Sports
The Emory Wheel
Eagle Exchange Thursday Swimming & Diving
@ Miami Invitational All Day
Friday @ Miami Invitational All Day
Saturday
Sunday
@ Piedmont College (Ga.) 4:30 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
@ Maryville (Tenn.) 2 p.m.
New NHL Team Named Vegas Golden Knights By Stephen Mattes Staff Writer
Monday
Agnes Scott (Ga.) 6 p.m.
Squad Looks to Finish Road Trip This Week Continued from Back Page good,” Zimmerman said. “We didn’t execute the game plan. We can’t give up 95 points.” Aided by Adedoyin’s sharpshooting, the Panthers charged out to a 45-36 halftime lead and never looked back. The Eagles played with a balanced attack led by junior forward Adam Gigax’s 20 points but failed to slow the Panthers’ offense down the stretch. The Eagles managed to cut the deficit down to seven points with six minutes remaining, but would not get any closer than that as Olson quickly drained two free throws to push the Panthers’ lead back to nine and maintain a safe distance through the 95-84 finish. The difference Sunday came in the Eagles’ defensive effort. Emory held the Maryville College Scots to only 62 points on 26 percent shooting from the field. “Our focus was better and our attention to detail was better,” Zimmerman said. “In the Maryville game, we defended longer stretches like we needed to. We put back-to-back stops together [against Maryville] a lot better than we did [against LaGrange].” For the Eagles, another afternoon of balanced scoring coupled with a tighter focus on defensive assignments propelled Emory to the 71-62 victory. Four Emory players scored in double figures, including Avant, who fin-
ished the game with a double-double on 10 points and 10 rebounds. Zimmerman contributed the success against Maryville to the team’s cooperation. “The ball doesn’t stick very often to a certain guy,” Zimmerman said. “We have talented offensive players, so when they get in a rhythm and get comfortable, different guys on different nights can score.” The Eagles’ ability to spread the ball around helped relieve the pressure to score off any one individual. “We have a lot of guys [who] can score the ball, so if one guy isn’t having a good game, another guy can step up offensively,” Avant said. The Eagles will finish their sevengame road stretch at the end of this week. The players understand that these challenging games will help prepare them for tougher opponents down the road. “It’s tough to find your identity on the road,” Avant explained. “But in the long run, these away games will prepare us better for the conference season.” The Eagles will continue on the road Wednesday at BirminghamSouthern College (Ala.) and will close out the stretch at Piedmont College (Ga.) Saturday.
— Contact Kevin Kilgour at kevin.kilgour@emory.edu
On Tuesday, Nov. 22, the majority owner of the NHL’s newest franchise, Bill Foley, announced that the Golden Knights is the first major professional sports team to call Las Vegas home. The Golden Knights logo is a sleek, modern design, featuring a gold and gray knight’s helmet set in the center of black shield with a golden border. A V for Vegas is subtly worked into the structure of the helmet. Vegas’ logo lacks the classic look of some of the original NHL franchises such as the New York Rangers or Montreal Canadiens, but has a bold look that gives it a unique appeal. The logo reflects the persona of the knight that Foley reveres. “The knight protects the unprotected, the knight defends the realm, the knight never gives up, never gives in, always advances and never retreats,” Foley said Tuesday night during a press conference to reveal the team name. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman’s decision to sanction the addition of a hockey team in Las Vegas has already come under a lot of criticism. For the past few years, Bettman has been seeking to add another team to the NHL. Bettman was always one to seek nontraditional markets. Since Bettman became the commissioner in 1993, the NHL has expanded from 24 to 30 teams, all of which were located in the
United States. He was the commissioner when the Quebec Nordiques moved to Colorado and the original Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix. Bettman has focused on moving teams into warm weather markets. Despite the decision to relocate the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg, Bettman has traditionally been considered unfriendly to Canadian markets. Although Canadian cities Hamilton and Quebec City were among the cities that were under consideration to be given a team, Bettman ultimately chose Las Vegas. Bettman’s decision to spurn the hopeful Canadian cities and choose Las Vegas as the NHL’s 31st franchise became a topic of scrutiny. There was concern that a team in a warm weather market where hockey is not as popular might fail to draw a loyal fan base. Furthermore, the Arizona Coyotes’ lack of success has added suspicion as to whether a team in the American desert can be successful. Many details are still unknown about the Vegas Golden Knights franchise, such as who the players and the head coach will be. What is known is that Golden Knights will take part in their first season next year. They will play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Vegas also already has its own stadium on the Las Vegas Strip, the T-Mobile Arena. Former Washington Capitals
year, whether you have an injury or something else happens. But to go to the NCAA tournament 21 straight years to me represents how many incredible student-athletes we’ve had. EW: Can you name your favorite moment from this season? JM: I would say beating Washington University [in St. Louis (Mo.)] on their home court in front of about 1,100 people. All the teams were there, hanging from the rafters. The winning basketball team was 10 feet from the court, screaming. To beat them in the [UAA] semifinals on their home court with all of the fans there is probably my favorite moment of the season. EW: When were you most disappointed as a coach? JM: I think it was last year losing in the regional finals. Last year, we had a really solid team and had such high
expectations. Losing in that regional final with what I thought was one of the best setters in the country [...] was really such a disappointment and a sad moment for me — sad for me because I was sad for the team. EW: What do you like most about Emory? JM: I think the sense of community on our campus. You can walk on campus and everyone is really proud about what Emory represents and what we as a university stand for. We not only are one of the best universities in the country, but for me we have the greatest community in the country — supportive of one another, encouraging, to seek out what’s important and have no barriers. The community and the support is just incredible. EW: What’s your favorite place to eat at near campus? JM: I walk down to the Village every day, so I would say probably Rise-n-
General Manager George McPhee will be Vegas’ general manager. He will be responsible for acquiring players and taking part in the expansion draft in June that will help provide the basic structure for his team. In order for the Golden Knights to field a team, they will select players from the other 30 NHL teams in what is called the expansion draft.The NHL has provided basic rules for the expansion draft. All teams across the NHL will be given an opportunity to protect a set number of players — teams can either opt to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender or, alternatively, they can protect eight skaters (forwards or defensemen) total and one goaltender. Players that are already protected by a no-move or no-trade clause count toward a team’s number of protected players. First-year and second-year players are exempt from being chosen in the draft. Vegas will select 30 players in the expansion draft, abiding by the NHL’s provided rules and stipulations. For the entry-level draft, Vegas will have the same odds as the team with the third fewest points in the standings at the end of the 2016-2017 season in the draft lottery. By the end of the process, the goal is that Vegas will have an NHL-ready team to compete in the 2017-2018 season.
