Sports briefs
Women’s tennis
The women’s tennis team won their third-ever CAA title after narrowly defeating second-seeded William & Mary 4-3 Sunday at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center on the campus of ODU.
“We’ve had a lot of good girls come through this program, but this group was special,” Head Coach Paul Kostin said. “All year long they were focused and determined to capture a championship. To see everything come together today is something I’ll never forget.”
The Rams, who qualified for an NCAA Tournament berth and will find out who they will face when the bracket is announced May 4 at 5 p.m. on ESPNews, won 11 straight games at one point this year despite a tough schedule that included three top-40 teams in their first five matches of the season.
Men’s tennis
The men’s tennis team continued their utter dominance of the conference after winning their 12th CAA Title in the 15-year history of the league Sunday at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
“I’m just really excited for our kids,” Head Coach Paul Kostin said. “We’re a very, very young team and we played some very good teams this year, so our record wasn’t like it has been in the past. However, that didn’t matter to these guys, they were focused on leaving here with the trophy and now they’re going to get to do just that.”
Similar to the womens tennis team, the mens tennis team will find out who they will face in the first round of NCAA Tournament play and where on May 4 at 5 p.m. on ESPNews.
Golf
Heading into the final round of action Sunday in the CAA Tournament at The Homestead in Hot Springs, VCU was in second place and nine strokes behind eventual winners Towson. However despite a strong performance that saw VCU place four players in the top 20, the Rams finished third overall, one stroke behind William & Mary and 12 behind the Tigers.
Men’s track & field
VCU placed nine winners at the VCU Invitational this weekend, highlighted by former basketball player Kirill Pischalnikov (Maykop, Russia/MGGTK AGU) winning the shot put competition in his first action with the team with a heave of 43’ 1 3/4. Junior Brian Wallace (Portsmouth/I.C. Norcom) won the long jump and triple jump for the Black & Gold.
Women’s track & field:
The Rams broke two school records as they hosted their first event in two years. Redshirt-sophomore Stephanie Newing (Virginia Beach/Kempsville) broke a record that had held for four years after clearing 11’ 7 3/4. Freshman sensation Chaneka Perry (Newport News/Menchville) broke her own record in the triple jump with a mark fo 40’ 1 1/2. She also won the high jump and 100-meter hurdles events.
“I’ve really been impressed by the way our team has continued to work hard and stay focused on their goals throughout the year,” Riley said. “This group has made some really significant deposits into our ‘bank’ and I know we are ready to perform and do our best at the championship meet in a couple weeks.”
