Both Xavier teams advance at NAIA group tournament

NORCROSS, Georgia — Xavier University of Louisiana's men defeated Milligan 6-0, and the XU women beat Bethel (Tenn.) 5-0 Friday in the quarterfinals of an NAIA unaffiliated group tennis tournament.

The Gold Rush (15-7) — seeded first in the tournament, the defending champion and ranked eighth nationally — will play fourth-seeded Bethel in the semifinals. The Gold Nuggets (5-21), seeded second, will play third-seeded Milligan. Both duals will start at 8:30 a.m. EDT Saturday.

Zach Taylor, Viktor Svoboda and Steffen Giles-Osborn won singles and doubles matches for the Rush. Svoboda clinched with a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Wesley Rice at No. 3 singles. Kourtney Howell and Amber Brown won in singles and doubles for the Nuggets, and Howell clinched with a 6-0, 6-1 decision against Dasha Klyuyenko at No. 1 singles.

Svoboda clinched a Gold Rush dual for a team-leading fourth time this season.

Giles-Osborn and Sean Richardson, seniors and fourth-year team members, both remained unbeaten in conference/group tournaments. Giles-Osborn and Richardson defeated Wesley Rice and Sebastian Jonsson 8-2 at No. 2 doubles, and Giles-Osborn beat Mickey Brown 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles. Richardson's No. 6 singles match against Wade Tugman was not played.

Giles-Osborn is 13-0 and Richardson 10-0 in conference/group tournaments.

For just the third time this season, all three of the Gold Nuggets' doubles teams played and won. And for the first time in more than two years, the Nuggets' top two doubles teams both won 8-0. Howell and Nicole DeLoach's shutout against Michella Douglas and Krysani Boyd at No. 2 was their seventh victory in their past 10 matches. That's the best extended stretch of any Nuggets double team during a spring semester in which they've won 21-of-78 matches.

Both XU semifinal matchups will be rematches of 2011, when the Rush defeated Bethel 6-0 and Milligan beat the Nuggets 5-0.

Championship duals will be played Saturday afternoon — no sooner than noon EDT — with the winners receiving automatic bids to the NAIA National Championships at Mobile, Ala., on May 15-19.

Results: Men Women

NAIA Unaffiliated Group Tournament MEN Racquet Club of the South, Norcross, Ga. All times Eastern First Round — Friday, April 27 #8 Milligan 5, #9 Bluefield 0 Quarterfinals — Friday, April 27 #4 Bethel (Tenn.) 5, #5 Tennessee Wesleyan 3 #6 SCAD Atlanta 5, #3 Martin Methodist 2 #1 Xavier 6, Milligan 0 #2 Cumberland 5, #7 Reinhardt 0 Semifinals — Saturday, April 28 #1 Xavier vs. #4 Bethel (Tenn.), 8:30 a.m. #2 Cumberland vs. #6 SCAD Atlanta, 8:30 a.m. Championship — Saturday, April 28 Semifinal winners meet at noon

NAIA Unaffiliated Group Tournament WOMEN Racquet Club of the South, Norcross, Ga. All times Eastern First Round — Friday, April 27 #7 Bethel 6, #10 Reinhardt 3 #8 Columbia (S.C.) 5, #9 Bluefield 0 Quarterfinals — Friday, April 27 #3 Milligan 5, #6 Tennessee Wesleyan 0 #5 Cumberland 6, #4 SCAD Atlanta 0 #1 Martin Methodist 6, #8 Columbia (S.C.) 0 #2 Xavier 5, #7 Bethel (Tenn.) 0 Semifinals — Saturday, April 28 #1 Martin Methodist vs. #5 Cumberland, 8:30 a.m. #2 Xavier vs. #3 Milligan, 8:30 a.m. Championship — Saturday, April 28 Semifinal winners meet at noon

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

TSU Tigers to Host Morehead State on Senior Weekend

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- This weekend marks the final Ohio Valley Conference home series for the season. Tennessee State will host Morehead State for a three game series beginning with a double header on Saturday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Tiger Field. A single game at 1:00 p.m. is on tap for Sunday with celebrations to honor the senior class prior to the contest.

The 2012 TSU senior class consists of Susie Burke, Brittany Davis, Kelly Troglin, and Kara Murr. Burke and Troglin have been Tigers for four seasons, while junior college transfer Davis has spent two seasons in blue. Murr has spent four years at Tennessee State, but was unable to play in her final season due to a career ending injury.

The Tigers look to improve on their 11-35 overall record and 3-21 OVC mark. The Eagles are just ahead of TSU in the conference standings at 5-17, 12-32.

Jennifer Givens enters weekend play at the top of several categories for the Tigers. The junior centerfielder has 43 hits, .293 average and 31 stolen bases. Tedra Alford is second with a .287 batting average, but is tops with 24 runs scored, nine doubles and two home runs. Alford shares the lead with two triples with Devin Amar, who leads the team with 16 RBI.

