The end of the spring semester means one thing, Conference Tournament time for FAU spring sports. Starting April 15, tourney time is here and FAU teams are gearing up for the competition. Any tournament win for an FAU team will give them the automatic Atlantic Sun Conference bid to the NCAA tournament.
FAU baseball is currently in the exact same situation as they were in last season as far as team record and conference placement goes. “If you look at us right now we are a little disappointed about some conference losses,” commented head coach Kevin Cooney. “But when you look at last season we can be optimistic.” The team is currently 19-13 overall with a Conference record of 7-8. Even with the teams somewhat disappointing record, especially in the conference, the team does not have to panic. Last season the team carried a lower record into the A-Sun Tournament and came out the winners of the tourney and continued onto Regional play.
FAU softball has been playing well recently, reaching the .500 mark for the first time this season as well as Coach Joan Joyce’s 500th career win. The team is currently 28-26 overall and second place in the A-Sun Conference with a record of 8-2. “I feel like we turned the corner a little bit,” says Joyce of her team’s recent success. “I feel our season schedule has been very, very tough. But we are starting to play well.” The team went into the conference tourney last year as a number two seed and ended up winning the tournament. So Coach Joyce is not worried about how well her team can do in the tournament. “It seems like the team always rises to the occasion,” says Joyce.
Coach Joan Joyce is also head coach of the Lady Owls golf team and is preparing for their conference tournament. Joyce is confident in her golfers stating, “I feel like we have four players who can contend with the competition. So do we have a chance absolutely.” FAU heads into the conference tournament behind freshman June Bolme who is currently on a hot streak. The FAU men’s team is heading towards an A-Sun tournament as well, which starts on April 18, behind the play of Junior Kevin Clark.
Track coach Alex Smolka has a lot to smile about with his team this season. His team has done very well individually and as a team. “So far we have had a successful season,” remarks Smolka about the team. “I’m hoping to finish in the top three as a team. I think in individual events we can have some conference champions.” Smolka feels that one of the runners that has the best chance to win is hurdler Yanique Booth. “Yanique Booth has a great chance to win the hurdles,” says Smolka.
The FAU tennis squads are also heading towards the A-Sun tournament. The men’s team is heading into the tournament as the 6th seed out of 11 teams. The women’s team is heading into their tournament as the number 4 seed in the conference. The men start their tournament on April 14, while the women start theirs on April 15.
All the players and coaches agree that there’s nothing like fan support to give them the extra juice they need to come through when it counts. So check www.fausports.collegesports.com for game times and I’ll see you there.
