WUSTL Sports Summer in Review

Even with the student body off campus for the summer, there has still been some action involving WUSTL sports teams. We'll get you updated so you can go into the school year knowing what's going on!

Men's Tennis

On May 30th, senior John Watts becomes Wash U's first singles champion by defeating Emory University's Chris Goodwin 6-1, 6-2. Earlier that week, Wash U's Men's Team fell in the National Semifinals to #1 Middlebury, the team that went on to win the title.

Women's Tennis

The Women's team lost to University of Chicago in the third round of the playoffs, failing to upset the team that ended up finishing fourth in the nation. Freshman Kate Klein was named the ITA DIII National Freshman of the Year, the first Bear to ever win that award. Klein lost in the first round of the singles tournament as she faced a tough challenge in the bracket's #5 seed.

Baseball

On May 25th, Coach Ric Lessmann announced his retirement after 17 years as the Bears' head coach and 45 as a collegiate coach. The winningest coach in team history, his decision to retired was based mainly on health reasons. In July, Steve Duncan was hired as the new head coach of the team. He comes from an assistant coaching job at John Hopkins, a team that finished 5th in Division III in 2010.

Women's Soccer

On August 12th, the Women's Soccer team was voted 2nd in the NSCAA pre-season poll. The team finished 2nd in the nation last year after losing to Messiah College in the National Championship game. The Bears are returning 62% of their games started, 57% of their goals, and 64% of their assists.

Men's Soccer

The Men's Soccer team was named the #2 team in the conference by the UAA coaches in their pre-season poll. The team went 9-7-3 last year, ending the season 4th in the UAA with a 3-4-0 conference record. They return 75% of their games started, 52% of their goals scored, and 78% of their assists. While they lost their leading goals scorer, John Hengel ('10), they are returning defenders Harry Beddo and Randall Schoen, who were both first team last year.

Women's Volleyball

Yesterday the Women's Volleyball team, fresh off a National Championship in 2009, received all 24 first-place votes in the AVCA top-25 poll. The team returns five starters, including junior Lauren Budde, the Most Outstanding Player of last year's NCAA tournament and sophomore Kelly Pang, who was named AVCA Freshman of the year. Junior Kristen Thomas and sophomores Marilee Fisher and Drew Hargrave will also return as starters for the Bears, who are in great position to repeat as champs for third time in four years.