THE TARTAN Nov.

9, 2011

SPORTS

11

RU Womens Soccer wins fourth Big South Tournament title

TAYLOR NEWMAN
tnewman5@radford.edu
It was a big weekend in South Carolina, where the Big South Womens Soccer Tournament was hosted. The Radford Highlanders, who were the No. 1 seed, had a tough road to drive on, but in the end nished strong. The quarternals of the tournament were intense for the Highs, who played a marathon game against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs on Nov. 3. RU eventually got the win after sophomore midelder Rachel Conway scored the golden kick in an overtime penalty kick shootout, after both teams fought tooth and nail to tie 1-1 in regulation. The rst half of the game against Asheville proved uneventful. Although Asheville outshot Radford 7-5, neither team was able to score a goal. Senior goalkeeper Lisa Lubke tallied two saves for the Highs in the rst half. In the 71st minute of the game, Radford drew rst blood when sophomore forward Sahar Aaki kicked a shot past Asheville goalkeeper Heather Muller for the rst goal of the game. Only three minutes later, the Bulldogs tied the game 1-1, when forward Kaitlyn Eckert shot past Lubke on the left side of the box. Neither team was able to score another goal for the rest of the second half, sending the game to overtime. After an unsettled score following two ten minute overtime periods, the game moved on to a shootout. The rst two shots by both teams were missed. Radford put pressure on the Bulldogs when freshman defender Caitlin Kick made the third attempted shot, and Ashevilles mid-elder, Leilani Halkiotis missed yet again for the Bulldogs. Radford went on to win 3-2, when sophomore defender Sydney Golden and sophomore midelder Rachel Conway secured the nal two shootout kicks. The Big South Tournament continued for the Highlanders when they played Liberty University in the seminals on Friday, Nov. 4. It was a game completely decided by rst half play. Eight minutes into the game, Radford tallied their rst goal, accredited to Aaki. With ve shots at goal, Radford nally got their second goal when Aaki scored again with an assist by Golden. The Highlanders seemed unstoppable when they went up 3-0 three minutes later. Junior forward Mary Wiley kicked a shot from the right side into the upper 90 of the net. Radford continued with their striking, after Aaki got her third goal of the game. With one minute left in the rst half, Liberty nally got on the scoreboard, with an assisted goal by midelder Ariana Espinoza. Although the Liberty Flames came out strong in the second half with 13 shots compared to Radfords four, they were unable to score again. The score remained 4-1, in favor of the Highs. Radford took the win, with excited attitudes to move on to the nal round of the tournament, where they met Campbell University. The Highlanders knew the game was going to be a close one. After the rst half of the game, the scoreboard remained empty. Regardless of the lack of score, Campbell had a total of 11 shots, while Radford had eight shots on goal. It was much of the same at the beginning of the second half. In the 79th minute, however, with an assist by Golden, senior midelder Megan Rhodes was able to steal a goal. Rhodes goal pushed Radford to a 1-0 lead going into the nal ten minutes of the game. With only one shot on goal during the last few minutes of the game, Campbell was unable to score. Radford took the win, claiming them as the Big South Soccer Champions of 2011. Senior midelder Megan Rhodes spoke briey on how the teams chemistry helped the Highlanders this season. We always made sure we had a bond during the season, Rhodes said. It didnt matter if we were seniors or freshman, we made sure we all clicked together. We didnt separate from each other, and that helped us out in the end. Coach Sohrabi earned his fourth Big South Tournament ring of his 18-year career with the 2011 tournament victory, and spoke on the teams successes. We pulled off the quadruple. We had the Player of the Year (Tyler Drake), Coach of the Year (Sohrabi), the regular season title, and the tournament trophy. I guess thats almost as good as you can do in the conference, Sohrabi said. Now were going to have to play our absolute best to beat Duke, because theyre good at every facet of the game. Were in the NCAA Tournament, and were not there to do anything other than win. The Highs Big South tournament title is their fourth title since the beginning of the program, and all four tournament victories have come under Coach Sohrabi. The Highs will play their next match against Duke University, the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Courtesy of RU Athletics Head Coach Ben Sohrabi earned his fourth Big South Conference tournament ring with the 2011 victory. For the seniors, it was the second ring of their collegiate careers, as the Highs also won the tournament in 2008.

