The Wildcats finished the Big South season with a perfect 7-0 Conference record to win the outright regular-season title and the right to serve as host.  They will take on No. 4 seed Liberty in the first Semifinal game on Friday at 4:00pm.  The Lady Flames concluded the regular-season fourth in the League standings with a 4-3 Big South mark.

High Point is the No. 2 seed in the Championship, as the Panthers went 6-1 in the Big South this season.  They will face No. 3 seed Longwood in the second Semifinal game on Friday at 7:00pm, as the Lancers ended the year with a 5-2 Conference record to clinch a berth in the Championship.

Friday’s games will be video streamed live on the Big South Network, and the two winners will meet in the Championship contest on Sunday at 2:00pm, which will be carried live on ESPN3.  The Big South champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship.  Live Stats for all three games will be available on www.BigSouthSports.com as well.

Friday, April 26 – Semifinals
Game 1:  No. 1 Davidson vs. No. 4 Liberty, 4:00pm ET
Game 2:  No. 2 High Point vs. No. 3 Longwood, 7:00pm ET

Sunday, April 28 – Championship
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 2:00pm ET (TV: ESPN3)

Emily Cooke

Davidson (10-6, 7-0 Big South) reached the 10-win mark for just the second time in program history. It captured its first league title and grabbed the top seed for the upcoming Big South Tournament held at Davidson College this coming weekend.

Cooke, who earlier this year set the single season mark for assists, had two goals and two assists to break Ann Fucigna’s single-season points record of 74 set last year. The sophomore also set the single-game record for assists (10) and tied the single-game mark in points (11) this year.

Senior Alanna Parker tied her career-best with five goals, giving her 31 on the season and her fourth straight year of 30 or more goals. The senior attacker helped the Wildcats break free from Winthrop in the second half by scoring three of the ‘Cats’ five goals in a game-ending 5-0 run for the win.

Emma Sissman chipped in a pair of goals and an assist, and Fucigna added two assists.

Winthrop concluded their first season of lacrosse with a successful one, going 9-8 overall and 3-4 in the Big South. The Eagles’ had five players score single goals, with Alyssa Blevins earning two points on a goal and assist.

The first half featured two ties as it was played fairly even. Davidson had a 3-1 lead after Sissman netted her 23rd goal of the season off an assist from Jean Atkinson, her ninth of the year. Winthrop knotted things up later with back-to-back scores from Logan McCarthy and Blevins.

Mary Leonard, Cooke and Erin Doherty helped give the Wildcats a 6-4 lead at the break with single goals in the final 16 minutes of the first half.

After Krista Frowein netted a free-position shot in the early stages of the second half to cut the deficit to one, 6-5, Davidson went on its 5-0 run the reminder of the half to seal up the win. Parker started the winning rally with a free-position goal, her 13th of the year, and then added another one five minutes later for an 8-5 lead.

Cooke, who assisted on Parker’s previous goal, tallied one of her own with 2:52 on the clock and Parker along with Sissman closed out the run with goals 25 seconds apart from each other.

In goal, senior Jessica Melby stopped eight shots to win her 23rd career game. Paige Logan had three groundballs and two caused turnovers to pace the defense.

Davidson plays host for the Big South Tournament, April 26 & 28, with the semifinals on Friday at 4 & 7 p.m. and Sunday being the final at 2 p.m.

Brandi Arey, Courtney Carroll, and Courtney Crump all had two goals while Molly Leiker added one. Assistants went to Brandi Arey (2), Courtney Carroll (2), Lydia Drakeford (2), and Hannah Fuller

Katie Easley had a perfect night in goal for the Huskies.

Hough is now 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the IMeck Conference. Vance fell to 0-3 in the conference, 0-1 in the I-MECK conference.

Davidson Wildcat seniors are Barbara Sitton (center front), and back, from left, Jasmine Calin, Sarah Davis, Sophia Aleksandravicius, Katrin Chiemeka

By BRENDA BARGER
DavidsonNews.net

Men’s basketball at Davidson College has been popular for decades while the women’s basketball team has always taken a bit of a back seat. That will change, if residents at The Pines at Davidson retirement community have anything to say about it.

