U.S. Open just not the same without tennis legend Graf
(09/16/99 4:00am)
As we look back at the 1999 U.S. Open, there was one name that was missing. Actually, THE name was missing.
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As we look back at the 1999 U.S. Open, there was one name that was missing. Actually, THE name was missing.
Through the first 41:55 of the field hockey game last night, it appeared that Radford would pull the improbable upset and Duke would fall for the third game in a row. But it was not meant to happen.
In the 1986 movie Hoosiers, the team from Hickory raised its game to the next level with the help of its star, Jimmy Chitwood. For the Indiana volleyball team this weekend, Chitwood came in the form of outside hitter Amanda Welter.
When inviting someone to visit your home for the weekend, it is proper etiquette to treat that person with the utmost respect and kindness, offering him or her anything at all to make the stay enjoyable. "Mi casa es su casa."
When the field hockey team travels to Winston-Salem Saturday to take on Wake Forest at 1 p.m., it will be experiencing the ACC's version of Roland Garros.
Up to about 9 p.m. Saturday, the weekend in Reno was going exactly as the volleyball team had hoped. Coach Jolene Nagel opened her Duke career with wins over Fresno State and Saint Mary's and was preparing her team for game five in the championship match against Nevada.
When most people make a weekend trip to Nevada they don't return home as winners. The volleyball team, however, has much greater odds than the average tourist, since it will do its gambling on the court.
When Courtney Sommer, a junior defender for the field hockey team, is asked the traditional back-to-school question of what she did this summer, she might reply, "Oh, nothing much. I was just an alternate for the United States national team and a member of the regional team in North Carolina that won the U.S. Summer League Championship."
The number nine characterizes a point at either end of the spectrum for the Duke volleyball team. Nine was the number of wins the young team recorded last season, its lowest total since 1981. However, nine is also the number of players returning this season with an extra year of experience in the ACC.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A quick glance at Jolene Nagel's resume makes one thing about her crystal clear-she knows how to win. With three Ivy League championships, one Big East championship and 204 career NCAA wins under her belt, it was only a matter of time until someone took notice. That time became this July. As Nagel was in the midst of negotiations over a contract extension with Georgetown, Duke was in search of a quality coach to fill the void left by Linda Grensing's resignation. The "love connection" was made and in no time at all, Nagel was a Blue Devil. "It was a quick transition," Nagel said. "It's been busy trying to hire staff, get on top of recruiting, and also get organized for this season.... The whole team has been just great. The three seniors especially have been extremely open to what I have to say and trying some new things. I just can't say enough about the attitude of the team so far." This is certainly a win-win situation for both parties. Nagel receives the opportunity to return to the ACC, where she got her start as an assistant for North Carolina, and jump start a team coming off a tough season. In turn, Duke receives a coach who, simply put, knows how to win. Nagel's resumé is filled with nothing but success. In only four years as the head coach at Cornell, she won three Ivy League championships. After reviving Cornell's program, Nagel accepted a position as head coach of Georgetown. She racked up 119 wins in seven seasons at the helm of the Hoyas' program, which recorded its best season last year. Nagel led the team to a 24-6 record, making school history twice by first winning the Big East and then receiving an invitation to the NCAA tournament. In recognition of this achievement, she received Big East and District I Coach of the Year honors. But all of these accomplishments are in the past. The question on the minds of the Blue Devils is: How will she work in Durham and in the ACC? Thus far, her players have not had many complaints. "At first everyone was apprehensive, not knowing exactly what was going to happen coming into the preseason," senior Jami Ediger said. "But it's been great. Everyone's fired up for a new start, a new beginning.... She's been great about remaining positive and focusing on the little things to make us a better team." In order to get the preseason started on the right foot, Nagel needed to gain the trust and commitment of the players, especially the seniors who played under Grensing for the previous three years. "It was really hard when I heard Linda was leaving because I wondered about what kind of coach we were going to get," Ediger said. "I wasn't sure if she was just going to work with the freshmen and the sophomores. But it has been a really positive change." Because Nagel was hired just before the start of practice, she used the first week of the preseason to learn about the players and their strengths and weaknesses. Instead of jumping right in and enforcing her opinions, she took time to watch the team play before making any changes, which the team greatly appreciated. "She didn't get on us right away for little technical mistakes," Ediger said. "She let us play for a while and then would step in and make some suggestions. She's been great about remaining positive and focusing on the little things to make us a better team." Nagel has used the opening weeks of practice to work on the basics. She believes a solid fundamental game of passing, hitting and serving will help eliminate unforced errors and hopes that Duke can build from this solid foundation. "I think no matter what the situation I would have started the preseason focusing on fundamentals," Nagel said. "On top of these basics, though, we still have to work together offensively to accomplish our goals. I need to know all my players' capabilities and figure out what will work best offensively." One thing Nagel certainly understands is the balance between athletics and academics, which makes her a perfect fit at Duke. Her previous coaching stints have also been at universities with high academic standards. As is shown by her 204-134 career record, Nagel knows exactly how to help her players find this difficult balance. The team is excited to be under Nagel's guidance right now, and Nagel is looking forward to a great future at the University. More importantly, she has a certain confidence that could take her a long way. "I feel," she explains, "like Duke is the premiere institution in the ACC."