Volleyball gets two solid wins at home

HALEY SHOTWELL
hshotwell@radford.edu
The Radford University volleyball team nished up their home season with two close wins at Dedmon on Nov. 4-5. The rst win came against Big South foe High Point University on Nov. 4. The Panthers had control of the rst game 10-5 until RU went on a six point scoring run giving the Highs a 12-10 advantage. High Point then responded by going on a vepoint run. The game stayed close but when the score was 21-23, the Panthers were on a roll and carried the momentum. But behind three straight kills from freshman middle blocker Emma Deininger, the Highlanders scored four straight points to gain the come from behind victory. In the second game, RU got out to a good start and had a 12-5 lead before High Point made a 10 point run giving them the 15 to 13 lead. But the Highlanders battled back and kept the score close. With the score at 24-23, advantage RU, freshman outside hitter Rachel Wiechecki connected with the ball and slammed it for a kill to end the game. The third game stayed close the whole time until the end when RU overpowered the Panthers. High Point had a 19 to 21 lead before the Highs gained momentum and scored six straight points to give them the game and sweep over High Point. With the win, the Highlanders moved to 12-14 overall and 6-5 in the Big South while High Point fell to 4-7 in the conference. Wiechecki came up big for the Highs scoring the three nal points in the rst game and then ve in the third, all coming off of her serve. All together, the Highlanders scored 21 total points off of her serve. RU then faced the Campbell Fighting Camels for the last game of the season at Dedmon on Nov. 5. It was Senior Night, so emotions were running high as the game began after the senior ceremonies. The Highlanders crushed the Camels in the rst two games 25-15 and 25-16 and the sweep seemed inevitable as the Highs took the oor for the third game. But RU looked like a completely different team, letting balls drop in front of them and hitting everything into the net causing them to eventually drop game three 10-25. They just came out with more intensity than we did and we were just too relaxed, senior outside hitter Megan McWhorter said about losing the third game. The woes continued for the Highs in the fourth game dropping that game 22-25. But coming in to the fth set, the Highlanders knew they had to play well. RU came through and jumped out to a 5-1 lead and didnt look back from there, winning the fth game 1510. Senior setter Leigh Myers said, When we get to the fourth set we have this sense of urgency and we just think that we are not going to go down without a ght. With the win, Radford is now 13-14 overall and 7-5 in the league with two road games ahead. Campbell drops to 12-16 and 5-7 in the conference. It was good to get this win for moral reasons and just for pride, McWhorter said. McWhorter was playing her rst game back since a leg injury that has sidelined her since September, and recorded the rst kill of the night for RU. The Highlanders will return to action on Nov. 11 at UNC Asheville in a contest scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

RETURNING: Buckhannon, Erwin Spencer and Hamilton return to the hardwood

From page 9
teams, if we needed each other we could always count on our teammates to be there. However, the Highs have ve freshmen suiting up this season. With a young team, on court chemistry is going to be a very important trait for the team to establish. They will hope to develop the chemistry early in order to achieve the goal of winning the Big South. On the topic, Erwin Spencer stated, Our on court chemistry needs to get better. Were a new team so were not as in sync as we were last year. As Erwin Spencer addressed, the addition of the ve came with the loss of some inuential players as well. Guards Denay Wood, Brooke McElroy, and Erica Rivera will not be playing for the Highs this year. Wood (9.2 ppg), McElroy (9.0 ppg), and Rivera (5.8 ppg) were the three highest scorers behind Erwin Spencer last year. Rivera only started one game, but managed to be the fourth highest scorer on the team. There are high expectations starting with game one, as the team has been looking impressive throughout the off season. When asked about the teams strengths, co-captain and junior guard Victoria Hamilton said that, Were really good at running the oor, our defensive skills are getting better, and our scoring ability is really good too. As Spencer explained, the Highs have some important games this season. Weve got some tough games. We play UVA and Winston Salem State. Weve never played them before but Im sure theyll give us a runLiberty, Gardner-Webb, and High Point are also tough. The team could use a large crowd in the games played at Dedmon Center. The toughest home games that will test the Highs skills include Liberty, UNC Greensboro, and Gardner-Webb. The game against Liberty will be an especially tough and important one. The conference opponent was ranked No. 20 nationally in the preseason poll. The support of the fans is crucial to a successful season. Spencer said, We want a lot of fans to come to the games this year. We need their support. Better be there or be square. The Highs will try to get off to a great start in their Big South conference schedule with a big win against Liberty. The game will be their rst Big South game for the season. The Highs will be tested early this season when they open against the Lions of Eastern Mennonite University. The game will be held on Nov. 12 at the Dedmon Center at 3 p.m.

CHRISTIAN STEPHENS | The Tartan Junior guard DaNaria Erwin Spencer led the Highlanders last year in points, assists, steals, and free throw percentage, and earned First-Team All Big South honors.

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Ma Halberg
mjhalberg@radford.edu

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