By Tanner Gonder
The week of Feb. 17 was a great one for Southern Virginia Athletics as major accomplishments and awards were presented.
Men’s Volleyball
The Knights defeated number one seeded Juniata within four sets. The Knights claimed the first set with ease but Juniata quickly retaliated claiming the second. The Knights controlled the third set from the start and made it impossible for Juniata to come back. With the Knights needing only one more set to win the match, Juniata threw everything they had at them. But, the Knights withstood their attacks and won the fourth set 31-29.
Christian Sheaffer (25’) also earned AVCA DIII Player of the Week because of his performance against Juniata and Elizabethtown. Sheaffer averaged 5.38 kills per set and 6.3 points per set. Sheaffer is the second player in Southern Virginia history to receive the prize.
Swimming
Both the men and women’s team competed in the Independent South Conference Championship. Both teams worked hard, as the men’s team took home first place (two years in a row) and the women’s team earned second. With these accomplishments, several program and meet records were shattered by Southern Virginia athletes as well. To round out the event, four swimmers from Southern Virginia earned a Swimmer of the Meet award: Kelsie Drennen (23’), Riley Mortensen (26’), Parker Kam (24’), and Caleb Wynn (26’) .
Men’s Basketball
The Knights grounded the Flying Squirrels of Mary Baldwin in the first round of the USA South Conference Tournament. With a 8–0 run after tip-off, the Knights got off to a quick start before the Flying Squirrels had a 10 point run of their own. Toward the end of the first half, the Knights went on another run with 15 more points to gain the lead. Similar to the first, the second half of the game was a back and forth battle. Ultimately, the Knights refused to give in and walked away with the win (77–63).
After their win over Mary Baldwin, the Knights headed to William Peace University to take on the Pacers in the semi-finals of the USA South Conference Tournament. The game was a battle starting from the tip-off. The lead changed back and forth throughout the first half as both teams battled for a chance to be in the championship. With the Knights holding a slight lead into the second half, the game continued to go back and forth up until the last several minutes of the game. From there, the Pacers slid their way to victory (75–68), knocking the Knights out of the USA South Conference Tournament. Malakai Olsen (24’) led the Knights, scoring 29 points in the game. But it wasn’t enough to take home the win.
Women’s Basketball
After finishing the regular season in fourth place, the Lady Knights took on Meredith in the first round of the USA South Conference Tournament. After barely scoring in the first quarter, the Knights outscored Meredith 21-4 in the second quarter. After taking the lead, the Knights continued forward, not letting up throughout the remainder of the game. The final score of the game was 66–41, with Courtney Olsen (24’) finishing the game with a double-double.
Heading to the semi-final round of the USA South Conference Tournament, the Knights traveled to Greensboro to compete against first-seeded Pride. In the first quarter, the Lady Knights outscored Greensboro. After a quick lead from the Knights, Pride answered back with an 8–0 run. From there, the game was back and forth until the final minutes. Ultimately, Greensboro put the game out of reach and ended Southern Virginia’s amazing season. The final score was 76–71 Greensboro.
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