Emory Athletics Weekly Preview: March 11 - March 17

Emory Athletics Weekly Preview: March 11 - March 17
Posted: Mar 11, 2024

The Emory Athletics weekly preview for March 11th through March 17th. This preview is to serve as a weekly snapshot of all upcoming athletic events for the coming week.

Men's Tennis:

The No. 1 ranked Emory men's tennis team will continue its dual meet schedule, as the Eagles head just up the road to take on NAIA powerhouse Georgia Gwinnett on Monday before hosting No. 10 ranked Denison at home on Wednesday. The match against the Grizzlies is a makeup date after their previous meeting in February was postponed due to rain.

The Eagles are riding a six-match winning streak, including their ITA Indoor National Championship run just a few weeks ago. Emory has won in dominant fashion as well, having shut out their past three opponents, including No. 2 WashU and No. 7 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Sophomore Dean Kamenev has experienced a red-hot start to his second collegiate season, boasting a 5-0 record in dual matches in the No. 1 singles position. He also has not lost a match at the No. 2 doubles spot alongside senior Nolan Shah. Shah also has yet to drop a match, going 5-0 in the No. 2 singles spot and picked up a win in Emory's last match on court one against Piedmont.

Freshman Christian Liew has provided Emory with a spark since joining the starting rotation. The rookie is undefeated in singles matches this spring with a 6-0 record, appearing on courts two, four and five. Appearing alongside a few different teammates, Liew is 5-1 in the No. 3 doubles position.

The meeting between the Eagles and Grizzlies will be nothing short of a heavyweight bout. The Eagles are the reigning ITA Indoor champs while the Grizzlies have won nine straight NAIA National Championships. Alex Gurmendi has led the way for Georgia Gwinnett, winning nine straight matches in the No. 1 singles position, setting up for a marquee matchup with he and Kamenev on court one. As a team, the Grizzlies are riding a 10-match winning streak and have surrendered just two points over their last six matches.

To date, Denison owns a 4-2 record this spring and is coming off a 5-4 win over No. 15 Johns Hopkins. Kael Shah has taken over the No. 1 singles spot for Denison, owning a 3-0 record on court one. Andy Mackler has also found success this season playing on courts four and six, owning a 5-1 record this year. The match against Denison will get started at 2:00 PM.

When/Where:

  • Monday, March 11th – at Georgia Gwinnett – 1:00 PM – GGC Tennis Facility (Lawrenceville, GA)
  • Wednesday, March 13th – vs No. 10 Denison – 2:00 PM – Woodruff P.E. Center (Atlanta, GA)

Coverage:

 

Women's Tennis:

The No. 7 ranked Emory women's tennis team continues its tour of the west coast on Monday with a match against No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer before taking on No. 4 Middlebury and No. 10 Redlands later this week. The Eagles kicked off their trip out west with a narrow loss to No. 1 ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Sunday, falling 5-4.

The Eagles are off to a strong start this spring, owning a 4-3 record in dual matches and a fifth-place finish at the ITA Indoor National Championship just a week ago. They started off the tournament with a loss to Johns Hopkins before rebounding for a pair of wins over Carnegie Mellon and MIT.

Sophomore Emily Kantrovitz has displayed a solid start to her second season, going 5-1 in the No. 1 singles position, including four straight wins. Her wins came against some of the nation's best at the ITA Indoor Championships as well as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps top singles player in Lindsay Eisenman.

Sophomore Izzy Antanavicius is also on a winning streak, having won five straight matches. Playing primarily in the No. 4 position, the sophomore has been consistent in securing singles wins for Emory. Freshman Yanire Marte has started her collegiate career strong, owning a 5-1 record in the No. 5 and 6 singles position. She has also won four straight matches.

Sophomore Iris Berman and junior Eliza McPherron have been the Eagles' most consistent doubles team this spring. The two are 5-2 this spring, playing on court two.

The Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens are coming off a third-place finish at the ITA Indoor Championships. The Sagehens secured wins over MIT and Johns Hopkins at the event. The Eagles have won six of the last seven meetings with Pomona-Pitzer.

The Eagles will then take a few days off before meeting with Redlands and Middlebury over the weekend. The Redlands Bulldogs are led by Maegan Deng, who is 4-1 in the No. 1 singles position. Kiana Brady has been strong in the No. 2 singles position with a 3-1 record this spring as well. Rayna Sugai is unblemished for the Bulldogs in the No. 4 position, having won five straight matches to start the spring. As a team, the Bulldogs are 4-0 to date and are coming off a 9-0 sweep of No. 26 Mary Washington.

