Archive for the ‘Fall Sports’ Category

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It’s Been Awhile

Monday, September 28th, 2009 | Johann Qua Hiansen

Last weekend was fairly quiet for Wash. U. sports. There was only one varsity game on Friday night with the women’s soccer team triumphing over Division I Southeast Missouri State University 4-1. Senior Caryn Rosoff  continued her offensive tear with yet another hat trick, her second in just as many games. UAA conference play will be interesting starting this weekend against Emory University. The forwards including sophomores Emma Brown, Lee Ann Felder and Rosoff seem to be a cohesive offensive unit now.

Volleyball took a complete break from practice after last Wednesday’s victory over Fontbonne University. They resume practice today so I look forward to seeing how they do at the first UAA Round Robin at Rochester this weekend.

Men’s soccer bounced back from their first loss of the season with a 1-0 win over Greenville. I’ve been seeing a lot of players scoring their first goals recently. It just shows how each player is a threat.

Men’s tennis continued their dominance of the ITA Central Regionals. Senior John Watts picked up his fourth individual title while juniors Isaac Stein and Max Woods captured the doubles title.

Women’s golf ended a very successful fall season with a second place finish at the Millikin University Fall Classic. The Lady Bears pulled off a two stroke victory over regional rival Illinois Wesleyan.

Football will have a season defining game this weekend against Rhodes College at home.After the 46-0 rout at the hands of Wittenberg University a few weeks ago, the football team needs to make a statement in order to salvage the season.

W.I.L.D., the semi annual concert is also this Saturday so it’ll be curious to see what the fan dynamic is like.

Ahead in Student Life coverage:

  • Interviewing the Bear mascot
  • More alternative story formats
  • Columns
  • And a lot more

Stay tuned for more exciting news

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Posted in Cross Country, Fall Sports, Football, Men's Soccer, Men's Tennis, sportslog, Volleyball, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer | No Comments »

Never seen anything like it

Friday, September 18th, 2009 | Johann Qua Hiansen

I’ve watched many volleyball matches. I’ve covered the last two seasons of Washington University volleyball and watched the Bears capture the 2007 national championship  in 2007. Despite this, I’ve never seen a match go so far.

The scores say No. 7 Wash. U. swept No. 1 Juniata College on Sept. 17, 2009 ending a winless streak since 2005. Every set went into extra points. But Wash. U. held on and won (27-25,41-39, 28-26). The 41 points scored set a new Division III record for most points scored in a single set under the 25 point format. Each Wash. U. error was greeted with a groan as the Eagles caught break after break. In past performances this season, the Bears have taken it to the edge before dropping sets 26-24.

The last two Juniata games I saw were also Red Alert sponsored games with crowds in the 1,500 range. Both of those featured close sets with the Eagles eventually triumphing.

What was different this time?

Smaller crowd of 512 people due to Rosh Hashanah and the Balloon Glow.

Ball control- Wash. U.  had 68 digs and 12 blocks (five solo, 14 assisted).

Motivation-At the beginning of the season, I talked with tri-captain senior Laura Brazeal who had told me this was one of the games she looked forward to because no one on the team had beaten Juniata before. Now they have. While it might not be a national championship, it could be a preview of a match down the line.

Everyone stepped up especially freshmen Marilee Fisher and Kelly Pang. Fisher had 44 assists and 8 kills. Both she and junior Marya Kaminski had .462 nights. Senior Erin Albers was explosive down the middle with a team high 15 kills.

In a story by Juniata’s Sports Information Department, Juniata head coach Larry Bock said “We were out-ball controlled, and that’s something uncharacteristic for Juniata volleyball.”

Wash. U. shows promise. Juniata beat UAA rival Emory last week. Wash. U. beat Juniata. We’ll see what happens Saturday but if the Bears keep their nerve in these tense moments, great things will come. They have fallen to Ohio Northern and Hope College earlier in the season.

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Posted in Fall Sports, sportslog, Volleyball | No Comments »

Heavy thoughts and musings

Sunday, September 13th, 2009 | Johann Qua Hiansen

Lynn Imergoot Memorial

I went to the Lynn Imergoot memorial service at Graham Chapel on Sunday afternoon. For those who are unaware, Imergoot passed away on July 24 in a car crash. Imergoot was the former head women’s tennis coach and an assistant athletics director. Her last position was as the assistant director of intramural and club sports.

I was impressed with the turnout of staff, students, friends and family. Each of the people present was a testament to Imergoot’s influence. Her legacy reaches far beyond her family and deep into many of the successful varsity and intramural sports available at Wash. U.

