Women’s Tennis
The ladies are coming off a season that was marred by more rainfall than the Amazon. Coach Eric Berg and the ladies had nearly half of their matches delayed last season, which kept them from getting into a rhythm. Nonetheless, they performed well. Anitra “Nitro” Kloczewiak had another fantastic year as she enters her final season with the Beacons in 2012. Last year’s surprise star Hieu Nguyen is also returning for her senior year, while Sam Counts is coming back for a junior campaign. The ladies open up their home schedule on Sept. 13 against Johnson and Wales at BC High, so make sure to come out and support an up-and-coming Beacons squad that is close to taking it to the next level.
Men’s Soccer
Last season was a rousing success for the guys. The conversation begins with Stefanos Galouzis, who had a fantastic sophomore year with 13 goals and 7 assists. The defense, led by incoming senior goalie Brycen Dowd, was even better, with a stellar 1.06 goals against average and a .780 save percentage. Myles Berry has some fantastic pieces to work with going into 2012, which is guaranteed to be a very competitive season in a loaded LEAC. The guys have enough returning talent to be solid, but the road will be tough. They will have the luxury of a brand new playing surface on the Clark Center field. This is a major turnaround from last season, when the team had no idea where they’d play in 2012 due to campus construction. The new natural surface is one of the best in the conference, and it shores up a field that desperately needed some fixing. The guys begin their home schedule against Suffolk on Sept. 5 at 3:30 p.m.
Women’s Soccer
If you want the definition of a team on the rise, look no further than these lady Beacons. Just four years removed from not winning a single conference game, the ladies went deep into the LEAC tournament last season. Led by the dynamic Ledin sisters, Amy Zombeck’s squad looks to be a serious contender for the 2012 conference crown. Jamie and Krista Ledin exploded onto the scene last year with some serious offensive fireworks. Incoming sophomore Krista scored a ridiculous 23 goals, and Jamie had four assists. Incoming junior Kellie Gomes also had a great year with three goals and an assist. Playing on a better surface should only improve the ladies’ fantastic play from last year. The Beacons will play the first game on the new surface on Sept. 4 at 3:30 p.m. against Eastern Nazarene.
Volleyball
The ladies of the Beacons volleyball squad have been the best team at UMass Boston over the last decade. They are consistently nationally ranked and they make the conference, as well as most other Boston teams, look like high school JV clubs. This year, the Beacons head into the year as the 16th-ranked team in D3. Captain Amber Clemons will lead Coach Terry Condon’s squad through a rigorous schedule thick with tournaments and lengthy road trips, including a season opening venture to California to partake in the Pacific Coast Classic. Senior Shannon Thompson will once again be a make-or-break piece for the Beacons. She already has the UMass Boston career kills record, and is one of the top frontline players in all of D3. The Beacons open up their home schedule on Sept. 11 against Colby Sawyer at 6 p.m.