SportS
The Emory Wheel
Continued from Back Page
Sport
Opponent
Time
M Soccer
Sewanee
6 p.m.
Friday
Volleyball
Claremont-M-S
7 p.m.
Sept. 15
W Soccer
Chris Newport
7 p.m.
Cross Country
North Georgia Invitational
All Day
Volleyball
Juniata
6 p.m.
M Soccer
Birmingham Southern
2 p.m.
Sunday
Golf
rhodes College Invitational
All Day
Sept. 17
W Soccer
Birmingham Southern
3 p.m.
Golf
rhodes College Invitational
All Day
Sept. 13
Saturday Sept. 16
Monday Sept. 18
*Home Games in Bold
a screen-pass, trimming the patriots’ lead to three. then, with the Chiefs down six to begin the fourth quarter, Hunt ran a beautiful go route up the seam. With a perfect throw from Smith, edgerusher Cassius Marsh had no chance of catching Hunt on his way to a 78 yard, game-tying touchdown. With the extra point, Kansas City went up 28-27 and the Kareem Hunt show was in full swing. two drives later, Hunt capped off another drive by stiff-arming safety Duron Harmon to the ground and diving past the pylon into the end-zone, stretching the Chiefs’ lead to eight. After exhibiting his pass-catching and tackle-breaking skills, Hunt showed he isn’t a one-trick, or even a two-trick, pony. With 4:15 to go in the game, Hunt took a toss from Smith, darted around the edge of the defense and sprinted upfield 58 yards before
Anderson Jumps to No. 15 After US Open Final Continued from Back Page of three sets. Not only did Nadal dominate his way to the championship, he made it look easy. Nadal did not face a single break point during the entirety of the championship match. No. 32 Kevin Anderson, who was the lowest-ranked U.S. open finalist since 1973, simply couldn’t match Nadal’s high level of play. the South African had never been past the quarterfinals prior to this year’s run, making this a remarkable success for Anderson despite his defeat in the final match. Nadal ripped forehands and backhands with his trademark ferocity, while demonstrating tremendous poise when coming to the net. Nadal was perfect at the net, winning all 16 of his attempts. By comparison, Anderson won less than 50 percent (16 for 34) of his points at the net. Anderson’s best skill was his serve, traveling upwards of 130 mph. However, Nadal’s decision to sit far behind the service line to give himself more time to react effectively neutralized that part of Anderson’s game. prior to Anderson’s match against Nadal, Anderson had only lost five ser-
vice games in the tournament. Nadal broke Anderson’s serve four times in the tournament final. the match’s turning point came in the middle of the second set. Nadal broke Anderson to make the score 4-2, effectively securing a twoset lead for Nadal.
“[It’s been a] very special two weeks for me.” — raphael Nadal, US open Champion
From there, Anderson’s confidence and demeanor simply wasn’t the same. Anderson went on to have 21 unforced errors while Nadal only had four. “[It’s been a] very special two weeks for me,” Nadal said, according to an ESpN recap of the event. “It’s unbelievable what happened this year after [the past] couple years with some problems and injuries.” Anderson complimented Nadal’s return to form.
Men Finish on Wrong End of Close Matches Continued from Back Page College. Much of the match remained a stalemate, with both teams tied 0-0 through 90 minutes. However, the randolph Wildcats broke the draw in overtime. In the 93rd minute, randolph junior midfielder Adam Watson scored the game-winner off a free kick that placed in the lower corner of the net. “randolph was organized defensively and especially dangerous on set pieces,” senior forward Christian Meyer said. the Eagles had opportunities to break the early tie against the Wildcats. In the 61st minute, Khattab had a chance to score the first goal of the game. Khattab used his mobility to get his head on a cross, but his effort went high and wide. one of Emory’s best chances occurred later in regulation when
15
Chiefs’ Hunt Makes History in NFL Debut
Swoop’S Scoop Wednesday
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
senior forward Michael Carragher had a shot to slot in the potential gameclinching goal. Following a clever onetwo from Meyer and McCartney to cut through the Wildcat defense, the ball found its way to the foot of Carragher. However, Carragher’s attempt at goal missed, just inches wide of the net. “We played pretty well today and created a number of opportunities in the final third,” Meyer said. “We just needed to be a bit sharper with our finishing to win the game in regulation.” Following a disappointing weekend, the Eagles (2-2) hope to rebound with a pair of upcoming matches next weekend. the Eagles get a short break before their next match at Sewanee: the University of the South (tenn.) Sept. 13, followed by a home contest against Birmingham-Southern College (Ala.) Sept. 16. — Contact Joseph Oh at
joseph.oh@emory.edu
“I mean, I’ve always said he’s one of the, obviously, greatest players of our sport, obviously feeling very confident,” Anderson said. “[Nadal] seems to have turned around a lot of those injuries he’s experienced the last couple of years.’’ With the conclusion of this match, Nadal (9465 points) strengthens his point lead over roger Federer (7505 points) for the overall No. 1 position in the Association of tennis professionals (Atp) rankings, an impressive rise from No. 9 at the beginning of 2017. Anderson climbed all the way up to No. 15 in the Atp rankings with 2470 oints, just ahead of American Sam Querrey (2445 points). His best ranking came in 2015 when he reached the No. 10 slot. Anderson can still hold his head high after making it into the final, the first South African to make it to the U.S. open final since Cliff Drysdale in 1965. Nadal will look to carry this form into the next year and to avoid injuries. Now at 16 major titles, he will continue to chase roger Federer’s record 19 grand slam titles.
