Student Life Archives

“It was a great year,” said head coach Rich Luenemann.

The Bears’ great year was highlighted by many impressive accomplishments. Luenemann said, “Even though we didn’t win the National Championship, that doesn’t detract from our successes. We captured our 13th consecutive UAA title and won over 30 matches for the 16th year in a row. We were rated No. 1 in America for much of the year and defeated the team, Central [College], who’d won the last three NCAA Division III championships. We split matches with Whitewater, the overwhelming favorite to win this year’s title.”

This great year, however, came to an end in the quarterfinals. After defeating Fontbonne, Wartburg, and Central, the Bears faced Wisconsin-Whitewater, and were defeated, 3-2.

“Our quarterfinal match with Whitewater was a barnburner,” said Luenemann. “Two NCAA records were set.most digs by two teams, 278.and most kills by two teams, 132. I believe that if Washington University and Whitewater played each other ten times, each team would win five matches. That’s how close it was.” Unfortunately for the Bears, this match favored Whitewater.

What the Bears can take from this year is that their future looks very bright. “Two of the most pleasant surprises of the year were the play of Katie Quinn and Colleen Winter,” said Luenemann.

“Katie played behind Katie Gielow, our All-American, last season, and saw limited court time. She stepped in this year and was a dominant force in the middle. Katie led the team in hitting percentage and was second in blocks.

“Colleen demonstrated tremendous poise for a freshman. Her passing in serve-receive was very integral to our success. She finished the season with one of the highest hitting percentages for an outside hitter in WU history, and also had the best ace-to-error serving ratio on the team.”

This year also marked the end of two Bears’ careers, seniors Mia Viola and Julie Suellentrop. According to Luenemann, “one of the toughest things to do after the final match of the year is to say goodbye to the seniors. It’s impossible at that time to adequately verbalize the contributions they’ve made to the program. You hug them, tell them how much you’ve enjoyed coaching them, and express how much they’ll be missed. Julie Suellentrop and Mia Viola are exceptional people. Each was an instrumental part of our successes. They’ve both been great ambassadors for Washington University volleyball.”

However, don’t think that the WU volleyball program will be in shambles next year. The Bears will return three All-Region players, Amy Brand, Rebecca Rotello and Winter. Moreover, Rotello was also named First Team All-American, and Winter was named Central Region Freshman of the Year.

Luenemann says, “I eagerly anticipate the beginning of practice for the 2002 season.” If the Bears 2002 season goes as planned, he and the rest of the WU community will enjoy the season even more.

Contact Jeff at [email protected]

National Basketball Association

ST. LOUIS (AP)-There might no longer be a front-runner in the competition of cities for the Charlotte Hornets.

Given the chance to pick between St. Louis, Louisville, Ky., or any other city, Hornets co-owner Ray Wooldridge declined Wednesday after meeting with St. Louis Blues owner Bill Laurie and Mayor Francis Slay.

Previously, Wooldridge-who said he remains committed to finding the Hornets a new home by Jan. 1-had named Louisville as his top choice.

In St. Louis, Wooldridge said, “You have a tremendous fan base and a huge market. The only thing you are missing is an NBA team to fill the void. We see it as a super town.”

Wooldridge called his previous comments about Louisville’s lead over others bidding for the Hornets an “expression of the process.” He said his franchise needs to consider several factors, including the team’s new arena and naming-rights partner, as well as corporate and community support.

Laurie, in his second meeting with Wooldridge, made a presentation that featured Slay and a large contingent of business and community leaders. Wooldridge called the discussions preliminary, but said he would meet again with Laurie and is “very much interested in pursuing the conversation.

“Your reputation speaks for itself,” Wooldridge said. “No one ever doubted that St. Louis was a tremendous sports city.”

Both Wooldridge and Laurie, a former college guard at Memphis who is married to a Wal-Mart heir, declined to discuss any details of their meetings.

Asked if he’d be willing to sell the team to Laurie, Wooldridge said, “I think Bill Laurie is going to be an excellent owner of an NBA team at some point, but the percentage of that, I have no idea.”

Laurie has twice beamed at news conferences announcing the purchase of an NBA club, only to see the deals fizzle once because his offer was considered too low, once because the league wouldn’t heed to his demand to move the team to St. Louis.

