Nuggets' strong finish moves them to 3-0 in conference

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana closed with a flurry Saturday, hitting .550 and serving six aces during a 13-minute third set to clinch a 25-17, 25-22, 25-5 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference volleyball victory against Talladega at the Convocation Center.

The Gold Nuggets (8-1, 3-0), in the best start of their 10 seasons of existence, won their seventh in a row.

Juliana Tomasoni produced 10 kills and eight digs for XULA. Kayla Black had nine kills and a career-best five aces, and Vivica Price-Spraggins had seven kills and hit .417. Price-Spraggins hit better than .400 for the fifth consecutive match.

The Gold Nuggets served a season-best 13 aces. Amanda Perry tied her career best with three, and Anna Dalla Vecchia and Eva Le Guillou served two apiece. Le Guillou equaled her career best.

Dalla Vecchia had a match-high 12 digs and reached double figures for the fifth consecutive match. Tiffany Phillips (16 assists) and Le Guillou (14) again shared the setting.

Jennifer Brown had six kills for Talladega (2-6, 0-2), the GCAC runner-up a year ago, and Bethany Holland had 15 assists and 11 digs.

XULA built a 22-10 first-set lead. In the middle set the Gold Nuggets rallied from 4-0 and 13-10 deficits. XULA pulled away in the final set with a 16-1 run that included three aces from Black and two from Le Guillou.

The Gold Nuggets will visit William Carey at 6 p.m. Tuesday and SUNO at 6 p.m. Thursday. The next home match will be Sept. 28 against Dillard, the only other team unbeaten in GCAC matches.

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Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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On an otherwise tough night, Southern finds the positive in four second-half takeaways

SAN ANTONIA, Texas -- When Southern looks back at its UTSA game film in search of positives to take away, it might as well fast forward to the second half.

What to take away from this game? The takeaways, of course.

Southern forced four turnovers in the final 24 minutes Saturday. They were the driving force of a second half where the Jaguars outscored the host Roadrunners 17-3.

“I think it gives our guys a little momentum. They can understand if they do what’s asked of them, they’ve got a chance to be successful,” Southern coach Dawson Odums said.

“It’s good to see that excitement. It’s good to see some positive plays, something to draw from.”

Danny Johnson got things started. The senior cornerback tied for the Football Championship Subdivision lead with seven interceptions last season and snared his first of 2017 when he picked off a wobbly pass by UTSA backup Bryce Rivers.

It was a good start, Johnson said. But Southern needs to get in the act earlier.



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Plagued by the same problems for the second straight week, Southern gets routed 51-17 in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Seeking a bounce-back performance, Southern instead hit the repeat button.

A week after getting clobbered 45-0 by Southern Miss, the Jaguars experienced much of the same in a lopsided 51-17 loss to UT-San Antonio.

"It was pretty much the same thing," senior defensive end Aaron Tiller said.

Like the Southern Miss game, things quickly spun out of control. The Jaguars were in a 48-0 hole by the time the first half came to a close. In the last two weeks, Southern (1-2) has been outscored 83-0 in the first half.

The formula for how the opposition built that huge deficit was also familiar: A poor offensive effort contributed to disadvantageous situations for a defense that gave up too many big plays.

"They moved the ball up and down the field, and we couldn't manifest anything," Southern coach Dawson Odums said. "It makes for a long game, but I really think (UTSA) had a lot to do with it. They're a very good football team, and they played well."

With senior quarterback Austin Howard sidelined for the second straight game with a knee injury, Southern’s offense was again a near complete nonfactor.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Darquez Lee made his first career start, but the Jaguars mustered only 18 yards in five drives before he was removed in favor of true freshman Bubba McDaniel.





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Offense Shines as Shaw Bears Earn First Win of the Season; Defeats Malone 34-27

DURHAM, North Carolina -- In his first career start, sophomore quarterback Vidal Woodruff (Tampa, FL) connected 25-of-35 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns to help the Shaw University football team to its first win of the 2017 season with a 34-27 victory over Malone University Saturday afternoon at Durham County Memorial Stadium.

The victory snapped a two-game skid for Shaw as the Bears now stand 1-2 on the season and Malone falls to 0-2.

Junior running back Michael Sherman (Powder Springs, GA) carried the load on the ground with 19 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown while senior wide receiver Trevante Long (Greenbelt, MD) hauled in 85 yards and one touchdown on seven receptions.

The Bears produced a total of 458 yards, including 224 rushing and 234 passing while Malone accounted for 427 total offense (110 rushing, 317 passing).

Shaw scored the game's first touchdown led by an eight-yard pass from Woodruff to freshman wide receiver Daniel Bender (Jacksonville, FL) at the 12:42 mark but the next possession down, the Pioneers responded with a score of their own after a 45-yard run from Matt Blasiole into the endzone that would even up the score at 7-7 after the extra points.

