be secured by the end of the weekend. At 5-0, Lipscomb has the easiest path. Wins against UNF and Jacksonville will allow the Lady Bisons a chance to defend their crown in Fort Myers, Fla. At 5-1 and in second place, Kennesaw State would be in with a win at Campbell and a loss by FGCU, UNF, and a second loss by Campbell. ETSU could return to the field after a one-year absense with two wins, and a loss by UNF and two losses by Campbell or Jacksonville. If your head hurts, just follow AtlanticSun.org throughout the weekend and check for the magic clinching "*" to appear next to your favorite team.

Extra Time - Women's Edition

2010-10-21T12:47:00.003-04:00

Tournament time is here. The most important match of the regular season will take place for some this weekend. Let’s take a look at how the championship field is setting up. Don’t forget to follow us on our social media sites (Twitter.com/AtlanticSun & Facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference) as well.

Regular Season Title
It’s down to two teams for the regular season title. FGCU leads Jacksonville by one point heading into the final match of the year, so they control their own destiny. An Eagles win over Stetson on Saturday will hand the four-year old program their first regular season trophy. Jacksonville has to have an FGCU loss and either a win (outright champ) or tie (co-champ) against UNF to claim a piece of the title.

No. 1 Seed - Jacksonville
Jacksonville locked up the top seed last week and will host the semifinals and championship match on Nov. 4-6. The No. 1 seed owns a 17-2-4 all-time mark in tournament play and has reached the title game 10 times in the last 11 years.

No. 2 Seed – UNF, Mercer or Kennesaw State
The race for the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals is wide open as UNF, Mercer and Kennesaw State all have legitimate chances to claim that advantage. UNF and Mercer are tied at 18 points in the standings while Kennesaw State lurks with 16 points. A UNF win against JU is the easiest path for the Ospreys to be the No. 2, but UNF will also take that spot with a tie and a Mercer-Kennesaw State draw. The Bears need a win against the Owls and an Osprey tie or loss while KSU’s route to the bye needs a UNF tie or loss and a victory against Mercer.

No. 3 Seed – UNF, Mercer or Kennesaw State
A first round home match is the reward for earning the No. 3 seed. All three teams in the running for the two-seed are in the mix for third as well. UNF stands in this spot with a loss for sure while a tie coupled with a Mercer win also relegates the Ospreys to the No. 3 seed. Mercer would be the three seed with a UNF win and either a win or draw versus KSU. The Owls will be the three seed with a victory against the Bears joined with a draw for the Ospreys.

No. 4 Seed – Mercer, Kennesaw State or Stetson
The other first round home site is on tap for the fourth-seeded team. A Mercer loss leaves the Bears as the No. 4 seed. Kennesaw State will be the No. 4 seed with a tie or a loss coupled with a Stetson loss to FGCU. The Hatters claim the fourth seed with a win against the Eagles and a loss by the Owls.

No. 5 Seed – Kennesaw State, Stetson or ETSU
Kennesaw State lands in the fifth seed only if Stetson defeats FGCU and the Owls tie or lose to Mercer. Stetson would be the No. 5 seed with a win and a Kennesaw State win or draw or with a loss and an ETSU loss to USC Upstate. The Lady Bucs can claim the No. 5 seed with a win and a Stetson loss or tie.

No. 6 Seed – Stetson, ETSU or Campbell
The idle Camels will be the No. 6 seed with an ETSU loss to USC Upstate. Stetson lands sixth if the Hatters lose or tie against FGCU and the Lady Bucs win. ETSU claims this spot if they win and Stetson earns a point versus FGCU.

Eliminated – Belmont, UNF and Lipscomb
Belmont is eliminated despite the fact they can reach 12 points because the Bruins lose the tie-breaker with Campbell due to a 1-0 Camels win in September.

Men's Soccer Extra Time - Oct. 20th

2010-10-20T16:38:00.004-04:00

Just 16 days away from kick-off of the 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference Men’s Soccer Championship and all nine eligible teams still have a chance to make the tournament. FGCU leads the way with an undefeated mark, but are ineligible for the conference tournament, while the other nine teams will battle it out over the next two weekends for the six spots.

Real Men Wear Pink
In association with National Cancer Awareness Month, the Atlantic Sun Conference men’s soccer programs have partnered with the Coaches vs. Cancer Foundation. In the five A-Sun men’s soccer contests played on Thursday and Friday, all players competing will be wearing pink armbands and tape, while the coaches will be showing support by wearing pink polo shirts on the sidelines.

Sunshine State Showdown
On Friday, October 22nd Stetson travels to Fort Myers, Fla. for a match against the top two teams in the conference when they square off against FGCU. The Hatters stand at 5-1 in the conference and the Eagles have an unblemished 6-0 mark. With an Eagles victory, FGCU will clinch the regular season title in only its fourth year of men’s soccer existence, while a Hatters victory puts Stetson in the lead to host the A-Sun Tournament as well as win the regular season crown.

Three A-Sun Teams Ranked Regionally
In the latest edition of the NSCAA South Region Poll, three squads from the A-Sun appeared in the top-10 with FGCU leading the way in sixth, ETSU rebounding back into the polls at eighth and Mercer jumping into the poll for the first time this season at tenth. The Hatters, who were ranked last week, were also one of three teams to receive votes in the coaches’ ranking.

Longest Win Streak Belongs to Nashville
After FGCU fell to Florida Atlantic on Tuesday, the claim for the longest winning streak moved from Florida to the campus of Lipscomb in Tennessee. The Bisons, who started the conference slate with two losses, have won their last three games by a combined score of 13-6 and were led by A-Sun Player of the Week Joey Chiappetta, who registered six points against rival Belmont in a 6-2 victory against the Bruins.

Points Chase Plot Thickens
Belmont’s Brandon Tarr held a two-point lead going into play last weekend in the Atlantic Sun Points lead, but after only tallying one point on an assist his lead was cut in half as Stetson’s Fredrik Brustad jumped up to 17 points, while teammates at Jacksonville Darko Karamatic and Nedim Hrustic are tied for third place with 16 points apiece.

The VolleyBlog - October 19th Edition

2010-10-19T14:46:00.005-04:00

Atlantic Sun Volleyball hits its own fall break as the conference takes a week off from conference play here in the middle of the round-robin season. Three schools, Belmont, FGCU and Kennesaw State won't play at until league play resumes on Friday, October 29. With everybody having played five or six conference games, the league races at the top and in the jumble for championship seeding are starting to take shape. Which matchups or storylines are you most interested in following the final 30 days of the regular season? Tell us through Facebook, Twitter or in our comments section.

Georgia, Tennessee Assert Dominance
For 200 years, Georgia and Tennessee have undergone a border dispute revolving around the Tennessee River and drinking water. This fun fact was a way to connect US history to A-Sun volleyball as the conference's five Georgia and Tennessee schools (Kennesaw State, Mercr, ETSU, Lipscomb and Belmont) combined to go 8-0 on the weekend and currently own the top five spots in the conference standing. Lipscomb and Belmont both beat Campbell; Mercer and Kennesaw State took down FGCU and Stetson and ETSU picked up two wins in Jacksonville.

It Bears Repeating
For the first in almost two years, Mercer won both league matches on consecutive weekends. In improving to 4-2, the Bears are off to their best 6-game A-Sun start since a 5-1 run to open 2007. Libero Charlotte Harris won the Bears' first Player of the Week award of 2010 (and first since Rachel Urbelis won last October 26). She totaled 59 digs in the wins against FGCU and Stetson. In the four-set win against the Hatters, she recorded 39, one shy of the league's four-set record in conference games. She paces the conference in digs with 436 and rank in the top 30 in the nation in digs per set, 5.19.

Three A-Sun Schools Entertain Seattle
As part of this non-conference weekend, three of the A-Sun's Florida schools welcome in the Seattle University Redhawks. On Thursday, UNF serves as host followed by Jacksonville one night later. The three-day event concludes in DeLand when Stetson welcomes in the 10-12 Redhawks. Seattle U picked up a victory against Mercer in the season-opening invitational at Seattle.

River City Rumble Prequel
Before facing Seattle, Jacksonville and UNF will meet in an non-conference River City Rumble on Tuesday from Jacksonville's Swisher Gymnasium. If the Dolphins can match the intensity of their mascot, Dunk'n, they could make short work of their crosstown rival.

Bisons in Rarefied Company
In addition to boasting the conference's lone unbeaten record, Lipscomb leads the A-Sun in hitting percentage, assists per set, kills per set and digs per set. Only two other school in the country and lay claim to the same distinction. In the America East Conference, Albany leads in all four categories as does Yale out of the Ivy League.

Extra Time - Women's Edition

2010-10-14T10:34:00.003-04:00

Two weeks from the tournament starting and things are beginning to take shape. Today’s Extra Time will focus on the postseason implications of the weekend plus a look at a couple outstanding individual performances. Don’t forget to follow us on our social media sites (Twitter.com/AtlanticSun & Facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference) as well.

River City Rules
With three matches left for most teams, the River City rivals Jacksonville and UNF sit in the cat-bird’s seat. Without diving too deeply into tie-breaking scenarios, a JU win over Campbell tonight would mean that only the Dolphins and Ospreys would still be alive to host the A-Sun Championship Final Four. If UNF manages at least a draw with Campbell on Saturday, the two rivals would play a winner-take all match at Hodges Stadium on Oct. 22 for the No. 1 seed at the championship and possibly a conference title.

Dolphins Aim for Regular Season Title
In 2000, JU put together one of the most dominating seasons in A-Sun history, posting a 9-0-0 conference record and a 19-3-0 regular season mark. In the nine seasons since, the Dolphins have not finished higher than third. Every match will take on increased importance as the Dolphins (19 points) try to claim the league title as UNF (18 points) and FGCU (17 points) are breathing down JU’s neck. Coach Brian Copham’s squad faces Campbell tonight at 7:00pm. The match will be carried live on ASun.TV.