Thanksgiving Treat

The Great Turkey Feast lived up to its expectations, but the weekend in college football exceeded them. I mean, really exceeded them. Nebraska played Colorado with a chance to play for the opportunity to write their own destiny with the BCS. Instead, they got their asses kicked. I mean, really kicked, to the tune of 62-36. This gave Oklahoma the chance to redeem itself for its early season loss to Nebraska.

With a win against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma would earn a chance to play Colorado in the Big 12 Championship Game. But OU didn’t take care of business. Instead, Okalahoma State won the war of Oklahoma, sending the University of Florida into the second spot in the BCS. And these two games weren’t supposed to be really tough matches, especially the Oklahoma battle.

Instead, the Miami versus Washington matchup on Saturday night was supposed to be the best game of the week. Washington was ranked 12 and posed a large threat to Miami’s undefeated season and title hopes, right? Not exactly. Miami won 65-7. That’s right, 65-7! They looked unbeatable, but as I write this, I’m sure the college football gods are preparing a surprise for us this weekend, when Miami can clinch a spot in the Rose Bowl against number 13 Virginia Tech, who has a chance to redeem a disappointing season. All I can say is: put yourself on the couch, get some leftover turkey, and pray for another wild weekend of college football.

Time of Change

It’s been almost two decades since the Utah Jazz were this bad. They’ve begun the season 6-9 and have looked in shambles during manystretches of their games. The bad start, coupled with rumors of trading Karl Malone and the selling of the team, makes it appear that the great run in Utah may be coming to a close. John Stockton has said that he will retire after this season if the team is not going to be very competitive next year. And now, trade rumors are swirling around the Salt Lake City as Karl Malone’s name has come up in many different cities, including Dallas, close to his hometown.

Although the team may still turn things around to have a productive year, the talk about an era ending in Utah is something that we as sports fans may never ever see again. Two sure Hall-of-Famers playing together for the same team over their entire careers. Stockton and Malone have become a combination that competes with the best combos ever in sports history. And with all the pressures to move cities for greener pastures, or the lure of championship glory, it is surprising to see two players that have never won a championship stay in a city where they play in a smaller market, meaning they most likely could have commanded more money elsewhere, but chose to stay together.

I think this says a lot about the ownership of the Jazz, as well as the type of people that Malone and Stockton are. I respect them both a great deal for trying their hardest to bring a championship to Utah, without demanding a trade because they wanted a ring or more money. Instead, they stuck it out together, and would have two championship rings if it weren’t for Michael’s comeback. But even Jordan cannot claim now that he only played for one team. In fact, there are very few greats that can make that claim, and I really hope that the Malone trade doesn’t happen because I want him to retire as a member of the Jazz. As much as I would root for him to win a ring (unless he somehow went to LA), I think the pride and dignity that goes along with spending an entire career with one team is something that is not recognized enough in sports.

Free agency and trades have created a short-term shelf-life for players in many cities. They come in for a while, make their dough, win a few games, and move on. Personally, I think starting and finishing a career in the same city is something players should be more dignified in doing. Larry Bird always talks about how he was so proud that he remained a Celtic for his entire career, not wanting a trade in the early 90s when the team was not championship-caliber. I hope the Jazz organization and Karl Malone decide that he should finish up his wonderful career in a Jazz uniform, even if it means him never getting another opportunity to win. Or bring in the necessary players to give him one last shot. But don’t tarnish one of the last great players to spend his career for one organization, in one city, in front of one group of fans.

Contact Jeremy at [email protected]

Last March the Washington University women’s basketball team collected its fourth consecutive NCAA Division III National Championship, only to lose four of five starters to graduation two months later. Consequently, this year’s success quotient was hard to predict-would WU remain atop the D-III rankings or would they perhaps crash dramatically out of the top twenty-five?

Even though the season is still young, the Bears already have a lot to be thankful for. Players are healthy, the team remains undefeated through its first four games, and the Bears have captured two tournament championships.

The D-III preseason poll on d3hoops.com had WU ranked second behind Messiah College, the very team the Bears defeated in the 2001 championship game, 67-45. Not any more. WU vaulted over Messiah in this week’s rankings and are queens of the hill once again.

