River Forest, Ill. — Spring is just around the corner, which means it's time for the return of Concordia University Chicago Baseball. The team will begin its 2022 season this weekend in Memphis, Tenn., with three games between Friday-Sunday. 

First pitch in Friday's season opener against Augustana College is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. They'll continue to play early games each of the following days with a 10 a.m. first pitch set for Saturday against Fontbonne University and another 10:30 a.m. start following on Sunday against Piedmont University. 

Piedmont will be the biggest test of the weekend, having received six votes in the D3Baseball.com preseason poll. 

Five CUC Women's Track and Field athletes took center stage at Boston University last Friday, competing in the 2022 David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Junior Zahra Sammour (Berwyn, Ill.) shined bright, placing fourth in the triple jump with a personal-best mark of 11.76 meters. The mark is currently ninth-best in Division III. 

Graduate student Simone Wilson (Minneapolis, Minn.) also set a new personal-best in the 400-meter with a converted time of 57.76 seconds, which currently ranks ninth in Division III. Senior Kayla Armstrong (Chicago, Ill.) also had an impressive showing in the event, her converted time of 57.96 seconds is 13th-best in the country. 

Both runners also posted new season best times in the 200-meter, with Armstrong's time of 25.64 placing her 17th in the country. In the 800-meter, senior Angelina Nichols (Chicago, Ill.) posted a new season best time of 2:23.75 seconds. Finally, graduate student Madeline Bobinski (Des Plaines, Ill.) placed 11th in the shot put with a mark of 12.39 meters. 

While they were in Boston, the rest of the team headed to Ripon, Wis., to compete at the Dick Hendricks' Invite. Freshman Daisia Wilson (Belleville, Ill.) was the top performer for the Cougars, finishing second in the 60-meter while posting a new personal best time. She also placed fifth in the 200m, again setting a new personal record. 

Right behind Wilson in the 200m was fellow freshman Brooklyn Gromko in sixth place. She also set a new personal record in the 400m, and topped it off in the field events with a sixth-place finish in the long jump. 

Four Cougars finished in the top-10 in the 800m: sophomore Diana Almazan (Berwyn, IL), freshman Tegan Oas (Shingle Springs, Calif.), freshman Callie Hoover (Fort Wayne, Ind.), and junior Ali Wingood (Chicago, Ill.). Almazan and Wingood were also placed third in the 4X400-meter relay alongside Wilson and freshman Eve Shelton (St. Louis, Mo.). Shelton added to her day with a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. 

On the men's side, graduate student Maximilian Woywod (Berwyn, Ill.) led the way with a fifth-place finish in the 400m, also finishing top-10 in the 200. He teamed up with freshmen Adrian Mendez (Plano, Ill.) and Callum Hardwicke (Lake St. Louis, Mo.), as well as sophomore Mauricio Xochitecatl (Carol Stream, Ill.) for a fourth-place finish in the 4X400m relay. 

Other top-10 finishers on the day included senior Andres Salvador (Chicago, Ill.) in the 200m (ninth) and sophomore Martin Egbo (Williamsburg, Va.) in the weight throw (fifth). Egbo's mark of 12.31 meters is a personal best. 

The team will regroup as a whole this Saturday at the University of Chicago for the Margaret Bradley Invite. It's the final tuneup before the indoor conference championships. 

It's officially the final week of the regular season for the CUC men's and women's basketball teams. Both teams honored their seniors prior to their final home games this past Saturday against St. Norbert College. 

After a pair of tough road losses during the week, the men's team rebounded nicely with a thrilling win over St. Norbert in front of a raucous crowd at Geiseman Gymnasium. Jordan Matthews (Chicago, Ill.) led the way on his senior night, tying a career-high with 30 points. 

Matthews made seemingly every big shot the team needed him to in the second half, helping his team overcome a two-point halftime deficit to knock off the first-place Green Knights. The Cougars went over 26 minutes between leads before sophomore Justin Greenlee (Brown Deer, Wis.) connected on a three to put them ahead 48-47 with 11:47 to play. 

After trading blows for the next few minutes, the Cougars eventually took the lead for good with five minutes remaining after an old-fashioned three-point play from sophomore Emanuel Wilson (Wheaton, Ill.). 

There are nine teams in the conference in play for the top spot with every team having either one or two games remaining. Where the Cougars will wind up on Saturday remains to be seen, but they control a great deal of their destiny with games at Wisconsin Lutheran College on Monday and Rockford University on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.

Wisconsin Lutheran is one of five teams with a conference record of 10-6, while the Cougars are one of three with a record of 9-6. Rockford sits right behind that bunch with an 8-6 conference record. The stakes are high for everyone involved this week, as the season ends on Wednesday night. 

On the women's side, the team lost a two-point game to Rockford at home on Tuesday night before their offense was held at bay for the majority of Saturday's game against St. Norbert. Four Cougars scored in double-figures in the loss to Rockford, led by senior Ava Gardner (Park Ridge, Ill.) with 15. 

Freshman Alisyn MacGregor (Loves Park, Ill.) had another big day on the glass with 13 rebounds on Saturday. She was also second on the team with eight points. 

They'll wrap up their regular season on Tuesday night with a trip to Lakeland for a 7 p.m. battle. There are a lot fewer questions surrounding the tournament placement on the women's side, the Cougars know no matter what results shake out this week they will be traveling somewhere for Saturday's round one game. 

Finally, men's volleyball opened up the conference season with a home match against Concordia University Wisconsin on Friday night. The Cougars fell in four sets despite a few nice runs over the course of the four sets. 

They traveled to St. Louis, Mo., the following day for an action-packed weekend at the Fontbonne Invitational. Unfortunately, the Cougars went 0-4 at the invite, including a loss to 15th-ranked Fontbonne University. 

It was a solid weekend for a few individuals however. Sophomore David Vales (Oak Forest, Ill.) had 13 kills between the two matches on Saturday. Junior Tyler Holubek (New Lenox, Ill.) also got involved at the net, leading the team with seven kills in the night cap in addition to his team-high 15 assists in the earlier game. 

Junior Colby Campbell (Brookfield, Ill.) led the way on Sunday with a team-high seven kills in both matches. He had five blocks in the first game and another seven in the second. 

It's a much slower week ahead for the team, with just one match at home on Friday night against Lakeland. First serve is set for 7 p.m. as the team begins a big stretch of conference contests.