ASUN Conference

[Matnum PI]

Liberty posting their schedule is like the negative image of the Coronavirus. Someone gets Corona and you ask, Who was in contact with them because they might have it, too. Liberty posts their schedule and you ask, Who is on their schedule because they might be playing a full schedule, too.

https://www.liberty.edu/flames/index.cf ... N=51767958

[Matnum PI]

Currently, it looks like Liberty, Kennesaw, and Jacksonville have started filling their schedules.

https://www.asunsports.org/sports/wlax/2020-21/schedule

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

The teams have yet to release complete schedules including the ooc games but this whets the appetite. Jacksonville vs Coastal Carolina for the ASUN championship? Not a bad bet barring any upstarts upsetting the order of things. (I sure hope we have some upstarts in '22 D1.)



https://asunsports.org/sports/wlax/2021 ... 1207hh6i5i

"ATLANTA, Ga. – The ASUN Conference announced its 2022 Women's Lacrosse schedule on Tuesday, with all six teams slated to face each other beginning Saturday, April 2 and running through Saturday, April 30. This season marks the 10th year of competition in the league.

The opening weekend of the conference slate takes place on April 2 and features Delaware State and Coastal Carolina making their returns to the league with the Hornets hosting Liberty and Chanticleers hosting defending ASUN Champion Jacksonville. Stetson hosts Kennesaw State in the third contest of the day.

The Dolphins host the Owls in JAX's home opener in week two (April 9) while the Flames host the Hatters and Hornets welcome the Chants to Dover. A rematch of the last two ASUN Championship Finals featuring Liberty and Jacksonville is scheduled to take place on April 23 in Lynchburg.

The final week of league play features a 2021 semifinal rematch as the Flames visit the Owls in Kennesaw. The Hornets are on the road at Jacksonville while Coastal heads to DeLand to battle Stetson.

The 2022 edition of the ASUN Conference Championship is set for May 5-7 in Jacksonville.

2022 Women's Lacrosse Schedule Highlights
• A total of 15 league matches, starting April 2 and ending April 30; each team plays the other conference squads once.
• Delaware State and Coastal Carolina make their return to the league in 2022; the two squads meet on April 9 in Dover, Del.
• Jacksonville is seeking its fifth-consecutive league title as the Dolphins' conference slate gets underway at Coastal Carolina.
• The Flames and Owls square off in the final weekend of the season in a rematch of the 2021 ASUN Championship Semifinal.
• Stetson hosts Delaware State on Tuesday, April 19 at 7 PM marking the only scheduled midweek conference matchup."

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

https://goccusports.com/sports/womens-l ... edule/2022

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Rare to see a woman's lacrosse field this unspoiled by other markings. The stadium of the ASUN Kennesaw State Owls down Georgia way.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

https://www.usalaxmagazine.com/college/ ... conference

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

https://twitter.com/iwlca/status/152292 ... 39041?s=21

[hmmm]

https://twitter.com/iwlca/status/152292 ... 39041?s=21

The 4 year transition period is ridiculous. Why are teams that move to D1 banned from competing in the NCAA tournament for 4 years?

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

https://twitter.com/iwlca/status/152292 ... 39041?s=21

The 4 year transition period is ridiculous. Why are teams that move to D1 banned from competing in the NCAA tournament for 4 years?

Sometimes I wonder if the powers that be in the NCAA aren't a group of doddering, senile old buzzards with some of the decisions that get passed down. Remember the pictures of the women's "weight room" that surfaced before last years basketball tournament? Someone in charge made that decision.

[RedFromMI]

https://twitter.com/iwlca/status/152292 ... 39041?s=21

The 4 year transition period is ridiculous. Why are teams that move to D1 banned from competing in the NCAA tournament for 4 years?

It is true for every division transition more or less. Traditionally the team making the transition (who remains a member of their former division for the duration of the transition - why they are ineligible) plays a schedule within their "old" division for two years then transitions to their "new" division schedule in year 3.

This year, it looks like Lindenwood (D2->D1) and Stonehill (D2->D1) are making the transition to a D1 schedule immediately, and some information put out by a baseball reporter pretty much says that Queens is doing the same thing.

