Three-time NAIA All-American Bruna Langner is leaving her assistant coach position at her alma mater, Lee University, to become the first volleyball coach for Dalton State College. "Lee's volleyball team has been a mainstay in the top 10 nationally of the NAIA rankings for the last decade," athletic director Derek Waugh said in a DSC release. "Coach Langner is used to winning and has learned from one of the best coaches in the NAIA in Andrea Hudson during her last five seasons as an assistant coach and as an exceptional player. ... We think she is a great fit because she is intelligent, enthusiastic and loves the game of volleyball. She also has numerous local contacts and is very well-connected internationally. We are excited to have her on board, and once our funding is competitive with other teams nationally, I have no doubt she will have our team competitive nationally." The native of Curitiba, Brazil, recently was inducted into Lee's athletic hall of fame and remains in the top 10 in four Lady Flames statistical categories; she's No. 1 in career blocks. After one year as a graduate assistant at the University of the Cumberlands, she returned to the Cleveland school to work for Hudson and her husband and chief assistant, Kevin Hudson. "I am thrilled and honored to be the first women's volleyball coach at Dalton State," Langner said. "This is a great opportunity to do what I love. I have been working under great coaches, and now it is my turn to put on the table everything I know and have learned all these years. ... Andrea and Kevin definitely helped me all the way from being a player to becoming a coach. They pushed me really hard in practices and games. They definitely believed more in my potential than I believed in myself. I have learned everything about coaching because of them." Dalton State now has coaches in place for men's basketball, tennis, competitive cheerleading and volleyball. The volleyball team will begin competition next fall.
• University of Tennessee at Chattanooga senior volleyball middle blocker Christina Teter from Red Bank High School ended her career as a CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-America third-team selection. A UTC release said the Signal Mountain resident is the first player in program history to earn Academic All-America honors. She has a 4.0 grade point average as a biology major, and in the 2012 season she led the Mocs with 262 kills and 0.76 blocks per set. "What an honor for Christina," coach Travis Filar said. "She is an amazing example of a student-athlete. She goes out and gives it all she has on the court, but she also stays focused on school and makes studies her top priority. She has set a great example for her teammates." Teter finished her UTC career with 745 kills and 222 blocks.
Basketball
• Hollie German scored 20 points with four 3-point baskets and four steals as the Lee University women's basketball team, ranked No. 6 in NAIA Division I, defeated No. 12 Bethel 61-47 on Thursday at Cleveland. Jenna Adams had 14 points and eight rebounds and Karley Miller scored 10 points for Lee (9-1), while Mary Jackson also grabbed eight rebounds and Rachel Lockhart had seven. Jasmine Taylor led the McKenzie, Tenn., team (10-2) with 15 points and seven rebounds.
• Ish Sanders from Cleveland scored 20 points and had four steals as Carson-Newman College won 79-51 in men's basketball Thursday night at Hiwassee. Cody Henegar from Marion County had 11 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Eagles (6-1). Rico Stanley had 15 points and six rebounds for the Tigers (3-13), and Justin Browner had 13 points and three steals.
• Jara Gasper scored 21 points with 4-of-5 3-point shooting as the Cleveland State women's basketball team ended the 2012 part of its schedule with an 81-49 defeat of the Montreat College junior varsity Thursday. Shea Nunn added 12 points for the Lady Cougars (9-5).
Running
• Chattanoogan Geno Phillips won the masters division and was sixth overall out of 1,144 finishers in the recent Rocket City Marathon at Huntsville, Ala. The middle school teacher and coach finished the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 36 minutes, 47 seconds. The women's overall winner was Justyna Mudy of Rome, Ga., in 2:46:58.