Articles by: sports

 

• In My Own Words: Volleyball Moments in the Globalized World

  Sports October 27, 2009 at 3:20 pm Comments are Disabled

  Fernanda Bartels, Staff Writer There are two things in particular that make volleyball more enjoyable for me. The first one is the people involved in the sport: Teammates, coaches, fans, supporters, alumni, parents, friends, trainers and even the opponents. These people make the experience of volleyball memorable. Because I am a “people person,” I really value these interactions and try to take the most of them. For me, the interaction with people transforms simple moments into something extraordinary. Twenty years from now, when I look back over my collegiate volleyball years, I am positive that I will still remember every person that made a difference for me during those years. Maybe I will remember a joke someone made during a trip or a habit one of my teammates had. I hope I can also remember matches that stood out or the unbelievable plays that are worth telling my kids. For me, the opportunity to visit different places is the second thing that adds the most to the experience of playing volleyball. This season, we had the opportunity to walk around Boston. We went downtown to walk around the markets, try some local food and do some shopping. Other than Boston, […]

   

• Mason Looks to Contain the Panthers in CAA Matchup

  Sports October 23, 2009 at 5:09 pm Comments are Disabled

  Yasin Jama, Broadside Correspondent The George Mason men’s soccer team continues CAA play as they host the Georgia State Panthers on Saturday night at 7 p.m. Mason enters the game with an 8-3-1 overall record and a 3-1-1 record in conference play. Mason has won six of the past seven games, with their only loss coming at home to the Towson Tigers. The Patriots are led by a potent offensive attack from junior forward Victor Freeman. Freeman is among two players that lead the team in goals. Freeman has four goals, three assists, and 11 points. The other leader in goals is sophomore forward Draymond Washington, who also has four goals, two assists, and 10 points. However, goalkeeping has been a major key for Mason’s early success this season. Senior goalkeeper Sean Kelley leads the CAA with 43 saves and is second in the league with five shutouts. When Kelley is playing well, the team is tough to beat. The Patriots will face a very young and struggling Panthers squad, which enters with a 3-5-1 record and a 1-4-1 record in conference play. Two of those three victories were on the road. Freshman Gimel Gordon is the team leader with […]

   

• Time to Thrill with the Kill: Mason Women’s Volleyball Takes on the Tigers and Blue Hens in Weekend Series

  Sports October 20, 2009 at 3:16 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Mason: The George Mason University women’s volleyball team is tied for fourth in the conference, but has the second-best overall record at 14-6. With every match having great significance to the conference record, this weekend’s two matches can either improve Mason’s chances in qualifying for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament or make it tougher on them towards the end of the season. After a tough fifth-set loss against the William & Mary Tribe, Mason responded with a strong offensive attack against their rival James Madison Dukes. Mason out-hit their opponents .314-.128 in the match. After dropping the second set on Saturday, Mason exploded with a .684 attack percentage. Junior middle blocker and outside hitter Holly Goode led Mason with 18 kills and seven blocks and posted a .455 attack percentage. Goode is seventh in the CAA with 2.98 kills per set and eighth in attack percentage at .289. Sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Bohman, who has been outstanding on the defensive side, added six blocks and recorded a tremendous .600 attack percentage, committing just one attack error from her 10 kills. Bohman is currently the CAA’s top defensive player, leading with 105 total blocks. Towson University: […]

   

• Sports at a Glance

  Sports October 20, 2009 at 3:14 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ryan Dempsey, Staff Writer Take a Walk in Jordan’s Shoes In recent months, NBA superstar Michael Jordan has been in the spotlight, most notably from his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Last week, Jordan was in a new spotlight as his son, Marcus Jordan, refused to wear any shoes other than Nike. Marcus Jordan, a freshman guard for the University of Central Florida men’s basketball team, started practice with his teammates. According to Fanhouse.com, Marcus Jordan let team officials know he would stick with Nike, despite the school having a contract with Adidas that “requires all intercollegiate athletes and coaches to wear its brand.” Despite the difference in shoes, Jordan will wear Adidas’ team jersey like everyone else. However, this has not been the first time an athlete at UCF has not worn Adidas. According to athletic director Keith Tribble, there has been at least one kicker on the football team who wore different shoes because of the way the Adidas brand fit. Fergie to be Part-Owner of Dophins? At the NFL owners meeting in Boston early last week, Stacy Ann Ferguson who is also known as Black Eyed Peas singer and solo artist  Fergie, was approved to […]

   

• Patriots Pluck Blue Hens: Mason Garners First Win in Three Games against Delaware

  Sports October 20, 2009 at 2:20 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor It was a cold and rainy night, but a night for two teams that needed a win. The Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens came in at 5-7-0 overall, needing to turn around their losing season. The Fightin’ Blue Hens were 2-2-0 in the CAA, setting up for an important conference matchup. The George Mason Patriots came into the game 7-3-1 overall, continuing their success from last year. Unfortunately, they have not lived up to their own conference expectations, beating the formidable foe William & Mary, yet subsequently losing to the dismal Towson Tigers. To continue boasting a winning conference record, the Patriots would need to play against not only Delaware, but also the terrible weather conditions. At kickoff, the temperature was in the 40s, paired with a drizzle that never seemed to stop. “We lost to Towson last week; we should have won against James Madison. Now . . . we want to win everything,” said sophomore midfielder Ryan Gracia on the two non-wins last week. The night seemed to be characterized by awful plays from both sides, completely missing passes directly to them, missing foul shots over the box from just a few yards away […]

   

• Rugby: Here to Stay

  Sports October 20, 2009 at 2:18 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ryan Dempsey, Staff Writer There are so many club teams at George Mason University that so few actually know about. One of those is the Mason rugby club teams. Rugby at Mason has a team for men and another for women. The men’s rugby team was founded in 1963 and is the oldest club team on the Fairfax campus. The men’s rugby team has held a winning record in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The National Guard has sponsored the team since 2007. The women’s team is new to Mason, founded spring 2009. Both teams compete against other NCAA Division II schools that bring about a lot of competition. The men’s rugby team currently has 45 players on the roster and three coaches that bring vast international playing experience from England, France and South Africa. The women’s team has 25 players and one head coach. Practices are held for both teams Tuesday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Intramural Field 4. “We are very proud of our players,” said men’s Head Coach Frederic Bardot. “We were the clearly superior team, but we never lost our focus. Now we are still undefeated, but the real test comes next week […]

   

• Running Club: A Step in a New Direction

  Sports October 20, 2009 at 2:16 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ryan Dempsey, Staff Writer If you are a student interested in running with others, now you can. One of the newer club teams at George Mason University is the Mason Runners’ Club. The runner’s club was founded in spring 2008 by juniors Nadar Hussein and Blake Silver and officially became a Mason club team the following fall semester. “The only way students were able to competitively run on campus was by being a part of the NCAA division I varsity team,” said Silver. “We wanted something more accessible for students to be apart of and that’s why we formed the club.” Practices are held at the track behind the Field House every weekday except Thursday. Athletes on the team range from complete beginners to very experienced runners and the team welcomes new runners to join year-round. There are currently 60 members on the team, half of which are active members. To be an active member of the club, a runner has to attend just one practice per week. So far this season, the team has competed in two races. The first event was the Maymont Invitational in Richmond Va., where the team competed against many teams including University of Virginia’s […]

   

• The Dance Begins: The NBA Season Will be Filled with Highs and Lows, but Nothing Unexpected

  Sports October 20, 2009 at 2:15 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor It’s that time of year again. People are once again ready for the whistles of corrupt referees, the yelling of corrupt coaches and the self-centered play of the stars of the court. With the preseason starting up, the National Basketball Association looks to rectify its broken past with the new season. “We did in fact tweak the language on traveling in this year’s book,” commented NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Stu Jackson on a rule change. For a variety of reasons, mostly because players keep getting away with it, anyone can now take two steps without a traveling call. Now the NBA has finally made some changes to better their sport, second only to the replay rules that have already overturned wins and losses after the post-game celebration. In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics look to add another championship to the 17 they have already earned and the Wizards look to have a breakout year. The Orlando Magic had a great year, winning the championship out of the third seed, but Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis probably cannot put together a good playoff run twice in a row. The Cleveland Cavaliers look […]

   

• In My Own Words: Back to the RAC, Part II

  Sports October 20, 2009 at 2:11 pm Comments are Disabled

  Fernanda Bartels, Staff Writer We started the month of October on the right note. On the first weekend, we played our first home conference games. It was a tough weekend, but it felt amazing to play our conference games in our new gym. With our new gym, our sense of “protection” of home court increased. We are starting a history for the RAC and we want to start it right. We played the VCU Rams and the William & Mary Tribe, ranked second and third in the CAA respectively. We were able to pull off the victory against the Rams in five sets on Friday, but we did not have the same luck against the Tribe on Saturday. In our conference, everyone plays at a similar level. Anyone can beat anyone on any given day. For example, the Hofstra Pride, ranked seventh, took a set against the Delaware Blue Hens, the undefeated conference leader. When it comes down to winning, details such as having home court advantage, having the momentum of the game or having a crowd cheering for you makes the difference. For that reason, I personally would like to thank the crowd for showing up at the Friday […]

   

• Mason’s Own Fall Classic: Mason Fall Sports Teams Experience Highs and Lows of the 2009 Season

  Sports October 6, 2009 at 2:18 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Women’s Cross Country The women’s cross country team matched the men’s team with a sixth-place finish at the James Madison University Open Invitational. The team averaged a time of 21:39.70, whereas both Duke Blue Devils’ teams won the meet. Junior Samantha Fickel ranked 31st overall, crossing the finish line at 20:42.30. Three sophomores also placed in the top 100. Karlyn Lockie and Kailyn Lockie finished in 84th and 90th, respectively, while Elizabeth Smith inched past a Delaware Blue Hens runner by one second for 100th place. The team also competed in the Lou Onesty Invitational, where freshman Rochelle Sceats placed fifth in 18:46.90. Under the Scope: Fickel, Mason’s top runner last year, enters this season with high hopes again. Last season, she was only one of two Mason runners to participate in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. In addition to her 31st-place finish at the JMU Open Invitational, Fickel finished in 16th place at the Lou Onesty Invitational. Men’s Cross Country The men’s cross country team opened their 2009 campaign at the James Madison University Open Invitational at the New Market Battlefield last month. Mason took sixth place among the nine competing schools. Senior James […]