Sunday, September 21, 2014

XU Nuggets 3-0 in GCAC after sweeping Philander Smith

XU women's volleyball vs. Philander Smith (Photo Gallery)

NEW ORLEANS -- Claudia Haywood and Jada Broussard combined for 22 kills Saturday, and Franziska Pirkl recorded her fourth double-double in five matches to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 25-23, 25-11, 25-22 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's volleyball victory against Philander Smith.

The Gold Nuggets (5-2, 3-0) have won five straight. They've won 46 consecutive matches against GCAC opponents -- 37 in the regular season -- and 44 straight against HBCUs.

Haywood had 12 kills, two blocks, hit a season-high .478 and reached double figures in kills for the fifth consecutive match. Broussard, a freshman, had 10 kills and hit .389, both career highs, and had two blocks. Pirkl had 34 assists, 11 digs and an ace.

Zyra Wright had 12 kills, three aces and two blocks for Philander Smith (4-10, 0-2).

The Gold Nuggets trailed 23-21 after leading 19-11 in the opening set, but they clinched with the help of two Philander Smith attack errors and two Jodi Hill kills. Xavier had 16-4 leads in the second and third sets and completed the sweep after Philander Smith closed the third-set score to 23-20.

Xavier outhit Philander Smith .232 to .059 -- .500 to minus-.029 in the second set -- and had advantages of 44-26 in kills and 71-46 in digs. Kayla Jones, a freshman, led Xavier with 13 digs. Darian Harris had 12 digs, and Chinedu Echebelem had 11.

Echebelem and CeCe Williams had seven kills apiece, and Hill had six.

Xavier will play Talladega at 7 p.m. Monday at the Convocation Center.


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA



XU Nuggets, Rush record best finishes at LSU Invitational

XU cross country at LSU Invitational (Photo Gallery)

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Xavier University of Louisiana posted its best-ever finishes -- third place for the women, fourth place for the men -- in the LSU Invitational cross country meet Saturday.

Led once again by seniors Catherine Fakler and Kwame Jackson, both the Gold Nuggets and Gold Rush finished ahead of two NCAA Division I teams. Xavier competes in the NAIA.

Fakler ran 5,000 meters in 19 minutes, 10.99 seconds to place eighth out of 48 women. Jackson ran the men's 5K in 16:15.94 and finished 11th out of 54 runners.

The Gold Nuggets scored 92 points and finished ahead of NCAA D-I's Nicholls State and New Orleans. LSU won the women's team title with 22 points, and Southeastern Louisiana was second with 77.

Xavier's women are 11-3 through four meets this season with five victories against NCAA Division I.

The Gold Rush qualified for team scoring for the first time this season. The XU men had 123 points and finished ahead of Jackson State and Nicholls State. LSU won the men's title with 18 points, followed by SLU with 72 and UNO with 98.

Fakler's time is the eighth fastest in Gold Nuggets history. Jackson, who set the XU men's 5K record on Sept. 6, posted the Gold Rush's fifth-fastest 5K of the past 12 seasons.

Also competing for the Gold Nuggets were Hali Yarmush (21st place, season-best 21:04.91), Carlee Calais (25th, career-best 21:42.37), Hannah Finnegan (27th, 21:51.93) and Reeka Belton (30th, season-best 22:34.42).

The other Gold Rush finishers were Brent Kitto (21st, 16:55.91), Christopher August (26th, 17:05.51), Emmanuel Detiege (43rd, 18:38.63) and Christopher Kennie (54th, 25:50.60).

Xavier will compete next Saturday in the McNeese Cowboy Stampede at Lake Charles, La.


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Hampton's Bailey Career Day Leads Pirates past Miles Bears



HAMPTON, Virginia -- Behind a career performance from sophomore quarterback Bryan Bailey, the Hampton University football team picked up its first win of the season on Saturday, defeating Div. II Miles College 34-30 at Armstrong Stadium.


The win was the first in the tenure of head coach Connell Maynor.


Bailey (Woodruff, S.C.) threw for a career-high 267 yards and three touchdowns, completing 20 of his 31 passes. Redshirt sophomore Rashawn Proctor (Hampton, Va.) caught six of those passes for a team-high 69 yards and a touchdown. In all, Bailey found nine different receivers.

Three of those receivers caught touchdown passes.

Senior Jorrian Washington (Los Angeles, Calif.) rushed for a team-high 92 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, averaging 6.6 yards per rush.

The Pirates (1-3) had 411 yards of total offense.

Miles (1-2) scored the only touchdown of the first quarter, a 16-yard pass from Demetric Price to Antonio Pitts that gave the Golden Bears a 7-0 lead at the 4:56 mark.

