Women’s Soccer

The weekend started good for the women’s soccer team as freshman Becca Gordon scored a goal in the 80th minute to break a 1-1 tie against Northern Illinois University on Friday night.

The success would not continue throughout the weekend as the Zips had trouble from the start on Sunday against Western Michigan and wound up losing 4-0.

On Friday, Gordon registered her first goal as a Zip with just a little over ten minutes to play and the defense made the goal stand for the victory.

The Akron offense started the contest a bit sluggish, but at the 14th minute of the game, the Zips were finally able to get their first shot for an early 1-0 advantage. Junior Sarah Sivic had possession of the ball and drew four defenders to her; she was able to find freshman Rachel Schirripa who sent a shot into the bottom left corner of the net for her first career goal.

For Sivic, who leads the team in scoring, it was her fourth assist on the year to go along with six goals.

The Huskies (2-10-0, 1-4 MAC) tied the game at one in the 23rd minute of the contest on a header by Lauren Gierman. A cross was sent into the box and Gierman was able to get the ball past Annabelle Hegeman.

On Sunday, the offensive woes continued as the Zips were only able to muster up four shots, including three on goal, for the match against the Broncos.

“Just one of those games we did not play well at all and we just forget about now. We have to put it behind us and look to the next game,” said Akron (5-8-1, 2-4) Head Coach Noreen Herlihy. “It is as simple as that.”

The Broncos (7-3-3, 4-1-1 MAC) scored twice in the first half and twice in the last ten minutes of the match to provide the final score.

Women’s Tennis

The University of Akron women’s tennis team won three of the four singles matches on the last day of the UB Invitational in Buffalo, New York.

In singles, Sophia Geier posted a 7-5, 6-2 win in the consolations finals of flight A. In flight B singles, Luisa Echeverry took down her opponent, 7-5, 4-6, 10-7, while Waverly Wituski claimed a 6-3, 6-0 victory in flight D singles. Carla Flores fell 6-1, 6-1 in flight C after winning 6-4, 7-5, on day two of the invite.

On the doubles court, the Zips team of Geier and Flores fell 6-0 before bouncing back and winning, 7-6 (3), for third place. Echeverry and Wituski dropped a 6-4 decision in the consolation final.

“As with each tournament that we have played this fall, we continue to improve as the tournament goes on,” said Head Coach Brandon Padgett. “Picking up three wins in four matches on the final day, once again showed that this team is willing to work hard and persevere. We must now focus our efforts on starting stronger.”

Women’s Volleyball

The University of Akron women’s volleyball team was looking to feast on some home cooking this weekend, but were unable to take advantage of being home.

On Friday the Zips fell to Ohio, 25-22, 25-18, 25-16, at James A. Rhodes Arena. The Bobcats improved to 15-3 overall and 5-0 in the Mid-American Conference.

Dragana Micic posted eight kills while Amanda Bedell added six of her own. Karley Kusan dished out 23 assists and added seven digs for the Zips in the effort, while Brenna Mack led the defensive push with 10 digs.

The next night, the Zips (7-12, 1-5 MAC) fell in straight sets to Kent State, 16-25, 16-25, 20-25, as Kelsey Wilson recorded a match-high 11 kills. Kusan tallied 31 assists and seven digs while Mack tallied a team-best 12 digs for the Zips.

Akron could not stop the long runs of scoring that the Golden Flashes (10-8, 4-2 MAC) would put together.

Rifle

The No. 16 Akron rifle team set a new school record in the Air Rifle competition, but the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats outshot the Zips 4,666 to 4,618 this past Saturday.

Zachary Strohl took second place in the Air Rifle competition (591). Along with Strohl, Julia Hatch’s 587, Connor O’Mara’s 584, and Joshua Kovach’s 582 all contributed towards setting the Zips new record in the Air Rifle of 2,344 out of a possible 2,400.

“Excellent,” said Head Coach Newt Engle. “The team’s hard work is what makes days like this possible. I am very proud of them.”

In the Smallbore competition, Kentucky took the top four scores. Akron’s Hatch and Caleb Lloyd were the top two shooters for the Zips finishing in fifth and sixth place with a score of 574 apiece.

Women’s Golf

After posting scores of 300 and 299 in the first two rounds of the 2015 MAC Fall Preview, the Akron women’s golf team found themselves one shot behind leaders and host Eastern Michigan University.

However, the Zips struggled in the final round before finally posting the score of 313 and finishing in fourth place behind eventual winner, Toledo.

The first two rounds were highlighted by Frida Fougberg, who set the program’s new record for lowest round with a 69 (-3). That bested her previous record of 70 which she had done seven times before.

Her second round score of even par 72 gave her a two-round total of 141 (-3), which is three strokes better than the previous mark of 144 set by Kristen Hill and current team member, Danielle Nicholson.

Fougberg’s final round of 80 (+8) was still good enough to earn her the top spot for individual score for the tournament with a 221 (+5). Nicholson had rounds of 76, 74, and 74 (224) to tie for fifth place overall as an individual.

“We handled the first round well, but I was impressed with how well we adjusted to the second round’s change of weather conditions,” Head Coach Jenny King said. “The winds picked up and became steady, and we made good decisions that led to good scores.”