— Contact Stephen Mattes at stephen.mattes@emory.edu
Strong Defense Eagles Strive Leads Team to Win To Make History
Continued from Back Page
played more competitively. Emory’s offensive attack relaxed a little bit and Mary Baldwin was more active on defense. Emory tallied 17 points to Mary Baldwin’s 12 in the third quarter. To begin the fourth quarter, senior guard Fran Sweeney flashed her talents both offensively and defensively. Sweeney was active recording six points with a steal in the final quarter. Overall Sweeney scored 14 points, going 3-6 behind the arc, tallying six steals and grabbing six rebounds. Sweeney discussed her role on the team noting her ability to play effective offense and defense. “I see my role as a three point shooter, but I also see a big part on the defensive side as well,” Sweeney said.
Emory outscored Mary Baldwin by only one point in the fourth quarter. Thomaskutty explained that her team’s inability to contest as many shots led to tighter play between the two teams. “One of our biggest things is that we want to contest every shot and I don’t think we did as good a job of that late in the game,” Thomaskutty said. Emory’s leading scorer was Jackson-Sherrod with 18 points. Freshman guard Lindsey Tse led the team with 10 assists and Oldshue was the top rebounder with 10. The Eagles will face Sewanee: The University of the South (Tenn.) Tuesday, Nov. 29, at home.
Dine. I love to sit at the bar and catch up on the news. The people at the bar know exactly what I want. They love volleyball and love to talk to me about volleyball. I always get two eggs with fruit and whole wheat toast. EW: What’s the most stressful moment you’ve ever had coaching? JM: In 2008, when we won the national championship. We were down two games to nothing in the national semifinals. We came back and tied it 2-2, and were actually down in the last set 11-3 and came back and won. And I literally couldn’t breathe for the final few points. EW: You’ve obviously taught your players a lot. What’s something a player has taught you? JM: I think collectively as a group, Emory student-athletes and Emory students in general bring their best every single day, and that has really inspired me to bring my best to practice every day. It is the most inspir-
Continued from Back Page
ing group of people that I could ever imagine coaching and, as a leader, I know that I have to bring my best in every capacity because I know they are going to do the same thing. EW: What’s the future for Emory volleyball? JM: I think as successful as we’ve been in the past 21 years ... the best is yet to come. I want this program to graduate great, confident young women and to continue to compete for national championships every year and prepare them for the rest of their lives. The future’s so bright. We have a great core of leaders and an exciting group of young players and an incredible recruiting class coming in next year … we feel really good about the freshmen who applied and have an outstanding chance of being admitted.
ments the team’s competitive edge. Having taken a year off to train for the 2016 Olympic Trials, Wilson’s return to the men’s team as such a high profile athlete adds not only to the team’s talent pool but also to the team’s morale. Emory’s vigourous training in and out of the water, bearing higher intensity than in previous seasons, is also a factor contributing to their powerful performances this season, as seen through their currently flawless 2-0 record. But whether it be during training or during competition, the strong team dynamic and sense of brotherhood among the athletes is uncanny. Despite their individual performances, the guys show full of support for one another, and this mutual encouragement is a driving force in the team’s overall success. “A big ingredient to our success is our shared experiences. The guys take a lot of strengths from each other,” Howell said. “As a group, they are able to accomplish some things that might not be able to as an individual and that camaraderie is a big part for us.” Mentality is also a contributing factor as, under Howell’s invaluable instruction, the men dive into each competition not focused purely on winning. Instead strive for improvement in preparation for competing at the highest levels at nationals. However, qualifying for nationals is the essential next step, and many swimmers will be competing at the Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio, Thursday through Saturday, getting one step closer to achieving the wellsought-after NCAA championship title.
— Contact Allison Gelman at allison.gelman@emory.edu
— Contact Prosper Fields at prosperity.fields@emory.edu
— Contact Stephen Mattes at stephen.mattes@emory.edu
Emory Volleyball’s Best Years Yet to Come Continued from Back Page
11
NHL
@ Miami Invitational All Day
Men’s Basketball
Wednesday, November 30, 2016