Sports

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SPORTS 11/19/16 6:48pm

JMU ends Elon football's season with 63-14 rout

By Alex Simon

HARRISONBURG, Va. — A season that was supposed to be one of growth and fulfilled promise finished its freefall Saturday afternoon with expected humiliation, as the Elon University football team lost its seventh straight game 63-14 to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champion James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. James Madison’s offense moved the ball at will, gaining 699 yards with a near perfect balance of 362 rushing and 337 passing. “Obviously, their offense is very high-powered,” said sophomore linebacker Matt Baker, who finished with five tackles.

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SPORTS 11/16/16 10:45am

Football keeps Allison at forefront

By Alex Simon

For the Elon University football team, November 11 was more than just a day of practice ahead of its Senior Day game the next day. It had been exactly a year since teammate Demitri Allison died when he fell off of a residential building at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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SPORTS 11/14/16 11:46pm

Charlotte edges Elon in high-scoring affair

By Tommy Hamzik

When it came down to crunch time, the Elon University men’s basketball team couldn’t limit the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s freewheeling offense. In a high-scoring, back-and-forth affair, the 49ers outlasted the Phoenix 100-95 in nonconference action Monday night at Alumni Gym despite sophomore guard Steven Santa Ana’s career-high 32 points. Santa Ana’s burst of seven straight points cut Charlotte’s lead to one with 3:30 remaining, but the 49ers responded with a basket by freshman guard Quentin Jackson and a breakaway dunk by freshman forward Najee Garvin that prompted an Elon timeout. After sophomore forward Tyler Seibring missed a corner 3-pointer, junior guard Hudson Price buried a 3 from atop the key to put Charlotte up 96-89, effectively sealing the victory. “Defense was a big emphasis for us this offseason and something we’ve been stressing,” Santa Ana said.

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SPORTS 11/14/16 11:39pm

Defense carries Elon women's basketball to win over Rutgers

By Tommy Hamzik

The gravity of Monday night's victory wasn't lost on junior guard Shay Burnett. The Elon University women's basketball team recorded one of the biggest victories of its Division I era, toppling visiting Rutgers University 66-54 at Alumni Gym. Burnett had 20 points, and senior guard Lauren Brown added 13. "We definitely made history beating Rutgers," Burnett said.

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SPORTS 11/14/16 5:05pm

Elon professor interviewed for 'Religion of Sports' TV show

By Alex Simon

It’s not very common for an Elon University professor to be interviewed for a TV series. But L.D. Russell, senior lecturer of religious studies, thinks he knows how the producers of the new TV documentary series, “Religion of Sports,” found him.

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SPORTS 11/12/16 8:14pm

Football falls flat in blowout loss to last-place Rhode Island

By Alex Simon

The Elon University football team’s season hit a new low Saturday afternoon, as last-place University of Rhode Island blew out the Phoenix 44-14 in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) matchup. It’s a sixth-straight loss for Elon, dropping the Phoenix into a tie for last place and making 2016 Elon’s fourth-straight season with just a single home victory. “Obviously, a really frustrating day in every regard,” said head coach Rich Skrosky.

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SPORTS 11/12/16 5:59pm

Men's basketball beats D3 school to open season

By Alex Simon

It was a 101-68 win for the Elon University men’s basketball team over Division III William Peace University Friday night, but head coach Matt Matheny felt that the Phoenix has a lot to learn going forward. “We wanted to be victorious, and we were,” Matheny said.

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SPORTS 11/12/16 5:40pm

Cross country season ends at NCAA Southeast Regionals

By Alex Simon

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A day that started with a record-breaking performance from senior Kimberly Johansen ended in frustration for sophomore Nick Ciolkowski and the Elon University cross country teams Friday at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. Johansen ended a sparkling cross country career with a school record time of 20:51.7 in the 6-kilometer race and her second-straight All-Region finish, taking 14th place.

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SPORTS 11/12/16 5:40pm

Volleyball falls to Hofstra in 5 sets Friday

By Emmanuel Morgan

Primed with an opportunity to snap a two-game losing streak, Elon University’s volleyball team fell just short against Hofstra University Friday, dropping to the Pride 3-2 after forcing a fifth set.

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SPORTS 11/9/16 4:15pm

How Elon hosted a USA-USSR women's basketball game during the middle of the Cold War

By Alex Simon

For Dr. Janie P. Brown, the trips back and forth to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame (NCSHoF) meetings from her log cabin home in Northern Alamance County can take a good amount of time. But the retired Elon University professor of physical education doesn’t mind the drive, especially when she can be a part of the induction process as a Board of Director. This past summer, the NCSHoF inducted Susan Yow, leading Brown to reminisce on the memories of Yow’s playing days under her sister, Kay, when at the then-Elon College. And while some memories have faded over the years, there’s one event Brown couldn’t possibly forget. The June 3, 1974 women’s basketball game at Elon’s Alumni Memorial Gym between the U.S.

