After an exciting 2006 season, the fall sports teams are looking to improve upon last year. It won’t be easy, as some teams lost some of its top players.

The football team is coming off a 5-6 season, flirting with the possibility of finishing with a winning record for the first time since Elon joined the Southern Conference. Head coach Pete Lembo was proud of his team, but said last year that the Phoenix is in a rebuilding process that will take a few years.

That rebuilding process may be set back a year because last year’s starting quarterback Wes Pope, who threw for 2,572 yards and 16 touchdowns last year, is not eligible to play this season because of an academic violation in the spring. Pope set single season records in pass attempts, completions and passing yards in Lembo’s first season as head coach.

Donny Kirby, who was red-shirted last year, is considered the No. 1 quarterback but will have to compete with true freshman Scott Riddle.

“We don’t have a starting quarterback right now,” Lembo said. “Both have been getting a lot of reps in practice and we hope to have one by the weekend.”

The defense will also have a large hole to fill. Linebacker Chad Nkang, two-time Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year, was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Team captains safety senior Chris Bland and cornerback senior Irvin Raglin need to step up and anchor the Phoenix defense.

The men’s soccer team, which at one point last season was ranked in the top 25, will have holes to fill as it lost two leading scorers from last year.

Forward Kiki Willis signed a developmental contract with D.C. United of MLS last spring, ending his Elon career two years early, while forward Nick Aparicio decided not to return to Elon after a successful freshman year.

Players like senior Brett Paschall and sophomore Justin Wyatt will have to step up as the leading scorers, but head coach Darren Powell doesn’t think any one player will provide the offense Willis and Aparicio did.

“Several guys are going to step up this season and each game,” Powell said. “You won’t see one individual dominating this team, which is healthy and makes us harder to play against.”

The women’s soccer team will open the season with a tough non-conference schedule, hosting Central Michigan on Aug. 31, and matches against Duke and Virginia Tech. Head coach Chris Webb said that the difficult early schedule should help the team prepare for when SoCon play begins.

The Phoenix lost leading scorer Alysa Petitt, but midfielder junior Katina Boozer and forward sophomore Molly Calpin are returning. They were the second and third leading scorers last season.

Both the men’s and women’s golf teams are ranked in the top 100 of the 2007-08 edition of Golf Digest. The women’s team, which finished fifth in the SoCon Championship last spring, will be lead by senior Samantha Widmer and junior Danielle Mills, both selected to All-Conference team last spring.

The men, who finished third at the SoCon Championship last spring, are prepared to have a great fall. Senior Jimmy Lyrtle was one of 312 players in the country that played in the U.S. Amateur Championship last week. Sophomore Philip Bartholomew, who walked onto the team last year and competed in nine tournaments with the team. He also won the Philadelphia Amateur Championship in the first week of July.

Youth and potential: two words to describe the men’s cross country team. The team is made up of six underclassmen that could help the team grow for the upcoming years. The leadership to this young team will come from seniors Eric and Justin Garren.

On the women’s side, there are two potential All-Conference runners in junior Anna Mae Flynn and sophomore Caitlin Beeler. Flynn was a SoCon Runner of the Week last season, and Beller was named Freshman of the Year and set a school record after finishing the league championship with a time of 17:59.47.

The volleyball team is set to have a good season. The team returns with its leader in kills per game last season, senior Britany Westphal. Starting setter senior Natalie Moore and middle senior blocker Emily Lucci also return to provide leadership to the team.

“We’re a very balanced team,” head coach Mary Tendler said. “There are a lot of people we can get to step up.”

With the leadership of the seniors and the addition of five new players, the volleyball team could make a deep run in the SoCon playoffs.

Sports Editor: Jeff Rickel - 08/24/07