Ospreys Lurking
UNF’s only match this week will be a Saturday night game with Campbell also carried live on ASun.TV.

The Ospreys are lurking behind league leader JU and just ahead of challenger FGCU. Standing at 6-2-0 in conference play, UNF needs just one win to set a new school record for A-Sun victories in a single season. After missing the postseason in their first year of eligibility, UNF controls its own destiny in search of the top seed in this year’s tourney.

FGCU Still Has Title Hopes
FGCU seemed to be on track for the team’s first A-Sun title when they were stone-walled by USC Upstate keeper Rachel Collins in a 0-0 tie in Spartanburg. The Eagles out-shot the Spartans 25-4 in the match, but could not get one past Collins. The tie left FGCU two points behind league-leader Jacksonville. The advantage the Eagles own is as still the league’s only unbeaten team (5-0-2) and have three matches (all at home) remaining on the schedule as opposed to two for both JU and UNF. FGCU is 7-1-2 in their last 10 matches and are receiving votes in the NSCAA Regional Rankings.

Collins Makes Case for Freshman of the Year
Rachel Collins, who cemented her name in the USC Upstate record books a few times over the weekend, helped the Spartans earn double-overtime draws against Stetson and Florida Gulf Coast. Collins is currently riding a shutout streak of 247:10 which is the longest such streak since the 2004 season when Diana Wabnitz posted a streak of 407:23 (Sept. 9, 2004 – Oct. 6, 2004). Her 103 saves through 15 matches leads the A-Sun, while placing her second in saves in a single-season D-I era, fourth for saves in a single season in program history and fifth for saves in a career. With the two shutouts, Collins increased her season total to three, which is the most in D-I history, third-best in a career and fifth-most in school history during a single-season. Collins' two ties puts her first in D-I history, while placing her in a tie for first in program history (single-season), she also ranks third for ties in a career.

Worth Quoting
"I am proud of our girls today as the battled throughout the entire match. Our team has believed in itself and that really showed today as we earned a double-overtime draw against the first-place team in the Atlantic Sun, FGCU. No one expected us to compete today or Friday night, but our girls played their hearts out and we look to continue to build on our success as we travel to Kennesaw State and Mercer next weekend. “

Renee Lopez – USC Upstate Head Coach

Men's Soccer Extra Time - Oct. 13th

2010-10-13T16:54:00.001-04:00

Two weekends into the A-Sun men’s soccer season and two teams remain undefeated at 4-0, Stetson and FGCU, who both posted wins over USC Upstate and ETSU over the weekend. This weekend marks the halfway point of the conference season so make sure to tune into ASun.TV to follow your favorite team.

A-Sun Well Represented in the Polls
The NCAA released the first edition of the men’s soccer RPI and six A-Sun teams saw their names appear in the top-100, while five were in the top-80. FGCU led the way with their 21st place ranking standing at 8-2-2 on the season. Following the Eagles are ETSU at 51st, Stetson at 68th, Campbell at 77th, Mercer at 78th and Lipscomb in 93rd. To go along with the RPI ranking, FGCU improved its ranking in the Soccer America poll this week from 25th to 24th, while Stetson jumped into the NSCAA South Region poll at No. 10, which makes the Hatters the fourth conference team to appear in the poll this season.

Jones and Asare-Bediako Make National Teams of the Week
FGCU’s Deion Jones and Stetson’s Ryan Asare-Bediako were rewarded for their play over the weekend as they were named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com and CollegeSoccerNews.com National Teams of the Week, respectively. Jones scored two goals for the 24th-ranked Eagles as well as adding an assist, while Asare-Bediako, who also won the A-Sun Player of the Week award, posted game-winning goals in both of Stetson’s games including an overtime golden goal against USC Upstate.

Former Belmont Star Plays for D.C. United
J.P. Rodrigues participated in his first Major League Soccer match on Saturday. Rodrigues was called in on loan for D.C. United's contest against the San Jose Earthquakes. Rodrigues is in Washington as a guest player with the Black-and-Red. One of the all-time great Bruin players, Rodrigues was a two-time NSCAA/adidas All-South Region Team honoree (2004, 2005) and the 2005 Atlantic Sun Conference Defender of the Year.

Points Chase Sees Another Change
Belmont’s Brandon Tarr went into last weekend trailing Stetson’s Jonathan Mendoza by three points for the Atlantic Sun points lead, but left the weekend with a two-point lead after scoring three goals for the Bruins. Tarr now stands at 17 points (6G, 5A) ahead of Mendoza’s 15 (3G, 9A) and Jacksonville’s Nedim Hrustic and Stetson’s Fredrik Brustad, who both have 14 points.

Big Games This Weekend
There are several key games this weekend as Stetson and FGCU try to keep their undefeated marks alive as they travel to face Mercer and Campbell, while crosstown rivals Belmont and Lipscomb jockey for position as both teams stand at 2-2 in the league. ETSU tries to get back on the winning track with Jacksonville and UNF after dropping two matches the past weekend.

The VolleyBlog - October 12th Edition

2010-10-12T15:44:00.003-04:00

This weekend serves as the halfway point of the A-Sun Volleyball schedule, which means we are a little over a month away from the A-Sun Volleyball Championship in Fort Myers, Fla., hosted by FGCU at Alico Arena. Five conference matches are slated to be broadcasted on ASun.TV so make sure to tune in.

With the recent losses of Penn State and North Dakota State in conference play, Lipscomb currently owns the longest conference regular season winning streak in the nation at 29 games. The Lady Bisons undefeated streak dates back to November 1, 2008 when they defeated Campbell, 3-0. In the four league games so far Lipscomb has only dropped one set – to USC Upstate in their last match – faces Campbell, who is currently tied for second in the conference at 3-1, on Saturday.

Along with Lipscomb, four total teams went 2-0 last weekend in the second week of conference play. Mercer and Kennesaw State both staked sweeps over Jacksonville and UNF, while Campbell won two games against Stetson and FGCU. The Owls’ victory against the Dolphins was the first in the program’s history, while Mercer battles back in both matches after dropping the opening sets. Campbell’s victory against FGCU was the first in program history, while the triumph against Stetson gave the Camels six wins in the last eight games.

Kennesaw State’s Alyssa Lang led the Owls to a undefeated weekend with her outstanding play, which led to the junior claiming the A-Sun Volleyball Player of the Week honor. Lang powered home 21 kills against UNF to tie the KSU school record for kills in a three-set match and set the record for the most in an A-Sun conference match in the 25-point era. The Richmond, Va. native also posted double-doubles in both of the conference matches for kills and digs.

With a 16-6 record and 10 games remaining in their schedule, ETSU has already surpassed the 2009 win total of 11. The Bucs have seven conference games left on the schedule and also face Wofford, Presbyterian and Western Carolina to wrap up their non-conference schedule. Megan Devine, Erin Ryan and Alysa Long lead ETSU in kills with 215, 188 and 179 respectively, while Long also possesses 100 total blocks, which leads the conference.

Here is the ASUN.TV slate for the weekend:
Friday, October 15th
Campbell at Belmont - 6:30 p.m.
ETSU at Jacksonville - 7 p.m.
USC Upstate at UNF - 7 p.m.

Saturday, October 16th
USC Upstate at Jacksonville - 3 p.m.
ETSU at UNF - 3 p.m.

Extra Time - Women's Soccer: Oct. 7th

2010-10-07T11:47:00.001-04:00

A new week, a new name for our soccer blog … welcome to Extra Time! If we aren’t covering an angle that needs more light, let us know. Don’t forget to follow us on our social media sites (Twitter.com/AtlanticSun & Facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference) as well.

Sunshine State Surge
The A-Sun’s four Florida teams posted a combined 8-0-0 record and now occupy the top-four spots in the conference standings. The team’s outscored their opposition (Kennesaw State, Mercer, ETSU & USC Upstate) 24-3 in the eight wins. Let’s take a closer look at each team …

FGCU Soars to Top of Standings
The Eagles swept Mercer and Kennesaw State in a pair of thrilling 1-0 decisions to climb into a tie with Jacksonville for the league lead with 13 points. With the sweep, the fourth-year program nearly broke into the NSCAA/HendrickCars.com regional rankings, joining NC State as others receiving votes. Senior Lindsay Haw scored the game-winner in both matches while the defense led by KC Correlus allowed just eight shots this weekend. The Eagles have surrendered just one goal in conference play and none in the last 281 minutes of action.

JU Makes Their Case
Jacksonville claimed its share of the league lead by dispatching ETSU and USC Upstate this weekend. The Dolphins are 5-1-1 in their last seven matches with the only set-back being a 1-0 loss to Mercer. The offense erupted on Senior Weekend with eight goals, but it was junior Liz Fink who was the big gun, netting three herself.

UNF Aiming for First Postseason Appearance
UNF took a big step towards securing the program’s first A-Sun Championship appearance after shutting out ETSU and USC Upstate. The team’s rigorous non-conference schedule seems to have prepared them well for A-Sun play. Lauren Hopfensberger is making a strong case for Freshman of the Year honors in the conference, scoring four more goals this weekend to push her league-leading total to seven. The Ospreys 4-2-0 start in conference play is the team’s best since joining the A-Sun.

Stetson Offense Firing on All Cylinders
After scoring just 13 goals in the team’s first 10 matches, Stetson exploded for 13 goals over its last three to help the team vault into a tie for fourth place in the standings. For the first time since Kennesaw State joined the league in 2005, the Hatters swept the conference weekend against the Owls and Mercer. Player of the Year candidate Tessa Gavilsky scored three goals and added an assist, running her league leading point total to 19.

Don’t Forget the Camels
While the Sunshine Four were making big moves this weekend, Campbell made a statement of their own, blanking Belmont and Lipscomb to work their way back into the postseason hunt.