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SPORTS 11/8/16 4:00pm

Men's basketball ready for experience to shine through

By Alex Simon

As the Elon University men’s basketball team gears up for another season, head coach Matt Matheny hasn’t been shy to hide his delight in his team’s work since last year’s disappointing finish. “We have talked a lot to our players about how proud we are of how they worked in the offseason,” Matheny said.

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SPORTS 11/8/16 3:00pm

Women's basketball hoping that 12 is the right number

By Alex Simon

Elon University women’s basketball head coach Charlotte Smith knows that she is working with one of the smallest rosters in the country. And she doesn’t seem to care, really only bringing one concern into the season about it. “I love the number that we have,” Smith said.

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SPORTS 11/8/16 2:30pm

Strength, energy defined Dennion on, off field

By Tommy Hamzik and Alex Simon

They gathered at midfield, where she played 37 matches in her No. 22 jersey, where she was honored on senior day a year ago, where she touched the hearts of many through her tenacious, dominant play. And right there, on Rudd Field, Nicole Dennion’s former teammates, friends and fellow Elon University athletes lit up this cold November night with candles that formed the number “22” and her initials, “N.K.D.” and with countless memories and stories of the high-energy, always honest woman taken too soon. The game-day selfies she and best friend Mel Insley ‘16 used to take.

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SPORTS 11/6/16 12:42am

Men's soccer season ends with 1-0 loss in CAA quarterfinals

By Paul LeBlanc

The Elon University men's soccer team's season is effectively over after the Phoenix fell to the College of William and Mary 1-0 Saturday night in the CAA tournament quarterfinal match at Rudd Field. Despite being outshot 12 to five, the Phoenix had plenty of opportunities around the net, including three corner kicks.

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SPORTS 11/5/16 7:54pm

Football sputters to 5th-straight loss at Towson

By Alex Simon

TOWSON, Md. — Another Saturday of opportunities squandered led to the Elon University football team dropping its fifth straight game, this one a 23-6 defeat at Towson University Saturday afternoon in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) action. The Phoenix had three drives reach inside the Towson 10-yard line, but none of the three resulted in touchdowns, including a fumble at the 1-yard line that Towson recovered. “I think this one went similar to our previous several,” said head coach Rich Skrosky.

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SPORTS 11/5/16 5:13pm

Nicole Dennion, former women's soccer player, dies at 22

By Tommy Hamzik

Nicole Dennion '16, the former women's soccer player who's battled forms of cancer since her sophomore year at Elon University, died Saturday according to a former teammate. She was 22.

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SPORTS 11/4/16 3:00pm

Men's soccer gears up for CAA tournament

By Roman Costa

The Elon University men’s soccer team is gearing up for what is expected by many to be a competitive post-season tournament in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Phoenix will undoubtedly be looking to get out of the slump it endured towards the end of the season that saw head coach Chris Little’s team drop three straight matches despite having played tough and competitive soccer throughout each performance.

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SPORTS 11/2/16 1:00am

Volleyball sweeps NC Central to end nonconference play

By Andrew Schwartz

The Elon University volleyball team got back on the right track Tuesday night, sweeping North Carolina Central University (25-20, 25-13, 25-17) in a nonconference match at Alumni Gym. “I think this game gave us a lot of confidence going into our last two weekends in conference games," said junior outside hitter Sydney Busa.

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SPORTS 10/31/16 12:00pm

Back-to-back: Ciolkowski repeats as CAA cross country champ

By Alex Simon

For the second time in as many tries, Elon University cross country sophomore Nick Ciolkowski went to the Colonial Athletic Association championships and emerged victorious, defending his CAA individual title in Newark, Delaware Saturday morning. But Ciolkowski said he preferred this year’s method — a comfortable pace for five kilometers, a burst with around three kilometers to go, and then cruise control to a 13-second victory — over last season’s seven-tenths-of-a-second sprint to the tape. “It felt great — it was a little less stressful than last year,” Ciolkowski said.

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SPORTS 10/31/16 10:00am

Volleyball falls to Delaware in Pink Match

By Marielle Abrahamson

The Elon University’s volleyball team held their annual breast cancer awareness match, Pink Match today, Oct. 30, and although they put up a great fight, the team lost to the University of Delaware by a 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 18-25, 21-25) in Alumni Gym.  Pink Match is an event that is important to not only the volleyball team and their families, but to the community of Elon as well.

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