Coppin State Women's Basketball MEAC Teleconference Recap

JORDAN SWAILS
5'-11" GUARD
SENIOR CLASS
HOMETOWN: UPPER MARLBORO, MD
COURTESY COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

BALTIMORE, Maryland -- Coppin State head women's basketball coach Derek Brown gave the public a first glimpse of his 2015-16 squad during the annual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Women's Basketball Coaches' Teleconference Wednesday morning.
 
During the 10-minute call, Brown discussed his veteran team and competitive schedule. Coppin State will be one of the more experienced teams in the MEAC this season as it returns 84.7 percent of its scoring, five seniors and four starters from a team that won a MEAC Tournament game for the fifth consecutive season.
 
"We are looking for some positive things to happen this season," said Brown, who is entering his 17th year at the helm of the Lady Eagles. "We have an older squad which I like. Hopefully we'll finish in the top half of the league this year."
 
One reason for that optimism is the senior quintet of Jordan Swails, Amber Griffin, Omaah Tayong, Janelle Lane and Tanaysa Henderson. They have been through many battles and all played significant roles when Coppin State advanced to the MEAC Tournament championship contest in 2014.
 
Swails led the Lady Eagles in scoring with an 11.3 point per game average while Lane was second on the team with a 10.0 point per game average. Griffin is third all-time in CSU history in assists with 293. Tayong had a memorable outing against Savannah State in 2014 when she snatched a career best 23 rebounds. Henderson has been a solid contributor for Coppin State during her career.
 
Brown couldn't contain his excitement when discussing his seniors.
 
"When you have seniors, it's sort of a different attitude and they know this is their last year," Brown said. "They know no one is above them. This is as high as you can go. They have a mature and a very confident attitude. We're looking for some good things to happen this year. You're looking at five seniors coming back who have all played significant minutes for us in the last couple of years. We have a senior-laden team with an all-rookie team starter returning."
 
That would be redshirt sophomore Genesis Lucas, who was named to the All-MEAC Rookie Team after averaging 8.9 points per game. Lucas sparked Coppin State in her 15 starts, averaging 12.8 points per game, 4.2 assists per contest, 1.7 steals per outing during that time. Key returnees also include junior Keena Samuels, sophomore Candice Beverly, sophomore D'Ajahnae Smith and sophomore Oluwaseun Adejini.
 
Two newcomers to this season's team are sophomore Vanessa Neal, a transfer from Niagara University, and freshman Alexis Taylor, who was a part of a championship team all four years at Takoma Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school in Takoma Park (Md.).
 
"She's not a Seventh-day Adventist and she will be playing on Saturday's," Brown quipped.
 
That's a great thing because nine of Coppin State's 28 regular season games are scheduled for Saturday's this season. Of course, a 10th Saturday game on March 14 would mean an appearance in the MEAC Tournament championship game, which is the goal.

Coppin State begins its season on the road at VCU for an 11:00 a.m. start. The Lady Eagles home opener will be on Thursday, November 19 against IMBC at noon. Coppin State's tough slate features games against three schools that competed in last season's NCAA Tournament and contests against four ACC schools.
 
"As always we'll try to be competitive and learn as much as possible to help us going into the MEAC season," Brown said of his schedule. "We feel that we're going to be competitive."

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UMES Hawks Outlast CSU Eagles, Keep Winning Ways

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland -- For the second leg of their Baltimore road trip, the Hawks volleyball squad fought for a road sweep and their third victory in a row. They would do just that, outlasting a tough Eagles squad in a pair of close sets before taking a 3-0 victory (25-23, 25-16, 27-25). UMES improves to 14-3 (3-1 MEAC) while Coppin State falls to 6-10 (3-2 MEAC).

Freshman Zuzana Ondruskova (Bilovec, Czech Republic) led the way with 16 kills, while sophomore Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.) also tallied double-digit kills in 12 while boasting a .409 kill percentage. The most efficient attacker for UMES was sophomore Alana Polk (Houston, Texas) who earned nine kills against just one error for a 50% success rate.

As a team, the Hawks earned seven blocks, with senior Petra Jerabkova (Prague, Czech Republic) participating in four of them. Fellow senior Andjela Reljic (Novi Sad, Serbia) supplied two aces and 11 digs, both team-highs.

Coppin State would take the lead early in the first set, forcing the Hawks to use their two timeouts early. Faced with a five point deficit at the 17-12 mark, UMES would rally thanks to a pair of kills by Ondruskova and a Reljic ace. A back-and-forth battle would ensue with each team matching each other to a 23- 23 tie. The Hawks would win the set on a Fink and Polk block and a Coppin attack error.

Set two proved to be a tight battle early, with the Hawks pulling away in the second half. An ace from Ondruskova gave the Hawks a five point edge at 18-13 and the visitors never looked back. A kill from Polk and a final shot from Ondruskova gave UMES a 25-16 win and a 2-0 break at intermission.

Feeding off the momentum UMES raced out to a 6-1 lead in the third set, thanks to an ace from freshman Marta Klafuric (Donja Lomnica, Croatia) and two kills from fellow first year Rachel Kayongo (Northridge, Calif.). But the Eagles would fight back to force a deadlock at several points midway thru the set. At one point, Coppin held a three point lead with one point to go. However, a three point rally capped by a Kayongo kill forced extra time, and a final kill from Fink would be the finishing touch.

For the Eagles, Cindy Okpegbue led the match with 18 kills with a 45.9% success rate.

The Hawks return home for their next match on Friday when they host Delaware State as part of UMES' Hawk Hysteria festivities. Match time is set for 6:00 p.m..

Box Score

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Les East: The Jaguars keep rolling through SWAC play, but their brief spells of distraction are a little worrisome

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — Things seem to have come easily for Southern in its first three Southwestern Athletic Conference games.

