Late miscues make Grambling rally moot

Grambling, LA - Doug Williams practically begged his Grambling State players to step up and show him something Saturday night. What the Tigers showed were flashes of brilliance that, ultimately, were undone by eight turnovers and an inability to finish the job.

When Luther Snipe made a sliding interception of a Frank Rivers pass at the Alabama A&M 10 with 25 seconds left, Grambling’s losing streak officially hit three games and allowed the Bulldogs to hang on for a 20-14 victory at Robinson Stadium.

“Not protecting the football is a big factor in any football game,” Williams said. “We had opportunities. We were in the red zone two or three times and we gave the ball back. Those are things we can’t do. We fumbled at a crucial time where we moving the football and Alabama A&M made the plays when they had to.”

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Bowie State Falls in First Loss of Season, 32-29, to Virginia Union

Richmond, Virginia - The Bowie State (BSU)Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the season, falling to Virginia Union University(VUU), 32-29, in a Central Interscholastic Athletic Association (CIAA) football matchup on Sept. 24 in Richmond, Va.

The Bulldogs have been a very explosive offensive team so far this season, but it was VUU who made most off their offensive plays on Saturday. Virginia Union quarterback Cheston Hickman completed 19 of 35 passes for 320 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown pitch to Jerrell Washington in the third quarter. Washington also rushed for 82 yards and two touchdowns as VUU accumulated more than 500 total offensive yards.

Meanwhile, Bowie State didn’t find its usual offensive rhythm, turning the ball over three times. BSU senior quarterback Clifton Budd rushed for 141 yards and passed for 247 yards. But he also tossed a costly interception and the Bulldogs gave up two fumbles.

2011 Road To The SIAC Championship

ASU barely wins SIAC opener at Miles

FAIRFIELD, Ala. -- Just when it looked as if Albany State had lost its identity Saturday night against Miles, the Rams dug deep into the artificial turf at Albert J. Sloan-Alumni Stadium and found it.

It came in the form of a Justin Blash fumble recovery in the third quarter. It arose again when the Rams forced the Miles offense into three-and-outs on two of its final three possessions. And it re-appeared for a final time when Rashad McRae picked off a David Thomas pass in the Golden Bears' end zone with 1:30 left in the game.

The defense showed up -- finally. It was that defense -- that ability to land a series of knockout punches when the Rams were against the ropes -- that gave Albany State (3-1, 1-0) a 34-27 victory in the SIAC opener for both teams. And it was McRae's interception that iced the game and ended a potential game-tying drive.



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Laughinghouse, Mathis Spark Falcons Over Lincoln (Pa.) 34-17

DURHAM, NC – Saint Augustine's College found its offensive rhythm in a 34-17 CIAA football victory over Lincoln (Pa.) Saturday at Durham County Stadium.

The Falcons hurt the Lions on the ground and through the air. Preseason All-CIAA player Tyron Laughinghouse (Sr./Greenville, N.C.) scored three touchdowns including two on pass catches, and Dennis Mathis (Sr./Hampton, Va.) gained 157 yards and scored one touchdown on 27 carries.

The Falcons gained 387 total offensive yards including 138 rushing yards, both season highs. It led to their first conference victory of the season and kept them in the race for the Southern Division title. The Falcons are 1-1 in the CIAA and 2-2 overall.

The Lions (1-2 CIAA, 1-3 overall) were sky-high after snapping a 13-game losing streak last weekend with a win over Virginia Union. The Falcons dashed any thoughts of another upset by scoring on their first three possessions in the opening minutes.

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NFL Panthers sign AAMU's Frank Kearse, cut Reggie Wells

Charlotte, NC - The Carolina Panthers signed rookie defensive lineman Frank Kearse off the Miami Dolphins' practice squad today, guaranteeing him at least three game checks under NFL rules. And they cut former Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles offensive guard Reggie Wells.

Drafted in the seventh round out of Alabama A&M, Kearse was an offensive lineman in high school who was recruited by Georgia, Georgia Southern and Central Florida before winding up at A&M after some academic issues endangered his eligibility.

