ANDERSON, S.C. – For the sixth consecutive year and eighth time in the last nine, Anderson University has claimed possession of the coveted Beville Cup in the passionate rivalry between Anderson and Erskine, by a 7.5-7.0 point margin.
After trailing in the standings for the first seven months of the year, a late surge over the final six weeks enabled the Trojans to overcome the deficit and hold on to the trophy by the closest margin since the 2011-12 academic year.
The prestigious Beville Cup, originally known as the Anderson/Erskine Cup, is a competition between Erskine and Anderson's athletics programs that was established in the fall of 2003 and is sponsored by ARAMARK in order to promote and enhance the rivalry between the Trojans and Flying Fleet, whose campuses are separated only by 20 miles.
The winner of the Beville Cup each year has the award presented each spring to its student-athletes and coaches by the losing athletics director, traditionally at their postseason banquet/awards night.
The Fleet last claimed the Cup in 2012 has held it in back-to-back years just once (2005-06), with Anderson holding it for 11 total years.
Erskine garnered an early lead this year by claiming the Academic Success Rate (1 ½ points), while the Trojan volleyball squad got AU on the board with a dominating 3-0 win in Due West. The Flying Fleet countered by sweeping both soccer points to claim a 3.5-1.0 advantage, while the Anderson women's cross country team narrowed the deficit by finishing second of 23 teams at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships in Wingate, N.C. Erskine did not sponsor men's cross country in 2017, so that point was unavailable for either program to claim.
Erskine maintained the advantage by defeating the Trojan men's basketball team while women's hoops kept AU within striking distance by knocking off the Fleet in Due West. The Trojans climbed within a half point (4.5-4.0) by posting a higher percentage of student-athletes achieving academic all-conference honors, but the Flying Fleet opened the spring season by rebuilding their lead to 6-4 after defeating the baseball team in their first meeting of the year and sweeping the softball twin bill in March.
With AU trailing by two full points, both the Trojan men's and women's tennis teams blanked Erskine, 9-0, to knot the score at six apiece and following the conclusion of the South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship in mid-April, the future of the Cup came down to the final week of the season. The golf teams traveled to Greenwood, where the men's team defeated the Fleet in match play, while the women's team earned a split to clinch possession for the Black and Gold for yet another year. The final half-point was claimed by the Fleet when they edged AU, 5-4, in the baseball regular-season finale for both teams.
The Anderson-Erskine Cup was changed to the 'Beville Cup" in the spring of 2007 in honor of Bobby and Susie Beville. Susie Beville was a graduate of Anderson College and Erskine College, where she played softball. Susie Beville passed away in the summer of 2004. Her husband Bobby played baseball both at AU and Erskine and went on to serve as baseball coach at Anderson before becoming the athletics director for 10 years. He left AU in 2007 to work for the Anderson City Parks and Recreation Department.
Results
2003-04: Anderson 19, Erskine 13
2004-05: Erskine 19.5, Anderson 12.5
2005-06: Erskine 18.5, Anderson 13.5
2006-07: Anderson 20, Erskine 12
2007-08: Anderson 20, Erskine 12
2008-09: Erskine 16.5, Anderson 15.5
2009-10: Anderson 20, Erskine 18
2010-11: Anderson 10.5, Erskine 9.5
2011-12: Erskine 9.5, Anderson 9.0
2012-13: Anderson 9.25, Erskine 6.25
2013-14: Anderson 12, Erskine 3.5
2014-15: Anderson 9, Erskine 3.5
2015-16: Anderson 8.5, Erskine 7.0
2016-17: Anderson 12, Erskine 3.0
2017-18: Anderson 7.5, Erskine 7.0
