Southern University secondary a bright spot

Baton Rouge, Louisiana -- In the past four weeks, the Southern football team is 1-3, its three losses coming by four points, five points and three points. It’s been a disappointing month for the Jaguars, who at times have faltered in almost every area - passing offense, rushing offense, special-teams units, run defense and the like.

One area, however, has been rock-steady: pass defense.

“Not bad at all,” second-year coach Stump Mitchell said, referring to his secondary. Last season, Southern gave up a conference-high 25 touchdown passes. Through six games this season, the Jaguars have allowed three. They rank second in the SWAC in pass defense, allowing 181.3 yards per game, and opposing quarterbacks have completed only 47 percent of their throws.

What’s made the difference?

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VUL Dragons torch West Virginia Tech for second win

Lynchburg, Virginia -- It took until the fourth quarter, but Virginia University of Lynchburg’s offensive line eventually wore down West Virginia Tech’s defense, Saturday afternoon at Liberty University’s Williams Stadium.

The Dragons took full advantage, as they started gashing the Golden Bears with a running attack that led to 28 unanswered points in the second half of a 34-6 victory.

"This was a big win," VUL coach Willard Bailey said. "We started out so flat, but our kids seemed to get some confidence. We are talented. It’s just spread all over the place. We just have to get synchronized, organized and better able to communicate with each other."

VUL (2-4) rushed for 290 yards on 45 attempts, despite having just 68 yards on the ground in the first half. The Dragons’ massive offensive line, consisting of junior left tackle Dion Howze (6-foot-6, 325 pounds), freshman left guard James Lewter (6-3, 345), sophomore center DeAngelo Lucas (6-7, 360), freshman right guard Mike Pearson (6-3, 315) and junior right tackle Ronnie Dixon (6-5, 360) really threw their weight around in the fourth quarter.


VUL at Coppin State Eagles, Oct. 1, 2011

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Norfolk State Volleyball vs. Howard Lady Bison -- Highlights

LADY BISON CAPTURE FIRST CONFERENCE GAME

NORFOLK, Virginia  – The Howard University Lady Bison (2-17, 1-2 MEAC) defeated fourth-place, Norfolk State (5-10, 1-2 MEAC) in five sets on Sunday night.

"This was a great win for us," said head coach Dawn Barnes. "It was a group effort and well deserved. Norfolk State did a great job offensively and defensively and did not make this easy at all. You had two teams that really played hard."

Howard started the game with a 25-21 victory in set one. Sets two and three were tough for the Lady Bison coming up short 21-25 and 24-26. The Spartans put up a tough crowd and technique, but the Lady Bison put up some solid points that gained momentum. Assistant Coach Russ held down the strategy for the Lady Bison. "We watched film and studied these girls, technically we were ready, all we had to do was go out there and shut them down," says Russ.



The Lady Bison highlighted on the Spartans' weaknesses and it showed in the match taking sets four and five 26-24 and 15-12 to win the match. Freshman Stephanie Shultis had a major solo block to win the fourth set making it harder for the Spartans to capture the Lady Bison.

Set five was rolling for Howard as they kept the ball away from the Spartans the first six points. The Spartans showed signs of aggression as they tried to make a come back, but HU held on strong to their lead finishing the match with a win. Spartan fans left empty handed as the Lady Bison cheered and showed school spirit.

Outside hitter Tosin Elebute finished with a game high of 25 kills and 16 digs charting a double-double. Freshman, middle blocker Assata Conway put down seven balls for the Lady Bison. Heather Long had a game high of five kills hitting a perfect game. Both setters, Jasmine King and Stephanie Shultis had 21 assists a piece. Riana Cain picked up 20 balls.

Defensively, both teams had 66 digs, but the Spartans out blocked the Lady bison 13 to 9. On the other hand, the Lady Bison finished with better hitting percentages after each set than the Spartans. "I knew [Norfolk State] were all waiting to block me, but I wasn't having it," says Elebute, "I was going to play my game for my team because I realize I play a major role."

