Non-Revenue Roundup: Women's Hoops Split, Men's Volleyball Returns, Kelyn Rowe Gone to MLS

It's Monday morning, and like most of America, you're probably getting ready for a day full of college football bowl action: you know bowl games that feature winning teams, good coaching, and disciplined players. In other words, not UCLA. But before we get to that (we'll have a college football open thread up later this morning), there are a few non-revenue notes to take a look at.

And before I get to that, I want to briefly mention something that I touched on in yesterday's special edition of Bruin Bites: the fact that our clueless, tone-deaf, delusional athletic director claimed our program is "pretty darn good" despite the fact, as we've pointed out before, that even our non-revenue programs have been on a downward trajectory.

With that, let's take a look at how our non-revenue sports fared this past week:

• Starting with women's basketball, Cori Close and the women's basketball team took on the Bay Area schools at Wooden Center this past weekend, starting with Cal on Thursday evening. The ladies got the weekend started right, taking down the Lady Golden Bears 60-55. The Bruins were led by Thea Lemberger, who had a career night, scoring 26 points along with 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Markel Walker also had a big night for the Lady Bruins, contributing 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Lastly, sophomore Corinne Costa set the tone on the defensive end, tying a school record with 7 blocks (with the team as a whole setting a new team record for blocks in a single game at 13).
• Despite the win over Cal, Close's team followed it up with a sub-par effort against the #4-ranked Stanford Cardinal, getting throttled at home by the Cardinal, 77-50. Rebekah Gardner (17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists) and Markel Walker (11 points, 7 rebounds) were the big contributors for the Lady Bruins, but it was too little against the powerful Cardinal. With the split weekend, the women's hoops team now stands at 6-7 for the season, with a 1-1 conference record.

• Turning to men's volleyball, 19-time NCAA title-winner Coach Al Scates' final farewell season got started (sort of) with an exhibition match against the University of British Columbia on Friday, with the Bruins making easy work of our Canadian neighbors, winning 3-0 and picking up a bonus set win in a for-practice-only fourth set. The Bruins were led by Weston Dunlap (18 kills) and Thomas Amberg (15 kills), with a solid performance from Kyle Caldwell (48 assists, 8 digs, 3 kills). The Bruins will close out their preseason with another Canadian exhibition, this time against the University of Manitoba later this evening at Wooden Center. Fun tidbit of information: Coach Scates comes into the season (his 50th at the helm in Westwood) with a record of 1,217-282. If you can, get to Wooden Center to see these guys in action, because it will be the last season for a coaching legend.
• Finally, for men's soccer, sensational sophomore midfield maestro Kelyn Rowe has decided to forego the balance of his collegiate career, signing his Generation Adidas contract and making the official jump to MLS. Rowe, the Pac-12 player of the year and second-team All-American, Rowe was the engine that drove the Bruins' attack, so his loss to the professional ranks will really hurt Jorge Salcedo's squad next year. Also, with Rowe making the jump, MLS put together a quick profile of him, which you can see here.

And with that, that is your non-revenue roundup for this past week. Mixed results for the ladies' hoops squad, but exciting to start getting the rest of our non-revenue sports underway shortly (men's volleyball, gymnastics, etc.).

Fire away with your thoughts, comments, additions, or analysis in the thread.

GO BRUINS