DePauw and IIT visit for swim and dive’s final home meet

Following a close defeat by DI UW–Milwaukee last weekend, the Maroons are diving right back into competition. For its last meet before UAAs, Chicago will be hosting DePauw and IIT on Saturday at the Myers-McLoraine pool for Senior Day. Fourth-years Eugenia Chen, Vivian Yuen, Evan Bernard, and Eric Hallman will be competing for the last time at Ratner and will be honored at the meet. After suffering a loss to DePauw last year, the South Siders are looking for redemption this year, and are ready to race against the Tigers in their final chance to tune up before their conference tournament in February.

The South Siders (7–7, 1–2 UAA) had their first conference win on Sunday against Brandeis, after putting up almost 100 points (97–81). However, offense hasn’t been the key to Chicago’s wins this season. In its previous six games (going 3–3), if Chicago gave up more than 81 points, a loss was guaranteed. The Maroons take on Carnegie Mellon (10–4, 1–2) and Case Western (7–7, 1–2) this weekend—teams that average 85 and 64 points per game, respectively—so the South Siders may have to step up the defense against Carnegie if the 81-point trend is any indicator of their success.

Women’s tennis to start season against tough opponent

Chicago opens its season against the University of Illinois tonight at 6 p.m. in Urbana, Illinois. The Fighting Illini are DI, so the matches won’t affect the South Siders’ ranking later in the season. This means it’s a great opportunity to showcase new first-year talent and sharpen up the upperclassmen’s skills before taking on Denison and Kenyon next weekend. The squad has ballooned since last year, with six first-years now sporting the maroon and white. The Maroons only lost one fourth-year, Linden Li, so there should be plenty of leadership coming from the remaining team members.

Men’s basketball winning without the three-ball

The Maroons (9–5, 2–1 UAA) are showing that they can legitimately compete for a UAA title this season. After a close loss to No. 7 Wash U (12–2, 3–0) a few weeks ago, Chicago responded with two victories last weekend, beating NYU (11–3, 1–2) and Brandeis (8–6, 0–3) at home. Third-year Royce Muskeyvalley (12 points against NYU, 18 points against Brandeis) and fourth-year Charlie Hughes (15 points against NYU) continue to lead the team, while second-year Jordan Smith quietly provides consistently solid performances. Impressively, the Maroons won the past two games while shooting  35 (5–14) and 20 (4–20) percent, respectively, from three, a spot from which Chicago usually shoots 38 percent on 8–21 shooting.

Track and field hopes to keep up momentum at Illinois Wesleyan

This weekend, the South Siders will face Illinois Wesleyan and Wash U on the road at the Illinois Wesleyan Triangular meet. Chicago is coming from a successful showing at the Private School Championships, where the men’s squad placed second and the women’s squad took first. The Maroons hope to keep up their hot streak of only first- and second-place finishes at competitions this season. This will be the team’s first chance to compete against a conference opponent, and the South Siders are ready to show UAA rival Wash U what kind of competition they will be facing at conference later in the season.