Fifteen teams attended his Pro Day workout where he ran the 40-yard dash in 5.2 and 5.3 seconds and recorded a 30-inch vertical leap, an 8-7 broad jump and bench pressed 225 pounds 22 times.
The All-SWAC defensive lineman posted a 4.66 in the short shuttle and a 7.8 in the three-cone drill.



Kearse played in the Texas vs. the Nation game, the HBCU Bowl and was named a team captain and second-team All-SWAC. As a senior, he posted 30 tackles, 14 for losses, one sack and two forced fumbles.

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Prairie View hands Mississippi Valley State its 15th straight loss

Prairie View, Texas - Quarterback Jerry Lovelocke threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns, and Fred Anderson rushed for two scores to help carry Prairie View A&M to a 43-34 win over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday night in Prairie View.

The Panthers (2-2, 2-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) won for the second time in three games and moved into sole possession of second place in the SWAC Western Division behind frontrunner Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Mississippi Valley State (0-3, 0-4) suffered its 15th consecutive loss and 20th in the last 21 games dating back to 2009.



Box score

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2011 Shreveport Classic: JSU vs. PVAMU

Lane falls in final minutes to Morehouse Maroon Tigers

Jackson, Tennessee - Lane College did the things necessary to win its football game against Morehouse, but the Maroon Tigers did just a little more to pull out a 25-21 win at Lane Field Saturday.

A 20-yard touchdown pass from Bryon Ingram to a leaping Derrick Hector in the back of the Lane end zone provided the game winning score with 1:25 to play in the fourth quarter.

Hector used his six-foot-five frame to his advantage throughout the day to pull in five passes for 81 yards, but Lane coach Derrick Burroughs was more concerned with the Dragons' output on offense — or lack of it.

"We matched up (with Hector)," Burroughs said. "But we've got to get better offensively. Our third down conversions were bad, and turnovers (two lost fumbles) have hurt us every game.

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North Carolina A&T Aggies Volleyball Lose to Rival NCCU

DURHAM, NC - The volleyball match between North Carolina A&T and N.C. Central on Friday night had all the ingredients of a rivalry crowd. The crowd at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium was charged up with the Aggies in town.

Both teams had some exciting exchanges, and as typical in Aggies versus Eagles contests, the match included an interesting twist. The Eagles got the best of the Aggies with a 3-0 (25-14,15, 17) win. Jeana Daniels led the Aggies with seven kills. Emanuelle Santos and Shantal Moore had 12 and 11 kills respectively.



It was the first win of the season for the Eagles (1-12, 1-0). The Aggies dropped to 0-16 as they lost their first MEAC match of the season. The Aggies played without sophomore Tatiana Cooper who was out with an illness.

"I thought we played very well considering we had to make some last minute adjustments," said N.C. A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "We did much better even though we still made some unforced errors."

Although Clifton wants fewer errors, the Aggies put together a season-high .119 hitting percentage, while compiling 22 kills. It was the Aggies' highest total since recording 24 kills against Coastal Carolina on Aug. 26.

AggiesvNCCU

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CIAA Football: Livingstone 24, Virginia-Lynchburg 21

SALISBURY, NC — The CIAA gods don’t have Livingstone’s football team to kick around anymore.

With one swing of kicker Hillman Tabi’s right foot, the Blue Bears said good-bye and good-riddance to their 28-game losing streak Saturday night at Alumni Stadium.

“It’s a beautiful, beautiful night,” winning coach Elvin James beamed after LC gained a 24-21 double-overtime victory over winless Virginia-Lynchburg, a school fielding its first team in 57 seasons. “Don’t wake me up. I feel like I’m in some dream, a dream come true.”

Not since an Oct. 4, 2008 win against J.C. Smith had the Blue Bears (1-3) outscored an opponent. In three previous games this season they’d been outpointed 133-28 and appeared to be on another treadmill to nowhere.

“Yeah, but in situations like this, you’ve just got to have faith in yourself and your team,” senior Michael Haygood said. “You’ve got to keep pushing. If we fell down seven times, we were getting back up eight.”



