The Tribe returns four starters from last year’s 15-15 squad, which finished 8-10 in the CAA. A strong contingent of upperclassmen gives the College a wealth of experience and familiarity with Head Coach Tony Shaver’s offensive and defensive styles.

p. Depth at the wing and post positions will provide the Tribe with diverse offensive and defensive options. Senior captains Nathan Mann and Laimis Kisielius lead the team on the wing, while fellow senior Kyle Carrabine, junior Chris Darnell and sophomore Danny Sumner will come off the bench to contribute. Mann and Kisielius are two proven scorers, but consistent offensive output from the trio of Carrabine, Darnell and Sumner must develop to support Mann and Kisielius.

p. At the post position, juniors Peter Stein and Alex Smith will see significant playing time, and the Tribe will count on them to increase their offensive production. The emergence of sophomore Steven Hess or freshman Marcus Kitts as reliable options off the bench will be important for spelling Stein and Smith in times of foul trouble and fatigue.

p. Sophomore point guard David Schneider returns from a strong freshman season which earned him CAA All-Rookie honors and will once again be relied upon to run the offense for the Tribe.

p. The returning experienced players give confidence to a Tribe squad that will be tested early and often. An improved conference from top to bottom will challenge the College and make replication or improvement of last year’s 8-10 CAA record difficult. That said, a solid eight-man rotation should provide Shaver and the Tribe an opportunity to build upon last year’s success. And after finishing eighth in the conference last season, being picked to finish ninth in the preseason CAA predictions should give the College extra motivation to exceed expectations again.

p. **2007-2008 Schedule**

Opening the season Nov. 10 against no. 5 Georgetown University and traveling to no. 21 North Carolina State University five days later gives the Tribe its toughest back-to-back opening games ever. The College last faced a top-five team Jan. 2, 2005 at the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill, falling 105-66. Six of its first seven games are on the road with the lone home game coming Nov. 25 against Houston Baptist University, a team in its first year of transition from the NAIA to Division I basketball. The seven-game stretch also includes a date with last year’s CAA Champion Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Dec. 5. The College will open CAA play in earnest Jan. 2 when it hosts the University of Delaware. How the Tribe handles its six early road games will be a firm indicator of how the College will play in the CAA.

p. **__Changing the culture__**

p. When Head Coach Debbie Taylor took over the Tribe’s basketball team in 1999, she immediately got to work laying the foundation for a winning program at the College. Eight years later, Taylor’s hard work is starting to pay off. The Tribe has finished above .500 in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the school’s Division I history, and it may be that the best is yet to come, as this year Taylor and her staff have shaped together a team that has all the makings of a champion.

p. “I expect us to keep growing and to move ourselves up to the top of the conference,” Taylor said. “We are one of the few teams in the conference that has four returning starters and between [seniors Kyra Kaylor and Devin James, and junior Dani Kell,] who have all started since their freshman year, we just have a tremendous amount of experience and a lot of extra depth this year that we haven’t had in the past.”

p. Kaylor, on pace to become the College’s most prolific scorer and rebounder, will look to earn her third consecutive first team All-CAA selection, while James rapidly approaches 1,000 points for her career. Kell is looking to return from a knee injury sustained last season.

p. The depth that Taylor referenced comes in the form of Tiffany Benson, who set the Tribe’s single-season blocked shots record last year, and fellow sophomores Robyn Barton, Lauren Aadland, Kelly Heath and Lindsey Moller. Freshman guards Katy Oblinger and Katherine DeHenzel will team up with junior sharpshooter Courtney Portell to run the point for the College.

p. With Kaylor and James graduating after this season, the time is now for the Tribe, and it should make for an exciting winter.
“We are looking to win the most games in school history,” Taylor said. “This is a very big year for us; we talk about it every single day.”

p. **2007-2008 Schedule**
The Tribe kicks off their season on the road at Elon University, participating in their first of two tournaments this year. Early season matchups on the road against Marquette and Kentucky, along with a trip to Hawaii over the winter holiday, will work to prepare the Tribe for a tough CAA conference schedule. Old Dominion University, picked to win the CAA, visits Williamsburg for a Sunday matinee Jan. 20. The Tribe has back-to-back road games against Old Dominion and James Madison University Feb. 10 and Feb. 14, respectively, that will prove to be the team’s biggest tests this season. The College’s final regular season game, at home against Virginia Commonwealth University, may prove vital for seeding purposes heading into the conference tournament.