Worth Quoting
“We played well. I thought we played a better second half, but I thought we did okay in the first as well. We’re really starting to find our rhythm. Any weekend you can come away with two wins is a good weekend so I’m very, very happy for the girls and excited for, hopefully, the position this puts us in to make the conference tournament. That’s our goal and the win puts us one step closer. I just think our dangerous players are starting to get more and more confidence. These are players that I’ve watched for a couple of years and always thought they’ve been amazing players. Lauren’s playing absolutely fantastic right now and things are starting to come together for us. It’s a good weekend; we’re going to enjoy it.”

Linda Hamilton – UNF Head Coach

Men's Soccer Extra Time - October 6th

2010-10-06T16:26:00.004-04:00

Last week was the beginning of the A-Sun Conference Season for men's soccer and four teams came away with unblemished records. As we go into week two of conference play it shall be interesting to see who rebounds from early season losses and who can keep their winning streaks alive.

Undefeated Starts
Four teams started the Atlantic Sun Conference season with unblemished records as Stetson, FGCU and ETSU won both of their matchups, while Jacksonville won its lone contest. The Hatters and Eagles went on the road to defeat Belmont and Lipscomb, while ETSU defeated Campbell and Mercer. Jacksonville opened conference play with the River City Rumble and came away with a 1-0 victory against UNF.

ETSU and FGCU Gain More Ranking Recognition
FGCU earned a national ranking in the Soccer America poll coming in at No. 25, while also earning six votes in the NSCAA National Coaches Poll. To go along with its national ranking, the Eagles continued to be ranked in the South Region Poll along with ETSU. Both teams dropped one spot in the rankings to seventh and ninth despite winning both of their games in the week. The Eagles are the first ranked team for the A-Sun since Campbell in 2008.

Campbell – Mr. Team October?
The Fighting Camels have been spectacular in the month of October traditionally as Campbell has posted a 21-2-3 record in its last 26 games. During that time, Campbell’s offense has nearly doubled its opponent’s goals, 50-26. So far in October, the Camels defeated USC Upstate 1-0 on Saturday and tied Furman 0-0 on Tuesday and have seven games remaining in the month.

Mendoza Leads the Points Race
Stetson’s Jonathan Mendoza, the A-Sun Player of the Week, registered two goals and two assists on the weekend to take the lead of the conference points, but the sophomore isn’t leading the A-Sun in the traditional way. Instead of scoring a lot of goals, Mendoza has been setting up his teammates to build his points total with eight assists on the year and three goals. He leads the conference by three points over Jacksonville’s Darko Karamatic (5G, 1A) and Belmont’s Brandon Tarr (3G, 5A).

Shutouts For All
In the last 11 games played by Atlantic Sun teams, which includes two non-conference games, there have been nine shutouts. Campbell and Stetson claim two shutouts a piece with Lipscomb, Mercer, ETSU, Jacksonville and FGCU posting one each. Three teams in the A-Sun have goals against average that are below 0.75 (Stetson, ETSU and FGCU).

Conference Games This Week
Friday, October 8th
Belmont at UNF – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv
ETSU at Stetson – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv
USC Upstate at FGCU – 7 p.m.
Lipscomb at Jacksonville – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv

Saturday, October 9th
Mercer at Campbell – 4 p.m. - ASUN.tv

Sunday, October 10th
Belmont at Jacksonville – 1 p.m. - ASUN.tv
USC Upstate at Stetson – 1 p.m. - ASUN.tv
Lipscomb at UNF – 2 p.m. - ASUN.tv
ETSU at FGCU –6 p.m.

VolleyBlog - October 5th Edition

2010-10-05T16:41:00.002-04:00

As the calendar flipped to October, the Atlantic Sun swung into conference play with Lipscomb and Jacksonville sweeping weekend play to share the top spot in the standings. The conference's top two RPI squads, Lipscomb and ETSU meet in Johnson City, headlining a 10-game weekend slate of games.

Owls Win Opening A-Sun Match in Historic Fashion
Since creating its volleyball program in 2006, Kennesaw State had dropped the first two sets 68 times. In all 68 instances, the Owls went on to lose the match. On Friday, they pulled off their first-ever rally from a two-set hole to beat Belmont in their A-Sun opener. Camile Pedraza and Alyssa Lang each topped 20 digs for Kennesaw State. Watch a replay of the Owls' comeback on ASun.TV.

Dolphins Complete Successful Florida Swing
Jacksonville won the final two games of its stretch of nine games in 10 against other Florida schools with victories against FGCU and Stetson. For the third time in their last four meetings with the Eagles, the match extended to five sets. In all three instances, the Dolphins pulled out the win. The following night, the Dolphins swept Stetson to improve to 2-0 in league play for the first time since winning their first six conference contests in 2005. Read the thoughts Brittany Lehman and Hannah Munneke on the weekend HERE as part of her weekly blog.

Week Two Features Volunteer State Showdown
The NCAA released its first RPI rankings on Monday with Lipscomb and ETSU pacing the A-Sun, placing just outside the top 100. The two meet in Johnson City for the only time in regular-season play on Friday at 7 p.m. The match airs on ASun.TV. Last season, despite not qualifying for the A-Sun Championship, ETSU proved to be Lipscomb's toughest challenge within the league, taking three sets off the eventual champions. In their meeting Johnson City, the Lady Bisons needed five sets to thwart off the upset-minded Buccaneers. No other A-Sun foe took two sets from Lipscomb in a match last year. Lipscomb has won 30 of its last 31 A-Sun contests - 24 have ended in a Lady Bisons sweep.

Catch Six A-Sun Contests on ASun.TV
In addition to Friday's Lipscomb-ETSU meeting, five league matchups air on ASun.TV. Also on Friday, fans can watch Jacksonville at Kennesaw State or UNF at Mercer. On Saturday, ASun.TV offers three games: Belmont at ETSU at 2 p.m., UNF at Kennesaw State at 3p.m. and Jacksonville at Mercer, also at 3 p.m. The remainder of the A-Sun slate include Belmont at USC Upstate and FGCU at Campbell on Friday, both at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Campbell hosts Stetson at 2 p.m. and Lipscomb duels with USC Upstate at 3 p.m.

Extra Time - Women's Edition

2010-09-30T10:02:00.005-04:00

A new week, a new name for our soccer blog … welcome to Extra Time! Our comments have been sparse so far. If you have enjoyed reading the blog, please let us know. If we aren’t covering an angle that needs more light, let us know. Don’t forget to follow us on our social media sites (Twitter.com/AtlanticSun & Facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference) as well.

In a Pinch Turn to Hensley
Some players just seem to have that innate ability to be in the right place at the right time. This season, Lisa Hensley has been that player for Jacksonville. In consecutive one-goal conference matches, JU defeated Stetson (1-0) and Kennesaw State (1-0) with Hensley providing the winning goal. For the year, the sophomore forward owns four game-winning goals in the Dolphins’ six victories. View Hensley discussing the Stetson game-winner here.

Peach State Leaders
Kennesaw State and Mercer each navigated its first four matches with a 3-1-0 record to top the A-Sun standings. Defense has been the calling card for both squads. The Bears surrendered just one goal over the four-match stretch while the Owls let two balls hit the back of the net. Another big challenge waits this weekend with a two-game swing through Florida for both teams to face Stetson and FGCU.

Belmont Breakout
Belmont put a disappointing start to the conference season in the rear-view mirror last weekend, beating USC Upstate 5-0 and ETSU 3-2 in double overtime. Sunday’s match with the Lady Bucs was a thriller that saw the teams combine for four second-half goals with Marcela Sanchez netting the equalizer with less than four minutes to play. Jessica Rix’s free kick from outside the box sealed the come-from-behind win in the 107th minute. Belmont’s eight goals more than doubled the team’s season total.

Pugh Etches Name in Record Books
With her three saves in the Owls’ 1-0 win at UNF on Sunday, Staci Pugh became the all-time Kennesaw State saves leader with 267 for her career. She passed Jessica Marek who now moves into second place with 264 saves for her career, which spanned from the Owls’ inaugural 2002 season to 2005. Not only has Pugh made her mark in the Kennesaw State record books, but she is also in the top five in a pair of categories in the Atlantic Sun Conference record book. She is currently tied for fourth all-time in career shutouts with 23, and she is fifth in career goals against average at 0.98.

Worth Quoting
“She's worked extremely hard since arriving as a freshman, and has been a key component to the program's constant success over the years. Staci had to overcome a serious injury that kept her out for a year, but she kept working hard and has improved in all areas of her game. Now in her final season, she's enjoying the fruits of her labor. Staci is not only a terrific goalkeeper, but a real character as well, and we couldn't be happier for her."

Rob King – Kennesaw State Head Coach on Staci Pugh

Extra Time - September 29th Edition

2010-09-29T16:03:00.003-04:00

Right before conference play kicks off, we felt it was a perfect time to change the name of the soccer blog from Free Kicks to Extra Time. Let us know what you think about the name on our Facebook or Twitter pages and until then let’s talk a little bit about the past week of games and ones ahead.

Twice As Good
For the first time this season, two teams from the A-Sun Conference appeared in the NSCAA South Region Poll as FGCU jumped up one spot to number six, while ETSU received its first-ever recognition in the rankings coming in eighth place after defeating two opponents last week, both in overtime. Jacksonville has also seen its name in the south region polls this season coming in the week two poll.

Schoenfeld Nets Two
ETSU junior forward, Aaron Schoenfeld, racked up two overtime game-winners for the Bucs against Marshall and UNC Asheville. His efforts not only earned ETSU regional recognition, but also earned the Knoxville, Tenn. native two awards as he was named the A-Sun Player of the Week and was put on the College Soccer News National Team of the Week. The 6-foot-4 forward also added an assist on the week to bring his season point total to eight, tied for sixth in the conference.

Let’s Go Streaking
Five teams in the A-Sun have unbeaten streaks of two games or more, which is led by Mercer’s five-game streak (4-0-1). Behind the Bears is FGCU’s four-game stretch (2-0-2), ETSU (3-0) and Campbell (2-0-1) carry three-game runs and USC Upstate owns a modest two-game streak (1-0-1). It is highly likely that some of those runs will come to an end this weekend as the Camels open the A-Sun season against the Bucs and Mercer squares off with the Spartans on Thursday.

