Western Carolina Athletics has been off to a busy start to the spring season.
When the Southern Conference postponed all fall competitions in August last year to the spring season, it led WCU sports to operate on an abnormal schedule for many sports.
The abnormal schedule also has required an abnormal attendance policy that restricted the amount of fans permitted to attend. However, Roy Cooper, Governor for North Carolina, signed an executive order on Wednesday, Feb. 24 that relaxed COVID-19 restrictions, specifically increasing capacity for venues across the state. The order calls for a maximum capacity of 30% for outdoor venues and maximum 15% capacity for indoor sporting events.
“While we are appreciative of being able to host more patrons at events, we also have to do what’s best for our campus community. The campus has done an unbelievable job managing this pandemic so far and we want to make sure things stay manageable,” said Alex Gary, Director of Athletics. “We do plan to make very small adjustments to the attendance policies. That said, there won’t be many more people allowed at sports like baseball, softball, track, and soccer because we still have to adhere to distancing standards,” said Gary.
Western Carolina Athletics, while busier than usual, is optimistic about the spring season. Despite the unusual look for Western Carolina Athletics, fans and players alike, are simply happy to have WCU sports back in session, including the SoCon Basketball Championships on Thursday, March 4 through Sunday, March 7 and WCU’s first home football game on Saturday, March 6.
Basketball
Due to the new executive order made by Governor Cooper, the Southern Conference ruled that 544 people can be in attendance for each SoCon Basketball Tournament game starting Thursday, March 4 in Asheville. If you wish to attend, contact the Western Carolina or the Harrah’s Cherokee Center ticket office.
Kam Gibson, guard for the basketball team, recounts the difficulties of playing during a pandemic. The memory that sticks out was the required team quarantine between Dec. 30 and Jan. 16.
“The biggest struggle was having to take two weeks off while in game shape. It’s hard to pick up where you left off and regain momentum,” Gibson said.
First Round of the Mens Southern Conference Tournament, tips off on Friday March 5, with WCU taking on the The Citadel at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville at 5:30 p.m.
The Lady Cats finished 7th in the conference standings with a 3-10 conference record and 6-17 overall. Similar to the Men’s team, a SoCon Tournament Championship is the only route to the NCAA Tournament for the Catamounts.
Lauren LaPlant, senior guard for the women’s basketball team, said her coaching staff has been extremely helpful this season.
“Throughout this year, our coaches have emphasized the importance of seizing every opportunity to play,” LaPlant said, “With so much of this season being up in the air, we never knew if our next game was guaranteed.”
The Women’s team fell short in their final regular season test on Friday, Feb. 26 in the Ramsey Center, losing 54 to 42 against the UNCG Spartans. The team is scheduled to play the Mercer Bears in the first round of the SOCON Tournament on Thursday, March 4 at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville.
WCU Football, limited to only 8 conference games this season, is looking to make a major push in the conference rankings. The football program elected to play in three non-conference games beginning in mid-November in preparation for the conference only schedule in the spring. Catamount football took on Top 25 ranked Liberty and North Carolina as well as a matchup against Eastern Kentucky in the Opportunity Bowl.
Ricky Palao, defensive tackle for the Catamounts, remains optimistic and tries look on the bright side in this abnormal situation. “Just got to take it one day at a time because in the COVID world, you just never know. Just enjoy every moment and be positive,” Palao said. One positive result from the pandemic was that he got closer to his teammates.“Everyone is making sure people are wearing their mask and taking care of their bodies and just trusting that our administration and coaches have a plan and execute it.”
WCU kicks off their home schedule on Sat. March 6 against Virginia Military Institute at 1 p.m. at E.J. Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee. Despite the change in state legislature, WCU football does not plan to change the attendance policy for the opening matchup.
“For football, we plan to stick with the same attendance plan that we had before the EO changed. We will reevaluate the potential to increase for the last two home games, based on how the first two home games go on March 6 and March 13,” said Gary.
WCU baseball kicked off a successful opening weekend on Feb. 19, with a 4-game sweep of the Towson Tigers, totally 47 runs over the 4 games. The Catamount Baseball team looks forward to the 2021 season with 53 regular season games scheduled including games against big-time opponents Tennessee, Wake Forest and UNC-Wilmington.
Will Prater, junior infielder for the baseball team, said the limited interactions with his friends who are not his teammates has been rather difficult, but the mode of communication, in class, is the most difficult.
“The move to online classes and some professors not equipped for that transition has been the biggest struggle,” said Prater in an email interview.
Catamount baseball hosts Kennesaw State on March 10, following a six-game road trip against in-state opponents UNCW on Feb. 26-28 and UNC-Charlotte on March 5-7.
WCU Volleyball looks to improve on their 4-6 record moving forward. With 8 regular season games still left on the docket, the Southern Conference is still up for grabs. The team swept its two game series against East Tennessee State on Sunday, Feb. 28 by a score of 3 sets to 0 and Monday, March 1 by a score of 3 sets to 1.
The Cats next take on the Furman Paladins in Greenville for another two game series on March 7 and 8. The volleyball team will be back in action at the Ramsey Center on March 14 and 15 as they take on the Mercer Bears.
WCU Womens soccer is poised to start the conference portion of their 14-game schedule on March 5. Currently sitting at 1-2 with an overtime win against in-state opponent UNC-Charlotte.
Maryanne Kilgore, Junior Defender for the Cats, said “the biggest struggle due to the coronavirus has been keeping the team motivated. In the fall our season was canceled , so we were practicing without playing any games.”
The soccer team looks to open their conference schedule with wins over VMI on Friday, March 5 and UNCG on Sunday, March 7 in Cullowhee.
WCU’s softball team, only twelve games into their 54-game season looks to build on their win against the Longwood Lancers on Sunday, Feb. 28. The Catamounts, looking to right the tides after finishing last in the SOCON in 2019.
The Cats’ home opener is on Monday, March 15, with a double-header against USC-Upstate in Cullowhee.
WCU Tennis looks to improve on their current 5-4 record. The tennis squad has 12 remaining games on their schedule with their next home matchup against Presbyterian on Saturday, March 13, at 2 p.m.
Track and Field just completed their indoor season over the weekend with the SoCon Indoor Championships wrapping up on Sunday, Feb. 28. The Men’s Track and Field finished in 2nd for the second year in a row while the Women’s team came home with with a 5th place finish.
“We did a heck of a job this weekend with our performances,” head coach Jesse Norman said in an article for catamount athletics. “How we were ranked coming into the meet wasn’t great but we fought hard. Now we’ll go back to work and do better come outdoor season.”
