Ladies and gentlemen the best time of the year is here – playoff time – and it could be a special 2008 post-season for Denver athletics. Sure the DU hockey team started the playoff season with a disappointing first round exit, but the springs sports are set up to impress in the coming weeks.
The women’s gymnastics team continued its recent success with another thrilling second-place finish at regionals to qualify for the team’s second straight national championships. This is the first time in program history that the team is headed to the NCAA playoffs for consecutive years. The 12 gymnastics teams that qualified for nationals will compete at the University of Georgia April 24-26. Last season the Pioneers finished a program best tenth place at the championships and are looking to improve and possibly advance to super six, which is the last day of the weekend and pits the top-six teams to compete for the championship.
Junior Jessica Lopez has had an amazing season and became Denver’s first-ever three-time All-American at last season’s Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The No. 27 women’s tennis team is in prime shape for the post-season as the team ended the regular season with a four-game winning streak. The Pioneers have been ranked as high as No. 19 in the country this season and finished with an overall record of 19-2. Denver will begin its playoff run in the Sun Belt Conference championships this Friday through Sunday in Monroe, La. Last season DU tennis placed third at the tournament and just missed out on an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament, but look in fine shape to advance to the NCAA tournament this season.
The No. 45 men’s tennis team is also cruising into the post-season by winning three of its last four, including two victories over Sun Belt opponents DU will play this weekend. The Pioneers finish the regular season with a 16-5 record and are led by No. 13-ranked singles player Adam Holmstrom, who is 18-0 in No. 1 singles play this season. Holmstrom and doubles partner Niklas Persson are nationally ranked an impressive No. 3 in doubles play and were 14-0 in the regular season. DU is still in search of its first-ever SBC title and will look to improve of its second place finish from last season this weekend at the conference Championships.
One of the most dominating teams on campus this season has to be the women’s golf team, currently ranked No. 9 in the country by Golfweek magazine and No. 11 by Golfstat.com. The Pioneers just finished the most successful regular season in school history with four tournament wins. DU will begin the playoff season at the SBC championships in Muscle Shoals, Ala., April 21-23. Denver won its first SBC title in 2004 and will look to extend its conference-best streak of titles to five this year. Last year DU advanced to the NCAA championships for the first time in program history and finished 20th.
The rule of thumb to success for the women’s lacrosse team this season is as simple as scoring 12 or more goals and DU will win. The Pioneers are 8-0 when they score 12 or more goals and 0-5 when scoring 11 or less. DU still has two more weekends of regular season play before beginning the post-season April 30 at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships in Berkeley, Calif. Last year Denver finished 16-3 and just missed out on the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament bid when they fell 12-11 to Stanford in the conference tournament championship game.
This weekend is about as big as it gets for the men’s lacrosse team. Not only will the team be playing in front of possibly 60,000 fans at Ohio State, but with a win DU will be in great position for playoff play. Both Ohio State and the Pioneers enter this weekend’s conference game with a 3-0 conference mark and with a win will most likely be the No. 1 seed at the Great Western Lacrosse League Championships being held May 2 and 4th in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. DU last made the NCAA tournament in 2006 when they lost to Maryland 16-8 in the first round.
It should be an edge of the seat, heart pounding, thrilling post-season for DU athletics, one which will show the rest of college sports that the University of Denver is no joke.
