XU's Didavi, Giles-Osborn reach NAIA regional singles final

ATLANTA, Georgia -- It will be an all-Xavier University of Louisiana matchup in Sunday's men's singles final of the USTA/ITA NAIA South Regional.

Second-seeded Loic Didavi defeated Auburn Montgomery's sixth-seeded Zine Jouini 6-4, 6-0 in one semifinal Saturday, and teammate Steffen Giles-Osborn rallied in the other semifinal for a victory against William Carey's eighth-seeded Ricky Keppeler, who retired while trailing 5-0 in the final set. Keppeler won the first set 6-4, but Giles-Osborn won a 7-4 tiebreaker to force a third set.

Didavi, a two-time NAIA second-team All-American and an AUM transfer, will try to win a singles title for the second straight week. He beat Shorter's No. 7 Guillame Ledrap 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Giles-Osborn advanced to the semis when XU teammate Amir Rahbar retired at 3-all in the second set. Giles-Osborn won the first set 6-4.

"Steffen's win in the semifinals may be his best at Xavier," XU coach Alan Green said. "It was a huge win against a very good player."

XU newcomer Viktor Swoboda beat William Carey's Duffy Loel 8-3 to win the men's singles consolation championship.

Didavi and Zach Taylor, seeded second in men's doubles, will play William Carey's top-seeded Jody Claasen and Thomas Rizk in the final. Didavi and Taylor defeated Shorter's Ledrap and Romain Lefevre 8-3 in the semifinals.

In women's doubles, XU's Kourtney Howell and Nicole DeLoach lost 8-0 in the semifinals to AUM's top-seeded Ana Veselinovic and Jade Curtis. Howell lost 6-1, 6-0 to Curtis, a No. 2 seed, in the singles quarterfinals.

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

CIAA Football: Shaw 54, Livingstone 0

DURHAM, North Carolina — The success the Livingstone Blue Bears found last week couldn’t be duplicated Saturday as Livingstone managed only 33 yards of total offense in a 54-0 loss to the Shaw University Bears in a CIAA Southern Division contest.

Livingstone’s second possession ended with a botched punt and Shaw needed to move only 17 yards to reach the end zone. The ensuing kickoff was fumbled by freshman John Paplillion and Shaw recovered. The Bears added a field goal off the turnover to go up 10-0. Another field goal was added only 2:07 into the second quarter to put Shaw up 13-0.



The turnover bug bit the Blue Bears again as the pass from sophomore quarterback Jaren Troutman was picked off. Shaw marched 39 yards on four plays for a score to go up 20-0.

Shaw added two more touchdowns before the half, including a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ended with less than a minute to play in the first half. The two scores put the Bears up 34-0 at halftime.

READ MORE

Jackson State and Tigers fan base are above the crowd

Jackson, Mississippi -- What some are proclaiming to be the "best show that the Jackson State Sonic Boom of the South Marching Band has performed in recent times," was missed by most of the nation. As usual, ESPNU cut away to Sports Center for the entire half-time period of the televised Texas Southern vs. JSU game on Sept. 29.

With over 26,000 in attendance (this has to be an HBCU attendance record for a Thursday night game) at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, the JSU Sonic Boom of the South, the Air Raid offense, the Darkside defense, and Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger made it a memorable event for JSU/TSU fans.

Ruettiger, the inspiration for the 1993 Disney movie "Rudy" spoke at a luncheon at Jackson State University and gave the JSU Tigers football team an uplifting speech before the game.

The rest is history as the JSU Tigers manhandled Texas Southern's No.1 ranked defense (in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision) with 37 points in the second quarter on their way to a 58-13 rout.

The Texas Southern University Ocean of Soul Marching Band made the trip to Jackson, and also performed extremely well.

There is no other fan like a fervent JSU Tigers fan. No doubt, they have some of the most passionate fans in all of college football.

Dang -- 26,000 on a Thursday night! Who went to work on Friday in Jackson?