When Merrimack announced their D2->D1 transition in 2017 they had just lost the men's lax national championship in an upset to Limestone. They competed the next two full years in D2, and in fact won the D2 men's lax championship those two years before beginning their D1 scheduling starting in Fall of 2019.

[lax410]

I can’t help but wonder what having three of the better quality teams in D2 move to D1 will do to D2. Seems like it gets more and more hollowed out.

[RedFromMI]

I can’t help but wonder what having three of the better quality teams in D2 move to D1 will do to D2. Seems like it gets more and more hollowed out.

They will do fine - the numbers this year is 113 teams, and you are losing three. And only one each from three of the four regions in DII wlax. And all three of these schools moving have been recruiting with promises of D1 in the very near future. That can give them an advantage in getting better athletes to come to a current D2 school if it is shortly going to be competing at D1.

BTW, Queens is making the immediate schedule jump to D1 next school year - the word I have seen is that there are changes in how transitions now occur that make it more advantageous to bump up the schedule right away.

For Lindenwood and Stonehill, who are doing the same thing, the announcement was some time ago. Queens making the decision now puts a lot of pressure on the SAC (Queen's current D2 conference) to remake schedules in a hurry.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Cool picture. I hope Queens does well in D1

[jeremyfallis]

I can’t help but wonder what having three of the better quality teams in D2 move to D1 will do to D2. Seems like it gets more and more hollowed out.

They will do fine - the numbers this year is 113 teams, and you are losing three. And only one each from three of the four regions in DII wlax. And all three of these schools moving have been recruiting with promises of D1 in the very near future. That can give them an advantage in getting better athletes to come to a current D2 school if it is shortly going to be competing at D1.

BTW, Queens is making the immediate schedule jump to D1 next school year - the word I have seen is that there are changes in how transitions now occur that make it more advantageous to bump up the schedule right away.

For Lindenwood and Stonehill, who are doing the same thing, the announcement was some time ago. Queens making the decision now puts a lot of pressure on the SAC (Queen's current D2 conference) to remake schedules in a hurry.

There is also legislation to change the 4-year transitional process to a 2-year process, which seems more fair. The 4-year process existed to make sure schools could actually hit benchmarks in financing, finding a conference, and competitiveness. Now that the mandate is to have conference affiliation before moving up a division, it seems silly to do a 4-year transitional phase. The 2-year phase seems right--it'll still allow schools to transition while every new athlete has a chance to compete for titles, but will prevent the possibility of a rogue "superstar" D-II team from jumping up and snagging a bid out of nowhere, even if they don't meet the other criteria to be D-I, which honestly, is the only thing preventing it from being an immediate jump up.

[cltlax]

Cool picture. I hope Queens does well in D1

That was during the Crown Lacrosse Classic at Memorial Stadium in Charlotte. Great old venue that has recently undergone a major renovation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_ ... al_Stadium

[RedFromMI]

It is now official that Queens will be competing in the ASUN conference for next year:

(ASUN press release)

ASUN Conference Welcomes Queens University of Charlotte as Its Newest Member
ASUN Conference Welcomes Queens University of Charlotte as Its Newest Member
Posted: May 10, 2022


Queens University of Charlotte | Queens Athletics | Follow @QueensAthletics

ATLANTA, Ga. – The ASUN Conference announced today the addition of Queens University of Charlotte into the league after a unanimous vote by the ASUN Presidents' Council. With the introduction of the Royals, the league expands to 14 member institutions as the ASUN extends its footprint back into the State of North Carolina.

Today the ASUN celebrates the arrival of a new member, Queens University of Charlotte," ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart said. "We will have a record-setting 14 members entering 2022-23. That membership strength allows us to be extremely selective in any expansion considerations. Queens University adds value to the ASUN. ASUN membership will add value to Queens University. Today, we join forces as two strong and growing partners making a positive impact on the lives of many young men and women. We both prioritize the student experience, academic success, completing the pursuit of each student's degree and the competitive drive for achievement. We recognize the leadership here at Queens, the vision for growth and the plans for athletics to support the university's mission to serve. The entire ASUN family celebrates together today, including our newest member, Queens University of Charlotte."