Conference Games This Week
Thursday, September 30th
Campbell at ETSU – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv
Mercer at USC Upstate – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv

Friday, October 1st
Stetson at Belmont – 3 p.m.
FGCU at Lipscomb – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 2nd
Campbell at USC Upstate – 2 p.m. - ASUN.tv
Mercer at ETSU – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv

Sunday, October 3rd
FGCU at Belmont – 12:05 p.m.
Stetson at Lipscomb – 2 p.m.
Jacksonville at UNF – 7 p.m. - ASUN.tv

The Scoring Trio
Stetson, Jacksonville and Mercer are at the top of the league in scoring with all three teams averaging two goals or more per game. The Hatters lead the conference with three goals per game average having scored 18 goals in six games, while the Dolphins have tallied the most goals, 21, coming in nine games for a 2.33 goals/game. The Bears are hanging right behind the duo with a two goal average.

Defense Wins Championships
On the flip side of the pitch, four A-Sun squads are allowing less than a goal per game as we begin conference play. Stetson, ETSU, FGCU and Campbell all adorn that list as the Hatters led the league with a 0.76 Goal Against Average (GAA). Nine of the ten teams in the conference have posted a shutout this season, while seven teams are tied for the led league with two blank sheets this season.

The Points Chase
Belmont’s Brandon Tarr, Stetson’s Kai Eckenrode and Jacksonville’s Nedim Hrustic are battling one another for the points lead as all three are in double-digits for points. Tarr, a sophomore, has 11 points on the season with three goals and five assists is first in the A-Sun, while Eckenrode (3 G, 5 A) and Hurstic (5 G, 0 A) are tied for second with ten points. The trio is in the lead for now as only four points separates first place from ninth.

VolleyBlog - Sept 28 Edition

2010-09-28T14:01:00.004-04:00

The Atlantic Sun volleyball teams concluded weekend non-conference action in strong fashion, winning 14 of 20 matches. ETSU posted a 5-0 record and Jacksonville won its three matches. The first full week of league play begins Wednesday with Campbell traveling to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on USC Upstate. If you attend any of the 10 A-Sun contests over the weekend, be sure to take some pictures and we'll recognize you here on the blog and on our Facebook and Twitter page.

Bucs Soaring Entering A-Sun Play
For the second time in the 2010 non-conference season, the ETSU Buccaneers collected a tournament title, winning the North Carolina Central Tournament. On Friday, the Buccaneers beat NC Central, Maryland-Eastern Shore and wrapped up the event by beating Hampton and South Carolina State on Saturday. Alysa Long earned MVP honors after collected 24 kills and 20 blocks. She hit .477 and enters conference play pacing the conference in hitting percentage (.338) and blocks (91).

Dolphins Staking Claim for Sunshine State Crown
Jacksonville closed its pre-conference portion of the schedule by again dominating in-state competition. The Dolphins swept Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M and a non-conference match Stetson in improving their record against fellow Florida schools to 6-1 (2-7 against the other 49 states). Coincidentally, Jacksonville opens A-Sun play with FGCU on Friday and Setson one day later.

ETSU's Start One of A-Sun's Best Last Six Years
With victories on nine of its last 10 games, ETSU has improved its record to 14-5, its best 19-game start since also going 14-5 in 2005 and 2006. Since ETSU joined the A-Sun in 2005, only four teams have posted better 19-game starts than ETSU...FGCU started 17-2 in 2007 as did FAU in 2005. Belmont opened 2006 16-3 as did Lipscomb last season.

Gulley Garners National Praise
Kennesaw State's Sabrita Gulley's performance against Alabama A&M garnered the senior acclaim from Collegiate Volleyball Update (CVU.com), as the organization named the outside hitter one of the Top Performers of the week. Gulley set a Kennesaw State record with 21 kills in a three-set victory. The 21 kills also marked the highest total by an A-Sun performer in a three-set match since the scoring format changed from the 30-point era to the 25-point era. Gulley is only the second A-Sun performer honored by the organization this season.

Lipscomb Enters A-Sun Play Looking to Extend Win Streak
The reigning champion Lipscomb Lady Bisons open league play with home contests against Kennesaw State and Mercer. After posting a perfect 20-0 regular-season mark in 2009 and finishing the 2008 regular season with five straight wins the Lady Bisons have won 25 straight regular-season conference games. Across Division I, only North Dakota State, which has won 42 regular-season Summit League games, owns a longer active streak. Lipscomb last lost an A-Sun regular-season game on October 28, 2008, a five-set loss at Belmont. The Lady Bisons have not lost a home A-Sun match since October 4, 2008, falling to FGCU in five sets.

Catch Seven Matches on ASun.TV
Among the 10 conference contests slated for the weekend, seven can be viewed on ASun.TV. Belmont, Lipscomb and UNF will air both its games while Jacksonville will broadcast its Friday game with FGCU.

Upcoming A-Sun Volleyball Matches on ASun.TV
Friday, October 1: Stetson at UNF, 7:00 p.m. ET
Friday, October 1: FGCU at Jacksonville 7:00 p.m. ET
Friday, October 1: Kennesaw State at Belmont, 6:30 p.m. CT
Friday, October 1: Mercer at Lipscomb, 6:30 p.m. CT

Saturday, October 2: Mercer at Belmont, 2:00 p.m. CT
Saturday, October 2: Kennesaw State at Lipscomb, 2:00 p.m. CT
Saturday, October 2: FGCU at UNF, 3:00 p.m. ET

Women's Soccer Free Kicks - Week 5

2010-09-23T14:14:00.004-04:00

Free Kicks returns for another week of notes, recaps and previews. We have two competitive submissions for new names of the blog, Extra Time or Offside. If you have a favorite between the two or still want to offer up another option for us to consider, submit your title in our comment section, on our Facebook page or through our Twitter account.

Shutouts Rule Week One
Conference play opened in the Atlantic Sun this past weekend with eight of the 10 league games resulting in a shutout and one, the FGCU-Jacksonville contest finishing in 0-0 fashion. Mercer (1-0 win vs Belmont; 4-0 win against Lipscomb) and Jacksonville (0-0 tie with FGCU; 1-0 win vs Stetson) posted back-to-back clean sheets and ETSU blanked Campbell, 2-0, in its lone A-Sun contest.

Georgia > Nashville
The only two schools to earn two victories in the first weekend shared two traits -both reside inside "The Peach State" and both headed north and beat Belmont and Lipscomb. Kennesaw State opened league play by pulling out a dramatic victory against Lipscomb, 2-1, thanks to a goal by Brittany Vining with three seconds left in regulation. Also on Friday, Mercer got an overtime goal from Sara Elliot to top Belmont, 1-0. In a rematch of the 2009 Atlantic Sun Championship title game, the Owls shut out the Bruins, 2-0 on Sunday afternoon. Down Belmont Boulevard, Mercer blanked Lipscomb, 4-0, and held the Lady Bisons shotless, 19-0.

Kerns Moves to the Top of Goal Scoring List
Although only playing one game during the week, ETSU's Ramey Kerns scored both goals in the Buccaneers' 2-0 home win against Campbell. She moved ahead of Stetson's Tessa Gavilsky to take the lead in conference in both goals (5) and points (11). Check out highlights from Buccaneers victory HERE.

Hear from the Weekly Winners
Each week, the Atlantic Sun conducts interviews with the Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week. To hear from UNF's Carolina Lencina and Mercer's Raschelle Riley, click HERE.

Full Slate on ASun.TV
In addition to being the week of season premieres on network television, ASun.TV offers plenty of fresh action this weekend as eight of the 10 league showdowns air on the channel. Friday and Sunday feature four games each. On Friday, The A-Sun's reigning weekly award winners, Mercer's senior defender Raschelle Riley and UNF's Carolina Lencina meet in Macon. For the full schedule of games and how to purchase events, visit ASun.TV.

Men's Soccer Free Kicks - Week 3

2010-09-22T16:31:00.003-04:00

We are one week away from the beginning of the conference season as the 10 teams across the league wrap up the non-conference season. This will also be the final week before we pick a new name for the men’s and women’s soccer blog so continue to send in your suggestions to our Facebook and Twitter account for a chance to win an A-Sun Apparel package.

FGCU Takes Down Another Ranked Team
On Saturday, FGCU welcomed the No. 5 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes into Ft. Myers for the FGCU Kick-Off Classic and the Buckeyes left with a 1-0 loss as the Eagles’ freshman Ryan Price headed in the lone goal of the game in the 64th minute to stun the visiting Buckeyes. For their win and 1-1 tie with Drexel, who is ranked fifth in the South Atlantic region, on Thursday, FGCU earned a seventh place ranking in the latest edition of the NSCAA South Region Poll. Video Interview

Campbell Breaks through with Victory Over Niners
Not to be outdone by its A-Sun brethren, Campbell defeated the Charlotte 49ers, 2-1, on Saturday for the first time since Oct. 2, 1990. Khalil Johnson, a senior forward, registered two second-half goals before Charlotte, who defeated then-No. 14 Wake Forest earlier in the week, scored a late goal to cut the deficit to one. For his efforts, Johnson earned the A-Sun Player of the Week honors.

Mercer’s Shutter Earns National Team of the Week Honor
The Bears sophomore Josh Shutter was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week after scoring two goals in a 2-1 victory against Georgia State. Shutter scored the game’s opening goal in the first half and then added the game-winner in the 85th minute to seal the victory against the Panthers. The victory moved Mercer to 3-1-1 on the season and its best start after five games since going 4-1 to start the 2007 season.