For NSU, Charlotte Armstead put down 17 balls. Adriana Ramos had 11 kills and 14 digs finishing with a double-double. Beatriz Ferreira had 12 kills followed by Jasmine Frazier with ten kills. Setter Kristen Burt finished with 44 assists.

The Lady Bison split the weekend and will look to carry the momentum as they head to face Coppin State on Fri. Oct. 14.

By Jasmine King, Volleyball, Public Relations 2013
VISIT: HOWARDBISON
VISIT: HOWARD UNIVERSITY

Refreshed Grambling Tigers ready to go

Grambling, Louisiana -- Doug Williams isn't necessarily a fan of bye weeks. The Grambling coach said this weekend off from competition came at an opportune time, and he admitted players probably need some sort of break from a long season.

But now he's ready to get back into the normal swing with Concordia coming to town in just a few days.

"We worked hard the days that we did work," Williams said. "Saturday was a day that at 2 o'clock it was amazing the way the kids came out and worked hard looking forward to today to start our season from today, today on. I think that's important that we find a way to get a 'W' under our belts."

The Tigers (1-4, 1-3) held a relatively light practice load last week as they tried to heal.




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Alabama State Hornets in football national polls

Montgomery, Alabama -- Alabama State's 43-29 win over Texas Southern propelled the Hornets into The Sports Network's Football Championship Subdivision rankings for the first time in the school's history.

The Hornets (5-1) are ranked 24th after running their record to 5-0 versus FCS schools, with their only loss coming in the second week to Football Bowl Subdivision member Eastern Michigan. Southwestern Athletic Conference members occasionally crack the Top 25 in The Sports Network poll, but it is the first time a SWAC team has been ranked this early in the season since Alabama A&M made the rankings on Sept. 10 and Sept. 17 in 2007.

Hornet placekicker Bobby Wenzig also earned The Sports Network national special teams player of the week honors after scoring 19 points and making all five field goals he attempted at Texas Southern.




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Jackson State Tigers travels to winless Mississippi Valley

Itta Bena, Mississippi -- Who was the starting quarterback when Mississippi Valley State last defeated Jackson State?

Moss Point native Keith Poindexter helped lead the Delta Devils to an 18-16 victory in 1994. Jackson State has won the last 16 games in the series. Jackson State (4-1, 5-1 SWAC) looks to continue its dominance over the hapless Delta Devils (0-6, 0-5) on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Rice-Totten Stadium.

The Tigers could easily be undefeated, falling to Alabama State 28-21 last month at home.
Quarterback Casey Therriault has been up and down this season, capable of throwing for 400 yards as well as tossing five interceptions.



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XU's Jackson, Pieri chosen GCAC Runners of the Week

Zahri Jackson

Matt Pieri

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana cross country standouts Zahri Jackson and Matt Pieri are the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Runners of the Week for Oct. 3-9.

Jackson, a freshman from Kingwood, Texas, and a graduate of Kingwood Park High School, set an XU women's record with her fourth GCAC award of the season. Pieri, a junior from New Orleans and a graduate of Brother Martin High School, also won for the fourth time this season and extended to 10 his GCAC career record of weekly awards.

Jackson ran 6,000 meters in 25 minutes, 10.63 seconds Saturday to win the University of Dallas Invitational by nearly 55 seconds and lead the Gold Nuggets to the team championship, their first in the regular season since 2008. Pieri ran 8,000 meters in 28:00.55 to place third and lead the XU men to the team championship.

"That was a difficult course we ran on — the steepest hills we've faced since I've been at Xavier," seventh-year coach Joseph Moses said. "But in spite of the tough conditions, Zahri and Matt still ran well."

Both XU teams will compete next in the GCAC Championships at Clinton, Miss., on Oct. 22. Both the Gold Nuggets and Gold Rush are five-time defending team champions, and Pieri is a defending individual champion.

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