Sports

The Luther College baseball team posted its first conference win of the season April 8 here in Decorah. The Norse defeated the Duhawks of Loras College 4-1 and are now 1-6 in league play, 12-10 overall. Loras fell to 1-3, 6-11 overall.

Playing in the Midwest for the first time in over a month, Norse men’s tennis (23-7) had three victories during back-to-back day matches.

After winning eight of ten matches in Florida and Texas, the team finally returned home to take on conference rival Coe at home on April 10 before traveling that night to prep for matches against St. Scholastica (Minn.) and St. Thomas (Minn.) April 11.

Luther College Director of Athletics Joe Thompson has announced that Russell

Schouweiler has accepted the position as head coach of women’s soccer.

Schouweiler, a 2005 graduate of Luther College, takes over the Norse program after serving two years as an assistant women’s soccer coach at Macalester College, St. Paul, Minn., one of the top women’s programs in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. During this time, the Scots secured a spot in the four-team MIAC playoffs and also qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament in 2009, advancing to the second round.

It couldn’t have been scripted any better when the University of Northern Iowa faced Kansas in the second round of March’s NCAA Tournament.

In a game that wasn’t supposed to be close, UNI enjoyed a large lead for most of the game before Kansas, the number one team in the Nation and trendy pick to win the championship, staged a late comeback, closing the lead to one with just over 40 seconds to play.

The Luther College baseball team dropped a 13-9 decision to Buena Vista University in Decorah, April 2.

Luther was trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the first, with runners on first and second, when the rain came down and forced a delay of over an hour. When action resumed, Luther tied the game, with Mark Weber (‘10) hitting a triple to the right-center field gap, scoring two runs.

The Luther College men’s tennis team traveled to Tyler, Texas and played three matches at the University of Texas-Tyler Friday and Saturday, April 2-3. Two of the teams, Trinity University (Tex.) and UT-Tyler, were nationally ranked at #16 and #30 respectively.

Amid rumors of moves to Auburn and most recently Oregon, Minnesota Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith hasn’t stopped recruiting.

Men’s tennis is heading to Orlando to face some of the best teams in the nation.

March 21-28, the team will play opposite of five teams, including in-state rival Grinell.

The Norse will also take on North Central College (Ill.), Colby College (Maine), Calvin College (Mich.) and Olgethorpe University (Ga.).

Luther’s mens golf team is heading to Orlando, Fla. March 20-27 for a week-long trip to Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge and “couldn’t be more pumped about it,” according to their online blog.

As the team has been waiting for Decorah’s course to thaw, they’ve been working hard indoors and taking lessons in preperation for the spring season, according to their blog.

The women’s tennis tennis team is looking forward to their annual spring break trip to Florida, where they will stay and compete in Orlando. The women will play in six matches.

Coach Huinker, one of the winningest coaches at Luther, hopes to balance good competition while also having fun.

“We want to come back undefeated and closer as a team,” he said.

The baseball team is heading to Winter Haven, Fla. for spring break where they will compete in nine games.

Thirty players, chosen by Coach Gillogly, are traveling along with coaches and an athletic trainer.

The Luther women’s golf team is gearing up for their spring break trip to Rio Verde, a northeast suburb of Phoenix, Ariz. Representing the team are five women: Kate Traxler (‘13), Trinda Phelon (‘13), Taylor Thoreson (‘13), Kelsey Hunerdosse (‘12), and Krista Gulstrand (‘11). They will leave campus March 19 and return on March 25.

Scott Sundstrom (‘12) is a king—at least that is what his tennis teammates think.

The standout singles player is currently ranked 24th in the nation and sixth in the region, and after an impressive weekend, those numbers are only expected to rise.

Men’s tennis played the toughest stretch of their schedule March 5-6 as they faced two top-20 teams, University of Chicago and DePauw (Ill.) in Greencastle, Ind., followed by St. Norbert’s (Wisc.) and UW-La Crosse.

March 5, the Norse fell to University of Chicago 1-8. Scott Sundstrom (‘12) posted the only victory beating nationally ranked William Zhang 6-4, 4-6, 11-9.

Former University of Iowa Coach Cindy Fredrick was named the Luther Head Volleyball Coach. After coaching at the Division I level for 24 years, Luther might seem like a step down. However, Fredrick is excited for her new position.