Both the Men's & Women's teams fall short in HCAC tourney
Calvin Saulman
Issue date: 3/9/10 Section: Sports
The basketball season at Hanover College came to end for both teams. After stellar finishes during the regular season, with the men finishing second and the women third in the conference, both teams came up short in the HCAC tournament. The men lost to eventually HCAC champs, Defiance and the women lost to Franklin in the championship game. However, both teams had plenty of excitement, records set and personal achievements reached during their outstanding seasons.
Hanover Women:
Going into the season, the women's team was picked as favorites to win the conference but hit a few speed bumps during conference play and finished third in the conference at the end of the season. Still determined to win the conference tournament and receive an automatic bid for the first time since 1997, the women fought all the way to final game but came up short against Franklin. During the game, center, Molly Martin became the all time leading rebounder in school history. She was later named the MVP of the HCAC tournament. " The tournament loss was very hard to take, but overall the season went well. We won 20 games breaking the previous record of 18 set last year," said Coach Jones about the loss and how the season went.
Each year this team seems to get better and with all players returning next year, the sky seems to be the limit. So, when asked about next year and if they are excited, Coach Jones said, "Yes, we are excited about next season. Obviously our expectations will be high - this team wants to win the conference tournament and play in the national tournament." Next year should be an exciting year as the women will return five seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and some incoming freshman.
Hanover Men:
The men's team didn't receive much love in the preseason voting, as they were picked to finish fourth. With all four losses in the first half of the year and a nine game win streak to close out the season, the men's team ended up finishing second in the HCAC conference. After receiving a first round bye in the HCAC tournament, the men's team couldn't keep the momentum rolling and lost to Defiance in the semi-finals. Even though they lost, Coach Miller was still happy with how the season went overall. "I was pleased with how our team progressed over the course of the season. We talk a lot about trying to get better each day and I think we were able to do that for the most part. I am not sure many people outside of our own team would have picked us to finish second in our league so I think we exceeded most people's expectations," said Coach Miller.
Hanover Women:
Going into the season, the women's team was picked as favorites to win the conference but hit a few speed bumps during conference play and finished third in the conference at the end of the season. Still determined to win the conference tournament and receive an automatic bid for the first time since 1997, the women fought all the way to final game but came up short against Franklin. During the game, center, Molly Martin became the all time leading rebounder in school history. She was later named the MVP of the HCAC tournament. " The tournament loss was very hard to take, but overall the season went well. We won 20 games breaking the previous record of 18 set last year," said Coach Jones about the loss and how the season went.
Each year this team seems to get better and with all players returning next year, the sky seems to be the limit. So, when asked about next year and if they are excited, Coach Jones said, "Yes, we are excited about next season. Obviously our expectations will be high - this team wants to win the conference tournament and play in the national tournament." Next year should be an exciting year as the women will return five seniors, three juniors, five sophomores and some incoming freshman.
Hanover Men:
The men's team didn't receive much love in the preseason voting, as they were picked to finish fourth. With all four losses in the first half of the year and a nine game win streak to close out the season, the men's team ended up finishing second in the HCAC conference. After receiving a first round bye in the HCAC tournament, the men's team couldn't keep the momentum rolling and lost to Defiance in the semi-finals. Even though they lost, Coach Miller was still happy with how the season went overall. "I was pleased with how our team progressed over the course of the season. We talk a lot about trying to get better each day and I think we were able to do that for the most part. I am not sure many people outside of our own team would have picked us to finish second in our league so I think we exceeded most people's expectations," said Coach Miller.
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