8sports
wingspan • may 12, 2010
Basketball coach decides to keep job
JV Briefs JV Baseball wins against rival Tuscola
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he junior varsity women’s soccer team is currently 8-9-1 “There are very few games where we actually have everybody playing in good health, and almost the entire team is made up of freshmen,” sophomore Jenny Archis said. The six sophomores on the team (only four of which played last year) have gained valuable experience, according to Archis. “We’re expected to be leaders and keep everybody on track,” she said. According to Coach Beau Lovelace, the team won four games in a row, the first time that has happened in Lovelace’s eightyear career as coach.
JV softball team makes changes
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he women’s junior varsity softball team has a current record of 11-7 and a conference record of 7-4. According to freshman Sarah Wood, the season experienced an unexpected twist midway through the season. “A couple of people quit on varsity, so the coaches had to move two people up to varsity, which really hurt us because they were starting players,” Wood said. “The coaches had moved JV players up before, but it didn’t affect us too much then.” Even with the changes, Wood is proud of all the team has accomplished. “We make it work as best we can without the players because we have a lot of players to fill in for their positions,” Wood said. The Falcons finished their season with a win against Polk on May 4.
Down Field
At a home game against North Henderson, senior Kelli Jo Havener drives the ball toward the goal. The Falcons won the conference game, 3-0, to start their conference play. The team will face Asheville in the first round of the playoffs today.
Women’s soccer team, motivated by head coach’s unusual tactics, makes playoffs
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Matt Thielke Sports Editor
igh heels, fancy jewelry, nail polish and makeup are all things that motivated the Lady Falcons’ soccer team to play their best during an overtime game against Asheville. Those items were not for the team if they won, though, but instead for Head Coach Craig Long. “We have never beaten Asheville before in our school history, and Coach Long told us that if we won he would wear a dress to school and paint his nails,” senior Kelli Jo Havener said. “We really played our hardest because we all really wanted to see coach look like that. We wanted to be known as the team that finally beat Asheville.” Long has been known to use some out-of-the-box strategies to give his team extra motivation before tough games against highly ranked opponents in the area. “In 2001, we had never beaten T.C. Roberson, so I had told the girls before the game that if we beat them, I would dye my hair blue, and it worked. So I have always said the same thing about beating Asheville High, except the motivation was seeing me at school in a dress and heels,” Long said. Unfortunately for the Lady Falcons, Long avoided the dress-up day this time around when they lost in overtime, 2-1, at home on April 16. “We played our best and brought the game to over-
11-9-2
Moment’s Hesitation
Crouching on the game floor, Rob Bliss coaches his team at a 2009 game against North. Bliss announced his resignation as men’s basketball coach in February, then reversed his decision about a month later.
Tennis wraps up disappointing season Kyle Keith
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Senior Editor
unior Graham Pate walked across the practice field toward the tennis courts. He had never been so nervous about a match, as this one was going to be one of the most difficult of his career. Pate was up against Hendersonville best men’s tennis player, Brackin Kirkland. Before the match, Pate warmed up, focusing on his serve and return game. At 4 p.m. Pate’s anticipation was building, and the time for his match had arrived. “Graham is our number one player. So he usually plays the best players from the other team,” junior Zane McGhee said. “It gives him a good challenge and makes him better in the end.” Kirkland, a sophomore and recent Times-News Prep Player of the Week recipient, boasted a perfect 12-0 record as the third seed and was named a Times-News allarea player in 2009. “I was really anxious going into the match,” Pate said. “This guy (Kirkland) is one of the toughest players in the area. My goal was to at least make the match a challenge for him, and maybe even be the best player he has seen this year.” The final score for Pate’s match against Kirkland was 2-6 and 3-6. Pate kept the match close but wasn’t able to
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overcome Kirkland’s abilities. “I was upset that I didn’t win, but I was glad that I played as well as I did against this player,” Pate said. Sophomore Michael Turlington also said Hendersonville was the toughest match of the season. “We’ve won more games than most other teams who have played Hendersonville, and they are a really good team,” Turlington. “By playing them it lets you see as a team how we measure up.” However, Turlington also said the team’s practice schedule hampered the team’s potential for the season. “We basically had more matches than practices,” Turlington said. “We typically had three matches a week. So as a result, we had to work a lot of stuff out on our own while we were playing a match.” At the conference tournament on April 30 and 31, the players competed in their new 3A conference. Pate and Turlington played singles, and both failed to make it to regionals. Both doubles teams, McGhee and junior Michael Aamodt and freshmen Robert Purcell and Adam Greer, fell short of qualifying for the regional tournament. Still, McGhee was positive. “I think we matured as a group, and we got better as the season went on,” Mc- Record: Ghee said. “We should be pretty good next year. I look forward to next season.”
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time, and Asheville just got lucky because we really played better than they did,” Havener said. “They just had a lucky break when it mattered most.” The team is currently in third place in the Appalachian Athletic Conference after winning a key conference game against East Henderson last Wednesday night, 2-1. With this ranking the Lady Falcons move on to the 3A playoffs tonight with a another chance to beat Asheville. “This game coming up is very important. We all need to get our heads in the game and step up our level of play,” sophomore Kristina Anderson said. “I know we are capable of beating them; it’s just a matter of putting it all together once we step on the field.” Anderson hopes the team will focus and pull together for a win in this second chance for victory, and a second chance for Long to have a dress-up day. “We also might have a chance to settle the score against Asheville when we meet them again in playoffs,” Anderson said. “It would really mean a lot to go down in Lady Falcon soccer history as the first team to beat Asheville. I think we will make the most of this opportunity.” “We are excited about the opportunity to play Asheville again this Wednesday and make up for our loss to them in the regular season. We took the game into overtime the Record: first time around, and we want to play just as well against them again,” Long said.
t was the end of the 2009-2010 men’s basketball season, and Head Coach Rob Bliss had disappointing news for his team. Bliss announced that he would be retiring from coaching and remain as a social studies teacher. “I felt like the team had regressed this season,” Bliss said. “You’re supposed to get better, and I didn’t feel like I had led the team in the right direction.” Following the announcement, there was an immediate plea from the players for him to remain as coach. “We all like Coach Bliss, and we all wanted him to come back,” junior Kevin Thomas said. “I was upset when he said he was leaving, and I was one of the players who told him not to leave. He has been my coach since I was a freshman, and I didn’t want anyone else to come in.” Citing community and school support as the reason, three weeks after his resignation Bliss announced that he would return next season to lead the men’s team. “There were a lot of players that came and asked me to come back, and that meant a lot to me,” Bliss said. “The administration was really supportive as well. I plan on staying here until I retire. It is a great feeling to have so much support from everyone, and I would never want to leave a community that wants me here.” Looking to next season, the Falcons will be a young team. “We will be very young, but that doesn’t mean we will be bad. We had talent on the JV team, and we have (Kevin) Thomas coming back along with Jordan (Bell) and Karl (Bernadas) who saw playing time,” Bliss said.
Photo used with permission of Lifetouch
JV women’s soccer earns win streak
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Photo used with permission of Lifetouch
he men’s junior varsity baseball team currently is 10-9. According to sophomore Tanner Ryan, the team’s 10-run-rule win over Tuscola showed the team’s improvement from last season. “They were a lot better than they were last year, but their pitching wasn’t as fast, and we really made some chemistry and came together,” Ryan said. Tuscola’s varsity team sits at the top of the conference. According to Ryan, over the season the JV Falcons have steadily improved their game. “The beginning of the season didn’t start off too well for JV. As the season went on, we really started playing better and hitting better,” Ryan said.
Kevin Robinson Asst. Sports Editor
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