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New York Urban League Football Classic: Turnovers doom Howard Bison in loss to Morgan State Bears

East Rutherford, NJ -- Howard University dominated the statistics but in the end, turnovers proved to be too much to overcome as Howard University fell, 14-9 to Morgan State University in the New York Urban League Classic at MetLife Stadium before 24,996.

The Bison (1-3 overall, 0-2 in the MEAC) shot themselves in the foot by turning the ball over six times including a fumble that was returned for the game’s first score.

Howard was able to set the tone early by moving the ball smartly up and down the field. But as has been the case through the early part of the season, the Bison were not able to capitalize. So the opportunistic Bears took advantage when Michael Dallas returned of three Greg McGhee fumbles for the game’s first score at the beginning of the second quarter.

“We need to throw the stats out the window and find ways to win,’ said Howard first year coach Gary Harrell. “We outgained Morgan in that category, but they won the game. We have to find ways as coaches to correct some of these problems and find ways to win these games.”

BATTLE OF THE BANDS - HALF-TIME: 2011 NEW YORK URBAN LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLASSIC



Morgan State (2-2 overall, 1-0 in the MEAC) took advantage of another Bison turnover a little over two minutes later when Kristin Johnson grabbed a three-yard pass from Robert Council to take a 14-0 lead to the locker room.


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D'Alessandro: New York Urban League Football Classic is much more than a football game between Howard, Morgan State

East Rutherford, New Jersey - “So, what do you know about football?” we asked the new president of the New York Urban League, Arva Rice, in the third quarter.

“Truthfully?” she asked, gazing down from Suite 324 at the carnage of a two-touchdown rout, before dropping her voice to a hushed whisper. “Not really very much.” Same here. So let’s talk culture and history.

Nobody really wants to do that on a joyous Saturday afternoon, but the game at MetLife Stadium wasn’t much to write home about at the time of this conversation.

In fact, the priorities for the 40th annual New York Urban League Football Classic were exposed by the halftime choreography: No patron left his or her seat, the aisles were clear and the concessions guys tapped their feet as the two marching bands blew everyone away.

First Howard, then Morgan State. And the latter held the field until...



PHOTO GALLERY: MSU VS. HOWARD IN THE NEW YORK URBAN LEAGUE CLASSIC

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Stillman rallies for milestone win against Tuskegee

TUSKEGEE, Alabama - The Stillman College football team scored only one touchdown on Saturday, just enough to achieve a milestone victory. Quarterback Brandon Allen, who didn't start, scored on a 1-yard run, and cornerback Lakeevis Tabb came up with a fumble recovery to preserve Stillman's 13-9 victory over Tuskegee.

Stillman came into the game 0-6 against Tuskegee, the winningest program among historically black colleges and universities. As Allen knelt down to run out the final seconds, head coach Teddy Keaton and defensive coordinator Dedrick Dodge got the water-bucket treatment.

Tuskegee led 7-6 at halftime and 9-6 in the fourth quarter after recording a safety.

“We talked about overcoming adversity all week,” said Keaton, who saw his team get penalized 16 times for 130 yards. “When you go on the road, there's going to be some things you've got to play against. I thought my kids today fought back, and we played well and we ended up winning. We teach them to become relentless competitors.

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Kentucky State Thorobreds rolls past Kentucky Wesleyan

Owensboro, Kentucky - Kentucky State’s football team improved to 3-1 with a 23-7 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan Saturday night in Owensboro. KWC (0-4) scored the game’s first points on a 55-yard run by Thomas Gordon in the first quarter. Jacob Jackson kicked the extra point, and the Panthers led 7-0 at the end of the period. After that it was all Kentucky State.

A 28-yard field goal by Cade Berryman cut Wesleyan’s lead to four points early in the second quarter, and a 2-yard touchdown pass from Jerrel Noland to Raphael Amey just 11 seconds before halftime gave the Thorobreds a 10-7 lead at the break.

