Kenny Mann
 Staff Writer

Several of the UNC-Greensboro Spartans sports programs were in action this past weekend. With so many games however, it turned out to be a pretty tough weekend for UNCG with several programs suffering losses.

The UNCG volleyball team dropped a tough one against Chattanooga on Friday Sept. 25. The Spartans fell behind early, dropping as they the lost first two games of the match. But the Blue and Gold did not go down without a fight.

The team was able to force the match to go into four games, before ultimately falling short in the fourth game. A bright spot from the match was that while they did lose the match, the Spartans led in kills (59-55) and digs (96-92).

Following the lost to their conference rival on Friday, the team continued to struggle on  Saturday, as Coach Carlin’s team would lose their second match of the weekend against the Samford University Bulldogs on Saturday.

Though they dropped the match in three sets, the Spartans, again, challenged their Southern Conference (SoCon) rival in the series. In each of the three sets, UNCG lead late, but the Bulldogs rallied back to ultimately take the match (25-22, 28-26, 29-27). The Spartans were highlighted by junior outside hitter, Jessica Brezwyn, who recorded her second double-double in as many matches. She recorded 10 kill and 10 digs against Samford.

Sophomore outside hitter Ashley Muench also stood out against Samford. She lead the match by recording 14 kills and recorded a .229 hitting percentage. In the first set the Spartans trailed 13-9, but rallied back to score 6 of the next 7 points. UNCG took another late lead 19-16 before ultimately dropping the first set by three.

The Spartans lead in the second game as well. They lead early 12-9 and eventually expanded the lead to 18-11. To counter,  the Bulldogs were not to be outdone as they put together a 17-8 run to close out the second set, giving Samford a two games to none lead at the break.

The Bulldogs controlled most of the third set. The Spartans took a late lead 21-19, and the teams battled back and forth to close out the set. The Bulldogs ultimately took the third set 29-27. UNCG will look to bounce back against East Tennessee State University as they play today in Tennessee and return to Fleming Gym to challenge Western Carolina at 7 p.m. this Friday.

The Men’s soccer team, like the volleyball team this past weekend, had a similar fortune as the team; dropped their Saturday match against the West Virginia Mountaineers 1-0. The Spartans played a tough, hard fought match but ultimately came up a little short in the end.

Things turned sour for the Spartans when junior defender Hugo Coicaud picked up a red card at the end of the first half forcing UNCG to play a man down for the remainder of the match. Despite being a man short, the Spartans hung tough and held the Mountaineers scoreless until late in the game.

The Spartans continued to come up with chances. In the 80th minute Freshman Leeroy Maguraushe came within inches of putting UNCG on top. The 84th minute is when the luck ran out for UNCG when Tucker Stephenson of West Virginia scored. The Spartans used 23 men in their final out of conference tune up before beginning Southern Conference play. UNCG will enter conference play with a record of 4-4-1. With out of conference play in the books, UNCG is set to begin conference play. Their first conference match will be against Mercer.

Away from the soccer field and into the running trail, the Spartans cross country team also competed in their third event of the season over the weekend. Participating in the Charlotte Invitational at McAlpine Park, the Women’s team finished in ninth place on Friday. The men’s team finished in sixth place. Individually, in the Men’s 8,000 meter race, Darkarai Shipp finished for the top spot on the men’s team, running a career best 8K of 26:36:0. Ship would finished 15th overall in the race.

On the women’s side, Amy Moret would finish with the best time for the women’s side,  running a time of 26:10:9. In the overall placing of the race, Moret would finish in 41st place. Both teams will hit the trail again this Friday at the Joe Paine Notre Dame Invitational at South Bend, Indiana. The meet begins at 2:00 p.m.