Sports

THE TARTAN WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER 7, 2011

MENS BASKETBALL:
Highlanders drop hard fought game against UNCC Page 8

TARTAN SCOREBOARD SCOREBOARD

RU Volleyball falls in Big South Tournament finals against Liberty, wraps up its most successful season since 2001
Highlanders defeated in final round of the 2011 Big South Tournament, ending a Cinderella story run that included six straight victories to close out the season before the 3-0 loss to Liberty
TAYLOR NEWMAN
[email protected]
from previous years; the last time they had an overall record above the .500 mark was all the way back in 2001. After a poor 11-21 record and a quarternal loss in the Big South tournament to High Point University last year, the Highs were looking to work hard to make a strong statement in the conference this year. Motivated new freshmen and experienced returning players helped push the Highs to a level at which they hadnt seen themselves play in years. Head Coach Marci Jenkins reected on the season. It was a great experience, Jenkins said. We had a lot of good [players] this year; a lot of talented new freshman as well as upperclassmen who stepped up into good roles. Regardless of the teams driven players, the season did not begin as the Highlanders hoped it would. Three tough losses early in the season left RU reeling. However, the Highs were determined to improve, winning their next two games against USC Upstate and Chicago State. Late September, the team met solid, conference opponent Liberty University to kick off Big South play. In a long, ve set match, the Highs played hard, but were eventually upended by the Flames in a close 25-19 nal set score. As senior setter Leigh

Mens Basketball
L CSU L Presbyterian L Charlotte Big South: 0-2 Overall: 3-7 (Saturday, Dec. 10, 4:00) -- George Mason (Saturday, Dec 17, 2:00) --@ Cincinatti 73-83 64-72 49-57

The 2011 season for the Radford Highlanders Womens Volleyball was full of highlights. The long season came to an end on Nov. 20 when the Highs lost in a hard fought match against the number one seed, Liberty University, in the nals of the Big South Conference tournament. Radford Volleyball fans witnessed one of the teams best seasons of the past decade with the conclusion of the 2011 tournament. With an overall regular season record of 15-14, and a conference record of 9-5, the Highlanders were much improved

See Volleyball, 8

Womens Basketball
W UNC Greensboro 75-67 L GWU 59-83 L Longwood 59-73 Big South: 0-0 Overall: 4-2 (Wednesday, Dec. 7, 12:00) -- @Wake Forest (Saturday, Dec. 10, 2:00) -- @Wofford

Volleyball
W High Point W Winthrop L Liberty Big South: 11-6 Overall: 17-15-0 (Season complete) 3-0 3-2 0-3
Photos courtsey of Alan Osborne

Notes of Worth
ZAC COLON
[email protected]
Radford University Club Rugby was back in action over the Thanksgiving Break when they played division rival Mary Washington on Nov. 19. It was crunch time for the Highlanders and a win would secure the Division II State Championship for the Highs. It was the last game of the semester and the last game for flanker Tyler Wood and center James Wallace, as they will be graduating in December. Radford came out fired up, and their intensity showed when Michael Quigg kicked over the Eagles backline. Chased down by Radford, Quigg was able to retrieve his own kick and touch the ball down inside five minutes. Five minutes after the first score, Radford scored again. This time a perfectly dummied pass by Quigg left the Eagles static and gave Quigg the room to skip through the opposing line to score for a second time. It seemed like a dream start for the Highlanders but an intercepted pass caught by the Eagles wing saw Mary Washington get their first points of the day. Mary Washington then scored twice in quick succession and got the lead. The score after 32 minutes in the first half was 19-12 to the Eagles. Radford was not about to go into the second half down, and a determined Chris Gentile ran through the center of the Eagles backline to equal the score to 19-19 at the half.

Courtesy of RU Athletics

On Nov. 20, the Radford University Womens Volleyball team appeared in their first conference championship in the past 10 years. Despite the disappointing loss, RU showed determination and heart. They fell in three straight sets against Liberty University (20-25, 2325, and 22-25). Head Coach Marci Jenkins was awarded the Big South Coach of the Year Award, while Emma Deininger (shown above) was announced as the Big South Freshman of the Year. Deininger is just the third Highlander in RU Volleyball history to be given the Freshman of the Year award, and the first since the year 1998. Things are looking promising for next season, since the Highs had eight freshman on their team this year, including standout middle blocker Emma Deininger, outside hitter Rachel Wiechecki, setter Christine Beckham and libero Rachel Brummitt.

See Rugby, 9

Illustration by Christian Stephens | The Tartan

Womens Basketball falls on the road to Longwood Lancers, 73-59, drops to 4-2 overall on the season
PETER MASON
[email protected]
You wouldnt guess the Lancers of Longwood University to be 1-6 if you saw them play on Saturday, Dec. 3 in their 73-59 victory over Radford. The Highlanders (4-2), coming off an 83-59 road loss to George Washington earlier on Nov. 26, allowed a 15-0 run to start the game, and were never able to recover as the Lancers led the entire way. The very start of this game said everything about it, as junior guard DaNaria Erwin Spencer threw a pass directly to LUs senior guard Mina Jovanovic, who immediately ran the ball the other way for an easy layup to get the Lancers on the board with a 2-0 lead. Less than four minutes into the game, Radford was in a 15-0 deficit before they finally managed to get on the board with a jumper by Spencer. Radford scored seven straight points to almost cut Longwoods lead in half, but the Lancers were able to keep them from coming too close. The Lancers only continued to build on their lead and in the final three minutes of the first half, Radford trailed 37-17, and just couldnt seem to find a way to take the ball inside. The Lancers put Radford in a 41-18 hole at halftime. Radfords shooting percentage was only 23 at the half, and Longwoods was 56. The Highlanders also shot 1-9 from behind the arc in the first half, and the only three pointers they were able to manage came early in the half from junior guard Ashley Buckhannon. In the second half, the Highlanders continued to struggle with turnovers and getting the ball under the basket. For most of the period the Lancers continued to hold Radford in a 20 point deficit. The Highlanders werent able to cut into that lead until the final minutes of the game, when it was too late. Trailing 65-44 with only about four minutes left in the game, the Highlanders finally pulled an 8-0 run to cut Longwoods lead to 13. From there the, Lancers held them off long enough to finish the game with a 73-59 victory. The Highlanders outscored them 41-32 in the second half, but because of the low shooting percentage and the 18 points in the first half, the Lancers were the team that came away with the win. Were just not playing well on the road right now, said Head Coach Tajama Abraham Ngongba after the loss to Longwood. Im not sure what it is, but weve got to do a better job of knocking down shots early on the road. Weve got to a better job of executing our game plan and were just not playing well on the road right now. Radford, for the whole game, shot only 26 percent in field goals, and made only four three
COURTNEY EARLL | The Tartan

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

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See Womens, 8

Junior guard DaNaria Erwin-Spencer leads the team in scoring, and is averaging 18.8 points per game.