Middlebury has played two matches this spring, with wins over both Bates and Tufts to start. In their young season, five of the six starters in the singles rotation are 2-0. Middlebury also only dropped one doubles match in their two matches this spring. The two schools from the east coast will play at Redlands' tennis facility.

When/Where:

  • Monday, March 11th – at Pomona-Pitzer – 5:00 PM (EST) – Biszantz Family Tennis Center (Claremont, CA)
  • Friday, March 15th – at Redlands – 3:00 PM (EST) – Coach Jim Verdieck Tennis Center (Redlands, CA)
  • Saturday, March 16th – vs Middlebury – 12:00 PM (EST) - Coach Jim Verdieck Tennis Center (Redlands, CA)

Coverage:

 

Softball:

The Emory softball team (6-4) has a loaded week, with six games on tap this week. The Eagles will start on the road in Kentucky against Spalding before returning home for a couple of doubleheaders, starting with Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday and Agnes Scott on Sunday.

The Eagles are winners of four of their last six and are swinging the bats very well. They've scored 35 runs in their past six games and are holding opponents to just 15 runs over that stretch. Freshman Ellie Zerr has been Emory's top performer at the dish, hitting .441 while driving in a team-high 17 runs this year. She's also slugging an incredible .765 as a rookie. The most impressive part of Zerr's start to her collegiate career is that she is sixth nationally in RBIs while having played just 10 games. Each player ahead of her has played at least three more games than Zerr has.

Sophomore Ashley Chu has done a great job at setting the table in the leadoff spot, hitting .586 after starting in all 10 games this spring. Not only is she hitting at such a high clip, but she's 12-for-13 in stolen base attempts.

Sophomore Mackenzie Duford has served as the Eagles' ace this season, owning a 4-1 record and having tossed 32.0 innings this year. Duford's ERA is under 2.00 and has held opponents' batting average to a measly .209 in her time inside of the circle.

First-year Head Coach India Chiles has kept opposing catchers busy this season, as she gives the steal sign more often than most. The Eagles have had success on the basepaths, stealing 30 bases on 34 attempts.

Spalding enters their game with the Eagles having snapped a five-game skid and winning their first game of the season last week when they topped Hanover, 13-4. The Golden Eagles are batting .300 as a team and are coming off their highest scoring game of the season. Grayce Marcum is leading the way for Spalding, with a .455 average and a very impressive slugging percentage at .864. Marcum has started in all six games for the Golden Eagles and has two home runs and eight RBIs this year. Both of her home runs came in the win over Hanover, where she went 4-4 and added a double on top of her two homers. The Eagles have met with Spalding three times before, having won all three games.

The Illinois Wesleyan Titans are riding a three-game winning streak into their doubleheader against Emory this season. The visit to Emory will be the Titans' first game in nearly two weeks. Jen Kuhn is leading the way for the Titan offense, hitting .481 with four doubles and a triple in eight games this year. The Titans have received an incredibly strong start from Gianna Certa inside of the circle. In 22.0 innings this year, Certa has an ERA of 0.64 and is holding opponents to a .192 batting average. This will be the first time the two teams have met since 2004, where the teams split a doubleheader in Atlanta.

To date, Agnes Scott is 5-7 and have won three of their last four. Before playing against Emory on Sunday, the Scotties will play two doubleheaders. Senior pitcher Regan Hutto has played a major part in Agnes Scott's past few wins as she picked up two wins and a save. In three appearances, the senior punched out 19 batters and held opponents to a .237 batting average. The Eagles have faced the Scotties 38 times and own an unblemished 38-0 record in the series.

When/Where:

  • Tuesday, March 12th – at Spalding – 4:00 PM – Spalding Athletics Complex (Louisville, KY)
  • Wednesday, March 13th – at Spalding – 4:00 PM – Spalding Athletics Complex (Louisville, KY)
  • Saturday, March 16th – vs Illinois Wesleyan – 12:00 PM / 2:00 PM – Cooper Field (Atlanta, GA)
  • Sunday, March 17th – vs Agnes Scott – 1:00 PM / 3:00 PM – Cooper Field (Atlanta, GA)

Coverage:

 

Baseball:

The Emory baseball team (9-6) is riding a four-game winning streak into the week, with four games on the schedule. Emory will get its week started with a game on the road against No. 4 ranked Birmingham-Southern before they take on Piedmont in a three-game set this weekend.