Women’s Golf

Wash. U’s fledging golf program made a big statement, dispatching two top-20 teams at the Wartburg Invite. The Bears first place finish in a field of 22 was their strongest performance in their two year history. Freshman Hannah Buck continues to impress spectators with a third place finish. The full story will be in Wednesday’s issue but look to the golf team to go far this season.

Men’s Soccer

It must be frustrating to have so many ties for the men’s soccer team. I caught a bit of Sunday’s game against Rhodes College and the team overcame a 1-0 deficit to knot the score at 1-1. Wash. U. has had the opportunities yet struggle to finish off their opponent. It was another double overtime tie. The Bears need some wins in the upcoming games.

Women’s Soccer

The Bears displayed their dominance and resilience this weekend with a 3-1 win over No. 21 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps followed by a 10-0 rout of Grinnell College on Saturday evening. It’s a pretty big statement when the top scorer, Emma Brown, didn’t even account for half the team’s goals. Brown finished with a hat trick while Lee Ann Felder had two. Five other Wash. U. players chipped in a goal as well. Hopefully the team doesn’t get overconfident and end up playing sloppy in their Michigan road trip.

Women’s Volleyball

This weekend illustrated the depth and potential of the volleyball team. With Vicki Blood and Erin Kasson sitting out part of the weekend, freshman Marilee Fisher and sophomore Lauren Budde stepped up. The two seem to bei in rhythm. Kristen Thomas continues to consistently deliver some strong kills. Wash. U. looked a little sloppy in their 3-0 loss to Ohio Northern but battled back or set the tone early in their other matches. Whitewater looked to be in control in the final match before Fisher sparked a slumbering Wash. U. offense. With Whitewater beating Ohio Northern, the Bears split the title.

The upcoming Teri Clemens Invitational is one of the toughest tournaments in Division III. Should Wash. U. win the tourney, the Bears will make a strong statement heading into the future. The odds are against No. 8 Wash. U. with arch rival No. 2 Juniata, No. 6 University of La Verne and No. 7 University of St. Thomas in contenton.

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Posted in Fall Sports, Men's Soccer, sportslog, Volleyball, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer | No Comments »

Big River Running Early Bird

Sunday, September 6th, 2009 | Johann Qua Hiansen

Saturday morning was cold, dark and rainy. Most students would have been in bed when the women’s four kilometer run started at 9:00 a.m or when the men’s six kilometer run began at 9:30 a.m.

Despite the early hour, Washington University athletes were up for a test against the elements and talented opponents. Conditions on the course were grueling at best. Rain slicked grass made for a slippery slope on portions of the course in Forest Park’s Central Field. Mud was bountiful with shoes submerging at least an inch for every step a runner took.

The Wash. U. women took first beating out Division I schools Xavier University and St. Louis University. The men took second in a field of 17 schools behind Xavier. Times weren’t that important in this meet given the tough conditions. Talking with the runners showed how though Wash. U. has both a men’s and women’s team, both are in the same family.

Throughout the meet, the men would cheer on the women while the women would do the same. No one left until everyone had finished. Numerous Wash. U. track & field athletes were also acting as guides and helped run the meet.

The three top men’s finishers: sophomore Michael Burnstein, freshman David Hamm, and sophomore Malik Nabulsi hadn’t even been running for Wash. U. last year. Senior Molly Schlamb, who finished first for the women, had to overcome injuries throughout most of last season.

From my observations, the team continued to cement their team bond through the difficulty of the meet. The experience will also help them if they encounter adverse conditions in other meets.

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Posted in Cross Country, Fall Sports, sportslog, Women's Golf | No Comments »

Friday Musings

Friday, September 4th, 2009 | Johann Qua Hiansen

Two more volleyball matches this Friday evening with Wash. U. sweeping Webster University and Millikin University in straight sets.

The Bears suffered a few scares taking one match with the Gorloks to  23-23 before prevailing 25-23. Webster has greatly improved this year and seemed to have much better communication on the court.

Erin Kasson and Kristen Thomas continue to pace the attack for Wash. U. Both have such tremendous force and have been working on minimizing their errors.

Erin Albers had a great second match against Millikin with a 10 kill, .643 percentage.

Kasson’s jump serve continues to confound opponents though she had a three errors in the second match. When Kasson and Tricia Brandt are serving, the Bears seem to go on a run and get back within the game.