Brustad Tallies Four-Minute Hat Trick
Stetson's Fredrik Brustad registered three goals in the Hatters 4-1 win against the Manhattan Jaspers. Brustad scored his first two goals in the 50th minute before recording his final goal in the 54th minute to put the game out of reach. Brustad, the A-Sun Preseasoon Player of the Year, leads Stetson in scoring with four goals and nine points. Brustad Interview

A-Sun Teams on the Winning End
At this point of the non-conference season, six of the 11 teams in the A-Sun have records of .500 or better, four of which are winning records. In comparison at the end of last season only two teams finished with a .500 record or better (FGCU and Stetson).

Tough Opponents Ahead For A-Sun Teams
In the final week of non-conference play, the A-Sun squares off against three regionally-ranked teams and one top-10 team. Campbell faces UNC-Greensboro, No. 8 in South Region, on Wednesday, while FGCU hosts Florida International, No. 5 in the South Region, on Friday. In a Sunday showdown, Jacksonville faces the No. 9 team in the nation, SMU, who has already faced one A-Sun team earlier in the season in Lipscomb.

Quote of the Week
"I'm proud of the way that our team was able to come together and pull out a victory against a quality opponent," said Campbell head coach Steve Armas. From opening day until now, we've had a lot of growth in the way we play and it clicked today for us. I credit our kids for pushing each other to be successful and I'm extremely proud of their efforts."

VolleyBlog - Fourth Edition

2010-09-21T10:50:00.004-04:00

USC Upstate stands on top of the Atlantic Sun standings after winning the first conference game of the season, beating Stetson in four sets on Thursday. The Spartans will hold onto that spot throughout the week as schools conclude non-conference weekend play this week. Once again several individuals and teams shined over the weekend adding intrigue to the upcoming conference season. Continue to message us here, on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference) or on Twitter (http://twitter.com/atlanticsun)

Camels Emerge Champs of Hilton Garden Inn Beach Bash
In leading Campbell to the UNC Wilmington Hilton Garden Inn Beach Bash, Allyson Goldbach earned MVP honors of the tournament. She hit a career high .480 in the Camels' fourth-ever victory against NC State. For the tournament, she totaled 38 kills, 36 digs and nine aces.

A Grand Performance for Gulley
Kennesaw State's Sabrita Gulley became the first Owl to record 1,000 kills for her career in the Owls' match with Coastal Carolina. Kennesaw State posted a pair of victories at its Owl Invitational. Gulley earned All-Tournament honors. She established the program's career record for kills during the 2009 season.

Bucs Bolster Non-Conference Record
ETSU picked up three wins at the Battle in the Boro tournament over the weekend. ETSU downed Charleston Southern, South Alabama and Winthrop, losing only to host Georgia Southern. ETSU's Alysa Long hit .350 at the tournament and picked up 38 kills and 16 blocks to earn her first Player of the Week honor. After a 1-3 start, the Buccaneers have won 8 of their last 10 games, their best 10-game stretch since an 8-2 span from September 15 through October 12 in 2007.

A-Sun Foes Continue to Meet In Non-Conference Action
One week after Belmont-Lipscomb and USC Upstate-Stetson squared off in non-conference play, three pairs of league members will hold non-conference competitions this week. FGCU will travel to Nashville to face Belmont on Saturday and Lipscomb on Sunday. Also on Saturday, Stetson hosts Jacksonville.

Spartan Teammates Sink Stetson
USC Upstate's Katie Downey and Morgan Thomas became the first set of A-Sun teammates to record at least 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .500 or better in a match. Thomas led the Spartans with 18 kills and hit .500 while Downey hit a team-leading .524 (12 kills, one error in 21 attempts) in the four-set victory.

Follow Pease's Senior Season
Lipscomb senior setter, and Atlantic Sun Preseason Player of the Year, Stefine "Jake" Pease submitted her first entry in her journal on LipscombSports.com adding the Lady Bisons entry into social media. The volleyball team features a dedicated Facebook page where fans can view game highlights like the Lady Bisons contest with Belmont and behind the scenes videos on their trip to St. Louis.

Did we miss a performance, a milestone or victory of note? Share with us here, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Free Kicks - Women's Edition

2010-09-16T10:18:00.003-04:00

Conference play kicks off this week, so the race for the title starts Thursday. Send us pictures from you and your friends rooting on your favorite A-Sun soccer team this weekend! If you haven’t started following our social media sites (Twitter.com/AtlanticSun & Facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference), now is a good time to start.

Race for the Title Starts
The A-Sun covered the gambit in non-conference play with some teams starting out just as expected, others providing early surprises and a few slow starts. A rematch of last year’s title match between Kennesaw State and Belmont headlines Saturday’s play. Others to keep an eye on will be Lipscomb’s stingy defense hosting Kennesaw State and Mercer while JU welcomes Stetson and FGCU to campus. Like Jacksonville, UNF hosts the Hatters and Eagles this weekend. Tune into ASun.TV for the latest schedule of events airing on the conference’s webstreaming channel.

National Stats Debut
The NCAA released its first set of national statistics this week. Through September 12, the highlight is Stetson’s combo of Katie Bitetto and Tessa Gavilsky ranking 20th nationally with four assists.

Special Side Trip
The FGCU Eagles found themselves in New York City on September 11 and visited Ground Zero as a part of their trip to West Point for the Black Knights Classic. The FGCU Media Relations staff featured the visit on their website this week - Women's Soccer Gets Full New York City Experience [FGCUAthletics.com] .

Feast or Famine for Hatters
Senior Tessa Gavilsky leads the A-Sun in points (10) and assists (4) while ranking third in goals (3). However, her season has been a microcosm of the feast or famine situation for the Hatters on a whole. In Stetson’s three wins, they are averaging 3.0 goals per game but in their five losses, the team managed just two goals while surrendering five per game. Gavilsky has done the bulk of her damage in the wins (2 goals and 4 assists) but has been limited to just a single goal in the remaining contests.

Belmont Living on the Edge
One of the league’s preseason favorites, Belmont, started 1-6-0. Five of the team’s six losses have been by one goal including three in overtime. Last year, the Bruins went 4-4-0 in one-goal matches and recorded a 1-0-4 mark in overtime games.

Border Battle Success
USC Upstate picked up its first win of the season behind a stellar defensive effort, blanking Morehead State 1-0 despite being out-shot 27-2. Rachel Collins and Sarah Plantz combined in goal for the shutout. The Spartans lost their tournament finale, 1-0, to Chattanooga. Catherine Nolff, Courtney Mack and Ashleigh Barkley received All-Tournament honors at the Border Classic.

Worth Quoting
“What really hit home was when we went to the museum. It had amazing photographs and revealed to us how many people actually died, how many children lost a parent, and how many people risked their lives trying to help and save others. In all, the trip to New York was an amazing experience and one that I will never forget. Going to the spot where the twin towers once stood is a lot different in person then just seeing images on the television at home. It was incredibly sad and hard to see the people around the site putting down flowers and balloons in memory of who they lost.”

Olivia Elias – FGCU Junior Midfielder on visit to Ground Zero

Men's Soccer Free Kicks Week Two

2010-09-15T16:18:00.001-04:00

Two weeks of Atlantic Sun Men’s Soccer is in the books and we are only 34 games away from the beginning of the conference schedule on September 30th. Week two saw Mercer and Belmont claim non-conference tournament titles, while Jacksonville trumped UNC Greensboro and ETSU bested Bradley.

*We are still searching for a name for the men’s and women’s soccer blog so please send in your suggestions on Facebook and you can win an A-Sun Apparel Package.*

They are the Champions
Mercer travelled up to High Point, N.C. for the Flash Gordon Motors Invitational and came back to the Peach State with the tournament title after blanking Radford 3-0 and tying host school, High Point, 2-2. The Bears claimed the tournament by goal differential over High Point. Belmont hosted the Mafiaoza’s Invitational and defeated Cenetenary, 5-2, and Gardner-Webb, 2-1, to claim a tournament title of their own. Lipscomb also had a 2-0 record in the tournament as well, but the Bruins owned the higher goals scored total to give Belmont the tournament crown ahead of its Boulevard rivals.

Darko Strikes Again
Jacksonville’s Darko Karamatic continued his success in winning games as he registered a game-winner against UNC-Greensboro to increase his season total to three. Karamatic’s goal in the 27th minute was the decisive one in the game and gave the Dolphins a win over the regionally-ranked Spartans.

A-Sun Receiving Regional Recognition
After going 2-0-1 on the week, the Dolphins jumped into the NSCAA South Region rankings debuting in the eighth spot. Jacksonville sits at 3-1-1 on the season with four non-conference games remaining before the start of A-Sun play. In the previous poll, FGCU saw their name in fifth in the same poll after defeating South Florida on the road to open the season. The Eagles also received votes in the national poll that same week.

Living Up to Expectations
Sophomores Brandon Tarr and Brett Petricek earned A-Sun Player of the Week awards after impressive showings for their week of play. Both players were named to the Preseason A-Sun All-Conference team and were two of four sophomores named to the team. Tarr tallied three goals and an assist on the week, which included scoring both goals against Gardner-Webb to help Belmont to the Mafiaoza’s Invitational title. Petricek recorded his second shutout of the season in a win against Radford en route to the Flash Gordon Motors Invitational title.

A-Sun Players and Teams on the National Scene
Six players in the Atlantic Sun rank in the top ten of the NCAA in several statistics, while Stetson as a team ranks nationally in two categories. The Hatters are tops in the NCAA in average goals per game as they have scored 12 goals in the first three games, while taking 7th nationally for total goals with 12. On the individual level, USC Upstate’s Timo Foerster and Hakeem King are tied for eighth in points per game at 1.33, while Foerster also ranks second in assists per game at 1.33 and fourth in total assists.

Stetson’s Niels De Jonck and Jacksonville’s Darko Karamatic are tied for ninth with goals per game with 1.0, while Karamatic is also seventh in total goals with four. Along with Foerster, Stetson’s Jonathan Mendoza also averages 1.33 assists per game to rank second in the nation, while Lipscomb’s Joey Chiappetta is sixth with one assist per game.

