Reuther, Harris, Hill lead XU past Philander Smith

NEW ORLEANS — Taylor Reuther had 13 kills and 15 digs, Darian Harris has 25 digs and three aces, and Jodi Hill had five blocks Saturday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana in a 25-15, 25-14, 23-25, 25-19 women's volleyball victory against Philander Smith.
     
The Gold Nuggets (11-7, 6-1 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) won their third in a row and extended their home winning streak to seven, matching the second longest in the program's history. They have 29 consecutive home victories against GCAC opponents, 27 during the regular season.



Reuther had her most kills and digs this season against a GCAC opponent, and the double-double was her eighth of the season. Harris reached 20 digs for the second time in three matches and produced her second-most digs ever in a GCAC match. Hill continued her strong net play — she has 26 blocks in the last six matches after collecting 16 in the first 12 matches.
     
Other XU standouts included Franziska Pirkl with 38 assists, 11 digs — her fifth double-double of the season — and four kills, CeCe Williams with 20 digs and Claudia Haywood with eight kills and three blocks.
     
Zyra Wright had 16 kills and 10 digs for the Lady Panthers (8-13, 3-2), but Xavier's defense forced her into a season-high 11 attack errors. Samantha Moore had eight kills, nine assists and 16 digs, and Victoria Hicks had 14 assists and 17 digs.
     
Reuther ended the first set and the match with kills. She had eight first-set kills, six during an 11-3 run to close the set. The Gold Nuggets led 15-4 in the second but Wright (four kills) and Jazmine Washington (four blocks) extended the match and helped Philander Smith become the first GCAC opponent to win a set against Xavier in the Convocation Center.
     
Philander Smith led 6-3 in the fourth before Haywood produced two kills during a 6-0 run that put the Gold Nuggets ahead to stay.
     
Xavier outhit Philander Smith .172 to .056 and had advantages of 47-38 in kills, 7-3 in aces and 86-76 in digs. The Gold Nuggets' dig total was a season high. The Lady Panthers, who rank among the NAIA's top 20 in blocking, produced 11 blocks, the most ever by an XU opponent at the Convocation Center. Xavier had eight blocks.
     
"We were ready to digs some balls and play some defense," XU coach Hannah Lawing said. "Our block did a really good job of setting up properly at the net for our defense to play around, and it gives our defenders a good opportunity to dig a lot of balls."
     
Xavier's next match will start at 1 p.m. next Saturday at GCAC opponent Talladega. There is one XU home match remaining: Oct. 31 at 1 p.m. against GCAC leader SUNO.
     
NOTES:  Xavier won its first 59 sets at the Convocation Center against GCAC opponents before Philander Smith finally broke through . . . This was the Gold Nuggets' annual Dig Pink Match for breast cancer awareness . . . The Gold Nuggets will close the regular season with 5-of-6 matches on the road, although two will be in New Orleans (Loyola and Dillard) . . . Through seven GCAC matches this season, Xavier is outhitting opponents .267 to .008 . . . Before Saturday, the Gold Nuggets were 0-3 in Oct. 10 matches.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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N.C.A&T Aggies Get Another Tidewater Win, Beat NSU

NORFOLK, Virginia – Giving up 31 points at Hampton last week didn’t sit well with the North Carolina A&T defense. Therefore, they returned to the Tidewater area on Saturday for a little redemption and got it. The Aggies surrendered just 167 yards of offense to Norfolk State in a 27-3 win over the Spartans at William “Dick” Price Stadium.

N.C. A&T’s strong defense helped head coach Rod Broadway earn his 100th career coaching victory, making him only the 26th active FCS coach with 100 wins. He is just the fourth active HBCU coach to earn the feat.

“I don’t have a whole lot to say about that,” said Broadway about his 100th win. “It just means I’ve had good coaches and good players. I’m proud of the players on this team for just winning this game tonight.”

Broadway’s players have given the Aggie faithful much to be proud of thus far this season. The Aggies (4-1, 2-0 MEAC) completed a string of four straight games on the road with their win over NSU (2-4, 2-1 MEAC). In that stretch the Aggies went an impressive 3-1 with their only loss coming to the University of North Carolina, an FBS school. In two of those games – at Elon and at NSU – the Aggies gave up a combined total of 10 points.

For the second straight week, the road Aggies also took advantage of excellent field position. N.C. A&T started four drives in NSU territory with two of those occasions happening early in the game when the Aggies gained possession on two consecutive drives with a fumble recovery by Zerius Lockhart and a short punt that allowed them to open their possession at the NSU 23-yard line.