KSU added a touchdown in each of the last two quarters. Jacquis Lockett scored on a 9-yard run in the third, and JacQuan Persley returned a fumble recovery 65 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Berryman went 2-for-3 on extra point attempts with his last one getting blocked.

Noland completed 21 of--33 passes with no interceptions for 213 yards and one touchdown. Lockett led the Breds with 79 yards rushing on eight carries.


KSU Marching Thorobreds @ 2011 Dayton Classic vs. Central State(Ohio)

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Gateway Classic: Arkansas-Pine Bluff 9, Clark-Atlanta 7

ST. LOUIS, MO -- Adrian Moore ran for 155 yards and Arkansas-Pine Bluff edged Clark Atlanta 9-7 on Saturday in the Gateway Classic at the Edward Jones Dome.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (3-1) scored on its first possession, capped when Stephen Jones ran 14 yards for a touchdown. But the Golden Lions couldn't get in the end zone again, despite gaining 475 yards in the game. Moore had a 73-yard run to the Clark Atlanta 20-yard line in the second quarter, but Chris Ewald, who missed the extra point after Jones' TD, missed a 30-yard field-goal attempt. Arkansas-Pine Bluff was also penalized 13 times for 115 yards.

Ewald did make a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter, making the score 9-0, and that was enough to hold on against the Division II school. Clark Atlanta (2-2) scored with 6:58 remaining on Davis Anderson's 3-yard run.








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Gateway Classic: Missouri Southern Lions set school record for total offense in win over Lincoln University (Mo.)

ST. LOUIS, MO — The Missouri Southern Lions looked right at home in the dome. The Lions set a school record for total offense and ran away with a 56-14 win over the Lincoln Blue Tigers on Saturday in the opening game of the Gateway Classic at the Edward Jones Dome.

“It feels good to come up here and play like we did,” MSSU receiver Landon Zerkel said. “We knew we had a chance to do something special and we got a great win.”

The Lions (1-2, 1-2 MIAA) finished with a balanced 647 offense — 329 passing and 318 rushing — one more yard than the previous record set in 2002 in a 52-28 home victory over Washburn.

Zerkel had a big hand in Southern’s quick start, catching two touchdown passes in the game’s first five minutes. His 23-yard scoring strike from Collin Howard made it 14-0 after he capped a four-play, 59-yard game-opening drive with a 19-yard touchdown catch from Kyle Webster one play after the Lions made their intentions clear on a play that was preempted by an offside penalty.



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Winston Salem Rams roll past FSU Broncos to stay unbeaten

Winston Salem, NC - In case nobody was paying attention, Winston-Salem State also has a pretty good running game. Led by fifth-year senior Nic Cooper, the Rams plowed through the Fayetteville State Broncos 56-20 on Saturday night in front of about 9,000 at Bowman Gray Stadium. Cooper had a career-high 257 yards on 16 carries and also scored a career-high four touchdowns.

"Some of those holes you could drive a tractor-trailer through," Cooper said of his offensive line that once again dominated an opponent. "It's a credit to the O-line and it's nothing I did."

The Rams had won their previous two games by relying mostly on quarterback Kameron Smith as they rolled up 122 points. But on Saturday night it was Cooper right, Cooper left or Cooper up the middle. "Nic Cooper busted out today and hit them with some big plays," said coach Connell Maynor of the Rams. "They were kind of overloading to one side and we were able to cut it back a few times."

Coach Kenny Phillips of the Broncos, whose team fell to 0-4, heaped praise on Cooper.

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SSU notches 1st MEAC win, beating N.C. Central, 33-30

Durham, NC - Savannah State could take a liking to its Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football surroundings. Playing in their first official game in their new conference, the Tigers scored the first two touchdowns of the second half and held on to beat North Carolina Central, 33-30, as the newest members of the MEAC met in their conference debuts Saturday night at O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium.

“They’ll be able to tell their families they won the first MEAC Savannah State game,” said first-year coach Steve Davenport, who collected his first head coaching victory. “We kind of focused on this game long ago.”



