The Monarchists

ODU Sports Round Up – November 15th

Gary Williams

Volleyball heads to the Sun Belt Tournament, Tennis has two nationally ranked doubles tandems and Sailing competes at the Singlehanded National Championships. We also recap Women’s Soccer and Field Hockey in the NCAA Tournament. Get caught up on all things ODU Athletics.

Volleyball (14-16 / 6-10 Sun Belt)

The Monarchs wrapped up their regular season with a series split at Southern Miss. ODU took the first contest 3-1 and fell in the second 1-3.

With the win over Southern Miss, Old Dominion set a new program record for wins in a season with 14. Additionally, Myah Conway became the first player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills. For the second year in a row, Conway was named First Team All-Sun Belt this week.

 

ODU begins Sun Belt Conference Tournament play on Thursday when they line up with Louisiana at 2:30pm. The tournament is held at the Foley Events Center in Foley, Alabama, and ESPN+ will carry all of the matchups. So clear your afternoon calendars and tune in to support Volleyball.

The Monarchs are the 5th seed out of the eastern division while the Ragin Cajuns represent the west as the 4th seed. For a look at the full bracket and other key information, please visit Championship Central.

Men’s Tennis

Connor van Schalkwyk and Codie van Schalkwyk are ranked 6th nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association following the Fall season. The brotherly duo went 7-2 this fall with wins over #7 TCU and #19 Pepperdine.

Joining the van Schalkwyk’s in the national rankings are Cosme Rolland De Ravel and Jakob Cadonau. The duo are ranked 33rd by the ITA. Later this week, Mike and Aaron will sit down with Coach Mueller to discuss the program, so keep an eye out for that episode in the near future.

Sailing

Gianna Dewey represented ODU in the Singlehanded National Championships at Tulane over the weekend. Dewey placed 14th out of 18 competitors and is the second Monarch in as many years to compete in the National Championships.

Women’s Soccer (13-3-5 / 5-2-3 SBC)

The Monarchs suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss to Georgetown in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday. ODU controlled the first half but just failed to convert several scoring opportunities. But five minutes before halftime, Ashlynn Kulha headed in a free kick from Anna Torslov to put ODU ahead 1-0.

Ashlynn Kulha put the Monarchs on the board. Photo Courtesy of CB Sports Photography

Georgetown came out in the second half with much more offensive pressure, outshooting Old Dominion 12-0 for the half. The Hoyas finally broke through with a goal in the 72nd minute and hit what would be the game winning goal in the 99th minute.

ODU gave Georgetown all they could handle and put up a strong defensive effort. In the first half, Emily Bredek defended three consecutive corner kicks with exceptional saves, she finished with seven for the match.

Women’s Soccer has an enhancement fund open for fans to help support the three time champions continue their success.

Field Hockey (14-6 / 6-1 Big East)

ODU Field Hockey fell 3-0 to #4 Maryland in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The Terrapins took advantage of their penalty corners, converting two of their three into goals. Conversely, the Monarchs were unable to break through with their five attempts.

Maryland’s defensive reputation lived up to the hype, making many strong defensive plays to keep ODU off the board. The draw was a tough one, traveling to #4, but the final score doesn’t tell the full story of how closely played this game was.

Field Hockey also has an enhancement fund open for fans to help support the program. Head Coach Andrew Griffiths met with us last week and explained that money will go towards a few different items including video review capabilities and purchasing multiple fixed cameras with video playback. Field and locker room enhancements to display updated signage and branding are also top of the list.