"This is a tremendous win for Queens as well as an amazing win for the City of Charlotte," said Queens President Dan Lugo. "We have been deliberate in our efforts over the past several months to get us to this point because we know that aside from our academic excellence, we have the kind of track record capable of competing and winning championships well into the future. It's our time."

"We are thrilled to join the ASUN Conference as we begin to make the transition to NCAA Division I," Queens Director of Athletics Cherie Swarthout said. "The vision of our president and Board of Trustees for the future of Queens, along with our propensity for winning championships, makes our athletic programs a great fit for the ASUN Conference. We are excited to provide our student-athletes this next level of championship opportunities."
What Teams Compete at Queens?
• Baseball
• Men's & Women's Basketball
• Men's & Women's Cross Country
• Men's & Women's Golf
• Men's & Women's Lacrosse
• Men's & Women's Soccer
• Softball
• Men's & Women's Tennis
• Men's & Women's Track & Field
• Volleyball

Enrollment Comparison
• Austin Peay - 11,048
• Bellarmine - 3,293
• Central Arkansas - 11,000
• Eastern Kentucky - 13,327
• FGCU - 15,329
• Kennesaw State - 41,000
• Jacksonville - 4,060
• Jacksonville State - 9,238
• Liberty - 15,000
• Lipscomb - 4,632
• North Alabama - 8,400
• North Florida - 15,944
• Queens - 2,463
• Stetson - 3,125

With the addition of Queens, the league's footprint now encompasses eight states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) and features 13 of the top-80 media markets in the nation and eight of the top-50. Below are select notes on each of the Royals' 19 ASUN programs as they prepare for competition beginning in the 2022-23 school year.

Baseball | Head Coach Ross Steedley
- Queens, who began competing in 2018, has had three players earn SAC All-Conference in team history, including the 2022 pair of Nick Brassington (First Team - OF) and Dillon Lewis (Third Team - OF); the duo joined Noah Jones (Second Team - 1B) from 2019.
- The Royals have won three SAC Player of the Week awards: Nick Brassington 2022 (x2), Mason Pickard (2021); Nick Charleson earned a SAC Pitcher of the Week honor in 2021.
- The club is guided by Ross Steedley who joined the Royals' dugout as head coach on April 16, 2020, after a one-year stint as an assistant coach at fellow ASUN member Jacksonville.

Men's Basketball | Head Coach Grant Leonard
- The Royals have captured a total of eight regular-season conference titles and five conference tournament champions; the 2021-22 season saw Queens win its second SAC Championship.
- Queens has competed in the NCAA Tournament 15 times in the program's history and made its seventh consecutive appearance in 2021-22; the Royals reached the Elite 8 in the 2001 and 2019 tournaments.
- There are 20 members of the Royals' 1,000-points club with current student-athlete Kenny Dye ranking 11th on the list with 1,338; Dye reached the milestone on Dec. 15, 2021, and also has 500 assists in his career.

Women's Basketball | Head Coach Jen Brown
- Queens has gathered 27 All-Conference players dating back to 1995-96 (Stacey Buchannon) and most recently Kalaya Hall in 2021-22; Marissa Hudley made the list four times, including three-straight First Team mentions.
- The Royals took home the regular-season conference championship on the hardwood back in 2000-01 at 23-5 overall, the same year that Jeannie King won her second conference Coach of the Year honor.
- A total of 14 players have reached the 1,000-point plateau for Queens, as Hudley leads the way with 1,825 tallies in 114 games; Kristian Eanes was the latest to reach the milestone in 2021 as she netted 1,032 points.

Men's Cross Country | Women's Cross Country | Head Coach Jake Krolick
- The Men's Cross Country program has collected a total of 10 SAC Runner of the Year accolades, seven Freshman of the Year honors and a total of four Regional Runner of the Year honors in program history.
- The Women's Cross Country program at Queens has collected a total of seven conference championships along with six NCAA Regional Championships in program history
- Combined the Men's and Women's Cross Country programs have made 21 NCAA postseason appearances with both programs placing as high as sixth as a team

Men's Golf | Head Coach Andrew Serketich | Women's Golf | Head Coach Meggan Bunker
- The Men's Golf team at Queens has reached the NCAA Championships as a team five times (2010, 2011, 2014, 2019, 2022) and had a player - Iain Hall - earn a third-place finish as an individual in 2007.
- The Women's Golf program at Queens has collected a trio of conference championships in its history (2012, 2013, 2016) and one Player of the Year in Grace Glaze (2016).
- The Men's and Women's Golf programs have a combined 54 All-Conference selections since the teams began competition in the fall of 2013.