The Tigers (1-3) were potentially in trouble until Byron Leggett — who converted to cornerback during the week — returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown with 45 seconds left to establish a 33-22 advantage. That was followed by Geovonie Irvine’s 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to close the gap, and the Eagles tacked on a two-point conversion.

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Southern University offense starts hot, struggles

ATLANTA — Down to their last chance, trailing Florida A&M by five points after giving up a fourth-quarter lead, the Southern football team hit the field with 3:27 remaining in a 38-33 loss at the Atlanta Football Classic.

The Jaguars huddled up. What did they say? “We’ve got to get it,” tailback Sylvester Nzekwe said. “The quarterback said, ‘We’ve got to get it.’ That was it.”



The quarterback, at that time, was sophomore Dray Joseph, who’d thrown for 182 yards and an interception in the first half. He was pulled late in the second quarter by second-year coach Stump Mitchell, who inserted freshman J.P. Douglas into action.

Then, after Southern’s offense managed only 2 yards in the third quarter, Joseph re-entered the huddle at the beginning of the fourth quarter. His team fell behind to Florida A&M, which erased a 16-point deficit to take that five-point lead late in the game.

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TSU punter helps preserve 14-7 win over Alcorn State

Houston, Texas - Texas Southern punter Francois Ejifor caught the snap on a short hop and had to make a quick decision as Alcorn State's rush bore down on him. The Tigers needed 17 yards for a first down. Ejifor made like a running back and picked up 24.

The sophomore's breathtaking, fourth-down sprint from his own 44-yard line gave TSU a fresh set of snaps with just under 3:30 remaining and helped seal a 14-7 victory before a crowd of 2,735 Saturday afternoon at Delmar Stadium.



Running back Martin Gilbert ultimately clinched the game for TSU (2-1, 1-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) with a crucial 3-yard gain on fourth-and-1 at the Alcorn State 23 that allowed the Tigers to run out the clock with under two minutes left.

Box score

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Lavante Page sets FAMU record at Atlanta Classic

Atlanta, Georgia - Lavante Page helped make sure Florida A&M wouldn’t start its first losing streak in the Atlanta Football Classic.

The Douglas County High graduate scored a school-record five rushing touchdowns Saturday in FAMU’s 38-33 victory over Southern at the Georgia Dome. Page scored the final three touchdowns for the Rattlers, who came back from a 33-17 deficit in the second half.

Page, who grew up in Oakland City, said he had countless family and friends among the announced crowd of 59,373. They watched him surpass the four rushing touchdowns scored by FAMU quarterback Oteman Sampson vs. Tuskegee in 1996.



“It feels real good,” said Page, who finished with 78 yards on 16 carries. “But I’m more happy with just getting the win. We were down, and on the sidelines people’s heads were down. I told the offense, ‘It’s going to be a shootout.”

The Rattlers (2-2) rallied behind Page, freshman quarterback Damien Fleming and their defense.

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Xavier University newcomer Didavi wins HBCU men's singles title

 Loic Didavi

JONESBORO, Ga. -- Loic Didavi, a junior playing his first tennis tournament for Xavier University of Louisiana, defeated Florida A&M's Levan Clark 6-4, 6-4 Saturday to win the men's singles A-flight of the HBCU National Championships.

Didavi, a transfer from Auburn Montgomery, a two-time NAIA second-team All-American and the No. 3 seed in this event, survived some second-set drama to beat Clark, who was seeded second.
"Clark broke Loic's serve to start the second set, but Loic broke right back to gain control of match," Xavier coach Alan Green said. "Loic got to triple match point at 5-2. He had a little lapse and lost that game and the next one. But he regrouped and closed out the match on his serve."

Didavi defeated the top two seeds. On Friday he beat FAMU's Salif Kante 7-5, 7-5 in the semifinals.

"All these years we've been coming here and we never had anyone win the highest flight -- until today," said Green, in his ninth season as Xavier's coach and a former standout player for XU.