Wash. U. was down 12-17 against Millikin when Kasson started serving. But the Bears started hitting back and Millikin took a time out with the score 20-19 in Wash. U.’s favor. Brandt took over serving after the sideout and brought the score to 24-20.

Freshman Meg Buker did a fine job as setter against Webster with 31 assists and sophomore Lauren Budde has deftly received serves all day. Budde was a perfect 30 for 30 Friday. Laura Brazeal went 34 for 35.

Despite the many good things to be seen, there’s work to do. The team needs to continue working on their on court communication. Several times, players would bunch up together leaving open a gaping hole for opponents to exploit.

Tomorrow’s games should be more of the same as Coach Luenemann experiments with different lineups. This upcoming match against Ohio Northern should prove to be interesting given last year’s loss in the Regional Final.

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Posted in Fall Sports, sportslog, Volleyball | No Comments »

Tuesday’s Tales

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 | Johann Qua Hiansen

Tuesdays are weird days to start a season. It’s a school night so many students are in their dorms finishing up homework. But three teams saw action tonight and I was able to catch various parts of their matches. These are my observations and opinions.

Women’s soccer– I started off the evening looking forward to an intense match against Illinois Wesleyan. I wasn’t disappointed as the Titans kept the ball on the Wash. U. side for the first 25 minutes. Despite that, the Bears came back and pressured the Titans. Wash. U. had an advantage of 8-4 in corner kicks.

Offensively, Wash. U. knows what to do. They just need to finish as there were several moments when a goal could have been scored. The Bears kept fighting and didn’t give up at the end.

Defensively, all the parts were there. But one lapse erases the previous shutout effort. Look to senior back Libby Held for some long range free kicks on goal. One shot from 50 yards out hit the top of the crossbar. One inch lower and it would have been a goal.  The defense also kept the pressure up so Illinois Wesleyan  didn’t have many quality shots on goal.

Volleyball– I missed the first match against Harris Stowe but I saw all of the Greenville match. There’s still some jitters to work out but the team looks good. Sophomores Kristen Thomas and Erin Kasson have really strong kills. Senior Vicki Blood seems comfortable at setter and the team in general is not giving up till the final whistle.

My first impressions of freshman Kelly Pang at libero are great. She’s everywhere, possesses great court awareness and I look forward to seeing what she and the freshmen class bring to the program.

Men’s Soccer– I caught the last ten minutes of regulation and both overtimes. Wash. U. fans voiced their outrage and felt robbed.

There was one moment in regulation where it appeared as if Wash. U. had scored to have the call overturned due to the head official failing to notice a protest by one of the linesmen.

This happened again in overtime on a beautiful play. From where I sat in the stands, it was impossible to tell if it was offsides but Wash. U.’s offense kept Illinois Wesleyan on their toes. John Smelcer did an amazing job in goal with a career tying high of 10 saves. Zach Hendrickson also has a great bicycle throw-in that sent fans to their feet. I also enjoyed seeing the WUSTL FC fans decked out in body paint and showing their pride.

Full stories will be in Friday’s issues. Again, please note these are my observations and opinions. Feel free to argue or agree. If you are visiting the site from outside the St. Louis area, take advantage of the streaming videos of various home games at bearsports.wustl.edu.

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Posted in Fall Sports, Men's Soccer, Sports, sportslog, Volleyball, Women's Soccer | No Comments »

From the Sidelines

Thursday, August 27th, 2009 | Johann Qua Hiansen

With another school year, comes several new seasons. The action starts September 1st with Women’s and Men’s Soccer against Illinois Wesleyan while Volleyball takes on Harris-Stowe State University and Greenville College.

The Sports section continues experimenting with ways to provide the best coverage of Wash. U. athletics. We’re on Twitter @studlifesports.  We’re also figuring out the best way to use this blog.

One idea was to attend practices, share our observations and make our own predictions.

In the past week, I’ve seen small portions of the volleyball and women’s soccer practice. There’s a palpable air of excitement. Here are my observations:

Women’s soccer- The team looks to be in shape. Despite less than 10 days of practice, the team already has a team chemistry. The squad is taking things one at a time. Illinois Wesleyan will be a good test considering the penalty shootout in last year’s Regionals.

Volleyball- The Bears may have graduated three All-Americans but they look ready. Practice was spirited with an energy that’s tough to describe in words. It seems that the team has also developed the team mentality but only game time will tell. The big question is Who will emerge as the right-side attacker?

We would love to hear from you. Email the senior sports editor at [email protected] with your comments and concerns.

Johann

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