But the Aggies went 3-and-out on the first drive and an interception by senior Kwashaun Quick ended the other. The Aggies, who have been playing two quarterbacks most of the season, turned to redshirt freshman Lamar Raynard on their next offensive possession. Raynard closed out a 12-play, 70-yard drive by throwing a 26-yard touchdown pass to Malik Wilson for Wilson’s first career touchdown reception.

The Aggies took a 10-0 halftime lead off a 30-yard field goal by junior Cody Jones. The Spartans had minus-8 yards rushing in the first half.

“We felt like we played poorly last week and the offense carried us,” fifth-year middle linebacker Denzel Jones said about the Hampton game. “Coming into this week we didn't feel like that should happen. We go into every game figuring only a touchdown or a field goal will decide the game, so we try not to give up any points.”

Even though that was not the case on Saturday, where the Spartans ventured inside the Aggies 25 only twice, resulting in a missed field goal and a 28-yard make by Cameron Marouf. The Aggies also sacked NSU quarterback Greg Hankerson seven times.

“We wanted to contain the quarterback,” said Broadway. “He can make some plays with his feet. We let him out of there a few times in the first half, but for the most part I think we contained him halfway decent. He's a heckuva athlete.”

Senior running back Tarik Cohen provided the offensive might for the Aggies with 152 yards rushing and a touchdown on 36 carries. His 6-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Denzel Keyes gave the Aggies a 24-3 lead in the third quarter.

“He’s special,” said Broadway about Cohen who is now 503 yards away from becoming the Aggies all-time leading rusher. “Everybody is gunning for him. What is hurting Tarik is we lost four of our top five receivers. But Raynard is throwing the ball a lot better now, so it should open up some things for him down the stretch.”

But Cohen said it was the Aggies defense that drove the momentum against the Spartans.

“It makes us confidence to have a defense like ours because we know if we getting going offensively, the game is pretty much over,” said Cohen.

The other motivating factor is the being the focus of opponents’ game plans.

“That's what keeps me striving to be the best,” he said. “I know I need to be a playmaker for my team. Even though people know I was preseason player of the year a
nd I'm supposed to have a target on my back, I still have to step up and make plays.”

The Aggies return home next week to face Bethune-Cookman who is 3-0 in the conference. Kickoff is at 1 p.m., at Aggie Stadium.

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Lonnie Bartley named interim coach of FVSU Lady Wildcats’ Basketball Team and Homecoming Parade Marshall

COACH LONNIE BARTLEY

FORT VALLEY, Georgia -- A Fort Valley State University legend and one of the winningest women’s basketball coaches in the NCAA Division II has come back to assume the reigns of the Lady’ Wildcats Basketball team. Dr. Joshua Murfree recently named Lonnie Bartley as the interim head coach of the Lady Wildcats Basketball Team. He will also serve as the parade marshall for the upcoming Homecomig Parade at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31 in downtown Fort Valley.

Bartley led the FVSU women’s basketball program for 29 seasons, and helped turn the team into one of the more accomplished basketball programs in the nation. During Bartley’s time as head coach, he earned 600 career wins, and ensured that all of the women he coached earned their college diplomas.

Bartley’s athletic career started at Troup County High School in LaGrange, Ga. During his high school matriculation, Bartley lettered in three sports. After earning his diploma, Bartley enrolled at Fort Valley State University, where he worked as a score keeper for the Lady’s Wildcats basketball team. His sports knowledge impressed the team’s former head coach, Jessie Brown, who elevated him to the post of student assistant. He held this position until graduation, when he was promoted to a full-time assistant coach by Brown, while Bartley worked on his graduate degree.

In 1984, Brown decided to step down as the Lady Wildcats’ head coach. Bartley was named the new coach. He began building a competitive team. Bartley has earned more than 27 consecutive winning seasons, and has qualified for the SIAC Tournament each year he’s coached. The 2005-06 edition of the Lady Wildcats produced a record season for Bartley, and the team broke records for the most wins in a single season (28) consecutive wins (23) and the most SIAC wins (20) in a single year. FVSU finished that season with a 28-3 record, surpassing the mark of 27-3 by 1992-3 team. During the 2006-2007 season, Bartley earned 500 career victories. His record stands at 632-224, a mark that ranks him among a select few in the NCAA Division II I total victories and winning percentage. He also has the most wins among coaches in HBCU women’s basketball.

Bartley was named “College Coach of the Year” by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), the “Georgia Division II Coach of the Year” by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club, “College Coach of the Year,” by BCSIDA, and SIAC Coach of the Year ten times. Bartley has been featured in several news articles and the cover of “Coaching Women’s Basketball,” a publication distributed by the WBCA.

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N.C. A&T is another tough opponent for Norfolk State

NORFOLK, Virginia -- After two weeks of relief from FBS-level opponents, what might be the best FCS team Norfolk State will see this season comes calling.