Looking Ahead to this Week
Campbell has arguably the toughest test this week as they face two 2009 NCAA Tournament Participants in UNC Wilmington and Charlotte, both at home. The Camels takes on the Seahawks on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before taking on the 49ers, Saturday at the same time. FGCU continues with their tough non-conference slate by battling No. 9 Ohio State, who are 4-0 on the season, on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., but before facing the Buckeyes the Eagles square off with Drexel, who is ranked No. 5 in the South Atlantic Region on Friday in the Embassy Suites Kick-Off Classic. Also on Friday, USC Upstate plays crosstown rival, Wofford, who reached the NCAA Tournament last season.

Two other teams, Stetson and Lipscomb, host tournaments this weekend as the Hatters face Manhattan and FIU, No. 10 in the South Region, in the Stetson Soccer Classic, while the Bisons square off against UAB and UNC Asheville in the Hyatt Place Select Lipscomb Invitational.

Welcome to the VolleyBlog!

2010-09-14T14:30:00.003-04:00

After calling for new names for our fall sports blogs, we got several good suggestions, but we here in Macon at the conference office have decided on renaming Digs & Kills to VolleyBlog. Congratulations are in order for Kirt Barnes who submitted the name. He will receive an A-Sun apparel prize package. Now onto the week that was and what's upcoming in A-Sun volleyball.

Battle of the Boulevard in the Non-conference??
Strange as it may sound, Belmont and Lipscomb will meet in a non-conference contest at 5:00 p.m. local time (on ASun.TV). The Bruins and Lady Bisons have traded the A-Sun Championship title over the past four seasons with Belmont owning the even years, 2006 & 2008 and Lipscomb winning claiming crowns in 2007 and last year. These two Nashville programs, along with FGCU have dominated the conference combining to go 122-15 against the rest of the conference since the start of 2006 (FGCU joined in 2007).

More A-Sun Foes Meeting Outside League Play
At this weekend's Wofford College Invitational, USC Upstate and Stetson will meet outside of league play. Later this month, FGCU will travel to Nashville to face both Belmont and Lipscomb in non-conference play and Jacksonville will head south to DeLand to oppose Stetson. On October 19, River City Rivals Jacksonville and UNF will meet at Swisher Gymnasium.

A-Sun on the National Scene
The NCAA released its first set of statistics on Tuesday with several A-Sun teams and individuals appearing among the nation's best. Three individuals, Lipscomb's Alex Kelly, Kennesaw State's Sabrita Gulley and UNF's Paige Pridgeon, rank among the top 40 in kills per set with Kelly pacing the A-Sun representation at 16th. She ranks 12th in kills per set, the highest A-Sun individual ranking in any statistic. Preseason Player of the Year Stefine "Jake" Pease ranks 17th in assists per set; ETSU's Alysa Long places 38th in blocks per set and Belmont's Kayla Albritton stands 50th in assists per set. Among teams, the Lady Bisons rank in the top 50 in digs per set (31st), assists per set (37th), win percentage (tied for 46th) and kills per set (47th). Belmont ranks 31st in aces per set and if they were included in the stats, USC Upstate would find itself 42nd in digs per set.

Dolphins Embark on Tour de Florida
Beginning this past Friday, Jacksonville began a stretch of its schedule where it will face nine in-state opponents among its next 10 days. The Dolphins started its run towards "the state title" with wins against FAU and UCF at the Courtyard by Marriott/UCF Classic. This weekend they have a rematch with FAU then face the hosting USF Bulls to conclude the Hilton Garden Inn Tournament. Games against Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, FGCU and two with Stetson make the remainder of the Florida Swing.

All-Tournament Honors
The following A-Sun student-athletes earned All-Tournament honors over the weekend:

Kayla Albritton, Belmont, Active Ankle Challenge
Allyson Goldbach, Campbell, Black and Gold Invitational
Megan Devine, ETSU, Buccaneer Classic presented by Holiday Inn
Kendall Courtney, Jacksonville, Courtyard by Marriott/UCF Classic
Kathryn Kane, Jacksonville, Courtyard by Marriott/UCF Classic
Sabrita Gulley, Kennesaw State, Runnin' Bulldog Classic
Baylee Strachan, Kennesaw State, Runnin' Bulldog Classic
Kaycee Green, Lipscomb, Gamecock Invitational
*Alex Kelly, Lipscomb, Gamecock Invitational
Stefine "Jake" Pease, Lipscomb, Gamecock Invitational
Nicole Baran, UNF, Best Western Invitational
Paige Pridgeon, UNF, Best Western Invitational
Katie Downey, USC Upstate, Myrtle Beach Comfort Suites Invitational
Ellen Hawks, Stetson, Elon Volleyball Classic
* MVP

On the Horizon
Kennesaw State will be the only A-Sun school at home during this, the fourth weekend of non-conference tournament action. The Owls face Presbyterian, Coastal Carolina, Troy and Ohio State over two days in the Owl Invitational. Although not at home, USC Upstate stays in Spartanburg participating in the Wofford College Invitational. The Spartans face Stetson, Wofford and SIU Edwardsville.

Free Kicks - Women's Edition

2010-09-09T10:41:00.005-04:00

We put another week of non-conference matches in the book at the A-Sun. Several teams secured big wins for their programs and the highly anticipated start to conference play looms just one week away. If you haven’t started following our social media sites (Twitter.com/AtlanticSun & Facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference), now is a good time to start. We are hoping you can help us pick a new name for our weekly sports blogs. Until we find a winner, it’s “Free Kicks” for at least another week. Here’s a quick tour around the league …

Video Tour
FGCU Arkansas Post-Game - Watch
JU-Winthrop Highlights - Watch
ETSU and Belmont have highlights available on their main athletics pages as well.

Bucs Breeze Through Non-Conference Slate
ETSU breezed through the opening three weeks of the season and carry a 3-1-1 mark into the ETSU Invitational presented by DoubleTree Hotel. The Bucs beat up on a pair of non-Division I foes by a combined 6-0 score while handling UNC Asheville 4-0 for their other win. While freshman Ramey Kerns (3 goals/1 assist) paces a potent offense, the defense may be the star after allowing just two goals all season. All four matches of the tournament will be available on ASun.TV.

Thriller Hands FGCU Benchmark Win
Senior Michelle Kuhnen converted a corner kick into a game-winning goal in the 90th minute to lift FGCU past Arkansas, 1-0. The Razorbacks rank 10th in the most recent NSCAA South Region Poll. The third-year program notched its first win against an opponent from a BCS conference.

.500 Sounds Fine to Lady Bisons
While a 3-3-0 record may not be reason to get excited some places, at Lipscomb it may signify the turning of a corner. After blanking Central Arkansas 1-0, the Lady Bisons moved to .500 for the season and recorded a third non-conference victory for the first time since joining the A-Sun. Lipscomb deploys a high-pressure approach that they hope disrupts the flow of the opponent. So far so good. Through six games, the team surrendered just five goals.

Excitement … Then Disappointment
Mercer built a 2-0 halftime lead on No. 25 Georgia in front of a sell-out crowd at Bear Field. However, the Bulldogs stormed back to score twice in the second half before netting the game-winner in overtime. It marked the second-straight year that Mercer led their in-state rival late in the second half before allowing the Bulldogs to come back.

Campbell Sweep
Olga Ekblom was named Atlantic Sun player of the week, while Kaili Terry received A-Sun defensive player of the week recognition. They are just the third pair of Campbell teammates to sweep the conference weekly awards, a feat last accomplished in 2004.

Right on the Cusp
A quick glance at the record may be a bit misleading for UNF. The Ospreys fell to 0-5-0 with a 2-1 loss at Clemson. The reason it may be deceptive … the loss was UNF’s fourth straight by one goal. Head coach Linda Hamilton put together one of the most ambitious schedules in the conference as UNF’s five opponents are 17-6-1 so far this year.

Worth Quoting
“We are probably going to struggle offensively. But we have been in every game this year because of our defense. I really feel like if we can find a goal or two we are going to win a game based on how our defense is playing. We are trying to play a high pressure system with very little depth because that gives us our best chance. We won the Central Arkansas game because of our pressure, because of our defending the way we defend and because of our work ethic. With the exception of Friday night we have outworked every team we have played this year. I tell them the only thing we have control over is our work ethic. We don’t have subs. We have injuries. We can’t control those things, but we can control how hard we fight. That’s what I have been most proud of is the way they keep fighting and fighting.”

Jon Ireland – Lipscomb Head Coach

Free Kicks - Men's Edition

2010-09-08T15:57:00.001-04:00

The opening week of the 2010 men’s soccer season was quite the beginning to a new season as Stetson kicked off with a 10-0 blowout of Johnson & Wales, while FGCU followed with a 2-1 victory at No. 13 South Florida that ended the Bulls’ 30-match home unbeaten streak. Then ETSU capped the week with a 1-0 road win against two-time National Champion, Clemson. Remember, if you attend a match this week, send us a photo of you and your friends … we’ll get it posted here and on our Facebook page!

Also don’t forget about our contest to all fans to name our volleyball and soccer blogs. If we pick your suggestion, we'll send an A-Sun apparel prize package. Send your suggestions into our facebook page.

Eagles Obtain National Recognition
Riding the wave of their victory over South Florida, FGCU appeared in national polls as the Eagles are ranked 5th in the NSCAA South Region and 33rd in the NSCAA National Poll. Deion Jones, who scored the game-winner against No. 13 USF, was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s National Team of the Week for his two goals and assist on the week.

Darko Finishes Two Overtime Games
Jacksonville’s Darko Karamatic, the A-Sun Player of the Week for the opening weekend, justified his award by scoring his second overtime game-winner in a 2-1 victory against Georgia Southern on Tuesday night. Karamatic, a junior, lifted the Dolphins to a 2-1 overtime victory over Florida Atlantic on the previous Friday and finished the opening week with three goals in three games.