The season began on the road with the DePauw University Tip-Off Tournament, where the Bears silenced some of the skeptics. On November 16th, WU took on Illinois Wesleyan University and defeated them handily 87-64. WU shot 55 percent from the floor and scored 40 points in the paint. Senior co-captain Robin Lahargoue led all scorers with 17 points and four assists.

WU advanced to the championship game where it took on host DePauw University. Junior Laura Crowley scored 19 points and had six steals in the Bears’ 69-61 victory as the Bears rolled on.

While most students were still home recovering from their Thanksgiving Day dinners last week, the women were hard at work on the court. The Bears hosted the first annual McWilliams Classic basketball tournament at the Field House and enjoyed quite a feast.

On Saturday, WU defeated Washington and Lee 75-54. Junior Jen Rudis led all scorers with 14 points and three steals, while Lahargoue and sophomore Suzy Digby each chipped in with ten points.

The Bears then proceeded to overwhelm the University of Wisconsin-Stout 101-47 in the championship game. With 10:33 left to go in the first half, the Bears outscored UW-Stout 28-4 in one seven minute stretch. Crowley hit four of seven three-pointers, scoring 12 points in the first half. The Bears benefited from a whopping 65 points off the bench and four players finished the game in double figures. Lahargoue led the way again with 14 points and nine rebounds.

After compiling 22 points and 13 rebounds in the two tournament games, Rudis was named the MVP of the Classic and was joined by senior co-captain Kristi Eller on the all-tournament team.

With last week’s 81-46 loss to Scranton, Messiah dropped from first to 16th, and the Bears easily reclaimed the top spot in the D-III rankings for week two of the sea son. Yet, WU’s No. 1 ranking will be put to the test tonight at the Field House, when the Bears will face off against fellow Clayton neighbor, Fontbonne College.

Last year’s “Wydown Showdown” at Fontbonne was definitely one for the record books. Not only did the Griffins defeat the Bears for the first time since 1982, but they also broke WU’s 81-consecutive win streak, an NCAA women’s all-divisions record that stretched from February 1998 until January 2001.

With Fontbonne looking to repeat its victory over the Bears again this year, the WU players expect a lot of rival fans to be in attendance, especially since they only have to travel two blocks to attend the game.

“The atmosphere is going to be crazy”, said junior forward Danielle Battle. “We’ve been looking forward to it.”

The athletic department is sponsoring a pre-party for all study-weary WU fans. There will be free pizza and t-shirts starting at 5 p.m. outside the Field House.

NBA Royalty

The Sacramento Kings are 11-4, undefeated at home, and playing some of the most exciting basketball in the league.all without their best player.

Chris Webber, who injured his ankle in the pre-season, is expected to rejoin the team in the coming weeks, as he will only serve to bolster a lineup of natural-born shooters and playmakers. Peja Stojakovich, who is closing in fast on the “best international NBA player” distinction, has an athletic all-around game to complement his unstoppable range. Vlade Divac, also from abroad, is having a renaissance year, as he remains the best passing big-man in the game. And there’s Mike Bibby, probably the best acquisition made by any NBA team this past offseason. He has made Sacramento fans quickly forget Jason “Slim-Shady” Williams, and people are starting to realize why Bibby was considered the best player in the draft back in 1998.

This team can score points at will, and they will mainly out-gun any opponent, but none of this will matter in the end if they can’t break their jinx against the super-powered Lakers. And that’s not going to happen any time soon, unless Webber decides to hang out with Shawn Kemp and gain around 50 pounds in an attempt to somehow slow-down Shaq.

Second-Comings

One thing journalists love to do is to point out how current NBA stars display similarities to the past NBA legends, and I just wish they had better luck in making their projections.

Remember when Keith Van Horn came into the league, and we thought we were getting the next Larry Bird? Well, now it’s Dirk Nowitzki who is playing the role of Larry-legend, albeit with a German accent.

