Gold Nuggets sweep GCAC awards for 3rd time this year

NEW ORLEANS — This is getting to be a habit for the Xavier University of Louisiana volleyball program.

After sweeping the three Gulf Coast Athletic Conference weekly awards only once in the past two seasons, the Gold Nuggets have stepped up their production in 2017, earning a sweep for the second straight week and the third time in four weeks.

XULA's honorees for Sept. 11-17 are Vivica Price-Spraggins, Attacker of the Week; Tiffany Phillips, Setter of the Week; and Anna Dalla Vecchia, Defender of the Week. Price-Spraggins won for the first time in her career. Phillips and Dalla Vecchia were honored for the second straight week and the third time this season, and Phillips won for the ninth time in her career to extend her XULA record.

Price-Spraggins, a freshman middle blocker/right-side hitter from Chicago and a graduate of Whitney Young Magnet High School, did not commit an attack error in GCAC home victories against Edward Waters and Talladega. She hit .467 for the week with 14 kills in 30 attacks. Against Talladega she became the first XULA player since Moira Kirk in 2013 to hit .400 or better in five straight matches with at least 10 attacks in each match.

Phillips, a sophomore from Gardena, Calif., and a graduate of Bishop Montgomery High School, had a team-best 41 assists — 25 against Edward Waters — and eight digs.

Dalla Vecchia, a freshman from Vicenza, Italy, had 25 digs and successfully passed 40 service receptions without an error. She also produced three aces and seven assists. Dalla Vecchia has yet to commit a reception error in her college career.

XULA (9-1 overall, 3-0 GCAC) won 25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 25-16 Tuesday at William Carey and will put an eight-match win streak on the line Thursday in a 6 p.m. GCAC match at SUNO. The Gold Nuggets, the six-time defending GCAC regular-season and tournament champion, are the only unbeaten team in GCAC matches.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Sewell, Price extend season dominance of GCAC awards

NEW ORLEANS — Camren Sewell and Taylor Price, Xavier University of Louisiana's standout harriers, have won Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Runner of the Week awards for the fourth time in as many opportunities this season.

The GCAC awards covered Sept. 11-17.

Sewell, a freshman from Cincinnati and a graduate of LaSalle High School, broke the XULA men's record for 6,000 meters Saturday at the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge, La. Sewell's time was 20 minutes, 8.1 seconds. The previous mark was 21:08 set in 2010. Sewell finished 45th out of 77 runners and was faster than 19 NCAA Division I runners. XULA is a longtime NAIA member.

Price ran the women's 5K at LSU in 20:08 and placed 28th out of 68 runners. A sophomore from Missouri Park, Texas, and a graduate of Ridge Point High School, Price finished ahead of 30 runners from NCAA Division I. The GCAC award is the ninth of her career.

Next for the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets will be a non-scored exhibition Oct. 14 in the UNCF Walk/Run for Education at Audubon Park in New Orleans, then the GCAC Championships Oct. 20 at Choctaw Trails in Clinton, Miss. XULA's men and women are 10-time defending GCAC team champions.

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Gold Nuggets are road warriors in 8th straight victory

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi — Xavier University of Louisiana rolled to its eight straight volleyball victory, a 25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 25-16 decision Tuesday against William Carey.

The Gold Nuggets (9-1) got double-doubles from Kayla Black (18 kills, 10 digs), Eva Le Guillou (23 assists, 12 digs) and Juliana Tomasoni (14 kills, 19 digs), plus a career-best 10 kills from Jaida Dowd.

Black, Le Guillou and Dowd are freshmen.

It was the first time since Aug. 30, 2014, that the Gold Nuggets won a regular-season non-conference match on an out-of-town opponent's court.

"It was a great team effort," first-year head coach Pat Kendrick said. "Adili (Rikondja) and Jaida did a nice job in roles they hadn't played much this season. Kayla and Jules (Tomasoni) had great connections with the setters. Anna (Dalla Vecchia) was very efficient."