Xavier had berths in five finals, but Didavi was the only winner. Sean Richardson lost 6-3, 6-4 to FAMU's Temuera Asafu-Adjaye in men's C-singles. Didavi and Zach Taylor, seeded second in men's A-doubles, lost 8-2 to FAMU's top-seeded Kante and Takura Happy. Richardson and Steffen Giles-Osborn, the No. 2 seed in men's B-doubles, lost 9-7 to FAMU's top-seeded Clark and Chidi Gabriel. And in women's A-doubles, second-seeded Nicole DeLoach and Kourtney Howell lost 8-5 to Southern's top-seeded Lois Alexis and Carlista Mohammed.

Clark and Gabriel beat XU in the semifinals too. They won 8-0 against Amir Rahbar and Viktor Svoboda.

"Everybody played well, including the women. I was pleasantly surprised by the way the Nuggets performed," Green said. "We have some great things to look forward to as long as we continue to grow and put in the work."

Xavier, the only NAIA member in the event, won 29 of 46 matches. The Gold Rush were 20-8, and the Gold Nuggets were 9-9. Both teams will be back in Georgia next Friday and Saturday for the USTA/ITA NAIA South Regional in Atlanta.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

South Carolina State routs Delaware State, 69-0

Orangeburg, SC - Saturday started out as "Youth/ROTC Day" for the much of the 15,227 fans arriving at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

It turned into "Career Day" for South Carolina State quarterback Derrick Wiley and his teammates. With six career total touchdowns entering his first start at home, Wiley matched it in a record-setting performance in the 25th-ranked Bulldogs' 69-0 rout of Delaware State.

In leading the Bulldogs (2-2, 2-0) to their biggest margin of victory in the Buddy Pough era and largest since an 86-0 pounding of Fayetteville State in 1966, Wiley threw four touchdowns to tie the single-game school passing mark shared by Reese McCampbell and the man he succeeded, Malcolm Long. He also had two rushing scores to help match the single-game totals record of six set in 1980 by Henry Odom against Morgan State.



"Honestly, coming into the game, I didn't feel it was my day," Wiley said. "I just felt like if the offense can continue to come out and execute and that's what we did."

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Crier helps XU become lone unbeaten in GCAC matches

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Kerris Crier had a career-best nine kills and a career-high-tying five blocks Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 25-8, 25-20, 25-12 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's volleyball victory against Fisk.

Crier's three kills and two blocks helped the Gold Nuggets (9-2, 4-0 GCAC) turn a 2-0 deficit into a 9-4 first-set lead. Xavier scored the final nine points of that set and the first eight points of the third set.

Xavier, the lone unbeaten team in GCAC matches, extended its school-record win streak to eight and set another XU mark for GCAC victories in a season. The 2010 team held the previous mark of three. The Nuggets have six remaining conference matches.

Xavier hit .397 with a season-low eight attack errors. Chinedu Echebelem had eight kills and hit a season-best .421, and Moira Kirk had seven kills and hit a season-high .778.

Fisk (3-15, 1-3), despite just six available players, posed problems for the Nuggets in the second set. The Lady Bulldogs took a 10-7 lead and rallied for a tie at 18 after an 8-1 Xavier run. But Echebelem rescued the Nuggets with five kills in the final nine rallies, including attacks which scored XU's final two points.

Kirk also had five blocks, and Iva Bobkova had three, all in the third set. Taylor Reuther had eight digs and Celeste Poe six. Kirk and Jeanay Butler each served two aces; Butler has nine in the last thee matches after serving one in the first eight matches.

Xavier went 3-0 in two days against GCAC opponents. The Gold Nuggets will travel to Southern for a 7:30 p.m. Monday match, then visit city rival and defending GCAC Tournament champion Dillard in a 6 p.m. match next Saturday. The Lady Bleu Devils were not among the six GCAC teams involved in the 13 matches at Talladega.

The Nuggets, 5-17 in their first three seasons of GCAC matches, became the lone team unbeaten in conference when Talladega defeated Tougaloo 25-7, 25-12, 25-17 in the match which followed Xavier-Fisk.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS