Dutchtown's Hill is Nuggets' first signee for 2012 season

JODI HILL

NEW ORLEANS — Jodi Hill, a 5-foot-9 middle blocker from Prairieville, La., and Dutchtown High School, is Xavier University of Louisiana's first women's volleyball signee for the 2012 season.

Hill signed an XU scholarship Thursday afternoon at her school.

Hill was a Baton Rouge Advocate All-Metro selection as a senior and junior.

In 2011 she had 391 kills and 83 blocks to help the Griffins reach the second round of the Division I (Class 5A) state playoffs. Hill had 387 kills and 111 blocks her junior season.

She was first-team all-district as a junior and senior and second-team all-district as a sophomore. Hill helped Dutchtown reach the state quarterfinals in 2010 and the second round in 2009. Her match highs include 23 kills and 14 blocks, both recorded in the same contest her senior year.

"I'm very excited about Jodi coming to Xavier," XU coach Christabell Hamilton said. "I'm really impressed by her physique and her athleticism. She will add depth to our team. She's also a great young lady from a great family. She's very respectful. She's going to fit right in with our Xavier volleyball family."

Hill plays club ball for Louisiana Volleyball Baton Rouge. She plans to major in political science at Xavier and attend law school after graduation. Her great grandmother was an XU graduate.

Xavier's Gold Nuggets were 23-7 in 2011, won the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships and qualified for the NAIA National Championship.

photos from the signing ceremony (via Facebook) Jodi Hill's YouTube video

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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Kirk's a big hit in Gold Nuggets' victory against Judson

NEW ORLEANS — Moira Kirk produced 14 kills, a .619 attack percentage, five aces and three blocks Thursday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 25-12, 25-11, 25-17 women's volleyball victory against Judson (Ala.) at The Barn.

Chinedu Echebelem had nine kills for the Gold Nuggets (2-2), and Taylor Reuther had five kills, eight digs and three aces. Celeste Poe served a career-high-tying four aces and had nine digs.

Xavier served 14 aces and had a .200 attack percentage, both season bests. The Gold Nuggets are 2-0 at home for the first time in the program's four-year history.

Judson is 4-2.

The Nuggets served six first-set aces — three by Poe during a 9-0 run, two in a row by Kirk to give Xavier a 19-10 lead, and the last by Reuther to end the set. Kirk served three consecutive aces to give Xavier a 16-6 lead in the second set.

Judson offered its most resistance in the final set, leading 6-4 and 11-10 before Xavier scored 12 of the final 16 points to break out of a 13-all tie. Three Kirk kills and a Joyy Joseph ace keyed an 8-0 run which gave the Nuggets their first of two match points.

Kirk's attack percentage and aces are the best by a Xavier player in a match this season. She entered the match with one ace this season.

Xavier is 3-0 all-time against Judson and will visit the Eagles on Oct. 15.

The Nuggets will continue a busy stretch — four matches in five days — when they travel to Alcorn State for a 7 p.m. Friday contest. Xavier will play Mississippi Valley at The Barn at 3 p.m. Saturday. Alcorn and MVSU are NCAA Division I opponents.

NOTES: Five freshmen started for Xavier — Kirk, Echebelem, Reuther, Jeanay Butler and Alexandra Rencher . . . Reuther's streak of three consecutive matches with 10 or more kills ended . . . Alcorn will be the first of seven XU matches this season against NCAA D-Is . . . Alcorn is 1-6 after a 22-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-17 loss Thurs OF day at SUNO, a Gulf Coast Athletic Conference rival of Xavier. Alcorn won in five sets Wednesday at Dillard, the defending GCAC Tournament champion.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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XU runners to begin 2011 season Sept. 1 in Mississippi

Matt Pieri, shown competing in 2010 at Lafreniere
 Park in Metairie, La., is one of seven returning
All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference runners for
 Xavier's men and women.  Pieri is the defending
 GCAC men's individual champion.

NEW ORLEANS — The Xavier University of Louisiana men's and women's cross country teams will run on familiar territory throughout the 2011 season.