But the Pirates answered with 10 unanswered points in the second quarter, starting with an 8-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard field goal from sophomore Anthony Prevost (Chesterfield, Va.) to cut the lead to 7-3 with 7:15 left in the half.

Hampton took a 10-7 lead with 3:47 left in the half after Bailey found senior Morris Brailsford (Westbury, N.Y.) from 19 yards out for his first scoring toss of the night.

The Pirates took that lead into the half.

Miles answered on its first possession of the second half, going 52 yards on 10 plays before Jason Coste hit a 42-yard field goal to tie the score at 10-10 at the 10:43 mark. It was his first field goal of the night after missing two tries in the first half.

But the Pirates answered immediately, marching 66 yards in nine plays to set up a 1-yard run up the gut from Washington. Washington had four carries in that drive, including a 24-yard scamper on a 3rd-and-1 that crossed midfield.

Jamarcus Hill scored on an 8-yard run with seven seconds left in the third quarter to tie the game at 17-17.

But on the first drive of the fourth quarter, Bailey led the Pirates down the field – starting with a 19-yard strike to Washington. Later in the drive, Bailey hit a leaping SeQuan Gooding (Chesapeake, Va.) over the middle for an 18-yard touchdown – after Gooding fought through a pile across the goal line.

That gave Hampton a 24-17 lead with 12:49 left in the contest.

Hampton's defense then stepped up, as senior Charles Owens (Upper Marlboro, Md.) forced a fumble on a 3rd-and-2 play that freshman Hayden Gregory (Nashville, Tenn.) recovered at the Miles 25-yard line.

Bailey hit Proctor from 25 yards out on the next play to give Hampton a 31-17 lead with 9:33 left.

Miles needed just three plays and 56 seconds to answer, cutting the Pirates' lead to 31-24 after Price found Pitts from 25 yards out with 8:30 left to play. The Golden Bears' momentum appeared to continue after a Bailey interception, but Miles turned the ball over on downs with 2:47 left.

Prevost hit a 29-yard field goal with 1:24 left to put Hampton up 34-24.

Miles drove 63 yards in 1:17, until Price found Michael Ross for an 11-yard touchdown pass. But a missed PAT, and just 2.1 seconds left on the clock, left Miles trailing 34-30.
Senior Khambrel McGee (Miami, Fla.) led the Pirates defense with 11 tackles, while juniors Frank Morlock (Rio Rancho, N.M.) and Joshua Thorne (Oxon Hill, Md.) each had 10 stops. Thorne also had two sacks and a forced fumble.

Junior Breon Key (Hampton, Va.) had an interception.

The Pirates will open MEAC play on Saturday, playing host to South Carolina State at 2 p.m. For more information on Hampton University football, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.





COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY PIRATES ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

Central Florida handles Bethune-Cookman for first win of season



ALWAYS WATCH IN 1080p HD, WIDE SCREEN

ORLANDO, Florida -- After traveling more 5,000 miles during the past three weeks, the UCF football team finally enjoyed a home victory.

The Knights had to regain some of the swagger that helped them finish as the No. 10 team in the country last season after suffering two disappointing losses to Penn State in Ireland and at Missouri. And UCF made Bethune-Cookman pay big during a 41-7 win before an announced crowd of 44,510 fans at Bright House Networks Stadium Saturday. It was the largest recorded season home opener crowd since the Knights hosted No. 6 Texas in 2007.

“The first win of the season is always a big win, especially at home,” UCF coach George O’Leary said. “I feel like we have been away for two months. It’s a good win, but now we get into the conference season. The one goal we have on the team is to win the conference championship each and every year.”

UCF will have to head into its conference opener against Houston on the road Oct. 2 without one of its top players in senior receiver Rannell Hall.

+ Final Stats
Photo Gallery


CONTINUE READING

MSU Bears Outlast Howard 38-35 at NY Urban League Classic

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey  -- The Bears and Bison put on quite a show at the 42nd Annual Urban League Classic, but it was a Chris Moller field goal late in the fourth quarter that helped give Morgan State a 38-35 victory over Howard on Saturday.
 
Moller's 38-yarder sealed Lee Hull's first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference win and improved the Bears record to 2-2 overall. It also marked the most points scored against Howard since a 38-20 win against the Bison on Oct. 19, 2002.
 
Morgan State ran 10 plays and marched 65-yards during the opening possession of the game. MSU quarterback Robert Council hooked-up with Thomas Martin for a 34-yard pass play that helped setup a 1-yard touchdown run by Herb Walker Jr. Moller's extra point gave the Bears the early 7-0 lead with 12:18 remaining in the first quarter.
 
