Sports
The Pace Chronicle
Wednesday, December 11, 2013 Page 11
Photo from Stockton Photo Inc. Setter Jonathan Merceus is pictured above from the game on Nov. 26 against Southern Connecticut State.
Pace Basketball Teams Lose Close Games Natalia Alvarez Pagan Sports Editor
It’s been a tough season so far for both basketball teams at Pace, as both teams suffered close losses on Sat., Dec. 7. The men’s team saw their record drop to 2-6 as they lost a tough game against Le Moyne, in which they lost in double overtime by a score of 87-79. Le Moyne
improved its record to 5-3. The Setters took off towards the end of the second half, as they had an 11-4 run at the 9:16 mark to take a 56-54 lead. But with both teams unable to capitalize on opportunities late in the game, the game went into overtime with the score knotted at 67-67. Ultimately it was Le Moyne that came out on top. But in the end it was a game that Coach Kennedy believes can be used “to build on”,
despite it being a “heartbreaking loss.” Looking over to the women’s team, their game was also a close lose, as Le Moyne won by a score of 54-50. The Setters now fall to 0-8, while Le Moyne improved its record to 7-1. Junior forward Lovisa Hagberg, one of the new additions to the team this year, stated that it was another tough loss for the Setters in a game that they should have won.
“We played fairly well but fell short in the end and made some bad decisions on offense and defense which let Le Moyne come back in the game and win,” said Hagberg, who scored five points in her first game of the season, as she had been sidelined by an ACL tear on her knee. The Setters had the lead going into the final minutes of the game, but the Dolphins went 4-for-4 on the line in order to take the lead and win the game.
Still without a win, Hagberg believes that the team needs to “make individual corrections” while also playing at a more “focused and mature” level in order to be unstoppable team they believe they can be. The next game for both teams will be on Tue., Dec. 10, as they take on American Int’l on the road. The next home game for the women’s team is on Sat., Dec. 14 at 1 p.m.
Volleyball Season Ends In Disappointment Natalia Alvarez Pagan Sports Editor
The Pace Volleyball team finished their season on Nov. 15 with a loss to Merrimack College, ending their season with a record of 4-26. With high hopes set at the beginning of the season, the Setters look at this end with disappointment and a bit of shock. “Honestly, this was completely unexpected,” freshman business major Miki Carver said. “We all had such high expectations individually so to end the season like this, completely shocked us.” Head Coach Karrin Moore expressed a desire to have finished the season with more wins, but chooses to look at the bright side of things stating that she was “happy with how hard the girls worked on and off the court.” and that “our record doesn’t show the work ev-
eryone put in.” Looking at the team roster, it can be seen that all the players on the team this season where either freshman or sophomores, and one can’t help but wonder if that ended up being a factor. “It’s hard to say if having upper class men would have helped our season or not, but having more girls playing in positions they were used to would have been more helpful,” Moore said. Carver sees things a bit differently, saying that the team’s youthfulness was “definitely something to be taken into consideration.” “We really came from all over the place, so we didn’t have as much time to really build that team chemistry,” Carver said. But now with one year under their belts, the Setters look to the spring as a time where, according to Coach Moore, they can work to “refine their individual skills and learn to work well as a team.” The Setters will also look to new recruits, such as Sydney Leck-
er from Chatfield High School, to join the returning players in order to bring more talent and versatility to the team. Lecker was signed to a nation-
al letter of intent for the 2014-15 academic year and is someone that Coach Moore believes will “be a solid player who will help us offensively from day one.”
For now, the Setters will continue to build team chemistry, while honing their skills as they wait for the 2014 season.
Photo from PaceSettersAthletics.com Pace’s Women’s Volleyball team finished their 2013 season with a record of 4-26.