**Projected Starters**

p.
**Devin James, Senior, Guard** – James stands just six points shy of becoming the 12th player in Tribe history to reach 1,000. Will be looked upon to provide leadership and scoring from the outside, and should benefit from Kaylor and Benson’s presence in the paint.

p.
**Courtney Portell, Junior, Guard** – With the departure of Sarah Stroh ’07, Portell will be tasked with running the point for the Tribe. A streaky shooter, the junior can provide a spark from behind the arc for the College at any moment in the game.

p.
**Dani Kell, Junior, Forward** – A torn ACL sidelined Kell for most of last season, but she returns healthy and ready to make up for lost time. Kell’s strong shooting and precise passing will benefit the offense by drawing out defenders and opening up the post.

p.
**Kyra Kaylor, Senior, Forward** – Kaylor enters her senior season just 101 points shy of becoming the Tribe’s all-time scoring leader. Kaylor was named to the all-CAA first team last season thanks to averages of 14.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

p.
**Tiffany Benson, Sophomore, Forward** – Returns as a starter after setting the Tribe’s single-season blocks record a year ago. Benson will continue to mature around the basket on both ends, expanding her shot-blocking skills and developing into a threat to score for the offense.

p. **Key Bench Contributors**

p. **Robyn Barton, Sophomore, Forward** – Barton saw significant playing time as a freshman and will compete with Kell for a starting spot. Leads a pack of sophomores looking to take the next step this season.

p. **Katy Oblinger, Freshman, Guard** – Oblinger will spell Portell at the point. While reluctant to shoot the ball, superior passing and ball-handling skills will assure that Oblinger has an immediate impact.

Led by sophomore wonder Katie Radloff (pictured above), who won six gold medals and the swimmer of the meet title at last year’s CAA Championships, and new Head Coach Matt Crispino, the College’s women’s swim and dive team enter the season 2-3 overall and 2-1 CAA with the potential to successfully defend its CAA championship title.

p. Seven swimmers and two divers join the team this year, including a transfer from Florida State University, several state championship winners, two high school All-Americans and a state record holder.

p. Radloff won all three of her individual races, setting a pool record of 57.97 seconds in the 100-meter backstroke. Next, Radloff won five of her six individual races in the College’s tri-meet against the University of North Carolina — Wilmington and North Carolina State University.

p. The sophomore has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100-m backstroke, 100-m freestyle and 50-m free. For the first time in the College’s history, a member of the Tribe competed in the Speedo Junior Nationals Olympic Trials, and to top it off, Radloff finished second in the 100-m free championship heat. This season, Radloff has already earned another CAA swimmer of the week award — the fourth such honor of her career.

p. Several other Tribe swimmers have also cruised to victories in the early season. Senior captain Meredith David gave a career performance in the Tribe’s opening meet, sweeping the 200-m back with a finishing time of 2:07.42. This brings the senior to 38 collegiate victories — second in College history for career individuals wins. Junior Marina Falcone has 500-m and 1,000-m free wins, and sophomore Lindsay Guers became the seventh-fastest 200-m freestylist with a time of 1:54.92.

p. The Tribe will face tough competition from schools such as Johns Hopkins University, the University of Richmond and the University of Delaware, while swimming in the Terrapin Cup Invitational will give the Tribe a taste a multi-day competition before the CAA Championships in February. The College travels to the University of Maryland Nov. 15 for its next compeition, the Terrapin Cup Invitational.