A devoted group of local seniors, including Nyra Brannan, Jean Berg, Martha and Reid Montgomery and Joanne and Bill Rawson, is talking up the team, and urging residents to get out and see the Cats’ final home game this Monday, March 4.

The game against Western Carolina begins at 7:30pm in Belk Arena – and tickets are 50 percent off for Davidson College Alumni.

Best of all, this Monday evening’s game is Senior Night for Davidson’s very own Fab Five: Barbara Sitton, Jasmine Calin, Sarah Davis, Sophia Aleksandravicius and Katrin Chiemeka.

In addition to being superb athletes, Sophia, from Westchester, NY, is majoring in Political Science; Jasmine, from Miami, FL, is Anthropology major; Katrin is majoring in Spanish and calls Marienthal, France, home; Sarah hails from St. Clair, MI, and will graduate with a major in Psychology; and Barbara from Richmond, VA, is a math major.

Be sure to mark your calendars now for next Monday’s game against Western Carolina. Davidson women will travel to Asheville for the Southern Conference Tournament the weekend of March 8-10 with high hopes to winning it all. Our best wishes go with each of the seniors as well as all the rest of the team.

Jake Cohen goes up for a shot against Wilmington. (Bill Giduz photo)

Jake Cohen led four scorers in double figures as Davidson battled to a 77-64 win at home against UNC Wilmington Saturday evening at Belk Arena.

Three other Wildcats joined  Cohen to combine for 62 points:  De’Mon Brooks (14), Chris Czerapowicz (14) and Clint Mann (13).

Brooks also had 12 rebounds, in his fifth career double-double, and the Wildcats held a 38-27 rebounding advantage. Both teams were relatively even from the field as Davidson shot 49.1 percent and UNCW shot 47.4 percent.

Czerapowicz was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and 5-for-9 overall from the field, and also had five rebounds. Cohen had four boards and hit 3-of-6 3-point attempts. All 13 of Mann’s points came in the first half and included one 3-pointer, as Davidson hit 9-of-22 attempts. Tyler Kalinoski was the lone Wildcat guard to sink a trey.

Free throws were a decisive factor, as Davidson (6-4) converted 16-of-20 attempts, led by Cohen who sank all eight of his tries. The Wildcats yielded just 10 attempts to UNCW (4-6), of which the Seahawks only converted four.

Keith Rendleman paced UNCW with 20 points and nine rebounds, and Tanner Milson added 10 points, hitting two treys.

Clint Mann drives toward the hoop. He scored 13 points. (Bill Giduz photo)

After sluggish starts by both teams, Mann got his club going with 11 consecutive Davidson points, as the Wildcats closed the first period on a 16-8 spurt to lead, 35-23.

UNCW opened the second half 6-of-9 from the floor to cut the deficit to three on separate occasions, but Davidson responded with an 11-2 run to stretch its lead back to double digits with 12:20 remaining. For a seven-minute stretch, Davidson was unable to extend its lead to anymore than 13, but UNCW was unable to shrink it to less than nine.

A Cohen 3-ball with 3:35 remaining put the game out of reach with a 70-56 lead. The Wildcats’ largest lead came with 59 seconds remaining after Nik Cochran converted a traditional 3-point play.

Davidson will enjoy a week break before traveling to Drexel for an 8 p.m. televised (NBC Sports) contest Saturday.

Will Grier

Davidson Day beat Christ School 54-38 Friday to win the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association Division state title, in a game at Christ School in Arden. Patriots’ quarterback Will Grier passed for 491 yards and 5 touchdown passes to lead the win.

Davidson Day finished out the season with an 11-2 record. Christ School was 12-1.

