Sports briefs

Ponis heads to Alabama

Metro assistant volleyball coach Debbie Ponis has accepted a position on the coaching staff of the University of Alabama volleyball team.

Ponis will leave Metro in April after a one-year stay.

ãI think at first I was excited,ä Ponis said. ãAnd then it set in that I was leaving.

ãItâs exciting, but it can be overwhelming, too.ä

Ponis has established an impressive resume as a player and coach.

She helped lead Metro to its first Regional tournament appearance in three years last season as coach Joan McDermottâs second assistant.

As an athlete, Ponis piled up numerous awards.

She was an All-State selection in high school tennis at Arvada High School for three years and an All-America pick once.

In volleyball, Ponis made the All-State team twice in high school.

Ponis carried her success through college at the University of Northern Colorado. She earned All-America honors three times in volleyball and once in tennis.

ãThe opportunity to learn in an environment with so much rich tradition is a unique experience,ä Ponis said. ãFor me it was just deciding that it was an OK time to leave.ä

Soccer Fields Closed

Metroâs menâs and womenâs soccer teams, once again, are unable to use the renovated Auraria Fields.

A spring break rugby tournament chewed up the fields and rendered them unusable, Metroâs Athletics Director William Helman said.

The soccer teams will have to find off-campus cites for spring practices while the grass is given time to stabilize, Helman said.