Sports

July 20, 2023 By radefolaju Leave a Comment

2022 Abbey Graduate Honored by AVCA

Congratulations to Conrad Hill, a 2022 graduate from the Abbey, on being named a member of the 2023 class of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Thirty Under 30 Beach Award honorees. A member of the men’s volleyball team while at Belmont Abbey, Conrad currently serves as Catawba College’s Head Beach Volleyball Coach. He led the Catawba beach volleyball program to 13 wins during the 2023 season, the most in program history. The Thirty Under 30 Beach honors up-and-coming coaches at all levels of beach volleyball and recognizes these rising stars as hard-working, passionate, and dedicated to helping grow the sport of beach volleyball.

Click here to learn more about the Thirty Under 30 Beach Award!

July 19, 2023 By radefolaju Leave a Comment

Abbey Alum Named Director of Men’s Basketball Operations at Elon University

Sean Halloran graduated from Belmont Abbey College in 2022 with a B.A. in Sport Management prior to pursing his Master’s degree at Elon University where he has now been named the Director of Men’s Basketball Operations.

Read the full story on Elon’s website.

Congratulations, Sean!

July 3, 2023 By radefolaju Leave a Comment

Abbey Athletics 2022-2023

Our Abbey Crusader Athletes had a great year both on and off the fields of play! Congratulations to all our athletes from 2022-2023! Go Crusaders!

April 27, 2023 By radefolaju Leave a Comment

Strengthening Abbey Athletics

Belmont Abbey College Vice President and Director of Athletics Stephen Miss has announced the transition into new roles for current Associate Athletic Directors Justin Bates and Gabrielle Reppell. Bates, Associate Athletic Director of Internal Operations and Reppell, Associate Athletic Director of External Operations will switch roles in order to continue building upon the growth and success of the athletic department.

For the past seven years, Bates has led the charge on facilities and operations and will now have the opportunity to expand upon his professional development as he pursues his ultimate goal of becoming an athletic director at the collegiate level. After a year and a half of learning and deepening her understanding of outreach and fundraising, Reppell will shift into a role that will more clearly align with her previous experience in athletics.

“The reassignment of Justin Bates’ and Gabrielle Reppell’s duties exemplifies the WIN, WIN, WIN creative solutions we look to identify and implement here at The Abbey,” Miss stated. “Justin is provided an opportunity to expand his skillset and, thereby, become even more of an asset than he already has proven himself to be – a WIN. Gabby will return to overseeing an area in which she possesses expertise and dexterity gained at previous stops along her career path and for which she exhibits tremendous passion – a WIN. Our Culture will be reinvigorated and our Department will be more efficient and productive – (BIG) WIN! I am excited to continue to work alongside Justin and Gabby as they both continue to grow professionally and to mature into becoming two of the finest Athletics Administrators in the country.”

In their new respective roles, Bates will oversee marketing, promotions, sponsorship, and donor cultivation. Reppell will now turn her attention to creating an extraordinary experience for the student-athletes, coaches, fans and guests while overseeing the maintenance and development of facilities.

Bates and Reppel were interviewed by Collegiate Sports Connect highlighting this transition.

Watch their interview here.

March 2, 2023 By bacw Leave a Comment

Men’s and Women’s Tennis Competitions

Author: The Crusader Staff Writer, Colin Sadtler

The women’s and men’s tennis teams at the Abbey started nine years ago. The teams have recently become more successful, with the men winning a conference Carolina championship last year. Coach Mike led them to a 22-17 overall record, including 10-0 in conference play. In the conference finals, they played Mount Olive for the deciding match with a thrilling win by Andy G to win it! Coach Mike has created a very successful program by figuring out how to improve the team’s effort, culture, and love for the sport. One of his most significant things is ensuring everyone is accountable for their attitude and action. He is an excellent example of how all programs should run their team.

I asked a couple of returning players who were a part of the team that won conference Carolinas last year what they thought about coming into this year’s first competition. Nicholas Carry said, “I am excited about the tournament but also hoping we can keep the same effort, attitude, and team bond we had last year.” I also asked Coach Mike what he thought about it, and he said, “I love the team’s excitement, but it’s all about being able to carry everything we learned last year to make us better this year.” Last year’s team proved to the Abbey fans and the conference that Coach Mike knows how to run a program correctly.

The teams held a tournament at our tennis courts on Oct. 14 and 15. The top 6 players and all the freshmen played. The freshman are playing to get match experience and their first college tournament out of the way. I also talked to one of the freshmen, Peyton Williams, who said, “We have all been preparing for this tournament, so we know at the end of the day we have put in the work.” All the freshmen seem excited to play but nervous since it’s their first college match experience.

Coach Mike has laid out all the guidelines to be successful for the first-year students in their first tournament, so hopefully, they will use the information and apply it. I asked Preston Johnson what the most significant piece of advice the coach has given him for this weekend was, and he said, “Coach told me to always fight for every point no matter what the score is, even if I’m losing 0-6,0-5. He told me that everyone’s first tournament is hard, but either way enjoys it.”

This article was originally posted in the Fall 2022, Issue 1 of The Crusader Newspaper. Download the full issue.