Sports Briefs

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Rams suffered consecutive regular-season losses for the first time since losses to Miami and Arkansas in the 2007 Puerto Rico Tip-Off after falling to East Carolina 93-90 in overtime last Tuesday. Senior Eric Maynor (Raeford N.C./Westover) scored 35 points. Maynor’s 35 points were the most by a VCU player since 2005. Sophomore Larry Sanders (Fort Pierce, Fla./Port St. Lucie) scored 16 points while grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking four shots. Sophomore Joey Rodriguez (Oviedo, Fla./Lake Howell) added 11 points and eight assists. VCU was able to get back on track with a 67-55 win over New Mexico Saturday night in the Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico. Maynor scored 18 points to lead all scorers. Rodriguez added 12 points on four 3-pointers. Sophomore Lance Kearse (Fort Myers, Fla./Fort Myers) scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. The final game of the Cancun Challenge, against Vanderbilt, ended after deadlines on Sunday night.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Junior La’Tavia Rorie (Charlotte, N.C./Harding University) and senior Quanitra Hollingsworth (Chesapeake/Great Bridge) led the Rams to a 78-67 win over East Carolina last Tuesday. Rorie scored a career-high 24 points. Hollingsworth added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Kita Waller (Gainesville, Ga./Gainesville) scored 13 points while senior Radoslava Bachvarova (Varna, Bulgaria/Daytona Beach C.C.) scored 12 points. On Saturday night, the Rams defeated Albany 67-53. Hollingsworth scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. It was her 39th double-double of her career. Rorie, Waller and sophomore Jessica Taylor (Northumberland/Woodbridge) each scored 11 points. Taylor scored all of her points in the second half. The two wins improved VCU’s record to 4-1. The Rams next game is at Richmond, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL

The Rams lost to Delaware in the CAA Tournament semifinal, 3-1 (15-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-16), Nov. 23. Sophomore Ariel Newman (Greensboro, N.C./Southern Guilford) had nine kills and seven digs. Senior Elisa Kuehnel (Dresden, Germany/Sportsgymnasium) had 10 kills and 11 digs while senior Jessica Ojukwu (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Dourado) added 11 kills in the loss. On Thanksgiving Day, the Rams fell to 25th-ranked New Mexico State, 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-22). Ojukwu had eight kills and four blocks. Kelsie Clegg (Boise, Idaho/Boise Senior) finished with four kills and six blocks. Ivana Rich (Cumberland/Cumberland) added five blocks while Alyssa Foster (Richmond/Mills Godwin) had 13 digs, a personal best. In the season finale, VCU lost to New Mexico, 3-0 (25-12, 25-18, 25-14), on Saturday night. Freshman Marketa Janeckova (Olomouc, Czech Republic/Gymnasium Cajkovskeho Olomouc) had seven kills. Clegg finished with four blocks and three kills while Rich added five kills and two blocks. Ojukwu added three more blocks. The Rams finished the season 19-13. The 19 wins were seven more than they had last season.

GOLF

Blacksburg High School senior Brian Langley has signed a letter of intent to play at VCU. Blacksburg High is the two-time defending state Group AA champion.

TENNIS

Anime Boustani will be joining the men’s and women’s tennis team as an assistant coach. Boustani spent the last 14 seasons as the head coach of the men’s team at Drury, a Division II school. At Drury, Boustani led the Panthers to a 271-62 record. He also won two National Coach of the Year awards. In Morocco, Boustani’s native country, he was a four-time national champion and he also played on the country’s Davis Cup team.