Joseph Moses, back for his seventh season as coach of the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets, announced the schedule Wednesday.

Xavier will begin the season Sept. 1 in the Mississippi College Opener at Clinton, Miss., and return there Oct. 22 for the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships. Those will be XU's ninth and 10th appearances in seven seasons at Choctaw Trails Cross Country Course.

Both Xavier teams are five-time defending GCAC champions. The Rush and Nuggets won GCAC team titles at Choctaw Trails in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Xavier's second, third and fourth events will have the same Louisiana destinations as last year. The Rush and Nuggets will compete Sept. 10 in the Four Points by Sheraton Loyola Wolfpack Invitational at Lafreniere Park in suburban Metairie for the third consecutive year, followed by the Ragin' Cajuns Invitational in Lafayette on Sept. 16 and the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge on Sept. 24.

It will be the third straight year and the fourth time in six seasons that XU competes in the Ragin' Cajuns meet. The Rush and Nuggets will appear at LSU for the third straight year and the seventh time in nine seasons. The fifth meet, Oct. 1 at the Gulf Coast Stampede in Pensacola, Fla., will be XU's third time there in four years.

The final regular-season meet will be Oct. 8 in the University of Dallas Invitational, where XU also competed in 2008.

The GCAC has reclaimed its automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships after a one-year hiatus, so several from the conference — the top men's and women's team, plus the fastest five males and females not on those winning teams — will qualify for the NAIA meet Nov. 19 at Vancouver, Wash. Xavier's men and women qualified for nationals in 2008 and 2009.

Xavier has seven returning All-GCAC runners: Matt Pieri, Ray Walston, Javon Mead and Charles Shaw on the men's team and Anna D'Souza, Ashley Taylor and Donyé Coleman on the women's. Pieri was the 2010 GCAC men's champion. Both teams conducted their first preseason workouts Friday.

2011 Xavier University of Louisiana Cross Country Schedule

all times Central unless noted

Sept. 1 (Thu.): Mississippi College Opener, Clinton, Miss. — women 5 p.m., men 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 10 (Sat.): Four Points by Sheraton Loyola Wolfpack Invitational, Metairie, La. — women 8 a.m., men 8:35 a.m.
Sept. 16 (Fri.): Ragin' Cajuns Invitational, Lafayette, La. — women 6 p.m., men 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 24 (Sat.): LSU Invitational, Baton Rouge, La. — women 8:05 a.m., men 9:15 a.m.
Oct. 1 (Sat): Gulf Coast Stampede, Pensacola, Fla. — women 7:30 a.m., men 8 a.m.
Oct. 8 (Sat.): University of Dallas Invitational, Irving, Texas — women 9 a.m., men 10 a.m.
Oct. 22 (Sat.): Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships, Clinton, Miss. — women 8 a.m., men 8:45 a.m.
Nov. 19 (Sat): NAIA National Championships, Vancouver, Wash. — men 10:30 a.m. PST, women 11:45 a.m. PST

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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The Xavier Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets compete in Division I of the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) as a member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC). Xavier fields men's teams in basketball, cross country and tennis and women's teams in basketball, cross country, tennis and volleyball.

XU Gold Nuggets tryouts postponed

UPDATE: MAY 19, 2011 - XU volleyball tryouts postponed and will be rescheduled.

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana has postponed its women's volleyball tryouts which were scheduled for Saturday. They will be rescheduled for another date.

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NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana will conduct women's volleyball tryouts for the 2011 season on Saturday, May 21 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Barn.

Participants must bring an academic transcript. The tryout is open to current XU and junior-college students and to 12th-graders graduating in 2011.

Driving directions to The Barn, Xavier's gymnasium, can be found online by using 3999 Short Street and the 70125 zip code.

Contact coach Al'lisa Hale at (504) 520-5344 or allisahale@yahoo.com for more information.

This will be the fourth season of intercollegiate volleyball at Xavier. The Gold Nuggets finished third in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference last season.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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