Sophomore defensive end Alex Smith (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville High) put the final nail in RPI's coffin when he intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown with 6:38 left to play in the fourth quarter on October 12. The touchdown was the first of his11-year football career.
Not only did his return bring “THE SHOES” back to Union, it helped Smith earn UCAA “Defensive Player of the Week.”
Alex, who had seven total tackles, including two quarterback sacks in the Dutchmen's 32-14 victory, also knocked down a pass.
Smith, who goes into the game with Coast Guard sixth on the Dutchmen's tackle chart with 26, also leads Union with his three quarterback sacks.
Protecting Smith's blind side is senior defensive tackle Dan Croce (51).
Junior defensive player Victoria Kuzman (20 in Garnet) was named the UCAA “Player of the Week” after helping the Dutchwomen capture a pair of 1-0 victories over UCAA rivals Hamilton and William Smith, respectively.
Vicki became the fourth Dutchwomen to capture “Player of the Week” honors so far this season. Goaltender Carolyn Stead, Alaina LaRocca, and Brittany Cressman were the other three.
Kuzman (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland), who has been a starter since the first game of her freshman season, is expected to play basketball once the soccer season is over. The twin shutouts of Union's league rivals kept the Dutchwomen in the hunt for the opportunity to host the season-ending UCAA Championship Tournament. The winner of the regular-season will host the four-team event while tournament champion will capture the league's automatic bid to the NCAA's Championship Tournament. Union has been in the NCAA tournament each of the last three years.
Junior Lauren Stellato became just the second Dutchwoman to win the state's No. 1 singles crown. Julie Miller (Class of '84) first did it in 1983.
Junior co-captain Lauren Stellato became the first Dutchwoman since 1983 to win the New York States No. 1 Singles Championship when she defeated Vassar's Becky Weldon, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. Her success enabled the Dutchwomen finish their season with a third-place finish out of the 16 participating teams.
Stellato, who came to Union from Friends Academy, became just the fourth Dutchwoman to win a New York State singles championship, and just the second to win the crown out of the No. 1 position. Julie Miller (Class of 1984) was the first Dutchwomen ever to win a New York State singles title, and she did it out of the No. 1 position in 1983.
Miller's state crown was followed by Amy Kessinger, out of the No. 4 position
in 1994, and by Susan Yoo, who captured the third singles title in 1999.
Stellato, who is now 19-3 this season and 56-11 for her three-year career at
Union (all out of the No. 1 position), had lost to Weldon (who was seeded second in the state event), 6-2, 6-1, in the second match of the season, won by the
Brewers, 9-0. Stellato, the event's No. 1 seed, opened the three-day competition
by defeating Johanna Nigh of St. Lawrence, 6-4, 6-2. Her second match
was a 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-0 win over NYU's Michelle Dest, before beating Rensselaer's
Dorte Knudsen, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the championship match.
Lauren Stellato image 2
Stellato, a history major, captured the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association's
“Rookie of the Year” honors after posting a 16-3 season
in 2000. She was also selected to the All-Conference team following her
rookie campaign. Stellato completed her outstanding first season by posting
a 4-3 Spring record before being voted to the ITA's Northeast “Rookie of
the Year,” the first Dutchwoman ever to capture the honor.
Seeded second in last year's New York State event, Stellato advanced to the championship
before losing to top-ranked JoAnna Toke of the University of Rochester, 6-2,
6-4, to end her season with an overall standard of 17-2.
Part
of Union's double team since coming to Schenectady, Stellato has compiled a
three-year record of 35-16 with three different partners. New
York State Results:
No. 1 Singles–Lauren Stellato (seeded first) won 6-4, 6-2; 6-7(4), 6-0,
6-0; 4-6, 7-5, 6-1; and captured the title,
No. 2 Singles-Stephanie Middleton won 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(8); lost to the 6-3,
6-2 to the number three seed
No. 3 Singles–Meg Vercillo won 6-4, 7-5; lost 7-5, 6-1
No. 4 Singles–Megann Denefrio (seeded fourth) won 7-6, (7-5), 6-4; won 3-6,
6-4, 6-2; lost 6-0, 6-1 to the No. 2 seed
No. 5 Singles–Jen Lauroesch won 6-1, 6-2; lost 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Singles–Polina Shcherbatou lost6-3, 6-1
No. 1 Doubles–Stellato-Middleton lost 8-1
No. 2 Doubles–Vercillo-Lauroesch won 9-8 (8-6), lost 8-1
The student-athletes from Union's eight Fall varsity sports continue to reel in the weekly UCAA honors. Six Dutchwomen/Dutchmen earned “Player of the Week” recognition over the last two weeks. What's more, the men's hockey team, which evened its overall record to 1-1-1 by beating Niagara, 5-2, in the Achilles Rink opener on October 18, saw freshman goalie Kris Mayotte (Finleyville, PA) earn “Rookie of the Week” while playing in his first collegiate game.
Musicians From Marlboro will
perform Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 8 p.m.
in Union College's
Memorial Chapel.
The concert, part of the Union
College chamber concert series, will
feature a program of works including Haydn's Quartet in F Major, Hob. III:
82, Opus 77, No. 2 (1799);
Shostakovich's Piano quintet in G Minor, Opus 57 (1940); and Dvorák's Quintet in G Major, Opus 77, B. 49 (1893).
Members of the ensemble are
Pei-Yao Wang, piano; Colin
Jacobsen, violin; Joseph
Genualdi, violin; Jessica
Thompson, viola; Raman
Ramakrishnan, cello; and Kurt
Murocki, double bass.
Marlboro Music is recognized as
today's preeminent center for advanced musical studies. It is credited for its
pivotal role in the development of chamber music in the U.S.,
and for training generations of music leaders.
Each summer, on a rural hilltop in
Marlboro, Vermont, master concert
artists gather with exceptional young professionals on the campus of Marlboro
College. For seven weeks, the
generations rehearse, learn, study and play together as one large musical family.
In a process originated by
Marlboro, the senior artists play side-by-side in chamber ensembles with their
young colleagues, passing on vital artistic insights firsthand. With an
emphasis on musical excellence and learning, Marlboro provides ideal study
conditions and virtually unlimited rehearsal time, with no pre-planned concert
deadlines.