SUMMARY

Davidson Day    8   13   13   20 - 54
Christ School   7   10    8   13 - 38

CS: Mark Pryor 4 yard run (Jack Pace kick)
DD : Jordan Brown 35 yard pass from Will Grier (Aaron Seward pass from Grier)
DD: Evan Gates 30 yard pass from Grier (Zach Wolter kick)
CS: Pace 30 yard field goal
DD: Grier 3 yard run (pass field)
CS: Eric Davis 46 yard pass from Charles Beale (Pace kick)
DD: Gates 5 yard run (Wolter kick)
DD : Seward 68 yard pass from Grier (kick failed)
CS: Davis 20 yard pass from Christian Jewkes (Jewkes run)
DD: Brown 6 yard run (run failed)
CS: Gabe Debues 1 yard run (Pace kick)
DD: Seward 30 yard pass from Grier (Grayson Buck pass from Grier)
DD: Brown 74 yard pass from Grier (kick failed)
CS: Jewkes 1 yard run (pass failed)

Davidson Day statistics

Passing:
Will Grier 24-33 491 5 TD 0 INT

Receiving:
Jordan Brown 10 for 224 2 TD
Aaron Seward 4 for 120 2 TD
Evan Gates 4 for 65 1 TD
Jordan Young 4 for 39
Glen Coates 1 for 32
Michael Stevens 1 for 11

Rushing:
Jordan Brown 6 for 74 1 TD
Will Grier 7 for 46 1 TD
Michael Stevens 2 for 7
Evan Gates 1 for 5 1 TD
INT:
Michael Stevens 1

Davidson Day’s spring 2012 women’s soccer championship team received their championship rings at halftime of a recent football game.

Last spring, the Davidson Day School girls’ varsity soccer team made school history by becoming the first to win back-to-back state championships. The girls won the 2011 title and followed up with a state championship in the 2A division last spring.

Overall, the team finished with a record of 20-5, and for the second straight season scored more than 100 goals, averaging greater than 4 goals per game. Chad Metzler and Doug London coached the team. They were honored at halftime of a recent football game and received their state championship rings.

Players were:  Natalie James, Brooke Rogers, Maddy Clark,  Ciara Murphy, Caitlyn Rodrigues, Maria Woodrow, Mallory Shaw, Kayla Hallman, Kay Funderburk, Kelly Greene, Max Foster, Amanda Salerno, Tiffany Adams, Bella Toothman, Hanna Goyette, Taylor Shaw, Hannah Wolter, Claire Oosterhouse, Alexis Lynch.

Next up: The Wildcats will return to Belk Arena to host Appalachian State on Saturday in a 2 p.m. match at Belk Arena. More information on DavidsonWildcats.com.

DAVIDSON 3, CITADEL 2
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Caroline Brown had a season-high 28 kills as the Davidson volleyball team battled to a 3-2 win over the Citadel Bulldogs with set scores of 25-16, 26-24, 27-29, 25-22 and 19-17 at McAllister Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon.

The Wildcats improve to 9-13 on the season and 5-7 in the SoCon. The Bulldogs fall to 5-24 overall and 0-12 in league action.

Molly Crenshaw also recorded a season-high with 40 digs in the match and added infour assists. In addition to leading the team with a season-high 69 assists, Ariel Ley led the ‘Cats with a .429 hitting percentage. Tindall Sewell was also on fire, hitting .385 with 17 kills on the day. Taylor Pisel added in 11 kills while Megan Chamberlin recorded eight as the team hit .237 with 78 kills.

It was a block fest for the Wildcats, who recorded a total of 10.0 team blocks on the day. Sewell led the way with six block assists, with Pisel following her lead with four block assists. Brown, Ley and Shannon McPherson finished with two apiece while Ley and Brown also had a block solo each.

An all-around defensive effort saw four Davidson players finish in double figure digs. Following Crenshaw was Anastasia Owen, who recorded a season-high of 19. Brown and Ley added in 14 and 13, respectively. Brown also had a team-high two aces as the ‘Cats totaled five in the match.

Four Citadel players finished in double figure kills, led by Ise D’Angelo’s 15. Erin Bucherl was the team’s leader in digs with 29, while Rachel Keefer recorded 58 assists. The Bulldogs hit .189 with 4.0 team blocks.

