Away Game Briefs

Swimming & Diving

On Saturday, sophomore Machika Kaku competed in the NCAA Zone 4 Regional in an effort to join many of her fellow Tartans at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Kaku placed fourth overall with a score of 398.60 in the one-meter dive. Her finish in the top seven guaranteed that she will compete at the national meet in Shenandoah, Texas March 18-21.

Also competing for Carnegie Mellon will be senior Josh Lucheon, sophomore Sivan Mehta, and first-years Matthew Chu and Kevin Steinhouse for the men. They qualified in the 200-yard medley relay and will also compete together in the 400-yard medley and 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays. Individually, Mehta will compete in the 100-yard butterfly, Chu in 100-yard breaststroke and Steinhouse in the 50-yard freestyle.

For the women, junior Kira Singhaus, sophomores Allison Kirkby and Gillian Crews, and first-year Kim Hochstedler were invited based on their 400-yard medley relay. As with the men, the four will also compete in the 200-yard medley, and 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays. Crews was also invited based on her 100-yard butterfly and will also compete in the 200-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle. Singhaus will compete in the 200-yard backstroke and Hochstedler will compete individually in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes.

Women’s Tennis

This weekend, the seventh ranked Carnegie Mellon women’s tennis team traveled to DePauw University for the 2015 ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

In the quarterfinals on Friday, the Tartans faced off against the 20th ranked Washington and Lee University. To start off the match, Carnegie Mellon took the quick 2-1 lead in doubles with sophomore Vanessa Pavia and first-year Stacy Chang winning 8-3, while senior Bryn Raschke and first-year Cori Sidell required a tiebreaker before finally pulling out the victory 9-8(8-6).

In singles play, the Tartans struggled a bit more and split the matches 3-3 but took the match 5-4 due to their earlier doubles victory. Pavia and sophomore Nicolle Torres each won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 and 7-5, 7-5 respectively, with the final victory coming from Raschke, who pulled out the three set victory 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to put the Tartans in the semifinals.

Saturday, Carnegie Mellon faced off against eighth ranked conference rival Washington University of St. Louis. Following the blueprint they set out against Washington and Lee, the Tartans took another quick 2-1 lead in doubles play with identical wins as before. Pavia and Chang won 8-3 again, while Raschke and Sidell needed a tiebreaker to win 9-8(8-6).

Again following the Friday gameplan, the Tartans split singles play 3-3. Torres again won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 this time while junior Brooke Tsu took the other straight set victory for the Tartans 6-2, 6-1. Playing the role of final point, Chang won her match in three sets, 6-4, 6-7(1-7), 6-0 to push the Tartans into the final against fourth ranked Johns Hopkins University. The two teams had faced off in these finals the previous two years, with Johns Hopkins winning both.

The Tartans looked like they were going to get the early edge in doubles with Sidell and Raschke winning 8-4 and Chang and Pavia up, but a comeback by Johns Hopkins to down Carnegie Mellon 7-9 and another loss left the Tartans in a 1-2 hole headed into singles play. There it also looked like the Tartans had a chance to retake the lead after senior Angela Pratt won her match in straight sets 6-4, 7-6, but Pavia and Torres both dropped their second sets and lost the tiebreakers to lose, 6-1, 1-6, 6-7 for Pavia and 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 for Torres. From there the Tartans couldn’t comeback dropping one more match before Johns Hopkins had it wrapped up for their third straight title defeat over Carnegie Mellon, 6-3 after a garbage time win by Raschke.

The Tartans next play on their spring break trip to California.

Women’s Basketball

With the chance for a winning season on the line, the Carnegie Mellon women’s basketball team faced off against Case Western Reserve University in their season finale on Saturday.

Starting off cold, the Tartans quickly fell behind 13-0 before the offense clicked into gear by being more aggressive and drawing several fouls and getting into their rhythm from the charity stripe. Through the rest of the half, Carnegie Mellon and the Spartans played very evenly, but the early Case Western lead remained ever present with the Tartans going into half time down 31-40.

The start of the second half was the antithesis of the first for Carnegie Mellon as they came out hot and quickly cut the lead to two in just over three minutes. This burst of energy was just that though, a burst and the Tartans quickly fell behind by double digits again. Carnegie Mellon tried to mount a handful of comeback runs, but they were unable to string together enough defensive stops to cut the deficit in any meaningful way. Down the stretch, Case Western hit nearly all their free throws as the Tartans tried to stop the clock and quickly ballooned their lead to nearly 20 points before it settled at the final tally of 66-82.

While the season ended on a down note for the Tartans, sophomore Lisa Murphy has a lot to be proud of as she finished with 29 points in the game and became the second ever Tartans to average a double-double across an entire season with 20.2 points and 10.2 rebounds.

The loss dropped the Tartans to 12-13 for the season and 3-11 in University Athletic Association (UAA) play.

Men’s Basketball

In their season finale, the Carnegie Mellon men’s basketball team wanted to finish on a high after already clinching their first winning season since 2009 the previous weekend. Facing UAA rival Case Western on Saturday, the Tartans put the cherry on top of their good season while setting up momentum for the future with an 82–71 victory over the Spartans.

The game started with a clear emphasis on defense as the opening minutes saw blocks by both teams and tough interior defense forcing several missed jump shots by both teams. A jump shot by senior Jasen Blakney exactly half way through the period tied the game up at 16 as the teams continued to battle back and forth. A pair of baskets by sophomore Chris Shkil followed by a successful shot and free throw by senior Seth Cordts gave the Tartans a lead they would never relinquish with just under 5 minutes to go in the first half. Carnegie Mellon went into half up 7, 35–28.

Out of the half, Case Western cut the lead back down to one in the opening minute before Cordts hit a quick layup and three pointer to give the Tartans back some breathing room. Both teams picked up their pace and their shooting percentages as the previously defensive game transformed into a shootout. Thankfully, the Tartans got to do most of their shooting from the free throw line as Case Western tried to mount a comeback, and were able to push their lead to double digits with the final set of free throws by Blakney to get the final score of 82–71.

The win makes the Tartans 14–11 for the season and 5–9 in UAA play.

Track & Field

This weekend, the Carnegie Mellon men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the UAA Indoor Championship hosted by University of Chicago. Although both teams placed fifth in the field of seven, several individuals of both genders had outstanding days.

Senior Sasha Spalding had a busy weekend competing in several track and field events. In the 60-meter she placed third during prelims but fell to fifth during the finals heat. Spalding also competed in the 200-meter dash, where she finished fourth in the finals heat.

In the distance medley, the Carnegie Mellon A squad of senior Sara Kelly, first year Sarah Cook, sophomore Ariel Tian, and senior Erin Kiekhaefer placed fourth.

On the field side, sophomore Rebecca Fortner placed fourth for the Tartans in the high jump while Spalding placed second.

For the men, their distance domination continued with senior Thomas Vandenberg again winning the 800-meter run. Sophomore Owen Norley won the one-mile run and senior George Degen rounded out the success with second place in the 3000-meter run.

The Tartans also won the distance medley with junior Marc-Daniel Julien, sophomore Nathan Willis Vandenberg and Norley combining for a time of 10:06.75. The field events were tough for the Tartans with no top five finishes in any event for the men.

The next chance to compete for both teams will be the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13 and 14, where some individuals may be invited based on their top times throughout the season.