After nearly leaving the helm of the women's soccer team, the only coach in the program's 12-year history will lead his team back to his home state to open the season as Duke takes on Missouri Friday night and St. Louis Sunday afternoon. Yet as coach Bill Hempen and his squad head west to begin the 1999 season, the primary focus will not be on the Tigers and Billikens but rather on avoiding the devastating injuries that have plagued the Blue Devils the last two years. Last year, three season-ending injuries dashed early-season optimism and resulted in a mediocre record of 7-11-2. "The last couple of years we've had a few major injuries and not enough quality depth to be able to play the type of teams that we try to play year in and year out," Hempen said. "I think back to our year of 1991 when we were 8-10-1 and had six starters out. A year later we go to the [NCAA] final with basically the same team and no injuries. So that's how close we are from one season to the next to being a championship-caliber team." Hempen will be heading westward to kick off this season, the veteran coach considered leaving the program to pursue a coaching vacancy in Westwood, Calif., with perennial powerhouse UCLA. Hempen said he decided to return to Duke because of his pride in the program and a feeling that things were heading in the right direction. Like last season, the Blue Devils have already lost the services of three players. Senior Emily Feeney, who finished second on last year's squad with 14 points, is out indefinitely as she attempts to recover from a foot injury. Sophomore Jamie Parker, who redshirted last season due to a broken collarbone, is expected to miss the next couple weeks with a concussion. Sophomore Alison Sanders will miss a second straight season as she continues to recover from an ACL injury. In addition to early-season injuries, Duke will have to cope with the loss of three talented seniors from last year's team. Kari Juncker and first-team All-ACC member Kristy Whelchel were two of the team's five leading scorers a year ago, while goalkeeper Dana Piper departed with the second-most career saves in Blue Devil history. While Feeney recuperates from her injury, captains Sherrill Kester and Kasey Truman will account for much of the team's scoring. Truman finished first in assists last year and third in goals and points. After leading the offense in points and garnering second-team All-ACC honors, Kester hopes to guide this year's team to two early-season victories. "If we could win these two games, it would help us be confident and know that we can win games and that we're a good team," Kester said. Both games this weekend will be against unfamiliar opposition as the Blue Devils have never squared off against either St. Louis or Missouri in a regular-season game. Hempen expects a repeat of the style of game played by the Tigers in a 2-2 exhibition tie last spring. "We are looking for a high-pressured, direct game from Missouri," Hempen said. "[Missouri will try to] get [the ball] in our end and hope to keep it in our end, and we're going to try to do the same thing to them. If we get any luck at all, we'll score more goals this year than we did a year ago, and hopefully we can get a good road victory." Neal Morgan contributed to this story.
CHAPEL HILL - For Superman, there's Lex Luthor. For Batman, there's the Joker. For Sherlock Holmes, there's Professor Moriarty.
The women's lacrosse team did its best impersonation of Charles Barkley last night against Virginia Tech, rebounding with a vengeance from its loss at the hands of Yale three days ago.
For the first few games of this year's lacrosse season, freshman Kelly Dirks was just one of many players on the team from the state of Maryland.
The women's lacrosse team traveled to South Bend this weekend for two games against lower-ranked opponents, but Duke, much like any bowler, was not pleased with the result: a split.
No team ever has a season completely without setbacks. Saturday, one of those setbacks for the women's lacrosse team came in the form of the Virginia Cavaliers.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>At this point in the season, the Duke womenPis lacrosse team has one song on its mind: Rawhide.
It has been done.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - An epic game and an epic tale.
Duke women's lacrosse coach Kerstin Kimel scheduled back-to-back weekend games this season to prepare her team for the postseason tournaments, in which this same format is used. If this weekend's performance is any indication of what will occur at the end of the season, then the Blue Devils are in pretty good shape.