Men's Lacrosse | Head Coach Chris Panos
- Royal Men's Lacrosse has taken home a pair of regular-season championship crowns in 2014 (tournament champions) and 2015; the team has also made two appearances in the NCAA Championship in 2014 and 2019.
- The program has claimed three conference Player of the Year awards by two different players with Stephan LeBlanc winning in 2009 and Garrett Chan earning the honor in 2014 and 2016; Jim Fritz won conference Coach of the Year twice (2010, 2014).
- Queens has had 11 players named All-America in its program history, including starting a season with a pair of student-athletes tabbed Preseason All-Americans in Chan (2015) and Griffin Stechmiller (2019).

Women's Lacrosse | Head Coach Clare Short
- The Women's Lacrosse program is the No. 1 ranked team in the ILWCA Coaches poll entering the conference championship and looking for their eighth-straight title.
- The Royals have earned four trips to the NCAA Tournament (2016-17, 19, 21) advancing to at least the quarterfinal round in every appearance including a Final Four trip in 2019 and the championship game in 2021.
- Ten Royals were selected to the All-Conference Team after the team claimed their seventh regular-season title with a perfect 17-0 (10-0 SAC) record this season.

Men's Soccer| Head Coach Oliver Carias
- The Men's Soccer program has made eight NCAA Championship appearances and advanced to the Elite eight twice ('99 & '06) in program history; The Royals have won six conference tournament titles and 14 regular season titles including the 2018 & '19 seasons.
- Head coach Oliver Carias is the second head coach in program history having served in the role since being promoted in 2011, Carias also played for the Royals from 01-05 leading his team to a 60-10-6 record; Carias was also a member of the Guatemalan National Soccer Team appearing in 57 international games.
- The teams posted a 7-7-2 overall record in 2021, reaching its fifth-straight conference championship tournament.

Women's Soccer | Head Coach Shannon Neely Noel
- This past season marked the third time in program history the Royals have made an appearance in the NCAA tournament as the squad advanced to the second round; the other two appearances came in 2007 (First Round) and 2017 (Second Round).
- The 16 games won by the squad in 2021 marked the most wins in a season by any team in program history while the 14 shutouts also marked the most in Queens (N.C.) program history.
- Queens has posted double-digit win campaigns five out of the last seven seasons while the squad earned their first-ever victory in the NCAA Championship in 2017 defeating UNC Pembroke in overtime.

Softball | Head Coach Stacey Schramm
- The Softball program has advanced to four NCAA Championship appearances (2006, 09-10, 18), winning three conference crowns (06, 09-10) and one regular-season title (06).
- The Royals landed three All-Conference honors and are the #5 seed in the 2022 SAC postseason tournament after posting a 22-20 (15-10 SAC) record.
- Head Coach Stacy Schramm is the winningest coach in Royals program history with a career record of 375-405 and is 181-172 (.513) in the Royals dugout.

Men's Tennis | Head Coach Billy Boykin
- The Men's Tennis program went 15-4 this season and earned a No. 15 ranking in the final week of the season; the Royals won their third championship title this spring and are an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament on May 7.
- The Royals have reached double-digit victories in the last eight seasons winning four regular-season titles; Queens has reached seven NCAA Tournaments including six straight (2016-20, 22).
- Four Royals were selected to the All-Conference Team (Edoardo Bottino, Edoardo Cecere, Win Steveker, Yoan Roussinov) while Bottino was named Player of the Year and Laurenz Blickwede earned Tournament MVP honors.

Women's Tennis | Head Coach Billy Boykin
- The Women's Tennis program is currently ranked No. 9 in ITA polls after winning its third conference title in program history.
- Head Coach Billy Boykin earned his third overall Coach of the Year honor in 2022 (2 Men's, 1 Women's) after guiding the Royals' production of four first-team all-conference selections in Jill Morse, Viktoriaja Veselinova and Hanna Axelsson while Morse and Marie Bertran De Balanda earned first-team Doubles awards.
- The Royals have gone 12 straight seasons posting double-digit victories including a 20-2 finish in the 2009-10 season.