Council was back it orchestrating the Bears next scoring drive. The Camden, S.C. product had a sensation play in which he rolled left and then cutback across the grain for a 44-yard run. Four plays later Council scored on a 2-yard keeper to put the Bears up 14-0 midway through the first quarter.
 
Morgan was off to a great start with16 plays and two touchdowns in the early going.
 
Council finished the day by completing 13 of 22 passes for 168 yards, including a pair of touchdown tosses. He also had 14 carries for 90 yards on his way to being named the Classic's Most Valuable Player.
 
The Bison's offense got into gear toward the end of the first quarter.
 
Howard (1-3, 0-1) quarterback Greg McGhee connected with Matt Colvin for a 55-yard toss behind the Bears' secondary to put the Bison within striking distance. Three plays later McGhee play-faked and walked into the endzone for a 3-yard touchdown. John Fleck's point after cut the lead to 14-7.
 
McGhee engineered a 14-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with his 1-yd TD to help tie the ballgame at 14-14 with 4:56 remaining in the half.
 
McGhee, the 2013 MEAC Player of the Year, did just about everything for the Bison. He threw for 229 yards (16-35) and finished with 74 rushing yards and three TDs.
 
The Bears got a spark from their defense during Howard's first possession of the third quarter when senior linebacker Cody Acker picked off McGhee to help give the Morgan the ball deep in Bison territory.
 
It only took the Bears six plays and just under 2 minutes to find paydirt when Walker scored on a 4-yard for a 21-7 lead.
 
Walker, who entered today's contest ranked No. 5 in the FCS in rushing yards per game (153.3 ypg) finished with a game-high 141 yards on 32 carries.
 
The Bears pushed the lead on its next possession when Martin was on the receiving end of a 17-yard TD pass by Council in the back of the endzone. The score capped an 11-play, 88-yard drive and seemed to really put Morgan in the drivers seat with a 28-14 lead with 4:31 remaining in the third quarter. 
 
The Bison responded with another long, time-consuming drive, this time William Parker scored on a 1-yard run. Orlando Johnson raced the ensuing kickoff 82-yards to help give the Bears excellent field position. Three plays later Council completed a screen pass to Walker for a 17-yard TD to extend to a 35-21 lead to end the quarter.
 
However, Howard was far from finished and scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
 
McGhee scored on a playaction bootleg and ran in from 4-yards out to help trim the lead to 35-28. And William Parker sidestepped a tackle for a 10-yard touchdown run to complete a 12-play, 73-yard drive to tie the game at 35 with 2:27 left to go.
 
Johnson recorded another big play for the Bears special teams unit when he posted a 35-yard return on the ensuing kickoff to help set up the game-winning field goal by Moller.
 
Notes:
• The Bears had a 100-yard rusher for the fourth game in a row
• Herb Walker Jr. finished with his third straight 100-yard game
• Orlando Johnson recorded the longest kick return of the season
• Herb Walker rushed for his third straight 100-yard game
• Christopher Robinson led the Bears with 8 tackles and two sacks
• Cody Acker added 8 tackles and an interception
• Thomas Martin led the Bears with four receptions for 75 yards and a TD
• The teams combined for 854 yards of offense; Morgan had 435, while Howard finished with 419.
• The 38 points was the most by the Bears since scoring 44 points against Savannah State on Oct. 8, 2011.


COURTESY MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

Southern rolls to 34-24 win over Prairie View in SWAC opener

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- Southern had to adapt to a variety of changes that it couldn’t control during its nonconference schedule.

Then, when the Jaguars opened Southwestern Athletic Conference play Saturday night, they chose to make several changes that paid big dividends in a 34-24 victory against Prairie View at Blackshear Field.

After using Austin Howard to relieve Deonte Shorts in a quarterback platoon in the first three games, Southern started Howard and played him the whole way. The true freshman from West St. John responded by throwing for one touchdown and running for another.

Howard was an efficient 8-of-15 for 108 yards as, after a series of losses at wide receiver, the Jaguars turned to a power running game. Lenard Tillery responded with 135 yards and a touchdown before limping off with cramps in the fourth quarter.

Throw in a boost that first-time starters ...

CONTINUE READING

Jackson State's turnovers prove costly in upset loss to Grambling

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Grambling State showed up.

And it made the most of its trip to Jackson.

After failing to board its bus for last year's game with Jackson State because of a player boycott, Grambling State arrived to Veterans Memorial Stadium in front of 18,522 spectators.

Now, it heads home with its first win of the season, defeating Jackson State 40-35.

After juggling three quarterbacks in the beginning of the season, Grambling State (1-3, 1-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) settled with Stephen Johnson. And the redshirt freshman orchestrated a hurry-up offense, the very one JSU (2-2, 0-1 SWAC) has tried to execute all season.



CONTINUE READING