Bucs Trump Tigers on the Road
ETSU’s senior defender, Guilherme Reis, stepped to the penalty mark in the 116th minute of the game against Clemson and gave the Bucs a 1-0 double-overtime victory. The goal, along with his efforts earlier in the week against Furman, earned Reis the Defensive A-Sun Player of the Week honors. Reis and the rest of Bucs travel to Evansville, Ind., to face Bradley and Evansville this weekend.

Timo Foerster -- Assisting Machine
Through three games on the season, USC Upstate’s junior midfielder has assisted on four of the Spartans five goals, which leads the A-Sun. Last season, Foerster totaled five assists for the Spartans, which topped his team and ranked fourth in the A-Sun.

Stout Defenses in A-Sun
Three teams in the A-Sun (ETSU, Campbell and Stetson) have a sub-1.00 GAA through the first week of play in the 2010 season. Stetson, which has played one game, leads the A-Sun after posting a shutout in their lone game, while the Bucs and Camels are allowing 0.44 and 0.58 GAA, respectively.

What’s Ahead
Eight teams take the field on Friday, including UNF opening the season against Memphis, while Belmont welcomes Lipscomb, Gardner-Webb and Centenary for the Belmont Invitational.

Quoting the Coach
“That was a great college soccer game,” said ETSU head coach Scott Calabrese. “Being at Clemson, which is a big school with a great atmosphere and a historic program. I can’t be more proud of the way our team came out and competed. Clemson is a well-coached team that is very organized. I think we showed tremendous mental strength. We had a goal taken away and had a lot of chances that didn’t fall for us, but we continued to press the issue.”

“I felt like for the first time this was a team that truly believed throughout the game that we were going to win,” Calabrese said. “That is a mentality that I want to see continue.”

Digs and Kills - Week 2

2010-09-07T13:14:00.002-04:00

Labor Day weekend featured the second weekend of non-conference tournaments in Atlantic Sun volleyball. ETSU won the Radford Invitational topping Canisius, Davidson and Norfolk State. Remember, if you attend a match, this week send us a photo of you and your friends … we’ll get it posted here and on our Facebook page!

Webb Reaches 300-Win Plateau
Belmont's Deane Webb, already the program's winningest head coach secured the 300th win of his coaching career when the Bruins outlasted Weber State in five sets. The win represented the 138th for Webb at Belmont. Previously, he picked up 28 wins at ETSU and started his career by posting a 134-51 record at Indiana Wesleyan.

Stancliff Stands Tall
In winning the first Player of the Week award of her career, ETSU's Jamie Stancliff becomes the first Buccaneer to earn an A-Sun weekly honor since Amanda Youell earned the honor for her play from September 17-23, 2007.

Precursor to Successful Year in Johnson City
The Buccaneers' three-game sweep of the Radford Invitational represented the first time since the 2001 Winthrop Tournament that ETSU went undefeated at a non-conference tournament. The Buccaneers topped Georgia State, Georgia Southern and Winthrop kicking off a year that finished in a 20-6 campaign.

All-Tournament Honors
The following A-Sun volleyballers earned All-Tournament honors at respective events over the weekend:
Kayla Albritton, Belmont, Nevada Invitational
Annie Kobeski, Campbell, Colonial Challenge
Whitney Cogburn, ETSU, Radford Invitational
*Jamie Stancliff, ETSU, Radford Invitational
Camil Dominguez, FGCU, Active Ankle Challenge
Alyssa Lang, Kennesaw State, UIC Invitational
Kaycee Green, Lipscomb, Pittsburgh Invitational
Alex Kelly, Lipscomb, Pittsburgh Invitational
Anna Coursey, Mercer, Bear Brawl
Amiee Frutchey, Mercer, Bear Brawl
Paige Pridgeon, UNF, Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup
Mindy Quimby, USC Upstate, Appalachian Invitational
Monique Russell, Stetson, Clarion Volleyball Invitational
* MVP

Coming Up
Two Atlantic Sun schools host tournaments this weekend as ETSU looks to build off its success at the Radford Invitational welcoming Austin Peay, UNC Greensboro and UNC Asheville for the Buccaneer Classic presented by Holiday Inn. Fans can catch all the action from Brooks Gym on ASun.TV.

UNF plays in front of the home crowd for the first time in 2010 hosting the Best Western Invitational. The Ospreys open with Chattanooga and Troy on Friday with contests against Charleston Southern and UIC slated for Saturday.

From the Quote Sheet
"There's a coaching saying that I agree with that says 'Good players make good coaches', and seeing a 300th win as a college coach reminds me how fortunate I've been to coach all the wonderful players that earned all of these victories," Belmont head coach Deane Webb said. "Along with the players, I'm thankful for the assistant coaches that have coached our teams to these victories. Whether it's Jeff Wismer, who just started here and has coached our team to three wins, to Embrey Brannon who has been here four years and is doing a great job with our players, to Tony Howell and Ken Carver, coaches that worked alongside me for years and each coached teams to over a hundred wins, they're as much responsible for those successes as anyone." - Courtesy BelmontBruins.com

Free Kicks - Women's Edition

2010-09-02T08:03:00.003-04:00

We didn’t have a lot of comments from our first edition of FREE KICK. We’ll work a little harder on our end to solicit some. Remember, if you attend a match, this week send us a photo of you and your friends … we’ll get it posted here and on our Facebook page! Thanks to the folks at FGCU and USC Upstate that sent stuff to us.

College Cup Comes to Kennesaw
More news related to the KSU Soccer Stadium. The NCAA announced that the facility will serve as host to the 2011 Women’s College Cup. That’s a great honor for Kennesaw State and the A-Sun. Our staff in Macon is looking forward to helping the Owls out that weekend.

JU Near Miss
Jacksonville stood less than 20 minutes away from claiming The Citadel/Nike Invitational title before falling to Charleston Southern in overtime. The Dolphins dispatched the host Bulldogs in dominate fashion, 3-0. A goal in the 73rd minute and the game-winner five minutes into overtime drowned the team’s opportunity to take home the trophy. Lisa Hensley and Jelena Vrcelj each scored two goals on the weekend.

Blog Me
The A-Sun clearly was not the only person that saw the value of a blog. If you want another inside view into A-Sun women’s soccer, Belmont coach Lisa Howe (http://bruinsider.blogspot.com/), ETSU teammates Tori Head and Samantha Kron (http://www.etsubucs.com/sports/wsoccer/default.aspx), JU senior Devin Dowell (http://www.judolphins.com/multimedia/blogs/215/) and Mercer senior Sara Elliot (http://www.mercerbears.com/sports/wsoc/2010-11/files/Bloggin_With_Sara) provide regular blog posts throughout the season as well.

Big Weekend at Bear Field
Mercer will host “Orange Out Weekend” as two of the most recognized non-conference foes on the schedule come to Macon. Every fan wearing orange to Bear Field will receive complimentary admission as Mercer takes on in-state rival Georgia at 7:00pm on Friday and Florida State at 1:00pm on Sunday. Those unable to make it to Bear Field can watch all the action on the conference's webstreaming channel, ASun.TV.

Lady Bisons Defense Making the Difference
Lipscomb may have been picked to finish near the bottom of the standings in the preseason poll, but a stout defense through the season’s first two weeks may turn some heads. The Lady Bisons surrendered just three goals in four matches and have yet to allow an opponent to find the back of the net twice in a single match. Goalkeeper Erin Zerio boasts a 0.73 goals against average but owes a lot to her defense since she only averages 4.5 saves per match. While the defense is the good news for the Lady Bisons, the offense will have to try to catch up to make a big move in the conference. Lipscomb scored just three goals of their own through four matches.

By the Numbers
Four A-Sun goalies carry sub-1.00 goals against averages into the weekend: Megan Masch, ETSU (0.37), Erin Zerio, Lipscomb (0.73), Cristina Guilarte, Mercer (0.90) and Jamie Panfil, Campbell (0.95). Impressive numbers, no doubt, but who has needed to make more saves to reach that mark? Zerio and Panfil have each made 18 saves while Masch has recorded only six saves and faced just 22 shots.

Looking Ahead
In addition to the Orange Out Weekend at Mercer, FGCU plays host to a formidable group of teams in its Embassy Suites Hotel Kickoff Classic. Arkansas, Kent State and Miami all descend upon Fort Myers for what should be a competitive classic.

Worth Quoting
“The committee is thrilled with the selection of Kennesaw State as host of the 2011 NCAA Women’s Soccer College Cup. The committee’s priority is to select a championship site that will continue to elevate the championship experience, meanwhile enhancing the student-athlete experience. We are confident Kennesaw State is committed to these goals and will conduct a first-class championship.”

Dr. Lisa Campos – NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Chairperson

What would you like to see us write about in FREE KICKS?

Atlantic Sun Insider Debuts Digs and Kills

2010-08-31T11:15:00.008-04:00

Atlantic Sun Conference volleyball spread out across 10 states during the opening weekend of play from Fort Myers to Seattle with preseason top-three choices Lipscomb, FGCU and Belmont, plus Kennesaw State all picking up two wins. The coaches and players expect big things this year and fans can browse some of the top notes, videos and storylines of the season by following “Digs and Kills” the weekly blog on A-Sun volleyball. If you attend a match, this week send us a photo of you and your friends … we’ll get it posted here and on our Facebook page!

Friendly Hosts
Belmont and FGCU hosted season-opening tournaments. The Bruins took down Miami (OH) and Jacksonville State with Tara Blood and Kayla Albritton making the All-Tournament Team. Watch the Bruins' highlights of the win against Redhawks here and check out the postmatch interviews here

FGCU opened with a victory against Bethune-Cookman and closed the weekend by topping Houston Baptist. Like the Bruins, the Eagles placed two, Camil Dominguez and Holly Youngquist on the All-Tournament Team.

