MONTGOMERY, Alabama - Terease Chappell knew there were plenty of potential starters returning on Alabama State’s offensive line, so the true freshman’s generic goal for this fall was to play the best football he could and continue to work on improvement.
“My mindset coming into camp was to work on myself and work harder to go up the depth chart,” the former G.W. Carver High tackle said. “I still have a lot to work on and I know my role on this team. I just want this university to win the SWAC championship and the (black college) national championship.”
A week into preseason workouts, Chappell has proven to be the surprise of fall camp, taking over the first-team role at left guard.
“He’s different from a typical freshman,” ASU offensive line coach Willard Scissum said. “He’s more mature. You can tell by the way he listens, by the way he comes in on his own time and asks questions, that it’s really, really important to him. There’s something on the inside of him that’s driving him to be more than just an average guy. And he is just as tough as nails. Not very big, but he’ll fight you from whistle to whistle.”
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Saturday, August 11, 2012
ASU defense hopes for bounce back year
ALBANY, Georgia - Head coach Mike White says he expects a much better season from the Dirty Blue defense that finished second to last in yards given up per game last year.
The Rams were actually last against the pass but with All-SIAC defensive lineman Justin Blash entering his senior season and preseason All-SIAC sophomore Larry Whitfield leading the way at linebacker, ASU will try to buckle down and get as many stops as possible. Both players and coaches agree this year's team has the right tools to get the job done.
Blash said "Speed, the whole defense has speed. I don't think anybody on the defense runs less than a 4.99 so the whole defense has speed."
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The Rams were actually last against the pass but with All-SIAC defensive lineman Justin Blash entering his senior season and preseason All-SIAC sophomore Larry Whitfield leading the way at linebacker, ASU will try to buckle down and get as many stops as possible. Both players and coaches agree this year's team has the right tools to get the job done.
Blash said "Speed, the whole defense has speed. I don't think anybody on the defense runs less than a 4.99 so the whole defense has speed."
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Friday, August 10, 2012
XU Gold Nuggets announce 2012 schedule, await new digs
NEW ORLEANS — Nine home matches and a new campus venue, the Convocation Academic Center, are among the highlights of the 2012 Xavier University of Louisiana women's volleyball schedule.
Christabell Hamilton — the 2011 Louisiana Coach of the Year and Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Co-Coach of the Year — announced Wednesday the schedule, which includes 24 regular-season contests.
Xavier's first home match will start at 7 p.m. on Sept. 4 against crosstown rival Loyola. That match is expected to be played at The Barn, Xavier's gymnasium since 1937, while construction of the CAC nears completion.
"We've been told to prepare to start the season at The Barn," Hamilton said. "But at some point this season we will be playing in the new arena. No matter where we play, we're looking forward to another successful and exciting year."
Xavier's other non-conference home opponents will be Spring Hill — 40-3 a year ago — on Sept. 11, Mobile on Sept. 18 and Belhaven on Oct. 29. The other five home matches will be against GCAC teams: Edward Waters on Oct. 5, Dillard on Oct. 8, Tougaloo on Oct. 25, Talladega on Oct. 27 and SUNO on Nov. 1.
Xavier will begin its fifth season Aug. 24-25 in the Lee Invitational at Cleveland, Tenn. On opening day the Gold Nuggets will play a pair of 30-match winners and NAIA National Championship qualifiers from 2011 — Lindsey Wilson at 12:30 p.m. EDT and national semifinalist Lee at 7 p.m. — then play defending Appalachian Athletic Conference regular-season champion Union (Ky.) the following day at 3 p.m.
"Lee's tournament will be a great test for us," Hamilton said.
Xavier will play 10 GCAC regular-season matches, including the first four on the road. The conference opener will be Sept. 21 at Edward Waters. The GCAC Tournament will be Nov. 8-10 at Little Rock, Ark., and the winner will earn the GCAC's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championship.
Xavier was 23-7 in 2011 — the Gold Nuggets' first winning season — and didn't lose a match en route to the program's first GCAC regular-season and tournament championships. Five starters return, including all-conference sophomores Taylor Reuther, Moira Kirk and Chinedu Echebelem. The other returning starters are junior Kerris Crier and sophomore Jeanay Butler.
The Gold Nuggets will report to Xavier this weekend and conduct their first practice Monday.
2012 Xavier University Women's Volleyball Schedule
Click here for detailed schedule information
Aug. 24: Lindsey Wilson, 12:30 p.m. EDT (1)
Aug. 24: at Lee (Tenn.), 7 p.m. EDT (1)
Aug. 25: Union (Ky.), 3 p.m. EDT (1)
Sept. 4: LOYOLA, 7 p.m.
Sept. 7: Pensacola Christian, 1 p.m. (2)
Sept. 7: Mississippi College, 5 p.m. (2)
Sept. 8: Rust, noon (2)
Sept. 8: at Belhaven, 4 p.m. (2)
Sept. 11: SPRING HILL, 7 p.m.
Sept. 18: MOBILE, 7 p.m.
