Volleyball splits at Aurora Triangular

Coming off an impressive sweep of Concordia last week, the University of Chicago Women’s Volleyball team concluded their final tune-up before the UAA championships with a split at the Aurora Triangular on Friday, October 29th, falling to 23rd-ranked Elmhurst in match one while defeating host Aurora in the second match.

In the first match of the triangular meet, the Maroons faced off against 23rd ranked Elmhurst. After capturing the upset win over the Bluejays in their previous meeting, the Maroons were unable to duplicate their success, ultimately falling to Elmhurst in three games 30-18, 30-19, 30-19.

First year Colette Hansoul led the offense with 9 kills, while third-year captain Tracie Kenyon anchored the defense with 14 digs.

The Maroons bounced back during the second match of the tournament against Aurora, sweeping the Spartans 3-0. First-year middle-hitter Erin O’Neil dominated on both sides of the court, finishing with 18 kills on a .550 hitting percentage and 5 blocks.

Posting an 18-11 record overall and a 2-5 record in the UAA, the Maroons will travel to Emory in Atlanta, GA on Friday for the conference championship tournament.

Two victories in Friday’s session will ensure the Maroons of a top 4 finish in the tournament, an impressive feat when considering the caliber of teams in the UAA.

“We have three matches on the first day of the championships, and we have to win two of the three in the pool play to [compete] for places 1-4 in the conference,” said third-year Katie Meinhover after their victory over Concordia on October 23rd. “We know we belong there, and everyone else knows that we belong there, so now we need to show the pride we have in our program, coaches, and teammates by winning.”

—Yuefan Weng

Swimming sweeps weekend meets

Both men’s and women’s swimming enjoyed victories over the weekend at Rose-Hulman and at home versus Monmouth (IL).

Coming off a loss to IIT, the women’s team topped Rose-Hulman 112-97 and Monmouth 142-87. Fourth-year Rachel Neumayer and second-year Katherine Yang won two events each. Neumayer took first in the 50-yard freestyle (27.56 seconds) and 200-yard backstroke (2:25.81). Yang excelled in the longer races, winning both the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle (5:31.53, 11:32.14).

Success in the distance events produced a major point swing for the women’s team in both meets. “Our distance swimmers were key in coming out ahead. They dominated the field both days,” fourth-year Emily Testa said. “Depth was important for our team. We had a lot of people really racing in all the lanes, moving to touch out people at the finish.”

The men’s team, having won their season opener against IIT, defeated Rose-Hulman 126-89 and Monmouth 138-49 to stay undefeated. First-year Jason Azares set a Myers-McLoraine Pool record in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:58.87. The previous record had been 1:59.23 and was set one year ago. Second-year James Viccaro showed his prowess in sprint events, claiming first in the 50-yd freestyle in both meets.

Having added 17 swimmers this season, the men look forward to facing top competition. “Being able to easily defeat our first three opponents is a great feeling,” fourth-year All-American Northe Saunders said. “With such a large team comes a great talent pool.”

The women’s team looks to improve upon their 2-1 record at the Illinois Wesleyan Triangular meet on Saturday, while the men enter the meet at 3-0.

Check Friday’s Maroon for a full update.

—Carlee Tressel

Performances of the Week

Jerome Tharaud (men’s x-country): Earned first-team All-UAA honors for fifth-place finish at conference championships (26:23 on 8k course)

Rob Tamillow and Matt Armbruster (football): Dominated line with 11 tackles, 8 for loss, and six sacks

Katherine Yang (women’s swimming): Won all four of her races over two meets (200-, 500- twice, and 1000-yard freestyle)

Randi Leppla (women’s soccer): Scored first career game-winning goal Sunday against Rochester

Renee Neuner (women’s soccer): Earned hat trick Friday against Case

Defense (women’s soccer): Notched sixth shutout in last seven games

Will Wennerth (men’s soccer): Scored two goals against Rochester