After starting the season 1-4, the Eagles offense has come alive as of late. Over their last 10 games, the Eagles are averaging over 11 runs per game and own an 8-2 record over that stretch. Junior Jack Halloran has played a major role in the Eagles turnaround. The junior is riding a 10-game RBI streak, bringing his total to 27 on the year while hitting .480 and slugging .840. With four long balls this year, Halloran finds himself third in all-time home runs for the Eagles and is just one away from being tied for second with 19.

Junior Matthew Sicoli is also red-hot to start the year, hitting .387 with a team-high eight doubles to go along with 16 RBI. Sicoli bolstered his RBI total in the Eagles' 16-10 win over Covenant last week when he went 4-for-5 with a double, a home run and drove in a career-high eight RBI. He carried the momentum into Sunday against Huntingdon when he collected another two hits, including a double. Junior Blake Dincman has provided a spark at the dish this year as well, sitting second on the team with a .442 batting average and has swatted seven doubles on the year.

Sophomore hurler Josh Zuckerman earned his second win of the season on Sunday when he punched out a career-high 11 batters over 6.2 innings of work. The sophomore has overpowered opponents with his fastball this season, sitting down 34 batters over 27.2 innings this season.

The Eagles will need to keep the bats going this week with No. 4 Birmingham-Southern on deck. The Panthers have lost four of their last five, including a series loss this past weekend against Oglethorpe. However, the Panthers are coming off a season in which they went 39-11 and hosted an NCAA Regional before falling to La Verne. So far this year, the Panthers are 9-5 but have been dominant on their home field, going 8-3 at Striplin Field this year. Ian Hancock leads the Panther offense this year, hitting .327 and driving in 12 runs this season. He's shown discipline at the plate as well, working 10 walks already this year.

Meanwhile, Drake LaRoche has been a steady arm on the mound for the Panthers. He's started four games this year, owning a 3.60 ERA and has punched out 25 batters over 25.0 innings of work. Josh Leerssen has also been solid on the bump, with an ERA of 3.63 and holding opponents to a .183 average.

The series against the Piedmont Lions will see Emory host the game on Saturday, while the Lions will host the first and last games of the series on Friday and Sunday. To date, the Lions have won eight of their last nine and have scored 10 or more runs five times over that stretch. Nathan Mix has been strong for the Lions, hitting .378 and has driven in 14 runs this year. Meanwhile, Zeke Swartz has experienced a very strong start on the hill this year. Swartz owns a 1.93 ERA while holding opponents to a .179 batting average. He's been overpowering this season, striking out 30 in just 23.1 innings of work.

The Eagles and Lions have a long history, having met 74 times before and Emory having the slight edge, 43-31, in the all-time series.

When/Where:

  • Tuesday, March 12th – at Birmingham-Southern – 6:00 PM – Striplin Field (Birmingham, AL)
  • Friday, March 15th – at Piedmont – 6:00 PM – Loudermilk Field (Demorest, GA)
  • Saturday, March 16th – vs Piedmont – 2:00 PM – Chappell Park (Atlanta, GA)
  • Sunday, March 17th – at Piedmont – 1:00 PM – Loudermilk Field (Demorest, GA)

Coverage:

Track and Field:

The Emory track and field team will head outdoors for the first time in 2024 as they prepare to host the Emory Spring Break Classic this weekend. The day will span Friday and Saturday and will be held at Morehouse College.

The Eagles have been busy racking up both regional and national honors in the past week. Graduate student Nikki Boon and sophomore Henry Brandstadter both earned South Region Athlete of the Year honors. The two also earned All-America honors as well when Boon finished as the national runner-up in the pentathlon and Brandstadter finished second in the long jump at the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championships last weekend. The distance medley team of seniors Dawit Dean and Spencer Watry, junior Marcus Cheema and freshman Graham Greene also earned All-America status when they finished third with a program record time of 9:50.10.

The Emory coaching staff received recognition as well when head coach Linh Nguyen earned South Region Coach of the Year honors and Assistant Coach Jessica Fritsche earned Assistant Coach of the Year for women.

The Eagles will now move outdoors to get the outdoor season underway. The event will start on Friday and conclude on Saturday.

When/Where:

  • Friday, March 15th-Saturday, March 16th – Emory Spring Break Classic – Morehouse College (Atlanta, GA)

Coverage:

  • TBA