Sept. 21: • at Edward Waters, 7 p.m. EDT
Sept. 24: • at SUNO, 7 p.m.
Sept. 27: • at Fisk, 7 p.m.
Sept. 29: • at Philander Smith, 1 p.m.
Oct. 5: • EDWARD WATERS, 6 p.m.
Oct. 8: • DILLARD, 7 p.m.
Oct. 19: Union (Tenn,), 2 p.m. (3)
Oct. 19: at Loyola, 6 p.m. (3)
Oct. 25: • TOUGALOO, 7 p.m.
Oct. 27: • TALLADEGA, 1 p.m.
Oct. 29: BELHAVEN, 7 p.m.
Oct. 30: at Mobile, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 1: • SUNO, 7 p.m.
Nov. 3: • at Dillard, 7 p.m.
Nov. 8-10: GCAC Tournament, Little Rock, Ark., TBA
Nov. 17: NAIA National Championship opening round at campus sites, TBA
Nov. 27-Dec. 1: NAIA National Championship final site at Sioux City, Iowa, TBA
Home matches (in bold and CAPITAL LETTERS) will be played at The Barn (capacity 1,300) or the Convocation Academic Center (capacity 4,500), Xavier University campus, New Orleans.• Gulf Coast Athletic Conference match
TBA — To be announced
All times are Central except where noted
(1) — Lee Invitational at Cleveland, Tenn.
(2) — Belhaven Tournament at Jackson, Miss.
(3) — Hampton Inn Wolfpack Classic at The Den (Loyola University), New Orleans
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information DirectorVISIT: XULAATHLETICS
Weather, 'natural' emotions shorten S.C. State practice
ORANGEBURG, South Carolina - The conclusion of South Carolina State’s first “two-a-day” Thursday was overshadowed by “nature.” “Mother Nature” in the form of lightning and rain cut short the second practice session of the day for the Bulldogs.Things ended abruptly, however, after “natural” emotions once again got too heated between the offenses and defenses and nearly resulted in a scuffle between some players.
“The afternoon session was mostly team-style,” head coach Buddy Pough said. “We ended up rushing to try to get ahead of the rain and ended up having to cut it short due to the weather and due to the some of the high-spirited kinds of activity we seem to have with this team. But we’ll be back in the morning at 9 o’clock to try again.”
Prior to the conclusion of ...
Can Johnson C. Smith's Golden Bulls build on 2011 success
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina - Johnson C. Smith is out to prove it’s capable of more than the occasional winning campaign.The Golden Bulls went 6-5 in 2011, capped by an upset win in the Pioneer Bowl for J.C. Smith’s fourth plus-.500 season in the last 20 years. Making it two in a row – for the first time since 1973 – won’t be easy in the CIAA South, where the Golden Bulls were picked to finish fifth in the six-team division.
Here are five questions for J.C. Smith during preseason drills:
1. Can the Golden Bulls build on last season’s success?J.C. Smith was the CIAA’s surprise team in 2011. The first four games – West Virginia State, Tuskegee (Ala.), Concordia (Ala.) and Virginia State – will give an early indication of where 2012 is headed.
U-High's Matthews signs with Xavier for 2013-14 season
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| Makayla Matthews |
NEW ORLEANS — Makayla Matthews of Baton Rouge, La., and University Laboratory High School has signed a women's basketball scholarship with Xavier University of Louisiana.
Matthews, a 6-foot-1 center who will begin her senior year at U-High on Monday, is the earliest signee during Bo Browder's tenure at Xavier. Browder will begin his 14th season as head coach of the Gold Nuggets this fall.
Matthews averaged 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in 2010-11 and was the 7-2A Defensive Player of the Year. As a freshman in 2009-10 for a U-High team which was 38-1 and finished second in the 2A playoffs, Matthews had six games with 10 or more rebounds, including a pair of double-doubles. U-High is 96-12 the past three seasons.
Matthews, who scored a 26 on the ACT, will be a pre-medical major at Xavier.
Xavier was 26-9 in 2011-12, won Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships and, for the second consecutive year, reached the second round of the NAIA Division I National Championship. The GCAC Tournament title was the Gold Nuggets' third in a row. Xavier reached 20 victories 19 of the past 20 seasons and qualified for the national tournament 16 of the past 18 seasons.
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
NSU loses Matthews for season
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| BLAKE MATTHEWS |
NORFOLK, Virginia -- Norfolk State offensive lineman Blake Matthews, the defending MEAC Offensive Lineman of the Year, will miss the entire 2012 season with a broken kneecap.
Matthews, who was scheduled to start at right tackle and was likely NSU’s best player, suffered the injury during a pass protection drill on Tuesday and had surgery on Wednesday. Head coach Pete Adrian said it happened on a non-contact play.
The 6-foot-4, 315-pound senior was a preseason All-American First or Second Team player in every prominent FCS publication.
“You lose an all-conference lineman, it’s never a great thing,” head coach Pete Adrian said. “Fortunately, we’ve got some linemen. They might not be as good as him, but, not bad.”
Matthews was a likely starter at ...
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