First of all, with Veterans Day just two days away the VCU Athletic Communications Office would like to take time to thank all veterans for their service to our country.

What is more American than laughing at people crashing into things? That’s right… check these out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iBL2Hrb-Q8&feature=channel and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C7yjO0TIIk&feature=popt17us13

As far as sports go, it was a solid week for the Black & Gold thanks to James Finley and his volleyball crew and a sharp exhibition for new head man Shaka Smart and that Larry Sanders guy.

In Case You Missed It

- The big story for the Rams this past week was the volleyball squad, which has now won seven straight after back-to-back home wins over James Madison (Friday) and George Mason (Saturday). VCU is now tied with the Fightin’ Chickens of the University of Delaware at 10-2 in the league, BUT the Black & Gold own the tiebreaker over Delaware so if VCU wins both of its games next weekend, it will lock up its first ever CAA Regular Season Championship. Two big reasons for the success this year has been the freshmen duo of Michala Kvapilova and Marisa Low who have been killing and digging and an incredible pace this year.

- Shaka Smart, Larry Sanders and the rest of the men’s hoops squad beat up on cross-town rival Virginia Union, 85-55, in the Rams’ only exhibition of the 2009-2010 scrimmage. That Sanders’ guy had 22 points, 14 rebounds, six blocks and saved a kid from the burning building. Ok, that last part isn’t true, but that’s how good he was. Along with Sanders, his classmates Brandon Rozzell and Joey Rodriguez were outstanding with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

- Although the women’s soccer and field hockey teams were in action, the Rams did pick up some All-CAA honors with two from each program. From the women’s soccer side, senior Jasmine Riley and junior Myriam Bouchard both earned Second-Team honors. Riley led the offense with six goals and six assists and Bouchard led a defense which allowed no more than one goal in 14 of VCU’s 19 games. From field hockey, it was Second-Team honors once again, this time for junior Marle van Dessel and freshman Kelsey Scherrer

- Men’s soccer wrapped up its season on Saturday evening with a 3-2 loss at Northeastern. Phillip Daldrup and Carlos Picado picked up the goals as the Rams concluded their 2009 campaign with a 5-10-2 mark and a 2-8-1 in CAA play.

On the Docket

- Volleyball has the two biggest regular season games in school history when they travel to Georgia State on Friday for a 5:30 p.m. matchup and then UNC Wilmington Sunday for a 1 p.m. showdown. Two VCU victories = CAA Regular Season Championship and host of the 2009 CAA Tournament

- The wait is FINALLY over as Men’s Basketball opens up its regular season with a 7:30 p.m. contest against Bethune-Cookman. It will be the first game in what we hope is a long career for Shaka Smart.

– The information above was provided by Scott Day Director of Athletic Communications at VCU