Still in the first quarter, the Bears found their offensive groove as Woodruff hit Long up the middle for a 19-yard score, following a four-yard scamper from junior running back Uriah Bethea (Upper Marlboro, MD) in the second quarter with 10:19 remaining that would give Shaw a 20-7 advantage.

Shaw held Malone scoreless in the second frame as Woodruff would link with Bender again for his second career touchdown to close out the first half with a 27-7 lead at intermission.

The Pioneers opened up the second half with a score on a 5-play drive worth 44 yards to cut the Bears lead to 27-14 at the 12:33 mark. Shaw responded down the stretch with a one-yard touchdown from Sherman that gave the Bears a 34-14 frame but momentum shifted in favor of Malone as the Pioneers would not surrender just yet.

Malone closed the gap to pull within 14 before scoring its last touchdown of the game on a 12-yard pass from John Lacucci to James Jackson but great defense by the Bears down the stretch prevailed Shaw to the victory.

Defensively, freshman defensive back Jaleel Scroggins (Raleigh, NC) recorded a team-best and career-high 11 tackles (10 solo) and two tackle for losses, while sophomore linebacker Devon Hunt (Rockingham, NC) grabbed nine tackles (8 solo ) and a quarterback hurry.

Shaw will begin conference play next weekend when they travel to Bowie, Md. for a contest with Bowie State University. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.

For the most up-to-date information on Shaw football and its 13 varsity sport teams, visit shawbears.com.

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Sewell shatters Rush 6K record at LSU Invitational

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Freshman Cameron Sewell broke the Xavier Univeristy of Louisiana men's cross country record for 6,000 meters Saturday at the LSU Invitational.

Sewell, from Cincinnati and a graduate of La Salle High School, ran the course at Highland Road Park in 20 minutes, 8.1 seconds. Ray Walson set the previous school record of 21:08 in 2010.

Sewell placed 45th out of 77 runners and was the fastest Gold Rush finisher for the fourth time in as many meets this season. Sewell finished ahead of 19 NCAA Division I runners. XULA is an NAIA member.

Sophomore Taylor Price led the XULA women for the fourth time this year, running the 5K in 20:08.6 and placing 28th out of 68 runners. Price finished ahead of 30 NCAA DI runners.

It was the final XULA meet before the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships Oct. 20 at Clinton, Miss. Both XULA teams are 10-time defending GCAC champions.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
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XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Goreau beats 2 Division I foes to reach HBCU final

COLLEGE PARK, Georgia — Xavier University of Louisiana's Charlene Goreau defeated two NCAA Division I opponents Friday to reach the championship round of the women's singles A-bracket of the HBCU National Tennis Championships.

Goreau, a two-time NAIA All-American and the No. 2 seed at this event, defeated Florida A&M's 10th-seeded Haleigh Porter 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and Jackson State's 11th-seeded Nina Zhang 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in the semifinals.

"Charlene was mentally tough," 15th-year XULA coach Alan Green said. "Both of her opponents never quit on the matches, but Charlene kept her head and pushed through."

Joining Goreau in Saturday's finals will be XULA's Catalin Fifea, who won a pair of matches in men's A consolation singles. Fifea defeated Howard's Karim Shokeir 8-2 in the quarterfinals.

In the men's B singles main draw, Gabriel Niculescu defeated Jackson State's Vishu Prasad in the quarterfinals, then lost 6-4, 6-3 to Bluefield State's Giorgi Datashvili in the semifinals. In men's C singles quarterfinals, Pierre Andrieu lost 6-3, 6-1 to Bluefield State's top-seeded Lorenzo Panariti. In women's singles, Manon Bonada lost 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5) to Howard's Yassmine Khiri in the B quarterfinals, and Yi Chen Pao lost 6-0, 6-0 to Tennessee State's Aarushi Kakkar in the C quarterfinals.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
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WSSU does just enough to beat Virginia Union

RICHMOND, Virginia — Winston-Salem State needed a big play in the worst way because the offense kept floundering on Saturday night at Hovey Field against upstart Virginia Union.

Stepping into that role nicely was backup tight end Stedman Rush, whose blocked punt helped the Rams to a come-from-behind 21-20 win over the Panthers. It was a play that nearly didn’t happen, but because Rush was pestering the coaches to go in the game, he backed up what he said he would do.

“He’s not on the block-punt team, but he said he wanted to go in and make a play,” coach Kienus Boulware of the Rams said. “And guess what, he made the block.”

The Panthers (1-2) were clinging to a 17-14 lead with 12:06 left, and they were forced to punt. Rush, a senior transfer from UNC Pembroke, lined up on the right side and came streaking in to easily block the punt of Russell Ballance. The Rams recovered the ball on the 1-yard line of the Panthers.

Quarterback Rod Tinsley, who had one of his worst games in his three years as starting quarterback, scored on a 1-yard sneak, and the Rams somehow had the lead 21-17 with 12:06 to go.

“I just have to give praise to the coaches because a lot of people were tired so I came in, and the coaches gave me directions to what to do and I made it happen,” said Rush. “We were kind of down, and we needed a spark.”

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