As November progresses, fall sports will come to a close and winter sports will begin. By Thanksgiving break, outdoor athletics will be mostly over while winter athletics will be in full swing. Read below for a summary of the women’s sports seasons and for who to pay attention to next year. 

Soccer

The women’s soccer team is one of the few fall sports still competing, though they will be done by the end of this week. After 2014 saw the first NCAA tournament berth for the program under Head Coach Michele Canning, the squad failed to repeat and earn a spot in this year’s tournament. The team roared out to a 9-2 start, but faltered once University Athletic Association play began. Their eight game winning streak was snapped on Oct. 10 in a double overtime UAA match against Carnegie Mellon. Since then, the Violets went 3-4-1, giving them a 12-5-1 record for the year, but only a 2-4-1 record in league play. Even though their performance did not earn them a spot in the NCAA tournament, they’ll continue their season in the single-elimination Eastern Collegiate Athletic Association Championships Wednesday against Lehman College, in an attempt to give worth to a successful but underachieving season by bringing a trophy home.

Player to watch next season: Freshman forward Megan Carver

In her first season as a Violet, Carver was second on the team in goals scored, finding the net five times. She also managed to get more than 50 percent of her shots on target and became more of an offensive threat as the year went on. With another year of practice, she’ll look to be one of the biggest threats a defensive-minded NYU squad can muster.

Golf:

The women’s golf team marched through the fall season with relative ease, never finishing lower than second and taking the top spot in their first contest of the year. They’ll return in the spring to more important competition, as their first match is the UAA Championships. A winter of perfecting their swings will have the Violets looking to take home the top spots and continue their fall form.

Golfer to watch in the spring: Sophomore Kristin Lee

Lee set two NYU individual records at the St. Lawrence Invitational in the Violets’ second match of the season. After remaining as a top finisher for the Violets over the next couple tournaments, Lee tapered off at the end a little, focusing on academics and not being able to get her swing the way she wanted. With the added time for practice over winter break in the nice weather of her hometown of Irvine, CA, Lee will have the opportunity to come back stronger than ever.

Cross Country

The cross country team will look to extend their season next weekend in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships. After a season in which they only finished outside the top 10 once, the team turned in their best performance when it counted most: the ECAC Championships. They ran well enough to place fifth out of 46 teams and will hit the NCAA Regionals at the peak of their momentum. Depending on their performance, they will also send runners to the NCAA championships the following weekend, which will be hosted at Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Runner to watch next season: Sophomore Emily Dethlefs

Dethlefs was one of two Violet runners to finish in the top 25 at the ECAC Championships. The other, Lily Corsaro, will graduate next year. NYU’s third-fastest runner, Sarah Sisk, is also a senior. Dethlefs could use the added experience and training she got this year to potentially become the Violets’ top runner next year.

Tennis

The tennis team is done for the fall, but will return for their more competitive spring season on Feb. 27 at Swarthmore College. Fall tennis does not have team scoring, but the Violets used this crucial fall season to fine tune skills and get accustomed the competition this year.

Player to watch in the spring: Freshman Alice McGinty

McGinty, in her first semester as a collegiate tennis player, managed to reach the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Fall Regionals. If she proved that she can be a competitive player in her first semester of college, it’ll be interesting to see how a winter of acclimating to this level will affect her spring season.

Volleyball

It was another disappointing season for Violet volleyball. After a 2013 season in which the Violets went 28-8 and made the NCAA tournament, the 2014 team struggled en route to a 20-18 season. This team, comprised mostly of sophomore and freshman who never tasted the success of 2013, couldn’t get over the hump to finish above .500. But they showed flashes of brilliance, at times dominating teams ranked higher than them, and even coming back from two-set deficits to stun teams that expected to walk over them. The young players on the team may have finally paid their dues, and even though they’ll miss their only senior — captain Nicole Frias — next year’s team has the potential to pull it together and get back to the NCAA tournament.

Player to watch next season: Sophomore outside hitter Alexis Jackson

After struggling to see playing time and not even being on the travelling team in her freshman year, Jackson exploded to success in her sophomore campaign. She regained her confidence and led the Violets in kills with 241. With Frias gone, Jackson — and her freshman teammate Shelby King — will get a bulk of the sets that Frias would have seen previously. If she can transform from a good outside hitter to an unstoppable one, the 2016 team will look very threatening to the rest of the UAA.

Email Bobby Wagner at [email protected].