And that’s a double-edged sword.

On one side, it shows the Jaguars are capable of winning a third consecutive West Division title. They dominated Mississippi Valley State 50-13, handled Jackson State 50-31 and toyed with Alabama State 45-34 on Saturday night in ASU Stadium.

On the other side, it creates an opportunity for a team to lose its edge if it’s not careful.

Obviously the offense has moved the ball and scored points with ease, and the defense and special teams have played well enough for Southern to go 3-for-3 without being seriously threatened.

But for much of the second half Saturday — and for brief spells in the first two SWAC games — the Jaguars seemed to lose their edge and let the opponent set the tone. It didn’t last long enough for the outcome to be in doubt, but it was enough to suggest this team is still learning how to put opponents away efficiently.



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Monday Morning Rewind: Southern

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern (3-2, 3-0 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference) celebrates homecoming when it plays Prairie View at 4 p.m. Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium. The Panthers are 3-2 and 3-1 after a 45-6 home victory against Mississippi Valley State last Saturday. The Jaguars won last year’s meeting 34-24 in Prairie View, Texas, as Lenard Tillery rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown and Willie Quinn returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

Looking back

Southern took a 17-0 halftime lead and never trailed during a 45-34 SWAC victory against Alabama State on Saturday in Montgomery, Ala.. Austin Howard threw four touchdown passes and ran for two touchdowns to lead an offense that did most of its damage through the air. The defense was stifling in the first half, allowing just 85 yards, but porous in the second half, allowing five touchdowns. Greg Pittman chipped in a field goal, Quinn had a 58-yard kickoff return that led to a touchdown and Herb Edwards caused and recovered a fumble on a kickoff return, which led to a touchdown.

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HBCU Football Judgment Day Scoreboard: Week 6, (Oct.10)

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Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015

OVC
Tennessee-Martin 28, Tennessee State 14

SWAC
Prairie View A&M 45, Mississippi Valley State 6
Grambling State 37, Alabama A&M 14
Southern 45, Alabama State 34

MEAC
Bethune-Cookman 17, South Carolina State 14 Video Highlights
North Carolina A&T 27, Norfolk State 3
Hampton 21, Delaware State 7
Morgan State 42, Savannah State 3
North Carolina Central 27, Florida A&M 24

CIAA
Livingstone 31, Saint Augustine's 7
Virginia State 24, Elizabeth City State 23
Virginia Union 66, Lincoln (PA) 27
Fayetteville State 36, Shaw 29
Winston-Salem State 37, Johnson C. Smith 22
Bowie State 17, Chowan 14

SIAC
Miles 34, Central State (OH) 9
Fort Valley State 35, Kentucky State 10
Stillman 22, Clark Atlanta 14
Lane 23. Benedict 19, Augusta Classic, Augusta, GA
Tuskegee 35, Morehouse 7, 80th Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic, Columbus, GA

MWC
West Virginia State 32, Notre Dame College 29

GLVC
Saint Joseph's (IN) 42, Lincoln (MO) 14
Arizona Christian 55, Langston 52

PSAC
East Stroudsburg 69, Cheyney 7

The Sun Conference
Webber International University 42, Edward Waters 7

CSFL
Wayland Baptist University 24, Texas College 0

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

Virginia Union University gets training edge

RICHMOND, Virginia -- College and NFL football share some common ground on Richmond’s North Side.

Virginia Union University has been given the green light to practice once a week at the Bon Secours Training Center.

The Leigh Street facility opened three years ago as the preseason training camp for the NFL Washington franchise. It’s the latest effort to open the partially city-funded facility to the community for other uses.

VUU is located on Lombardy Street, less than two miles from the Bon Secours facility. Coach Mark James’ Panthers are practicing free of charge at Bon Secours from 6 to 8:30 on Wednesday mornings.

Other practices are held on campus at or around Hovey Field.

“It was a long process,” VUU Athletic Director Joe Taylor said of finalizing a deal. “We went back and forth with many phone calls and we filled out a lot of paperwork. There were a lot of documents to sign.”

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Langston Comes Out of Firestorm on Short End of Offensive Shootout

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LANGSTON, Oklahoma -- Today's big win for the Arizona Christian University Firestorm puts them on top of the standings in the CSFL with Southwestern Assemblies of God, both teams at 2-0 in conference play.

The Firestorm started off scoring at will and opening up a lead in the first half, 35-19 at the break.

The second half would be a wild offensive display by both teams. Langston scored multiple times to keep the game within reach, but the Firestorm had an answer to maintain the lead throughout the game. Langston had a chance at the end down 52-55 with the ball and just under 2:00 on the clock, but ACU's defense held tough and the Firestorm would get the ball back and run out the clock for their second victory in the CSFL.

Only two teams remain undefeated in the conference.

Quarterback Gerrit Groenewold was the offensive leader, 20-33 passing for 225 yards and 5 touchdowns, he would also add 73 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground. Running back PJ Sparks had another great day rushing, 24 attempts for 109 yards. 7 different receivers would catch passes for the Firestorm, Cules Rose led the receiving core, with 3
receptions for 52 yards and 2 touchdowns.

After the game Coach Donnie Yantis had this to say about his team and the win, "WOW, what an unbelievable victory by our Firestorm football program! Beating three-time CSFL champions was an experience that we will never forget! I am so proud of our coaches, players and the fans that traveled to Oklahoma to witness one of the most exciting games I have ever been a part of."

Next week is homecoming for the football team, hosting Lyon College at Shadow Mountain High School next Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. "We look forward to getting home and preparing for Lyon College from Arkansas. We need to pack the stands!! FAITH, FAMILY EDUCATION, FOOTBALL! RISE UP, ROLL STORM!" added Coach Yantis.

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