Hitting the Links: 5/20/2011

In case you haven't noticed, University at Albany has a pretty big weekend coming up on the athletic fields. With women's lacrosse defending its undefeated season, softball opening its postseason play and baseball finishing up the regular-season slate, the Great Danes have made themselves on of the top topics in the conference.  As the Times Union puts it, Albany is finding its way into the spotlight.

How big is Albany this week? Big enough that ESPN.com featured the women's lacrosse team in an article this afternoon. Mechelle Voepel wrote about the Great Dane women's laxers and their undefeated season under first-year head coach John Battaglino. The Great Danes have also been compared to Northwestern, the team they play tomorrow in the NCAA Quarterfinals. How did they get to where they are? A lot of the Danes' success has to do with Jodi Battaglia and Taylor Frink leading the Albany attack.

Hitting the Links: 5/18/2011

University at Albany has garnered a lot of ink and grabbed a lot of headlines lately. And why not? The Great Danes certainly have earned it with two teams currently in the NCAA tournament after winning America East titles.

The women's lacrosse team over in Albany is still undefeated this season, the only team without a loss in Division I this season. After beating Dartmouth in the first round of the NCAA tourney, the Danes face powerhouse Northwestern in a quarterfinal matchup. The Northwestern coach, Amonte Hiller, is expecting the Danes to put up a fight.

America East Impacts NBA Playoffs

Two individuals with America East roots are playing prominent roles for the Dallas Mavericks in their 2011 NBA Playoff run.

Former America East All-Conference player Jose Juan Barea picked up in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals where he left off in the prior series sweep of the Lakers, scoring 21 points in the Mavs win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The head coach responsible for giving Barea the playing time, Rick Carlisle, traces his path back to the first year of the conference.

Hitting the Links: 5/16/2011

Good afternoon, AExtra fans. It was another busy weekend in America East. It had a little bit of everything: conference championships...NCAA tournament play...regular-season action...all of that happened. So where to begin?

How about in Boston? That is where the No. 2 seeded Albany Great Danes won the America East Softball Championship. The Great Danes defeated the Boston U. Terriers, 3-1, in Saturday's final. The Great Danes will now take on #13 Oregon in the NCAA tournament in regional action at Penn State.

Meanwhile, another group of Albany women were already playing in the NCAA tournament. Up the road from Boston in Hanover, N.H., the Albany women's lacrosse team took its undefeated record to Dartmouth for a first-round matchup. The Great Danes again were victorious, getting past the Big Green and setting up a date with perennial lacrosse power Northwestern. The win was the first NCAA tournament victory in program history.