Sept. 25, 2001
Serving Up Seconds
Colonials Head Volleyball Coach Jojit Coronel Serves
as Courtside Leader of a Young Team
Volleyball Begins Conference Schedule
With a matchup against La Salle, the GW volleyball team resumed its
defense of the 2000 Atlantic-10 Championship, though this seasons
Colonials are a much different squad.
After posting a 256 record (142 in the A-10) last season,
six seniors graduated, a sophomore is out due to injury, and a freshman
transferred. So, Head Coach Jojit Coronel has had to rebuild his team.
Of the 13 players on his roster, 12 are freshmen or sophomores, leaving
Coronel and his new assistant coach, Amy Bambenek, looking to create
a new identity. Five new starters will join sophomores Ruth Lazzari
and Lauren Dunning, who will be looked upon to lead the Colonials the
next three seasons. Lazzari is the only returning regular, playing in
106 games before an injury plagued her after the A-10 Tournament. Dunning,
this years team captain, appeared in 88 of GWs 112 games
as a freshman last season, tallying 81 assists and 122 digs mostly in
a defensive role.
After last weeks match versus La Salle, the Colonials hit the
road for nearly a month, facing A-10 rivals Temple, Rhode Island, and
Massachusetts, before returning to the Smith Center on Oct. 12 to face
Xavier.
Cross Country Hosts Invitational Sept.
29
The GW Cross Country Invitational is slated for Saturday, Sept. 29,
at Bull Run Park in Centreville beginning at 10 am. Head Coach Deb Hasfurthers
squads will host the following schools: American, Coppin State, Gallaudet,
Georgetown, Gettysburg, Howard, James Madison, Johns Hopkins, Loyola
College, Mary Washington, Miami (OH), Norfolk State, New York University,
Pennsylvania, Radford, Rhode Island, Richmond, Seton Hall, Shippensburg,
St. Peters, Syracuse, and Towson.
Leading the GW men this season is junior captain David Talbird and sophomore
Darrell Andruski. Hasfurther, and new Assistant Coach Brian Beil, expect
a healthy mens team to compete for the top spot in the A-10 after
being slowed by injuries in 2000.
Senior captain Eileen Kickish and juniors Jessica Gross and Mackenzie
Jessen will lead the women on the paths this year.
GW Rowing Represented in Switzerland
Three former and current members of the GW rowing program were part
of the 92-person US team that went to Lucerne, Switzerland last month
to race at the World Rowing Championships.
Jen Edwards (97) raced in the womens lightweight quadruple
sculls coached by current GW Head Coach Steve Peterson. Edwards, Peterson,
and the team earned a silver medal in the event, marking the best finish
ever for a GW rower at the World Championships. The team fell short
of the gold by three minutes to Australia.
I thought Jen and the
rest of the crew did a great job, Peterson says. The only
thing we couldnt do was to go stroke for stroke with the Australians.
Aquil Abdullah (95) raced in the mens heavyweight quadruple
sculls and his squad placed fifth, the best finish ever for the US in
that event since 1996.
Aquil and his crewmates finished a very respectable fifth place
in the grand final, Peterson says. The US is not known for fast
mens quads...but you could see them getting faster and faster
with each row.
Catlin Nets Rookie of the Week Honor
GW mens soccer sophomore Jeremy Catlin made quite an impression
in his first collegiate soccer match. The midfielder from Clarksville,
MD, came off the bench and tallied two goals in GWs 91 victory
against Howard on Aug. 31. The Atlantic 10 Conference named Catlin as
Rookie of the Week for Sept. 4.
Conference Responds to Crisis
In response to the tragic events of Sept. 11, A-10 commissioner Linda
Bruno announced that each institution would make its own decision regarding
the resumption of athletic schedules, once safety and logistical
issues have been addressed.
This is a time of national mourning and a time for each of us
to offer our prayers to the victims and their families of this horrific
act, says Bruno. We understand that athletic competition
is the furthest thing from anyones mind.
GW postponed mens and womens soccer games, as well as the
GW Volleyball Invitational, originally scheduled between Sept. 1416.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu