Making the announcement were her brothers, NBA superstar Stephen Curry and former Duke standout and Portland Trailblazers player Seth Curry, and their wives. The naming gift came as a wedding present to Sydel Curry, who will marry Damion Lee in Charlotte, N.C., this coming weekend. 

“I just want to say congratulations on getting married this weekend,” “We also want to congratulate you on an amazing career at Elon playing volleyball, all you did for the school and the program and wanted to give it back to you with the new locker room (named) for Sydel Curry. Enjoy it!”

In announcing her retirement from the game, Curry a thank you to “¸£ÀûÑÇÖÞ¹ú²ú¾«Æ· & my coaches for giving the opportunity to be a student-athlete. It has been the experience of a lifetime. I want to thank my teammates that I have had in the last 4 years that have made my college experience one that I would live all over again a thousand times.”

The announcement came as the team , with a three-set sweep of N.C. A&T State University. The game attracted a program-record 1,465 fans.  

Phoenix fans will gather at Schar Center on Tuesday night to watch Elon’s volleyball team take on N.C. A&T State University in what will be the first intercollegiate athletics contest held in the new arena. 

The 5,100-seat Schar Center opened this summer and is home to Elon’s basketball and volleyball programs. The 160,000-square-foot facility will provide an elite venue for Phoenix sports in addition to convocations, speakers and other major campus events. 

The Elon volleyball team’s 7 p.m. match against N.C. A&T follows a 3-0 sweep in the Charlotte Invitational this past weekend, including a comeback win against USC Upstate on Saturday, Aug. 25. During Friday play in the Charlotte Invitational, senior outside hitter Kam Terry recorded her 1,000th-career kill in a win over the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 

“Schar Center is an amazing facility and it’s been great to finally get to start practicing in the building,” said Elon head coach Mary Tendler said as the team began preseason practice earlier this summer. “Everything about this building is incredible and the players love the new space from the locker room, the gym, the weight room and everything in between. It’s all been great and everyone is very excited to be getting started in our new home.”

In November, the men’s and women’s basketball teams will play their first home games in the Schar Center, with each team hosting the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

The facility is named for Dwight and Martha Schar, of Palm Beach, Fla. For an overview of the center and photos of its construction, visit here. 

The main arena inside Schar Center continues to take shape, with the floor now installed as work continues on the 5,100-seat facility.

Finishing touches are being put in place around the Schar Center, with work to be completed on the 160,000-square-foot facility later this summer. 

The Schar Center will serve as a venue for convocations, speakers and other major campus events. It will also be the new home court for Elon’s basketball and volleyball teams, with triple the space of Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, and include a practice facility with two full courts, hospitality room, club-level seating and high-definition video boards. The facility is scheduled to open in fall 2018.

Alumni, parents and friends can follow the Schar Center progress at its website —www.elon.edu/scharcenter — which includes the latest photos and news of the facility, as well as renderings, a construction cam and photos from past project milestones.

Visitors to the website can take a look inside and outside the Schar Center with fly-through videos. In addition, an interactive construction cam allows viewers to scroll back through construction photos and provides a time-lapse feature so viewers can watch the center take shape.

​The facility is named for Elon parents Dwight and Martha Schar of Palm Beach, Fla., who are among Elon’s most generous donors and whose $13 million in gifts to the university provided lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications.

A new phoenix landed on Elon’s campus on Monday and will now greet visitors to the university’s Schar Center when the 5,100-seat facility opens later this year. 

Crafted by Burlington native Ed Walker of Carolina Bronze Sculpture in Seagrove, the sculpture features a bronze phoenix rising from a concrete column of fire. 

Walker said he researched the mythology behind the phoenix and viewed countless renditions while designing his interpretation of the creature that serves as Elon’s mascot. Walker said he wanted the sculpture to be “intense but not aggressive,” and he shied away from cartoonish interpretations of the phoenix. 

“I wanted it to be believable as a bird,” Walker said. 

The concrete base that resembles a twist of flames weighed in at more than 3,400 pounds. The interior of the bronze phoenix, which weighs about 900 pounds, was extensively engineered by LHC Engineering of Raleigh to ensure that the sculpture is sturdy, Walker said. 

A rough model of the design was followed by a two-foot-tall version with more detail. Plans for the final version to be cast were generated by a 3D scanning software, with those plans then used to carve out a full-sized urethane model. Wax casting was followed by bronze casting to finalize the sculpture. 

Once assembled, the sculpture is about 12-feet tall, with the phoenix boasting a 10-foot wing span. 

The Schar Center will serve as a venue for convocations, speakers and other major campus events. It will also be the new home court for Elon’s basketball and volleyball teams, with triple the space of Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, and include a practice facility with two full courts, hospitality room, club-level seating and high-definition video boards. The facility is scheduled to open in fall 2018.

Visitors to the website can take a look inside and outside the Schar Center with fly-through videos. In addition, an interactive construction cam allows viewers to scroll back through construction photos and provides a time-lapse feature so viewers can watch the center take shape.

The facility is named for Elon parents Dwight and Martha Schar of Palm Beach, Fla., who are among Elon’s most generous donors and whose $13 million in gifts to the university provided lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications.

A number of components of Elon’s new Schar Center are now complete, including the Maurice J. Koury Practice Facility and the Robert V. Gill Room as crews continue to make progress on the expansive project. 

The Schar Center will serve as a venue for convocations, speakers and other major campus events. It will also be the new home court for Elon’s basketball and volleyball teams, with triple the space of Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, and include a practice facility with two full courts, hospitality room, club-level seating and high-definition video boards. The facility is scheduled to open in fall 2018.

Visitors to the website can take a look inside and outside the Schar Center with fly-through videos. In addition, an interactive construction cam allows viewers to scroll back through construction photos and provides a time-lapse feature so viewers can watch the center take shape.

​The facility is named for Elon parents Dwight and Martha Schar of Palm Beach, Fla., who are among Elon’s most generous donors and whose $13 million in gifts to the university provided lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications.

PHOTO GALLERY: SCHAR CENTER

Work continues inside Elon’s new Schar Center as visitors can now get a clearer picture of what the state-of-the-art facility will look and feel like once complete later this year. 

Crews are finishing the floor inside the Maurice J. Koury Practice Facility, which features two full courts, and the seating is now in place within the main arena. Resources for athletes including the weight room are nearing completion, as are interior finishes. Spaces for visitors, such as the Robert V. Gill Room continue to take shape. 

The Schar Center will serve as a venue for convocations, speakers and other major campus events. It will also be the new home court for Elon’s basketball and volleyball teams, with triple the space of Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, and include a practice facility with two full courts, hospitality room, club-level seating and high-definition video boards. The facility is scheduled to open in fall 2018.

Alumni, parents and friends can follow the Schar Center progress at its website —www.elon.edu/scharcenter — which includes the latest photos and news of the facility, as well as renderings, a construction cam and photos from past project milestones.

Visitors to the website can take a look inside and outside the Schar Center with fly-through videos. In addition, an interactive construction cam allows viewers to scroll back through construction photos and provides a time-lapse feature so viewers can watch the center take shape.

The facility is named for Elon parents Dwight and Martha Schar of Palm Beach, Fla., who are among Elon’s most generous donors and whose $13 million in gifts to the university provided lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications.

The interior finishes that will make Elon’s Schar Center truly stand out as a state-of-the-art facility are taking shape as work continues to progress on the 5,100-seat, 160,000-square-foot arena.

The Schar Center will serve as a venue for convocations, speakers and other major campus events. It will also be the new home court for Elon’s basketball and volleyball teams, with triple the space of Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, and include a practice facility with two full courts, hospitality room, club-level seating and high-definition video boards. The facility is scheduled to open in fall 2018.

Alumni, parents and friends can follow the Schar Center progress at its website —www.elon.edu/scharcenter — which includes the latest photos and news of the facility, as well as renderings, a construction cam and photos from past project milestones.

Visitors to the website can take a look inside and outside the Schar Center with fly-through videos. In addition, an interactive construction cam allows viewers to scroll back through construction photos and provides a time-lapse feature so viewers can watch the center take shape.

The facility is named for Elon parents Dwight and Martha Schar  of Palm Beach, Fla., who are among Elon’s most generous donors and whose $13 million in gifts to the university provided lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications.

Elon's Schar Center is moving closer to completion later this year with crews working diligently to outfit the facility's interior. Along with continued work on the main arena and concourses, work is continuing on the practice court and many of the center's athletics offices. 

The Schar Center will serve as a venue for convocations, speakers and other major campus events. It will also be the new home court for Elon's basketball and volleyball teams, with triple the space of Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, and include a practice facility with two full courts, hospitality room, club-level seating and high-definition video boards. The facility is scheduled to open in 2018.

​Alumni, parents and friends can follow the Schar Center progress at its website — — which includes the latest photos and news of the facility, as well as renderings, a construction cam and photos from past project milestones.

​Visitors to the website can take a look inside and outside the Schar Center with fly-through videos. In addition, an interactive construction cam allows viewers to scroll back through construction photos and provides a time-lapse feature so viewers can watch the center take shape.

The facility is named for Elon parents Dwight and Martha Schar, of Palm Beach, Fla., who are among Elon's most generous donors and whose $13 million in gifts to the university provided lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications.

The Schar Center will serve as a venue for convocations, speakers and other major campus events. It will also be the new home court for Elon's basketball and volleyball teams, with triple the space of Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, and include a practice facility with two full courts, hospitality room, club-level seating and high-definition video boards. The facility is scheduled to open in 2018.

An interactive construction cam that had been tracking progress on the Schar Center's exterior has now been moved inside, with viewers now able to see how the main arena is beginning to take shape. 

Alumni, parents and friends can follow the Schar Center progress at its website — — which includes the latest photos and news of the facility, as well as renderings, a live construction cam and photos from past project milestones.

Visitors to the website can take a look inside and outside the Schar Center with fly-through videos. In addition, an interactive construction cam allows viewers to scroll back through construction photos and provides a time-lapse feature so viewers can watch the center take shape.

The facility is named for Elon parents Dwight and Martha Schar, of Palm Beach, Fla., who are among Elon's most generous donors and whose $13 million in gifts to the university provided lead funding for the convocation center and the expanded School of Communications.