Fort Valley State gets ready for home opener

Fort Valley, GA - After taking FCS team Florida A&M down to the wire before losing 28-22 on Saturday, Fort Valley State began work Monday on visiting Delta State.

FVSU hosts Delta State at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the Wildcats’ home opener. Delta State fell to 1-1 after losing 24-23 at FCS opponent Northwestern State last Saturday. The Statesmen opened the season at No. 2 in Division II.





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Morris: Glory days return in Orangeburg

Coach Buddy Pough Bulldog teams are 76-29
 with a MEAC record of 58-13 over the past 10 seasons.

Orangeburg, SC - When Buddy Pough returned to his hometown of Orangeburg and his alma mater of South Carolina State 10 years ago, there was little promise that the football program would return to its glory days of the 1970s and ’80s.

A decade later and S.C. State again is the king of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. A dynasty has been born again. If there is one college football constant in the state of South Carolina, it is the success of S.C. State.

Of course, Pough does not want to hear any of that talk. “Sometimes I think we should have done more,” he said. “That’s kind of what drives you. You’re always trying to make that next step.”

In the 18 seasons before Pough’s arrival, S.C. State had managed to win one MEAC championship, in 1994. One title in nearly two decades. Under Pough’s guidance, S.C. State has won outright conference crowns in 2008 and ’09 and shared titles in 2004 and ’10.

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Hampton University: Jenkines is 6th area player to commit D-I

Clarksville, TN - Blake Jenkines doesn't attend Clarksville High. She just happens to be one of the top girls basketball players in this city who dons a different uniform but plays with the same kind of intensity.

Jenkines has said in the past she feels "overlooked" among the attention that has followed the Lady Wildcats' program the past four years, but college coaching staffs have been keenly aware of Kenwood High School's senior standout.

After a spring and summer full of Clarksville High verbal commitments, Jenkines takes her place among the city's elite who are now Division-I college basketball bound. Jenkines has verbally committed to play ball at Hampton University in Hampton, Va.


Kenwood player #10 Blake Jenkins kept them in the game, she is the #1 leading scorer in district 10AAA.

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White Out Night: Thursday fashion statement for Xavier Nuggets

Xavier will attempt to go 2-0 at home this season in a match against Judson (Ala.) at 7 p.m. Thursday at The Barn.
(Click on photo to enlarge)

NEW ORLEANS — The Xavier University of Louisiana women's volleyball team is looking for uniformity in its next home match.

The Gold Nuggets have proclaimed their 7 p.m. Thursday contest against Judson (Ala.) as White Out Night. Fans are encouraged to wear white shirts to The Barn.

White Xavier shirts would be perfect for the occasion," XU coach Christabell Hamilton said. "But any white shirt will work."

It will be the second appearance at The Barn this season for the Gold Nuggets, who defeated Mobile in five sets in their home opener last week.

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

Pough bearing down on SCSU offense following defeat by CMU

Bulldogs Coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough 

Orangeburg, SC - Just as in years past, Labor Day was "celebrated" by the South Carolina State football team with a regularly scheduled football practice.

Coming off a season-opening 21-6 loss at Division I Central Michigan four days earlier and facing co-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Bethune-Cookman Saturday at Daytona Beach, Fla., there's no time to take a break even for a cold-ridden Bulldogs' head coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough.

"We've got a lot of work to do," he said at Monday's press conference. "It's pretty clear that offensively we need to be more productive and I think we understand that. We've got to play better in a lot of positions. We didn't throw the ball nearly as well as we needed to do to be successful in a situation like that. We've got work to do in our passing game along with some run stuff as well."


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B-CU's big win nets ranking in 1st FCS poll

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- Bethune-Cookman jumped right out of the gate to dominate Prairie View A&M on Sunday in the MEAC-SWAC Challenge at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

The Wildcats also jumped out of the gate into The Sports Network/Fathead.com Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll. B-CU rolled out to a 42-0 lead in the first half, and never looked back in a 63-14 season-opening rout Sunday.

The poll, released Monday, had the Wildcats at 25th with 377 points. Eastern Washington, ranked first in the preseason poll last week, was still first with 3,653 points.

South Carolina State just missed making the top 25 with 335 points. The Wildcats and the Bulldogs -- 21-6 losers at Central Michigan on Thursday -- meet at 4 p.m. Saturday at B-CU.

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XU's Pieri, Jackson, Reuther sweep GCAC weekly awards

Matt Pieri

Zahri Jackson

Taylor Reuthe

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Matt Pieri, Zahri Jackson and Taylor Reuther swept the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference weekly awards for Aug. 29-Sept. 4.

Pieri and Jackson are the GCAC's inaugural Runners of the Week of the 2011 cross country season. Reuther is the GCAC Player of the Week in women's volleyball for the second consecutive time.

Pieri, a junior from New Orleans and a graduate of Brother Martin High School, ran 5,000 meters in a career-best 16 minutes, 55.71 seconds Thursday to finish eighth out of 83 runners in the Mississippi College Opener at Clinton, Miss. It's the seventh time that Pieri has won a GCAC weekly award.

Jackson, a freshman from Kingwood, Texas, and a graduate of Kingwood Park High School, made her collegiate debut by running 4,000 meters in a school-record 16:27.58 to finish seventh out of 102 runners at the Mississippi College Opener. Jackson broke the Xavier record by more than 30 seconds.

Reuther, a freshman from Metairie, La., and a graduate of St. Mary's Dominican High School in New Orleans, had 12 kills and 15 digs to lead the Gold Nuggets to a five-set victory against Mobile in XU's home opener. Reuther has kill-dig double-doubles in both Xavier matches this season.

Xavier's volleyball team will travel to Mobile, Ala., to play Spring Hill at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Xavier's next cross country meet will be the Four Points by Sheraton Loyola Wolfpack Invitational at Metairie's Lafreniere Park on Saturday. The meet, Xavier's only local competition of the season, will start at 8 a.m.


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