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SPORTS

THE TARTAN Nov. 16, 2011

Womens Club Lacrosse ends fall season at East Carolina University

Five seniors on the team are gearing up for their final semester on the team after four years of being on the field
MATT HALBERG
[email protected]
In the case of RU Womens Club Lacrosse, the Fall 2011 semester can best be described as a year of growth. The club team, which is in its fth year of existence, already hosted a tournament on campus at Radford University called LAX for Tatas, where half the proceeds from ticket sales and concessions were donated to cancer research. The teams fall season, called Fall Ball by most players and league ofcials alike, is coming to a close now that the end of the fall semester is near. Club LAX did play in one last tournament before closing out Fall Ball, on the weekend of Nov. 12-13. The tournament, dubbed The East Carolina Pirate Invitational, was held at East Carolina University and featured nine club teams from different universities spread along the mid-Atlantic seaboard. The tournament was co-ed, and featured several mens squads going head to head as well. It was a really good way to reach out to different clubs in our region, and it was a great way to get to know some of the other teams in our part of the country, said senior attack Kelli Grant. Its really good networking and really great for the future of our team, going to these tournaments. For being such a young team, RU Club LAX did perform at a respectable level, despite playing against programs that have been around much longer, and (in most cases) against programs that are stationed at universities larger than Radford. The squad got off to a great start in the tournament when they went against Appalachian State; the Highlanders won by a score of 7-4. Senior attack Kelli Grant led the Highs with two goals, while senior midelder Astin Altenburg and senior center Alyssa Tompkins were two of ve Highlanders with a goal apiece in the game. Sophomore goalie Rehn West tallied six saves in the game. Next on the schedule was a 1:30 p.m. contest against host team ECU. The game was played directly after Radfords victory over App State at 11 a.m. Despite being obviously fatigued, the Highs managed to hang tough with ECU, ghting tooth and nail for the entire contest. Tompkins led the Highs with four goals on the afternoon, while Altenburg and Grant each tallied two scores. West racked up another ve saves on the day, but in the end RU conceded 11 goals on the afternoon. Despite their impressive offensive performance, RU lost a close game by a score of 1110. The next day, Nov. 13, the Highlanders opened up play against cross-state rival James Madison University. The Dukes, utilizing a powerful offensive attack, scored 13 goals against the RU defense. Adding to the Highs troubles was the fact that JMUs stiff defense allowed just two goals on the morning. Tompkins and sophomore attack Katie Barron both scored one goal each in the match. Although the end score was 13-2, the tournament-ending defeat could have been a lot worse if West hadnt recorded 15 saves against the Dukes. I would say that as a team, we were incredibly united throughout the tournament, said senior club president Caitlin Francis. At ECU, it was the best lacrosse that weve played in awhile. I think the rookies and the veterans nally got a really good ow. A fourth match was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 13 against University of Virginia, but Radford and UVA agreed to a mutual forfeit via a walk away, where neither team was awarded a win or a loss. With the mutual forfeit, RUs record for the ECU tournament was 1-2, and Rehn West tallied an impressive 28 saves through three games. Club LAXs next tournament will take place at the Old Dominion University campus in Norfolk, at a time and date yet to be determined as of the time of this printing.

Courtesy of RU Womens Lacrosse Club

Astin Altenburg (#21) and Caitlin Francis (#8) are two seniors that will be playing their last semester of lacrosse this spring.

Womens Basketball crushes EMU, 100-42 in opener

TAYLOR NEWMAN
[email protected]
The Radford Womens Basketball team played Eastern Mennonite University on Nov. 12 in both squads season opener. The Highlanders hit the big 100-point mark in the last minute of the game, a feat rarely achieved in collegiate basketball. RUs stiff defense held EMU to just 42 points on the night. It was a runaway from the start; Radford jumped out to a 19-9 lead within the rst eight minutes. Junior guards Ashley Buckhannon and DaNaria Erwin Spencer came up huge for the Highs with 29 points combined in the rst half. We were excited, our newcomers are very exciting, said Erwin Spencer. It was a good season opener. However, it wasnt just offense that contributed to the Highs win. Defense played a big role as well. The Highs had 13 steals in the rst half, which contributed to a good bulk of their fast break points. RU nearly doubled EMUs point total, with a score of 47-25 after the rst half. RU continued their exceptional play in the second half, refusing to let up on an obviously outmatched EMU team that was outrebounded 17-11 in the rst 20 minutes of the game, and committed 16 turnovers in the rst half alone. Everyone contributed to the scoring, being out on the oor, knowing what to do, and having good defense as well, said Buckhannon. RU was unstoppable on defense. The Highlanders converted 42 points off of turnovers, which proved to be a big contribution to the 100 point score. The game was the rst time in ve years that the Highlanders scored 100 or more points in a single contest. On scoring 100 points, Head Coach Tajama Ngongba said, A lot of it came from our defensive intensity, as well as from easy transition points in the paint. We are going to be competitive, with great players who have great chemistry on the oor. I want to see that all year, growing more and more. Sophomore forward Tiana Cannon scored a total of 15 points, and had a team-leading eight rebounds overall. Junior center Ema Reskoska had 11 points for the day. Erwin Spencer came up erce in defensive play with ve steals, and a total of 15 points. Freshman guard Ashia Holmes contributed four steals. Buckhannon had an overwhelming 17 points for the Highs. After the game, she said, Were going to keep working until we make a strong statement in the Big South Conference. The Highs will play their next game against Winston-Salem State University on Wednesday, Nov. 16 with the tip off scheduled for 5 p.m.

COURTNEY EARLL | The Tartan

Junior guard DaNaria Erwin Spencer leads the Highs with 15.0 points per game this season.

VOLLEYBALL: Highlanders capture third seed with a pair of weekend wins

From page 7
By earning the win, Radford improved to 1414 on the year and 9-5 in the Big South. The Highlanders had one nal test before assuring the third seed in the Big South Tournament coming in the form of GardnerWebb on Saturday, Nov. 12. Gardner-Webb would not simply step aside however and the Bulldogs ran away with the rst game, 2518. The next game, it was RUs turn to win big and the Highs took game two, 19-25. In game three, after being tied at 11-11, the Bulldogs went on a 10-1 run to give them a commanding 21-12 lead. The Highs quickly answered with a 13-3 run that evened the game at 24 each. After trading points back and forth, a kill and an ace by Wiechecki completed the comeback giving RU a 2-1 game lead. Game four was a close contest as well and ironically ended the same way as game three, with a 26-28 win in favor of RU. Brummitt came up big again for the Highs recording 26 digs and is now just 9 digs away from breaking Rachel Newtons single season record of 617. The Highs have outscored their opponents in kills (1372-1368), attacks (39043896), aces (163-146), digs (1616-1602), total blocks (239.5-229.5), and many other categories this season. Wiechecki leads the team in kills, blocks, points and total aces. Such statistics are an incredible feat for a freshman and have been recognized by many Big South Conference awards this season. By recording the victory over GardnerWebb, RU is the third seed in the Big South Tournament and will take on sixth seeded High Point. The game will take place on Thursday, Nov. 17 at Charleston Southern University.

JON HUFF | The Tartan

Emma Deininger took the Big South by storm in her freshman season, recording 218 kills and a team high 104 blocks.