Record-setting start for Owls
Kennesaw State surprised many last year in posting a 17-12 record. This year they look to build on that success and have started in the right direction, winning two of three matches at the Southern Miss/LaQuinta Inn Invitational. In the opening match, against Nicholls State, Sabrita Gulley set a school record with 18 kills in a three-set match only to see Alyssa Lang tally 19 kills against Southern Miss a day later.

Watch postgame interviews from the Nicholls State contest with Sara Metroka here and Sabrita Gulley here

Get healthy and we'll see ya in 2011
FGCU's challenge for the top spot suffered a set back even before the first serve was put in play as the team announced that All-Atlantic Sun outside hitter Jelena Simic would take a red-shirt year to continue her rehab from a knee injury suffered at last year's A-Sun Championships.

Facing the Best
For the first time in six years, a Campbell squad faced the top-ranked team in the nation when the volleyball team took on Penn State. At the 2004 NCAA Tournament, the Camels' women's soccer team squared off with No. 1 North Carolina.

Looking Ahead
Mercer and Stetson host weekend tournaments - both starting on Friday. Mercer welcomes Presbyterian, UT Martin and The Citadel as part of the sixth annual Bear Brawl. The Bears and Blue Hose only prior meeting came at the 2008 Bear Brawl (won by Mercer). The Hatters will entertain Bethune-Cookman, FAU and Wofford for the Clarion Invitational. Stetson and Bethune-Cookman have met 48 times, tied for the second-most played non-conference series in Stetson history.

Worth Quoting
“When you come and you’re a part of Lipscomb volleyball, you know that anything less than all out defense is not going to be accepted,” head coach Brandon Rosenthal said. “I expect each and every one of our players to play as hard as they can, and I think at the end of the day, they’ll appreciate it. Courtesy LipscombSports.com

“We started out slow again but we finally hit our rhythm and it was fun to watch,” Jacksonville head coach Shaun Kupferberg said . “With such a young team, you know there is going to be struggles but this group has the talent to do some things this year. It’s all of question of how long it will take for us to gel.” Courtesy JUDolphins.com

Atlantic Sun Insider Debuts Free Kicks

2010-08-25T14:54:00.007-04:00

Atlantic Sun Conference women’s soccer picked up eight wins on the opening weekend of the 2010 season highlighted by a 2-0-0 start from preseason favorite Kennesaw State. The coaches and players expect big things this year on the field and fans can browse some of the top notes, videos and storylines of the season by following “Free Kick” the weekly blog on A-Sun women’s soccer. If you attend a match, this week send us a photo of you and your friends … we’ll get it posted here and on our Facebook page!

Nice Debut
Kennesaw State christened the top facility in the conference with a 6-0 shutout of Alabama A&M in the inaugural regular-season college match at the new KSU Soccer Stadium. Over 600 fans came out to cheer on the Owls.The $16.5 million facility opened on May 2 and served as the home to the Atlanta Beat of Women’s Professional Soccer as well as hosting the league’s annual All-Star Game. Here are some highlights from the All-Star Game ...

Nice Debut – Part Duex
It took Rachel Collins about 90 minutes to write her name into the USC Upstate record book. The freshman goalkeeper piled up 14 saves in her collegiate debut with the Spartans to match the school record. First-year head coach Renee Lopez started seven freshmen in the 3-0 loss to Charleston Southern.

Close Matches Lean in Our Favor
Half of the A-Sun matches played so far this season have been one-goal affairs and the conference holds a 5-3-0 mark so far. Two of the league’s best players provided late heroics to lift their teams to wins. Two-time A-Sun Player of the Year Tessa Gavilsky scored with less than four minutes to play in a 4-3 Stetson win against FAU while preseason Player of the Year Jessica Hurtado assisted Liz Fink on the game winner in overtime to carry Jacksonville past Furman, 3-2.

Dynamic Duo
Speaking of Gavilsky, the Stetson sports information staff has dubbed her and teammate Katie Bitteto as the “Dynamic Duo.” Hard to argue after the seniors combined for two goals and three assists in the Hatters’ win over FAU on opening night.

Video Growth
Programs around the conference are utilizing video to promote their teams and provide better scouting reports. A number of A-Sun matches will be broadcast live on ASun.TV throughout the year. However, Mercer took it a step further this weekend, posting highlights of the team’s 4-0 rout of in-state rival Georgia Southern. Way to go Bears!

Looking Ahead
Kennesaw State plays in one of the top regular-season tournaments of the season this weekend at the First Tennessee Lady Vol Classic in Knoxville. The Owls face Richmond in the opener before squaring off with No. 14 Maryland on Sunday. The host Tennessee broke into the top-10 in the NSCAA Regional Rankings this week as well.

Worth Quoting
"Obviously, we're thrilled with how everything has turned out. The stadium is fantastic, and we're very excited. Already, we can see (the excitement) in the girls. We've raised the level here, and they're matching it with their work ethic and discipline."

Kennesaw State head coach Rob King on the KSU Soccer Stadium – courtesy The Marietta Daily Journal

Did we miss a highlight from last week?

What were the A-Sun's Top Moments of 2009-10

2010-08-20T01:27:00.019-04:00

Today begins the 33rd season of competition in the Atlantic Sun as nine women's soccer teams take to the pitch on Friday. Before putting the 2009-10 academic season to bed here's a look bad at some of the highlights from all 11 A-Sun schools.

In order of the Bill Bibb All-Sports Standings

1. ETSU

The Buccaneers won their fourth consecutive Bill Bibb trophy and fifth straight Jesse C. Fletcher Trophy for the men's all-sports race. ETSU won two regular-season titles (women's basketball and women's tennis) and added four conference championship titles (men's basketball, women's basketball men's tennis and men's golf) to their growing trophy case.

Individually, Siarre Evans and TaRonda Wiles for women's basketball, Kenneth Rotich in men's cross country Duronal Monal in both men's indoor and outdoor track & field, Sander Gille in men's tennis and Paul Hoilman in baseball all won individual conference year-end superlative awards.

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2. Kennesaw State

The Owls posted their best finish in the Bill Bibb standings on the strength of titles in men's cross country, men's indoor and outdoor track & field and taking both the regular season and conference championship title in women's soccer. The Owls won their first ever Sherman Day Trophy, winning the women's all-sports competition.

Individually, Bridget Gaughan for women's soccer and Joshua McNair at outdoor track & field won individual conference year-end superlative awards.

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3. Campbell

The Camels took third in the Bill Bibb standings buoyed by a second-place showing the men's all-sports race. Men's soccer won the regular-season title for a second straight year and the men's basketball team won a share of the regular-season crown - it's first men's basketball regular-season title since joining NCAA I in 1977-78,.

Individually, Vince Petrasso in men's soccer, Junard Hartley in men's basketball and Robert Brunson at indoor track & field won individual conference year-end superlative awards.

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4. Jacksonville

Jacksonville matched Kennesaw State for the conference lead in team conference titles, winning four. Like the Owls on the men's side, the Dolphins swept the women's running championships adding a first cross country title to fifth straight wins in indoor and outdoor track & field. Men's basketball won its second consecutive regular season title and made the NIT.

Individually, Shelley Walroth in volleyball, Charlene Charles and Joane Pierre at indoor track & field and Charles at outdoor track & field won individual conference year-end superlative awards.

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5. FGCU

The Eagles' two "fast-tracked" sports - volleyball and baseball - both qualified for their first A-Sun Championships. Baseball won its third consecutive regular-season title. Women's basketball opened the regular-season by beating UTEP in the Preseason NIT and closed the season with a third WNIT appearance.

Individually, Chris Sale dominated opposing hitters both in and out of conference play en route to becoming a consensus All-America pitcher, the National Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and a first-round pick by the Chicago White Sox.

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6. UNF

UNF's spring proved fruitful as the women's tennis team won their first conference championship title and the men's golf team advanced to the NCAA Championships for the second time in program history. Both programs received Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association All-Sports Trophies.

Individually, Sean Dale in men's golf and Aline Berkenbrock for women's tennis won individual conference year-end superlative awards.

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7. USC Upstate

The Spartans' men's tennis team won its second A-Sun regular-season title, in undefeated fashion, in three years. In its first year of eligibility for the A-Sun Championship, the Spartans' softball team advanced to the title game against Lipscomb.

Individually, Gilbert Kemboi won the Freshman of the Year honor in both cross country and indoor track & field Tee’Ara Copney earned the same honor in women's basketball.

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8. Belmont

The Bruins shared a pair of regular-season titles during the season they claimed their first women's soccer title and their men's basketball crown in the previous five seasons.

Brittany Thune successfully defended her individual title in cross country, earning the Runner of the Year award. A pair of first-year Bruins, Brandon Tarr in men's soccer and Ian Clark in men's basketball each picked up the Freshman of the Year honor.

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9. Stetson

The Hatters won a pair of Atlantic Sun Championships, claiming their second men's soccer title by besting Mercer and putting together a record-setting rally during the final round of Women's Golf Championship to defend their title.

Alexandria Buelow became the first women's golfer in league history to claim both the Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year awards. Robert Hodge won Defensive Player of the Year in men's soccer.

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10. Mercer

The Bears ended a nine-year A-Sun Tournament Championship drought by winning their fifth baseball title and advancing to their first NCAA Championship. Mercer also advanced to the title game in men's soccer and men's basketball.

Courtney Ford earned the women's basketball Defensive Player of the Year award. Jacob Tanis led five Bears on the baseball All-Tournament team.

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11. Lipscomb

Two Bisons teams turned in two of the most dominating seasons in their respective sports as the volleyball team went undefeated in 22 matches against league opposition and the softball team became only the fourth team in league history to win 50 games in a season. Adnan Hodzic and Josh Slater led Lipscomb to a share of the regular-season crown in men's basketball.

Alex Kelly, Whitney Kiihnl, Hodzic won Player of the Year honors in volleyball, softball and men's basketball. Kiihnl added the Pitcher of the Year and landed on the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American Team- the first time a Lipscomb athlete has earned All-American honors in the NCAA era.

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