Sports in Brief

Volleyball

RICHMOND – The Rams picked up a pair of matches Friday and Saturday as they beat Georgia State 3-1 and shut out UNC Wilmington the next day.

In Friday’s game against Georgia State, Ana Luiza de Borja (Florianopolis, Brazil) stood out, giving 23 kills as she hit a .432.

Ludmila Francescatto (Fraiburga, Brazil) earned 19 kills, dug 12 balls, and served three aces as setter Cat Juson (Long Beach, Calif.) set 53 assists and gave 11 digs.

The Rams hit .280 for the match.

Saturday, the Rams hit .369 for a clean 3-0 shutout against UNC Wilmington.

Francescatto gained 21 kills for the Rams and two aces. Elisa Kuehnel (Dresden, Germany) hit .750 with nine kills as de Borja hit .440. registering 14 kills and 11 digs.

VCU is currently 12-9 overall and 6-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Field Hockey

RICHMOND – Friday the 13th was a lucky day for the Rams when they went into overtime during a scoreless game against Radford. The Rams scored the game point in the 71st minute of play.

Brittany LoVullo’s (Williamsville, N.Y.) goaltending held up just long enough for Ashley Cadwallader (Fairfax/Fairfax HS) to pick up Emily Guerra’s assist (Yorktown/Seton Hall HS) and sneak a shot by Radford’s Megan Stucke.

Both teams had four shots on goal, yet Radford outshot the Rams 4-7.

This was the Rams second win in a row, putting the field hockey team at 3-11 overall and 1-4 in the CAA.

Men’s Cross Country

WILLIAMSBURG – VCU finished fifth out of eight teams Saturday at the Tribe Open with 140 points.

Host William & Mary placed first in the competition with 34 points, 10 points ahead of U.Va.

VCU came in 38 points behind Mount St. Mary’s and 17 points ahead of Christopher Newport.

Junior Jay Wyss (Richmond/J.R. Tucker HS) finished sixth place, running the 8k course in 25:29.8.

Women’s Cross Country

WILLIAMSBURG – VCU placed fourth of seven teams Saturday in the Tribe Open as junior Danielle Williams (Virginia Beach/Salem HS) ran the 6k course in 24:12.8.

William & Mary won with 16 points, 67 points ahead of UMBC who placed second.

VCU placed three points behind Hampton and 28 points ahead of Christopher Newport.

Men’s Soccer

BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Rams lost to Northeastern 0-1 Friday.

Northeastern outshot the Rams 7-10 and had 3 shots on goal, only two of which Andrew Dykstra (Woodbridge/Osbourn Park HS) was able to save.

The Rams’ Nate Burkey (Alexandria/T.C. Williams/Louisburg HS) shot twice, while Gerson Dos Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Evan Morris (Springfield/Byram Hills HS) put the two shots on goal.

The two teams played fruitlessly back and forth until the 67th minute of play, when Northeastern dropped the hammer on VCU as Alexander Volk picked up the dual assist from Brian Koslosky and Daryl Brack.

VCU is currently 4-10 overall and 2-5 in the conference.

Women’s Soccer

RICHMOND – VCU picked up a pair of wins, topping Northeastern 2-1 and Hofstra 2-0.

Northeastern put up a better fight than Hofstra by getting a single point on the board in the first half to match the point Stephanie Power (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) sent over the goalie’s head with Pernilla Jansson’s (Stockholm, Sweden) assist.

Twenty minutes before the end of the game, Jansson put another one in off of Melanie Simonich’s (Centerville/Westfield HS) assist for the win.

VCU outshot NU 14-11 but got 4-5 shots on goal. Still, Lauren Hardison’s () goalkeeping kept the Rams in a favorable position all game long.

In their win against Hofstra, the Rams shot immensely, with 23 shots to Hofstra’s five, shooting 10-2 shots on goal.

Krysten Farriella could not keep up with Jansson’s play on the field, as she scored the first point of the game in the second half, converting a header from Leigh Anthony (Fredericksburg/W.T. Woodson HS).

Seven minutes later, Bridgit Cooley (Clifton/Seton HS) slipped the noose for Hofstra when she picked up Jansson’s and Megan Flanagan’s (Franktown, Colo.) assist for the kill.

The Rams are 11-3-2 in the season and 7-1 in the CAA.

Baseball

DETROIT – Detroit Tiger Brandon Inge is the first VCU alum and Ram standout to ever reach the World Series.

The starting third-baseman hit .222 this postseason, reaching base 11 times in 27 plate appearances, scoring 4 runs and hitting a game deflating home run.

Inge joined Detroit in 2001 in the midst of the team’s eighth consecutive losing season. Their losing ways continued to 2005, earning the team 12 consecutive years of sub .500 records.

Things got worse in 2003 when Detroit went 43-119, nearly eclipsing the infamous ’62 Mets (40-120) as the worst team in modern baseball history.

Just three years later, Detroit could become the third old-time team in as many years to break a long World Series drought.

Detroit returns to the series on Oct. 21 for the first time since 1984.