Sean Oakley - Features Beat

The Appalachian State University Men's Club Lacrosse dropped a 12-3 contest against the UNC Asheville Men's Lacrosse Club on Sunday.

The game was held in Skyland and was the final game for Club Lacrosse.

ASU's scoring came from single-goal contributions by Nathan Shiefler, Ben Dofflemoyer and Jeff Rackley. Daniel Davenport and Shiefler also contributed with an assist each.

ASU won 7 of the 19 faceoffs and took 19 shots, while Asheville took over 30 shots. Groundballs were fairly even with Asheville collecting more by a tally of 52-43.

Traveling with only 12 players, ASU had a hard time keeping up with an Asheville team that had over 30.

Being a hot day as well, ASU's two middie lines quickly found themselves running out of gas.

This year has been trying for the lacrosse team. Participation has been down considerably. Davenport recently succeeded Reed Davis as new Club Lacrosse president.

After such a disappointing season, ASU Club Lacrosse is looking forward to next year which will find them in a new league and hopefully more optimistic.

"It's been a rough year," said Davenport. "We're looking forward to next year to turn things around."

Asheville was only the third game for the club team this season. Earlier, ASU defeated Elon College at Elon by a score of 7-4, while losing a game to East Carolina University by a score of 12-1.

ASU was supposed to go to the Camp Lejeune Tournament being held in Fayetteville but could not make the trip because of players' prior commitments and lack of people to comprise a team.

One last meeting will be held for Club Lacrosse on Kidd-Brewer Stadium's field Tuesday at 7 p.m. Anyone who might want to play next year is encouraged to come out to the field.

"Next year we will be in a league and play will be more competitive," said Davenport. "There will be a more serious atmosphere."

James Nix Club - Sports Beat

The Appalachian State University women's volleyball club finished in the top 40 at the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Collegiate Volleyball Sport Clubs Championships.

The tournament was held in Kansas City, Mo., earlier this month.

ASU was placed into the fourth pool of the tournament with other teams such as the University of Illinois (U of I), the University of Arizona (U of A), and the University of Maryland (UMD).

"It was a really awesome experience," said ASU club president Christie Karow. "This was our first time, and it was a little overwhelming." On the first day of the tournament, ASU was defeated by the University of New Jersey in a hard-fought three-game match 25-21, 24-26, 11-5.

ASU then fell to U of A and U of I, both of which were also hard fought games.

On day two of the tournament, the Mountaineers fell to both UMD and Washington State University.

"The games were so close," said Karow. "It was really frustrating because we really played awesome."

ASU was placed in the Bronze Bracket for the tournament finals and fell to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) 23-25, 21-25.

"It was really disappointing to lose to the two Maryland teams because we've played them before and beat them," said Karow.

One thing Karow noticed that gave each of their opponents an advantage was ASU's lack of a coach.

"I think not having a coach was definitely to our disadvantage," said Karow. "Other teams' coaches would find our weak spots, and we didn't have anyone to do that for us."

Karow hopes the team will be able to find a coach in the near future to better improve the program.

ASU expects to make another appearance at the national tournament next year, and a coach would greatly benefit their chances at success.

The most beneficial part of attending the NIRSA national tournament was getting ASU's name out into the world of club volleyball.

"It was a really good experience," said Karow. "Nobody really knew who we were, so we got our name out there."

The women's volleyball club did not start making arrangements for the tournament until earlier this year. This limited the funds the club could raise for this event.

The club would like to thank Mike and Willy's Sports Cafe, Sears, the Dan'l Boone Inn Restaurant, and the ASU men's ice hockey club, among others, for their help in raising funds and making it possible for the club to attend the national tournament.