North Carolina A&T, which leads the MEAC in scoring and was the preseason pick to win the league title, presents the Spartans' latest tall order in today's 2 p.m. game at Dick Price Stadium.

A week after rallying for an improbable 15-12 win at Howard, NSU (2-3, 2-0 MEAC) is hosting one of the other three teams that remain unbeaten in the conference.

"They're a good football team, no question about it," first-year Spartans coach Latrell Scott said. "You can see why they were picked to win the conference."

The Aggies (3-1, 1-0) feature MEAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Tarik Cohen, who leads the league with 94.5 rushing yards per game and six touchdowns. The offense averages 33.5 points and 336 yards of total offense per contest.

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HBCU Football Judgment Day Schedule: Week 6, (Oct.8-10)

ALWAYS WATCH IN 1080p HD, WIDE SCREEN

Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015

OVC
Tennessee State at Tennessee-Martin, 3:30 PM

SWAC
Mississippi Valley State at Prairie View A&M, 3 PM
Alabama A&M at Grambling State, 4 PM
Southern at Alabama State, 7 PM

MEAC
Bethune-Cookman 17, South Carolina State 14  Video Highlights
North Carolina A&T at Norfolk State, 2 PM
Delaware State at Hampton, 2 PM
Savannah State at Morgan State, 4 PM
North Carolina Central at Florida A&M, 5 PM

CIAA
Livingstone at Saint Augustine's, 1 PM
Virginia State at Elizabeth City State, 1 PM
Virginia Union at Lincoln (PA), 1 PM
Shaw at Fayetteville State, 1:30 PM
Johnson C. Smith at Winston-Salem State, 1:30 PM
Chowan at Bowie State, 4 PM

SIAC
Miles at Central State (OH), 1:30 PM
Fort Valley State at Kentucky State, 1:30 PM
Stillman at Clark Atlanta, 2 PM
Lane vs. Benedict, 2 PM. Augusta Classic, Augusta, GA
Morehouse vs. Tuskegee, 2 PM, 80th Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic, Columbus, GA  TV: ASPiRE

MWC
Notre Dame College at West Virginia State, 1:30 PM

GLVC
Lincoln (MO) at Saint Joseph's (IN), 1 PM
Arizona Christian at Langston, 3 PM


PSAC
East Stroudsburg at Cheyney, 1 PM

The Sun Conference
Edward Waters at Webber International University, 5 PM

CSFL
Texas College at Wayland Baptist University, 2 PM

IDLE
Concordia-Selma
Texas Southern
Arkansas Pine Bluff
Alcorn State
Jackson State

All Game Times Are Shown In Eastern Time Zone


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Preview: Tuskegee football preview

THE GAME

When: 2 p.m.

Where: Columbus, Georgia

Records: Tuskegee (4-1, 1-0 SIAC); Morehouse (3-2, 1-0 SIAC)

On the air: TV – ASPiRE. Radio – Tuskegee Sports Network

Twitter: @mgmsports @MyTUAthletics

FOUR-DOWN TERRITORY

1. The Classic: It’s the 80th annual Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic, one of the biggest games for the Golden Tigers every season. It’s a game the fans get particularly excited about as a big game, but coach Willie Slater said at this point, they’re all big games.

“Getting ready to play Morehouse. That’s enough said,” Slater said. “It’s a big game for the fans. It’s a big game for alumni. But as far as we go, it’s a big game for us anyway. The game last week was a big game for me. And the game after this is going to be a big game. I look at it a little different than the fans do. They want us to look good, the want us to play good. But some of that rubs off on the players too. The fans let them know what they think about this game and how important it is for them, so that kind of builds a little momentum for them.”

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Fort Valley State looks to bounce back from ‘devastating’ loss

FORT VALLEY, Georgia -- The script changed for the Fort Valley State Wildcats in a matter of one quarter in last week’s 27-20 loss to undefeated Alderson Broaddus.

Leading 20-7 heading into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were on the verge of winning their fourth straight game, which they haven’t done in nearly three years -- before allowing the Battlers to rattle off 20 straight points in the final five minutes.

The loss was a difficult one to swallow after head coach Donald Pittman said his team “played a really good game.”

“That’s why it was so devastating for not only the team but for the fans,” he said. “It would have been a big game for the program.”

But that was last week. Scheduled to travel to Frankfort, Kentucky, for a matchup with Kentucky State on Saturday, the Wildcats will have to bounce back quickly. Playing conference foe Kentucky State, which has three former Fort Valley State assistant coaches on its coaching staff, makes a potential bounce-back victory even sweeter for Pittman.

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