A pair of early kills by Brown gave the ‘Cats the 7-5 lead to start set one. Brown then put up three consecutive kills to increase the Davidson advantage to 13-7, and the ‘Cats would roll mostly uncontested from there. McPherson would pick up the final point as Davidson took the set 25-16.

Sewell notched a kill to end a 6-0 scoring run by the Wildcats to start the second set, but the Bulldogs would come back to tie things up at 8-8. The Citadel would then take a 14-11 advantage, and the two teams would trade points before the Wildcats were able to event the set at 19-19. The squads again found themselves tied at 23-23 and 24-24 before Davidson rattled off a pair of kills to take the set 26-24.

The Wildcats had the advantage to start the first set as three consecutive Citadel errors gave Davidson the 10-6 lead. A pair of kills by Rachel Earnhardt put the score at 22-18, but a rally by the Bulldogs would swing things in their favor 24-23. Pisel scored twice to put the ‘Cats back in front, but the Citadel took five of the last seven points to take the set 29-27.

The Bulldogs would take the fourth set to even the match at 2-2. After falling into a six-point hole down 8-14, the Wildcats scored six straight points to even the set at 14-14. Things would stay tied up through the 19th point, when the Bulldogs would tally six of the last nine points to take the 25-22 win.

In set five it was the Wildcats who battled out to an 11-7 lead. The Citadel returned from a timeout to score six straight and take a 13-11 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Brown tied the set at 13-13 but the Bulldogs would come back to take the16-15 lead and serve set point. Another pair of kills by Brown kept things in play before a pair from Sewell gave Davidson the 19-17 set win and the 3-2 match victory.

CHARLESTON 3, DAVIDSON 1

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Tindall Sewell led the attacking effort as the Davidson volleyball team fell 3-1 to Southern Conference foe the College of Charleston on Saturday evening at TD Arena. The ‘Cats fell by set scores of 25-22, 16-25, 22-25 and 18-25.

The loss drops the Wildcats to 8-13 on the season and 4-7 in the SoCon. College of Charleston improves to 19-7 overall and 10-2 in league action.

Sewell had a team-high 13 kills and hit .290 on the day with a pair of block assists and a block solo. Caroline Brown also had a solid outing with 17 digs, 11 kills and a match-high three services aces. Defensively, Molly Crenshaw had 14 digs andthree assists, while Ariel Ley added in nine digs and led the squad with 35assists.

In addition to Sewell, three more Wildcats each recorded a pair of block assists as theteam put up a total of 8.0 blocks. The ‘Cats hit .136 in the match with 42 team kills.

EmilyNeideffer, Melissa Morello and Darcy Dorton each finished in double figure kills for the Cougars with Dorton’s 19 leading the way. Taeler Davis racked up 52 assists and Emily Shelton’s 26 digs led the Cougars’ defensive effort. CofC hit .226 in the match with 6.0 team blocks.

Davidson found itself up 10-5 early in the first set as Brown served up four straight points, including an ace. The Cougars came back to tie things up at 11-11 on an attacking error by the ‘Cats. The ‘Cats came back to take a slim lead on a kill by Sewell, and kept the advantage the rest of the set to take a 25-22 win.

The teams traded points to start the second set before the Cougars took a 10-7 lead. The CofC lead jumped to 16-11 soon after, but the ‘Cats came back from a timeout to pick up a pair of points. However, they couldn’t work their way out of the hole as the Cougars put up five straight points to take the set 25-16 and even the match at 1-1.

A pair of early aces by Brown helped the ‘Cats to a 4-2 lead early on, and they would use the momentum to stay ahead 10-8 on a kill by Brown from Taylor Pisel. The Cougars came back to tie the set at 12-12 on a kill by Morello and things proved to be a battle rest of the way. The squads would go back and forth to even things up at 22-22 before the Cougars finished things out to take the 25-22 win.

After a close start, the Cougars jumped out to a 14-8 lead midway through the fourth set. A pair of CofC errors and a kill by Brown cut into the deficit, but itwasn’t nearly enough. The ‘Cats rallied towards the end of the set, scoring five straight with the Cougars at set point. However, an error would give CofC the 25-18 win and the 3-1 match victory.