CFC announces Panzer signing
The Chattanooga Football Club’s first professional season is on hold, but the structuring of the soccer team is still in progress. The club announced Monday the signing of 26-year-old defender Erik Panzer of New Zealand, who played collegiately for Quinnipiac in Connecticut and then professionally in England, Sweden and the last three years in New Zealand’s top soccer level. “He is a strong communicator who brings good defensive presence on the field. His experience will be valuable as we navigate through this first professional season,” CFC coach Peter Fuller said in a release. Said Panzer: “To be able to represent Chattanooga as a football club and a city is an honor, and I’m very excited to be a part of this amazing community.”
SOFTBALL
› A week after a teammate was named Southern Conference softball pitcher of the week, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior Celie Hudson received the honor for the second time this season and the sixth in her career. In program history only Beth Alexander (1999-02) and Brooke Loudermilk (2007-10) earned the award more times, nine each. The Mocs’ Allison Swinford was the previous recipient. Hudson got a save in a 2-1 win over Merrimack, when she allowed two hits and no runs in three innings, with four strikeouts. For the now-canceled season, Hudson led the SoCon in earned run average (1.92) and was second in strikeouts (66) and opponents’ batting average (.212).
BASEBALL
› Covenant College sophomore Andrew Brock’s two-record game earned him the distinction of USA South baseball player of the week. The Fort Oglethorpe resident went 4-for-5 with school records of four doubles and seven RBIs in a 26-2 home win over Iowa Wesleyan, and the four two-base hits tied a league record. Brock ended the shortened season with a .444 batting average. The Scots finished 11-4, 6-0 in the USAS, with 16-3, 22-0, 4-2, 9-3 and 26-2 wins in their last five games.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
› UTC’s first season of beach volleyball wound up being one day. The sand Mocs are affiliated with the Ohio Valley Conference, and the OVC announced Monday that all its spring sports officially were done with intercollegiate competition for 2020. The SoCon followed suit Tuesday, including “all athletics-related activities.” UTC played in the Mercer Bears Beach Bash on Feb. 29 and went 0-3. The NAIA also announced Monday that the entire spring sports schedule is canceled and athletes in those sports would not be charged a season of competition. And the NJCAA pulled the plug on spring sports and the unplayed basketball tournaments that would have included the Chattanooga State women’s team.
TENNIS
› Sewanee’s men were No. 21 and the women were No. 32 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III final national rankings for 2019-20. The female Tigers rose two spots and the men moved up one from the previous listing.