At 2-3, a determined men’s team looks to improve on a successful campaign last season after facing their toughest opponents early.
Currently 2-1 in CAA competition, the men appear confident in their ability to best last season’s 4-2 dual meet record and fourth-place finish in the CAA Championships.

p. “We are definitely in position to contend for a conference title,” new Head Coach Matt Crispino ’02 said. Crispino brings both youth and experience, having swum for the Tribe in the past.

p. While the Tribe excels in sprint events like the 50-yard free and 400-yard IM relay, they struggle in endurance events like the 500 and 1,000 yard free, which no Tribe swimmer has claimed yet. However, Crispino’s confidence does not appear misplaced, as the team returns 16 of their 20 swimmers.

p. “The leadership from the upperclassmen will be very important to our success this year,” Crispino said.

p. Those leaders include two-time CAA runner up junior Jason Brisson (pictured above), whose 100-yard breaststroke time of one minute and 0.43 seconds has helped him pick up two wins on the season, junior Shawn Matthews, with four backstroke wins in six events and graduate student Nick Duda, who led his 200 and 400 relay teams to six victories, while tallying two individual wins in both 50 and 100 yard free.

p. Duda’s dedication to the team’s success is apparent. He returns for another season, in his fifth year at the College, with a hunger for the one thing that has evaded him all these years: a CAA Championship.

p. “This year’s team has a real shot at taking home the conference title,” Duda said. “We just need some big swims from everybody.”
He expects to win every time he steps on the blocks, and rightly so. The two time CAA swimmer of the week picked up four victories in last week’s meet at George Mason and made it to the finals in four events in last year’s CAA Championship. It looks like he’s off to a good start.

There will be more than one reason to trek to Kaplan Arena this winter season. While Tribe basketball tends to draw the bigger crowds, the women’s gymnastics team promises another exciting and highly competitive season. The Tribe returns a core group of athletes to help carry the momentum from last season’s success.

One gymnast to note is senior Stevie Waldman (pictured below), who enters her final year on the team coming off a season that ended in high honors at the USAG Collegiate National Championship in April. She received a nomination for the First-Team USAG All-American honor for her 10th place finish in the floor competition.

p. Before competing at the national level, Waldman also performed well on the bars at the regional level, earning the second-best qualifying score in the ECAC for the 2007 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship. Placing 28th in the event, Waldman continued her trend of scoring no less than 9.650 on bars for the majority of her competitions over last season. With such a successful career to date, Waldman looks to finish up her collegiate career strong during this competitive season.

p. Head Coach Mary Lewis has lined up a schedule including some of the top teams in the region, in addition to a few that are competitive at the national level.

p. “We are going to face some strong teams once again this year,” Lewis said. “We will see some very good teams and a number of our ECAC rivals during the regular season.”

p. The Tribe has scheduled several away meets during the early season, which Lewis hopes will bring the team together and strengthen the level of competition. While placing at the ECAC Championships is always a goal for the team, and one that is usually met, the Tribe hopes to continue its trend of being a force in the regional and national competitions.

p. The Tribe will preview their talent Dec. 6 at the Green & Gold Exhibition in Kaplan Arena.

Last year the men’s gymnastics squad won their 34th-consecutive Virginia State Championship, captured their seventh-straight USAG Collegiate National Team Championship, qualified nine individuals for the NCAA Championships and ended the year ranked 13th in the country — impressive numbers for any program. However, the Tribe expected more of itself.

p. “Last year the national title was satisfying but other than that we had a lot of injuries and we never really showed our full potential other than that one meet,” senior Aaron Hunt said. “But I think we are going to have a lot of great individual performances this year, we have a big and talented freshmen class.”

p. The Tribe will carry a no. 14 national ranking into its season opener Jan. 26 at the United States Naval Academy. Over the course of the next several months, they will look to improve on that position by several spots to push into the top 12 and qualify for the NCAA Championships as a team — a goal that last year’s squad missed by one spot. The College’s seniors would also like to win another USAG National title, while hopefully adding an ECAC Conference championship to their trophy case.

p. Capable hands oversee the squad, as Head Coach Cliff Gauthier is in his 34th year at the helm of the program. The team cites his steady leadership, which has earned an impressive eight national coach of the year selections, as a large part of their success.
At the competition level, a trio of seniors heads the team: Hunt (pictured above), Aaron Ingram and David Locke. Over the next two months, the three will look to mold the squad into a cohesive unit before the season begins.

p. “This year is about giving back to the team the best part of myself that it has given me,” Ingram said.

p. Hunt expressed similar sentiments. “There’s no next season to look forward to, so I have to make the most of it now.”

p. The leaders will have much to work with, as the squad boasts a talent-laden junior class and sophomore standout Derek Gygax who will look to build on his 12th-place overall finish at the NCAA Championships.