University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Asheville Athletics: Top 10 Moments of 2015
12.31.2015 | Baseball, Cross Country, Men's Basketball, Men's Soccer, Men's Tennis, Track and Field, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer, Women's Swimming & Diving, Women's Tennis, Women's Volleyball, Women's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The 2015 calendar year was filled with 12 months of great Bulldog accomplishments on the fields, courts and beyond. The UNC Asheville Athletics Department looks back on the top moments of the last 365 days.
10 – Mike Gore – UNC Asheville Associate Athletic Director for External Affairs Mike Gore retired on April 1. The face of the Athletic Communications Department for 29 years, he was a fixture in the athletic department since 1986 and became the school's latest Bulldog Hall of Fame inductee in a ceremony on October 24. He became the first sole inductee and only the fifth administrator bestowed with the honor.
9 – Cross Country Sweeps Weekly Awards – After a fall season that saw Dominic Collichio and Sarah Heisner emerge as the Bulldogs' lead runners, the pair took home the Big South Conference's men's and women's runners of the week honors on September 22. Heisner finished second and Collichio grabbed third in that weekend's UNC Asheville Invitational to earn the weekly honors.
8 – Courtney Naber's Late-Game Goals – Bulldog sophomore Courtney Naber had a knack for heroics this fall, scoring two game-winning goals in a pair of home victories this season. Her first moment came on September 19 when her Golden Goal in overtime game Asheville a 2-1 victory over USC Upstate before giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 Big South Conference win over Charleston Southern on October 7 with her goal in the 87th minute.
7 – Women's Golf Teeing Off – Director of Athletics Janet R. Cone announced the addition of women's golf on May 11, with the Bulldogs beginning play in the 2016-17 academic year as a member of the Big South Conference. Asheville head coach Breanne Hall announced the inaugural Bulldog women's golf signing class this fall, bringing in four student-athletes - Kellen Alsip, Rebecca Black, Linna Brooks and Erica Olderding – to set the foundation of the new program.
6 – Volleyball Defends Justice – Every team has to defend their home venue to be successful, and the Bulldog volleyball team did just that this fall, tallying a 10-2 record inside the Justice Center – including winning their first seven home matches of the season. Aided by their home mark, Asheville reached the 15 win plateau for the 16th time in the last 22 years after a season that saw them get back into the Big South Conference Tournament after a one year hiatus.
5 – Tennis' Hot Start – The temperatures were still cold outside, but both the Asheville men's and women's tennis teams jumped out of the gates last season, combining to tally a 17-3 record over their first 10 matches each. The Bulldog women won their first six matches on the way to a 12-3 start to their campaign, while the men started 8-2 at the beginning of their season.
4 – Alums Go Pro – A pair of graduates carried the UNC Asheville name beyond their years as Bulldogs, as former baseball player Ryan Dull and former men's basketball player Jaleel Roberts each made their ways to their respective professional leagues. Dull began the whirlwind summer as a Double-A All-Star and was promoted to Triple-A before making his Major League debut on September 1 for the Oakland Athletics. He went on to earn his first MLB victory on September 30. Roberts earned an invitation to the Washington Wizards NBA Summer League roster that competed in Los Vegas before he earned a roster spot with the Wizards' in NBA Training Camp. Roberts appeared in several preseason games before being the team's final cut going into the regular season. Dull is the third former Bulldog baseball player to make it to the Major Leagues, while Roberts was the first Asheville basketball player to participate in both the Summer League and Training Camp with an NBA team.
3 – Swimming Splashes onto the Scene – Competing in their fourth season of existence, the Bulldog women's swimming team became nationally ranked for the first time in program history in the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major poll released on October 13, checking in at No. 40 in the country. Armed with their biggest roster to date and set to graduate their first two four-year competitors in the spring of 2016, Asheville is 3-1 in dual meets and has seen program-best times already this season.
2 – Men's Soccer Upsets Coastal – The 2015 calendar year was a season of change for the Asheville men's soccer team. Mathes Mennell was introduced as head coach on February 5 and the Bulldogs won his debut, a 2-0 victory over USC Upstate on August 28. Mennell's biggest win on his young Asheville resume came on October 11 at Greenwood Field when his Bulldogs upset then-No. 4 Coastal Carolina 3-2. Asheville scored the opening goal of the game in the first five minutes and later took a one-goal lead into halftime after retaking the lead moments before the break. Coastal tied the game a second time early in the second half and the game remained tied for most of the second 45 minutes before Chucka Anayafo's goal with less than eight minutes to play pushed the Bulldogs to the upset.
1 – Women's Basketball's Historic Run – After dropping its first game of the season, the women's basketball team went on a winning streak no one saw coming, rattling off nine straight victories to notch the program's best start in its NCAA Division I Era at 9-1, tying the best start in program history overall with the 1984-85 team that competed at the NAIA level. The nine straight wins by the Bulldogs tied their final win total from the 2014-15 season, a mark they would eclipse on December 29 with a win over Furman. Asheville has mixed in three Big South Conference victories with their early winning streak and will sit in first place in the conference standings when the New Year rings in.
