Softball
Since being voted Big East preseason favorites, softball has gotten off to a strong start with an 11-4 record.
At the College of Charleston Classic, the Blue Demons went 4-1 from Feb. 14- 16 and had two shutouts on the weekend. They blanked Ole Miss and Fordham in 3-0 and 8-0 routs.
The following weekend, DePaul won their first four games at the NFCA leadoff in Clearwater, Fla., but lost 3-1 in the team’s last game against James Madison.
Junior Mary Connolly leads the team with four homeruns. Nicole Pihl was recognized as the Big East player of the week on Feb. 24.
Women’s Tennis
Women’s tennis is on an 12-game win streak and is ranked No. 37 in the nation. Even more impressive, DePaul has beaten three top 100 ranked teams during that stretch.
DePaul (13-1) earned victories over No. 25 TCU, No. 61 Louisville and No. 72 Oregon. Against TCU, the Blue Demons swept the Horned Frogs, 4-0. On Feb. 1, the Blue Demons knocked off Louisville, 6-1.
Oregon provided more of a challenge, stretching DePaul to a 4-3 victory. Kelsey Lawson edged the Ducks’ Marlou Kluiving 7-6, 7-5 to keep the Blue Demons’ winning streak alive.
Lawson is 18-8 in matches this year. Zaina Sufi leads the team with a 22-5 record.
Soccer
The men’s spring session began March 1, but in the meantime the team handed out awards following their fall season.
Junior Art Garza earned the team’s Offensive Award for leading the team with four goals, three assists and 11 points. Garza made the switch to forward this season after being a defender for his first two years.
Eric Sorby, DePaul’s senior captain, was rewarded the defensive award for being among the top five in total saves for most of the season.
The Blue Demons finished 5-11-2 and 1-7-1 in the Big East.
Track and Field
At the Big East Indoor Championships in Armory, N.Y. on Feb. 21-22, the men’s Track and Field team took third place and the women’s team placed fifth.
The men’s team earned their best finish in school history with 128 points. Matt Babicz won his first Big East indoor career championship in shot put. Xavier Jones (60-meter dash) and Tonderai Tomu (200-yard dash) also placed first in individuals.
On the women’s side, Sarah Moss registered a throw of 13.97 meters and took first in shot put. The women’s team finished with 90 points total.
Track and Field gets a two week break before they next compete in the NCAA indoor championships on March 14 in Albuquerque.