— Contact Anirudh Pidugu at anirudh.pidugu@emory.edu
patriots safety Devin McCourty mercifully pushed Hunt out of bounds. the run sucked the life out of the patriots defense, put an exclamation point on what may be the greatest debut in NFL history and emphasized that, for now, there’s a new sheriff in town. Besides a season-ending Achilles injury to Chiefs safety Eric Berry, there’s a lot to be excited about if you are a Kansas City fan. Beyond Hunt’s historic performance, Smith had a career day, completing 28 of 35 passes for 368 passing yards and four touchdowns, dramatically outplaying future Hall of Fame quarterback tom Brady on Brady’s home field. the Chiefs also got significant contributions from second-year wide receiver tyreek Hill, (seven receptions, 133 receiving yards, one touchdown) and edge-rusher Justin Houston (two sacks). the patriots, meanwhile, are walking away from this game with big losses off the field as well. Star linebacker
Dont’a Hightower left the game midway through the third quarter with a minor right MCL sprain. receiver Danny Amendola also left the game in the second half with a head injury after compiling six receptions for 100 yards. NFL Network’s Ian rapoport reported that the patriots are hoping that Hightower will recover in time to play the New orleans Saints next week, while Amendola is still in the NFL’s concussion protocol. the patriots are already without key playmakers in receivers Julian Edelman (torn ACL) and Malcolm Mitchell (injured knee). the patriots have been the team to beat in the AFC for some time, but after thursday night’s performance, it’s looking like the Chiefs hold that honor. All stats from pro-football-reference.com unless otherwise stated.
— Contact Max Rotenberg at max.rotenberg@emory.edu
Women Flex Offensive Weapons in 4-0 Sweep Continued from Back Page outside hitters Sara Carr made 23 hits and Morgan McKnight made 25. Despite winning 12 consecutive sets this weekend, Head Coach Jenny McDowell acknowledged that, like any growing team, her squad still has room for improvement. “We’re going to continue working on our serving,” McDowell said. “We have to serve at a higher success rate.” Serving continued to be a serious setback for the Eagles in these four games. the lost points on serves were not enough to put Emory behind, but the errors made for a tighter game. In the first set of the Millsaps game, with Emory leading 12-6, half of Millsaps’ points had come from missed Emory serves. on the other hand, Millsaps continued to have difficulty receiving those serves that did land within the lines. During the first set, sophomore defensive specialist Elyse thompson helped the Eagles to six straight points at the serving position.
McDowell said that she is still trying to straighten out the lineup. With 26 players and only six spots on the court at once, deciding who to put on the floor can be a difficult undertaking. As the Eagles look forward to the rest of their season, Billings says she is excited to “impart a legacy on the Emory volleyball team.” “We want to show everyone what Emory volleyball is all about,” Billings said. “We ultimately want to win our conference and a national championship, and it’s truly a team effort.” Due to the unsafe traveling conditions caused by Hurricane Irma, Emory cancelled its game against Lee College (texas) Sept. 11 in Cleveland, tenn. the match has yet to be rescheduled. Next weekend, the Eagles remain in Atlanta for the Emory National Classic, facing Claremont McKenna College (Calif.) Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. and Juniata College (penn.) Sept. 16 at 6 p.m.
— Contact Allison Gelman at allison.gelman@emory.edu
Cross Country Teams Claim No. 5 Spot Continued from Back Page expectations. “the team performed better than I had anticipated,” Curtin said. “that was the best we have run on [Furman’s course] in several years.” Headlining the women’s performance in the classic, senior captain Gabrielle Stravach cracked the top ten, finishing No. 7 out of 163 competitors. Stravach was Emory’s top runner for the ninth time in her career and second time this year, leading the team with a 6K time of 21:34, the second best of her illustrious collegiate career. placing among Emory’s top five runners included junior Maeve Andrews, freshman Abby Durfee, junior Kaylee Slade and sophomore Meredith Hughes. Along with Stravach they averaged a time of 22:40, more than a minute off the pace of No. 1 Furman’s time of 20:54. “We had a lot of girls try and run together as a pack,” Stravach said. “this was good because we have a really young team and don’t have a ton
of freshmen who are used to running 6Ks.” Curtin expressed how impressed he was with the top five’s times. “our top five all ran 23 minutes and six seconds or better,” Curtin said. “Stravach ran faster than we ever had anybody run on that course.”
“I definitely have some lofty goals for this season.” — Gabrielle Stravach, Senior captain For Stravach, the early successes fuel her goals. “I definitely have some lofty goals for this season,” Stravach said. “I would really like to be all-American for cross country, which normally takes times around 21 minutes to do that.” placing No. 21 overall out of 175 runners, junior Bennett Shaw was Emory’s top male runner. Shaw fin-
ished with a career-best 8K time of 25:35, more than a minute faster than his first race of the season.Joining Shaw in Emory’s top five runners, sophomore Marty pimentel, senior Shane Sullivan, freshman Matthew Burke and sophomore Sam Branson all posted impressive times. together they averaged an 8K time of 26:17, more than two minutes slower than Furman’s average time of 24:03. Shaw said that he felt “pretty good” and “stuck to the game plan” during the race. “I utilized the pace and strategy the coaches put out for us,” Shaw said. Saturday’s meet highlighted the team’s youth and depth, Shaw said. “We have a lot more freshmen who are running well already,” Shaw said. “I think the fact that we had so many people run well is going to help the team’s confidence.” the Emory cross country teams will race again in the University of North Georgia Invitational Sept. 16.
— Contact Stephen Mattes at stephen.mattes@emory.edu