Men's Indoor Track & Field | Women's Indoor Track & Field | Head Coach Jake Krolick
- The Queens Men's Track and Field squad claimed four conference championship titles in program history with the most recent coming this past Indoor season.
- The Royals' Women's Track and Field program has claimed the conference championship crown four times in program history while making 11 appearances in the NCAA postseason
- Combined the Men's and Women's programs have had four individual National Champions with the Men's side earning three and one coming from the Women's program

Men's Outdoor Track & Field | Women's Outdoor Track & Field | Head Coach Jake Krolick
- The Royals' Men's program has claimed two individual national titles with Miachael Crouch (2009) and Ricko Meckes (2019) earning gold in the 1,500m and Javelin Throw, respectively.
- Queens' Women's Track and Field program has claimed the conference title four times in program history while also making individual appearances in the NCAA on 10 different occasions.
- The Men's and Women's programs have combined to earn 11 SAC Track Athlete of the Year honors in program history along with five Field Athlete of the Year accolades.

Volleyball | Head Coach Hannah Long
- The Royals have made four appearances in the NCAA Tournament (2013, 16, 17, 19); the 2016 squad advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of that year's tourney.
- In 2017, the program captured the South Atlantic Conference tournament championship; Head Coach Hannah Long was named the SAC Coach of the Year in 2019.
- There have been 13 First Team All-Conference selections in the history of the Royals program; seven of these accolades have come in Queens' last seven seasons as a member of the SAC.

ASUN Conference, Atlanta, Ga. - the only DI conference headquartered in the ATL, our footprint's primary media, sports, business, transportation and cultural hub
The ASUN, a Division I conference member of the NCAA, boasts a membership of institutions that share visionary leadership, bold ambition and creative innovation. As a nimble adaptive conference, unafraid to blaze a national pathway for better service to our student-athletes, teams, and institutions, the ASUN has a proud history of firsts, national academic and athletic achievements and a conference culture that walks the walk with its four ASUN Beams. Students First! Rise. Connect. Impact. #ASUNBuilt by Bellarmine (Louisville), Central Arkansas (Conway), Eastern Kentucky (Richmond), FGCU (Fort Myers), Jacksonville (Fla.), Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Ala.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville), North Alabama (Florence), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.). Austin Peay, based in Clarksville, Tenn., and Queens, based in Charlotte, N.C., are both set to join the league in the 2022-23 academic year.

[LarryGamLax]

I encourage all of you REAL Lacrosse fans to watch the D2 playoffs. It should be exciting and I would be interested in hearing what you think of this level of Lacrosse. Queens is REALLY good. I don't know if many of you remember when Joe Spallina was at Adelphi? He had teams that would have been in the top 20 easily. The talent was crazy good and if Marissa Mills('12) and Elizabeth Fey('11) had gone to Stony Brook with Joe, SBU would have been top 10 in his first year. Queens has really good talent, but not on the same level as Spallina had going to Stony Brook.
However, I am not going to be surprised if Queens hits the ground running next season in their move to D1.

If you get a chance, check out D2. Good stuff.

[RedFromMI]

I encourage all of you REAL Lacrosse fans to watch the D2 playoffs. It should be exciting and I would be interested in hearing what you think of this level of Lacrosse. Queens is REALLY good. I don't know if many of you remember when Joe Spallina was at Adelphi? He had teams that would have been in the top 20 easily. The talent was crazy good and if Marissa Mills('12) and Elizabeth Fey('11) had gone to Stony Brook with Joe, SBU would have been top 10 in his first year. Queens has really good talent, but not on the same level as Spallina had going to Stony Brook.
However, I am not going to be surprised if Queens hits the ground running next season in their move to D1.

If you get a chance, check out D2. Good stuff.

And the other two wlax teams making the move up to D1 next year will be in the playoffs as well - I believe Lindenwood is the 4th (last) seed in the Midwest region and Stonehill is the 1st seed in the East region. (Queens is the 1st seed in the South region).