Rikondja, normally a right-side hitter, started at middle blocker and finished with four kills and two blocks. Dowd replaced Rikondja on the right side and finished with a flurry, hitting .750 with six kills over the final two sets.

Black produced the most kills in a match by a XULA player this season, and the double-double was her third. Tomasoni matched her season best for digs in her sixth double-double of the season. Le Guillou reached career highs for assists, digs and aces (3).

Black and Tomasoni combined for 21 kills and a .568 hitting percentage in the first two sets.

Also filling up the stat sheet were Tiffany Phillips with 25 assists, Dalla Vecchia with 20 digs — her sixth consecutive match in double figures — and Vivica Price-Spraggins with five kills, three blocks and a career-best five digs.

Megan Zulli had 10 kills and hit .370 for William Carey (7-5), which dropped its third straight. Emma Cotney and Lisa Faolotoi had 13 digs apiece.

XULA outhit William Carey .240 to .199 and had advantages of 56-53 in kills, 8-3 in aces and 6-3 in blocks. Both teams had 79 digs. The Gold Nuggets hit .336 in the sets they won.

XULA, the leader in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference at 3-0, will visit SUNO at 6 p.m. Thursday in a GCAC match. The next home match will start at 6 p.m. Sept. 28 against Dillard at the Convocation Center.

BOX SCORE

Ed Cassiere, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Breaking down Prairie View A&M vs. Alabama State

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas  -- Records: Prairie View A&M 0-2, Alabama State 0-3.

Series history: Alabama State leads 25-7.

Key players: Prairie View - QB Lavell McCullers, RB Dawonya Tucker, LB Anthony Stubbs; Alabama State - QB Kobie Jones, RB Darrel King, S Treyon Garnett

Who has the edge

Offense – Prairie View A&M. Coach Willie Simons is looking for a faster start this week after his Panthers were outscored a combined 64-20 in the first half by Sam Houston and Nicholls. Still, they trailed only 30-24 against the high-scoring Bearkats after Tucker scored on a 19-yard run with 5:59 showing in the third. The Panthers average 5.0 yards per carry behind Tucker (19-107, 3 TDs) and McCullers (22-131, 1 TD).

Defense – Alabama State. Hornets opponents are averaging ...

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One last chance: Southern to face Alcorn State quarterback Lenorris Footman one more time after years of giving Jaguars fits

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana --The first time Kentavious Preston saw Lenorris Footman on a football field, he had no idea who the Alcorn State quarterback was.

Preston remembers it quite vividly.



It was 2015, and it was pouring in A.W. Mumford Stadium. The Jaguars thought they got a break when Alcorn’s starting quarterback, John Gibbs, left the game on the first drive with an apparent injury.

At the time, Gibbs was the reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, a perpetual thorn in Southern’s side. Over the previous three seasons, he had led the Braves to three straight wins, scoring six touchdowns and piling up 770 yards of total offense.

The Jaguars didn't know who was waiting for them behind Gibbs.

Over the next 46 minutes, Footman ran for 274 yards and four touchdowns, a SWAC record for a quarterback. He also threw for another two touchdowns on 71 yards.

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Visiting bands welcome again for CIAA games

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- And the band played on….

The bands that are a big part of the HBCU game-day experience will be allowed to play in the CIAA this season.

The athletics directors from all the CIAA schools held a conference call with commissioner Jacqie McWilliams on Thursday morning and decided that home-team athletics directors will make the decision on whether visiting team’s band will play, said Tonia Walker, athletics director at WSSU.

Earlier this year, the NCAA mandated a strict 20-minute halftime would be enforced this season for all divisions of football. That means penalties could be called if bands are not off the field before the start of the second half.

With that in mind, there was talk of the CIAA limiting its halftimes to allowing only the home team’s band to play. But Walker said that won’t happen at WSSU home games this season.

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A Day in the Life of the BGMM (N.C. A&T): Alex Somar, Baritone - Euphonium Section Leader