Area sports briefs: Smith shines for ASU

Published 12:00 am Monday, October 31, 2011

From staff reports
Appalachian State’s Lauren Smith (Salisbury) shot 77-78-79 — 234 and tied for 12th out of 81 golfers at the Lady Paladin Invitational held in Greenville, S.C.
Smith recorded eight birdies in the tournament and had the best score for the Mountaineers.
Winthrop’s Allison Lee (Salisbury) shot 82-88-88 — 258 and tied for 67th in the Lady Paladin event.
Local golf
Four local golfers players competed in the Western Carolinas Junior Open held at the Salisbury Country Club over the weekend.
Erwin eighth-grader Logan Shuping won the middle school tournament by one stroke with rounds of 79-77 – 156.
Sacred Heart sixth-grader Michael Childress placed fifth in the middle school division with scores of 88-86 — 174.
Davis Richards, a ninth-grader from China Grove, shot 79-75 — 154 and tied for third in the division for freshmen and sophomores.
Salisbury High senior Troy Beaver shot 77-73 — 150 and took second in the division for juniors and seniors.
Catawba athletics
Catawba’s surging volleyball team (18-6, 12-4 SAC) won two more matches on Saturday, including a sweep against league foe Brevard.
Catawba also beat Limestone 3-1. n The Catawba men’s swim team won the Boo Bash Relays at Johnson Pool on Saturday, while the Catawba women finished second to Limestone.
Andrew McCollister (Salisbury) won the 300 breaststroke and helped Catawba win the 1500 free and 400 medley relays.
The Catawba’s men’s soccer team (8-8-2, 3-4-2 SAC) ended the regular season with a 2-1 win at Brevard.
Keith Cooper scored the game-winner in overtime. Domhnall Minogue scored the Indians’ other goal.
Catawba is the No. 6 seed for the SAC tournament and plays at No. 3 Mars Hill in a quarterfinal game on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
The Catawba women’s soccer team (6-10, 4-5) won 2-1 at Brevard on Saturday.
Juliana Conte and Athena Bless tallied for the Indians in a span of 41 seconds. Sydney Robertson assisted on both goals.
Catawba is seeded No. 7 for the SAC tourney and travels to No. 2 Wingate for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday.
Area volleyball
The Cabarrus Stallions varsity volleyball team took third place in the state tournament for home education athletes.
Allie Long, Emily Messisco, and Anna Messisco were named to the all-conference team. Anna Messisco was named MVP for the Western Division of the state-wide conference.
North Iredell’s volleyball team stayed unbeaten with a sweep of West Iredell on Saturday and moved into the 3A West final.
The Raiders (28-0) will be at home against Franklin (23-2). Cardinal Gibbons is squaring off with South Central in the 3A East final.
Prep soccer
The prep soccer playoffs are set to begin this week, with most first-round games on Wednesday.
Pairings hadn’t been announced as of late Sunday night.
Salisbury will be at home in the 2A playoffs against the No. 3 seed from the Rocky River Conference.
In 3A, East Rowan will be on the road at the Southern Carolina No. 1.
East won a play-in game with Carson for the NPC’s No. 4 seed.
Prep tennis
Salisbury (17-1) returns to action in the 2A dual team tennis playoffs this afternoon with a 3 p.m. matchup against the surprising Bunker Hill Bears (16-5).
In the other 2A West third-round matchup, Shelby (17-0) is at home against CCC squad West Davidson (15-6).
A Salisbury-Shelby showdown at Shelby looms as a likely matchup on Wednesday in the West final.
Undefeated First Flight, Cedar Ridge, Carrboro and Greene Central are the 2A teams still alive in the East half of the bracket.
Prep basketball
The Salisbury High varsity boys basketball team will be hosting “Hoops at Coops” this Tuesday from 5-8 p.m. at Coopers, The Gathering Place, located at 122 E. Fisher St.
The goal (pun intended) of the evening is to raise funds to help outfit the team.
Cooper’s will donate a portion of food sales to the Hornet squad, when SHS basketball is mentioned.
Prep cross country
East Rowan’s boys, Gray Stone’s girls and a number of individual qualifiers will head to Kernersville’s Beeson Park on Saturday for the state cross country championships.
Softball tryouts
The Lake Norman Fury girls fast-pitch softball team will hold tryouts for a 10U team on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. Contact Tony Mele at 980-721-7550 or www.lakenormanfury.com for information.