The videos shown below are brought to you by MarchingsportHD, who has been doing an exceptional job in creating a library of high definition video history of our HBCUs band performances. Check out all their band videos by clicking HERE.
`
(beepbeep)

Delaware State braces for FAMU

Tallahassee, Florida - Delaware State's new head coach, Kermit Blount, sees two things in the way FAMU rallied last weekend that he could use to motivate his football players who are coming off two humiliating defeats.

First, the way the Rattlers came back in the fourth quarter to earn a five-point win gives him a power point to show his players there is hope to the end of every game. Secondly, he's been telling them that they can expect more of the same from the Rattlers. DSU comes to Bragg Stadium today for a MEAC matchup with the Rattlers.

"We have to learn how to play through all of the adversity," said Blount, who was hired after this past recruiting period to turn around the DSU program. He was out of coaching for a year after being fired at Winston-Salem State University.

Coaching the Hornets (2-2, 0-1), gives him an opportunity to resume doing ...





TODAY'S GAME
• Delaware State at Florida A&M, 6 p.m.
• RattlerNews.com: Live game blog.
• Radio: 96.1 FM.
. Internet: audio/streaming video LIVE -- FAMU ATHLETICS RATTLER VISION

READ MORE

Wildcats' game against Miami to net Bethune-Cookman $400,000

B-CU at Miami
KICKOFF: 3:30 p.m. today
SITE; Sun Life Stadium
TV: ESPNU
RADIO: WELE (1380-AM)

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Bethune-Cookman University's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rivals have been scooping cash from the well-stocked Division I Football Bowl Subdivision vault for years.

The Wildcats will join the party today. B-CU will visit Miami at 3:30 p.m. in the Wildcats' first "guarantee" football game. The game will be televised live by ESPNU.

B-CU (2-1) is guaranteed a payday of slightly more than $400,000 to travel to South Florida, athletic director Lynn Thompson said. Thompson, though, hopes the Wildcats' players stay injury-free and don't get demoralized.

The Hurricanes (1-2), on the other hand, are pretty much guaranteed a victory. While Football Championship Subdivision teams are winning more and more games against FBS teams since Appalachian State's stunning upset of No. 5 Michigan in 2007, an MEAC team has yet to upend one of the big boys.








READ MORE

1st-timers to meet in this year's Circle City Classic: Division II schools Albany (Ga.) State, Kentucky State bring different fan bases

Indianapolis, Indiana - The names had become routine around Indianapolis during the first weekend of October: Florida A&M. Grambling. Alabama A&M. . . . This year's Circle City Classic at Lucas Oil Stadium will be different.

Today's game features two teams -- Kentucky State (3-1, 0-1) and Albany State (3-1, 1-0) -- that have never participated in the game. That hasn't occurred in nearly three decades.

"It's a great opportunity for our players and us coaches," Albany State coach Mike White said. "We're all excited about having the chance to play in the Classic for the first time. We've heard so much about it over the years. I think of it as a big-time game with a lot of hype leading up to it."

Kentucky State and Albany State are NCAA Division II schools that play in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Kickoff has been moved up to 2:30 p.m. There will be the customary battle of the bands at halftime.

READ MORE

VISIT: CIRCLE CITY CLASSIC
VISIT: THESIAC

Prairie View WR Nelson steps into spotlight

Dallas, Texas - Prairie View A&M junior Spencer Nelson entered summer camp with the most game experience among the wide receivers and was expected to glide into the No. 1 role.

But Nelson struggled to gain his footing as the Panthers experienced inconsistent play at quarterback from the outset. He had only four catches for 68 yards in the first two games. What a difference two weekends make.




Nelson rebounded with the first two 100-yard, one-touchdown performances of his career. He caught seven passes for 113 yards in a 36-29 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 17 and had nine catches for 117 yards in last Saturday's 43-34 win over Mississippi Valley State.

Nelson (5-8, 175) has quickly become ...

READ MORE