Sports

• Rogers and Kvidahl push Mason to semifinals: Sophomore named First Team EIVA All-East

  Sports April 26, 2010 at 2:36 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Named to the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association All-East first team, sophomore middle blocker Lance Rogers defended his recognition with a solid performance on Saturday as the George Mason University men’s volleyball team swept the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders 30-19, 30-28, 30-23 in the quarterfinal round of the EIVA Tournament. Mason will head to University Park, Pa. next week as they meet the Princeton Tigers in the semifinals on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Penn State University’s Rec Hall. “Last few weeks we’ve been playing better and better,” said Head Coach Fred Chao. “I think this is one of the best representations so far. Last week against Penn State was really good for us for a stretch, but I think the timing is good since we’re playing better.” The Patriots improved to 8-18 while the Scarlet Raiders, the Hay division’s top team, fell to 13-13. Mason, the third seed, hosted the first ever tournament match at the RAC; in front of 223 fans, the Patriots’ offense ignited from the get-go. Chao acknowledged the team’s early start to help them stave off the late Scarlet Raiders rally. “It’s extremely important because Rutgers is a great team and […]

   

• Wild weekend in baseball

  Sports April 19, 2010 at 2:04 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor From a hitting clinic to a 20-inning marathon, Saturday was just another wild day in baseball. But it was capped off with a no-hitter. San Francisco Giants ace pitcher Tim Lincecum dominated on the mound again, tossing six shutout innings and allowing four hits while striking out seven batters. Lincecum lowered his ERA to a miniscule 0.90 as the Giants topped the division rival Los Angeles Dodgers 9-0 on Saturday afternoon. But, it was not Lincecum’s pitching that started the wild weekend. Instead, the two-time Cy Young pitcher put forth his name in the running for the Silver Slugger Award as he registered three hits in four at-bats. Lincecum, a career .137 hitter prior to Saturday, got on base in the second inning with a bunt single. An inning later, Lincecum came to the plate in a bases-loaded situation and stroked a single to right-center field, plating two runs. Lincecum recorded a hit once more with a leadoff single in the fifth inning. He was unable to go 4-for-4 as he struck out swinging in the seventh inning. Moving on from one Cy Young pitcher to another former Cy Young pitcher, Johan Santana of […]

   

• Karaoke night with Bohman and Fanella

  Sports April 19, 2010 at 2:03 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Jerry Holy, Broadside Correspondent Following their conference championship, the George Mason University women’s volleyball team celebrated by singing “We are the Champions” by Queen. With the fall season approaching, the team looks to defend the conference title, while sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Bohman and sophomore outside hitter Noelle Fanella look for a big year in 2010. After an excellent performance in the 2009 season, Bohman and Fanella showed that they were a force to be reckoned with, making contributions on both sides of the court. Both Bohman and Fanella started in the 32 matches of the 2009 season. For playing in their second year at Mason, the two players are already impact individuals in the conference for their roles on the court. Bohman led the CAA in blocks per set with 168 blocks and was ranked 16th in the nation. She also led the team in hitting percentage. Bohman was named to the All-CAA First Team with junior middle blocker and opposite hitter Holly Goode, and to the CAA All-Tournament Team. Bohman was also named Best Hitter in the Patriot Invitational Tournament and earned CAA Defense Player of the Week twice. Along with these accomplishments, Bohman was the recipient […]

   

• Powell's Playbook: Coach knows what is best

  Sports April 19, 2010 at 2:01 pm Comments are Disabled

  By John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor So I’m back in Norfolk, Va. this weekend. Oddly enough, this was the same location for the women’s tennis championships. I thought I saw more cars than usual around the tennis courts. Unfortunately, the No. 8 George Mason University women’s tennis team was knocked out of the running for the championship in the first round after a 4-2 loss to No. 9 Drexel in the first round on Thursday. The team was probably expecting the same result as their last match against the Drexel Dragons. The teams played each other just over a week ago and Mason took the match by a final score of 5-1. There were a few diamonds among the rough, though. The most significant in my mind is that sophomore Brooke Blackwell has extended her winning streak to 19 straight matches, a streak she hopes to continue to next season. The second is that Mason tallied 21 wins in the season, with nine losses. Although this only gave them the eighth seed in the championship tournament, the 21 wins set the record for the most wins the team has ever had. The final diamond is that two players were named […]

   

• Previewing the field: NBA postseason begins as Lakers look to defend their crown

  Sports April 19, 2010 at 1:59 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Evan Benton Staff Writer, Cody Norman Staff Writer, Brian T. Chan Sports Editor Western Conference No. 1 Los Angeles Lakers vs. No. 8 Oklahoma City Thunder In the incredibly competitive West, young upstarts Oklahoma City are looking to bring the lightning to the defending champion Lakers and perennial overachiever Kobe Bryant. However, the Lakers look to defend their title with one of the top defenders in the league, Ron Artest. Los Angeles was rated in the top 10 this season, allowing just 96.3 points per game thanks to the suffocating defensive play from Artest. The Thunder feature scoring title-winner Kevin Durant, who is the youngest to ever hold the vaunted award at 21, single-handedly giving birth to professional Oklahoma sports with a franchise-record 48 30-plus point games in the season. This looks to be a series with the possibility for upset around every corner — the perfect storm for young upstarts to unseat the champs. No. 2 Dallas Mavericks vs. No. 7 San Antonio Spurs San Antonio and Dallas lock longhorns for the second year in a row and the fifth time in the Tim Duncan – Dirk Nowitzki era. The Spurs went through an unusually slow season, but […]

   

• A successful combination: Track teams have shown great success since uniting as one team

  Sports April 19, 2010 at 1:52 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Accaiya Evans, Broadside Correspondent The men’s and women’s track and field program at George Mason University has a rich tradition and a successful history. In the past, the men’s and women’s teams were separate programs, with a separate set of coaches and two different itineraries each season. Practicing together was not common, and traveling together was taboo, but they supported each other during their spare time. This current season is the third season since the two programs joined forces, and it has brought much success to the unification of each team. Meet the coach Assistant Coach Abigi Id-Deen is in his fourth year as a coach here at Mason. He experienced one year with just the men’s program and has been a part of the merger ever since. In the sport of track and field, every team has a few athletes that stand out amongst competition, and those who perform well in individual sports. But the track program at Mason has been successful across the board thus far this season. According to Id-Deen, there have been many factors that have played a major part in the speedy success of the newly combined team. The team ranges evenly from freshmen […]

   

• Sports in a minute

  Sports April 19, 2010 at 1:49 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Commanding in chief The George Mason University softball team took advantage of two errors by scoring four runs in the first inning as the Patriots held on to win 6-3 over the George Washington Colonials on Wednesday at Mount Vernon Field in Washington, D.C. The Patriots, winners of five of their past six games, improved to 13-17 on the season, while the Colonials, losers of 15 of their last 16, dropped to 5-26 overall. Mason matched a season-best six-game stretch where they won five games last month. The Patriots won on the road for the first time all season. Their last road win came last year against the same team. Mason shot out of the gates with a leadoff double from sophomore second baseman Tori Dudley, and sophomore center fielder Alyssa See reached base on an error from Colonials junior third baseman Katie Terrazas, scoring Dudley on the play. After sophomore shortstop Rachael Davies walked, Terrazas committed another error as sophomore first baseman Katie Rynex advanced to second base, leading Colonials Head Coach Kim Staehle to make the early switch, moving Terrazas to first base for freshman Tara Fogarty. The error allowed See to […]

   

• Under the brother influence: The Maloneys show great support for one another

  Sports April 19, 2010 at 1:48 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Fernanda Bartels, Staff Writer Being part of the George Mason University men’s volleyball team is being part of a big family. Strong bonds are created on and off the court, and team members consider each other brothers. With freshman outside hitter Patrick Maloney joining the roster this season, the description “brother” becomes literal. Patrick is senior libero and outside hitter Luke Maloney’s younger brother. Patrick started playing volleyball under Luke’s influence. “I started playing my freshman year of high school,” said Patrick. “Basically, Luke kept pestering me about it over, over and over. He told me I should at least try it for a couple of days, and then I went out and tried it.” Even though Luke was a senior in high school when Patrick was a freshman, the Maloney brothers never had the chance to play volleyball together before. “We didn’t [play together in high school],” said Luke. “He was a freshman and had never played before, and my team was pretty good. If he started one year earlier, he probably would have started for us. It’s kind of a bummer, but [playing with Patrick in college] makes up for it.” As a senior and key player […]

   

• Second-year success: Roller Hockey skates their way to Nationals

  Sports April 19, 2010 at 1:46 pm Comments are Disabled

  By Josh Apple, C2M Contributor The George Mason University Roller Hockey club, in just its second year of existence, recently competed in the 2010 Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships. The event was held for just 16 teams at the Silver Creek Sportsplex in San Jose, Calif. from April 7-11. Despite winning just three games one year ago, the squad was an impressive 13-3 during the regular season with 12 consecutive victories. They were 4-3-2 in the Southeastern Collegiate Roller Hockey League playoffs prior to their journey to California. “Playing at Nationals was a whole slew of emotions,” said the 21-year-old captain Naseer Rashid. “It was a new experience for all of us playing at a different rink, and more so in such a big event.” The team played four games during its stay in San Jose and returned home with a 1-2-1 record. In its opening contest, the team fell to Rowan 9-5. In its next game, the team tied a very strong Tampa team. They then captured a 7-5 victory over the Metropolitan State College of Denver in their next contest, before losing to UC San Diego in overtime to be eliminated. “My proudest moment from this year was the […]

   

• Powell's Playbook: Coach knows what is best

  Sports April 12, 2010 at 1:12 pm Comments are Disabled

  By John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor There is a difference between coaching and managing, but neither a coach nor a manager can teach the intangibles. Coaches have to teach the game to players; managers merely have to get all the moving parts to work together. Now managers cannot be in high school or intramural or club teams because their focus is on teaching how the game is supposed to be played. You might think that coaches have less to concern themselves with because of how little they are comparatively given, but they certainly have the hardest job in all of baseball. Now that I have started to coach at my old high school in Fredericksburg, Va., it kills me to watch a bad play unfold. When I was on the field, I could talk the team up, get some screaming going in the dugout and keep the emotions high everywhere. When my friend and I were in the dugout, you seldom heard us silent. From the coach’s viewpoint, you can teach guys where they are supposed to be on a play, how they need to think ahead of the play and you can try to keep them at a high […]