What about the next Magic Johnson? When Penny Hardaway came into the league as a 6-7 point guard, it was hard not to envision the former Laker star reborn (he was even playing for the “Magic”). While Hardaway currently is a role-player in Phoenix, it appears that Jason Kidd is the one who can deliver the behind-the-back passes and nightly triple-doubles that Magic made customary.

And don’t even get started with that guy named Jordan. Since 1993, when Harold Minor came up for his five minutes in the NBA, the list of guys to be the “Air”-apparent has included Jerry Stackhouse, Grant Hill, Michael Finley, Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter. Currently, there’s some guy in Washington who bears a slight resemblance (even wears the same number), but his team will need to win a few games before people will start to care.

I feel very lucky to have gotten a chance to see all three of these legends play at their prime during my lifetime. Thanks to the media, my kids will be convinced that they’re watching the same greatness, reincarnated.

Basketball Economics

With all that is wrong with baseball’s monetary situation, the NBA seems to have found a way to ensure that a good team can emerge anywhere on the map.

Sacramento, San Antonio, Minnesota, and Utah (circa ’98) have all fielded competitive teams in markets which Bud Selig would probably die laughing if he were asked to put baseball teams there. With a salary cap, and limits on player’s salaries, the NBA has ensured that the big-spenders cannot have any of the clear advantages that MLB teams can afford (have the Yankees signed Giambi, Alou and Bonds yet?).

Most notably, the New York Knicks and Portland Trailblazers (who have the two biggest payrolls in the NBA), are both hovering around .500, and will not be seeing championships any time soon. However, when you’re playing in the same league as the L.A. Lakers, you could have a payroll worth the GNP of a small country, and Kobe and Shaq would still come out on top.

Does all of this mean the NBA is sitting pretty? No, since ticket prices remain affordable only to execs and lottery winners, and franchises are still in relocation limbo. But, at least they don’t have to wipe out franchises and distribute the players. In my eyes, that makes for a better league.

Contact Nick at [email protected]

Last Sunday the Bears were stunned by upstart Hanover College, losing 62-55 in the finals of the Hanover College Tournament. The loss put a sour note on an otherwise very impressive 4-1 start for WU men’s basketball.

Their season began with the Lopata Tournament, which WU hosted. The Bears rolled over Middlebury College 99-68 behind 28 points from Chris Jeffries. Next they soundly defeated Whitman College, 77-60, riding a 20-point effort from Jarriot Rook to win the tournament. Next, in another home date WU streaked to victory against Hardin-Simmons, 98-44, behind 16 apiece from Rook and Dustin Tylka. Finally, in running their record to 4-0 WU cut down Berea 90-64 behind another 20 points from Jeffries.

WU coach Mark Edwards “feels good about the 4-1 start.[but] we lost one that we had our opportunities to win.”

The game away against Hanover was WU’s first big test. WU struggled to get the ball inside as a result of Jeffries, the center, getting in early foul trouble. Jeffries reflected on his early foul trouble by saying “I tried to play aggressive defense early and I just got the calls.” Without Jeffries WU couldn’t get anything going, and to make matters worse, WU couldn’t hit a free throw, hitting only 13-of-23 (53 percent) from the line.

The Hanover misstep is, in the scheme of things, a minor glitch considering WU returned no seniors this year. However, WU starts five experienced juniors who Edwards says “bring great parity to the team, which makes it difficult for teams to just stop one or two players.”

Jeffries adds,”We have great team chemistry.”

WU’s ability to spread the ball around has been its strength so far and will undoubtedly pay off down the line at conference tournament time.

Yet, WU must move on from a tough loss and focus on the dual challenge they face this weekend: playing both Coe College and Wisconsin Lutheran. Coe in particular is going to be another good test for the Bears.

“Coe is looking at the matchup this weekend as a great opportunity to make a name for themselves,” said Edwards. On the other hand, Wisconsin Lutheran just moved to Division III this year and is looking at the game as a chance for its team and conference to gain national recognition.

Unlike the Lopata Tournament, neither of these home dates will be a walk in the park for WU. In order for WU to win, Edwards says, “We must run the fast break, execute on defense, and nail free throws.”

WU is off to another good start in the early going in 2001, but it needs a couple of wins this weekend to build confidence going into a very tough conference schedule that’s right around the corner.

contact matt at [email protected]