In the circle, freshman Shea Morris is holding opponents to a .268 batting average while compiling an 8-21 record. Morris has fanned 165 batters in 175.1 innings of work and holds a 3.47 ERA.

Game Coverage: Follow all the action via LiveBlog on tsutigers.com. Feel free to join in the conversation for all games this weekend. Coverage will begin at 12:30 p.m..

Morehead State (12-32, 5-17)
2011 Record: 19-36
Conference: Ohio Valley
2011 Finish: 10-19
Series Record: 9-53
Last Time Played: 2011, Lost 3-11
Last Win: 2010, 10-4

The Eagles come in hitting .270 as a team and are led by Amber Riddle (.348), Adrena Anderson (.318), and Stephanie Etter (.305). Riddle has ten dingers on the season and 33 RBI, while Anderson leads on the base paths with 13 steals in 16 attempts. Etter is the leading run scorer, crossing the plate 29 times.

Katie Pfost has been the workhorse for the circle throwing 122.2 innings and compiling a 4-13 record. Pfost has a 3.02 ERA and 88 strikeouts opposed to 50 walks. Jamie Whitcomb leads the Eagles with a 5-6 record despite a 5.02 ERA.

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Banks brings back good feelings at SU

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Modern jazz played in the background, bouncing off the glass walls and high ceiling of the atrium. Old-timers poked around their house salads, sharing stories and laughs. Eventually, an entire group of smiling alumni set down their tea glasses and steamed green beans, all too happy to watch this moment unfold.

One by one, members of the Southern University men’s basketball team walked to the front of the room, where they greeted coach Roman Banks and his overachieving staff. Together, they had led the Jaguars to an improbable 13-win turnaround this season, giving students, alumni and fans the kind of warm feeling that’s been long overdue at Southern.

Friday night, at a lavish postseason banquet in downtown Baton Rouge, each player received a large, thick, Columbia blue blanket, trimmed in gold and personally monogrammed — their reward for a job well done. Wait, wait, wait. A blanket?

What, no jacket? No cheesy plaque? What in the name of Carl Stewart was this all about?

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Rogers, Gibson sign with Gold Rush for 2012-13 season

XAVIER ROGERS

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier Rogers of Denton, Texas, and John Gibson of Marietta, Ga., have signed men's basketball scholarships with Xavier University of Louisiana. The Gold Rush have signed three for the 2012-13 academic year.

Rogers, a 6-foot-2 guard, will have two seasons of eligibility at Xavier after transferring from NCAA Division I member Grambling State University. Rogers averaged 8.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 25 games with the Tigers in 2011-12. He made 39 3-pointers — six against Alabama State on March 1, five against Texas Tech on Dec. 18 — and was Grambling's second-leading scorer for the season. Rogers averaged 2.3 points in 13 games for Lee College, a two-year school in Baytown, Texas, as a freshman in 2010-11.

Rogers was a three-year varsity starter for Lake Dallas High School of Corinth, Texas, and was first-team all-district his final two seasons. As a senior he made the Denton Record-Chronicle All-Area third-team after averaging 11.4 points and making 52 3-pointers.

Gibson, a 6-foot-7 forward, averaged 9.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots as a senior in 2011-12 — his first season as a varsity starter — at Walton High School. His single-game highs included 19 points, 12 rebounds, and six blocks.

"John is an extremely hard-working kid," Walton coach Joseph Goydish said. "He is dedicated to constantly improving his game. He is a great teammate and a great student."

Gibson will major in business management at Xavier, and Rogers will be a pre-pharmacy major.

Guard RJ Daniels of New Orleans signed with the Gold Rush in November. Daniels helped St. Augustine finish second in the Class 4A state playoffs this year.

Xavier was 23-9 this past season, shared the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular-season championship, qualified for the second straight year for the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I National Championship and ranked 24th in the postseason coaches poll.

2012-13 Xavier men's basketball signees

Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr.* Hometown High School (College)

RJ Daniels G 6-4 190 Fr. New Orleans, La. St. Augustine

John Gibson F 6-7 195 Fr. Marietta, Ga. Walton

Xavier Rogers G 6-2 175 Jr. Denton, Texas Lake Dallas (Grambling)

* athletic classification at Xavier in fall of 2012

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

Five Home Games Headline CAU 2012 Football Schedule

ATLANTA, Georgia - An even split in the 10-game slate with five home and five away games including two non-conference, four Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) East Divisional and for the first time in two years, no football classics highlight the 2012 CAU football schedule released today by CAU Athletic Director Dr. Tamica Smith-Jones. Last season, the Panthers finished with a 2-8 overall record.

“We are pleased with this year’s schedule and we believe it is a favorable one with one more home game than we had last season,” said third year head coach Daryl McNeill. “We have a solid group of recruits who we feel will make an immediate impact especially on the offensive line.”

CAU opens its season at home against the Tigers of West Alabama Sept. 1, which marks the first meeting between the two institutions. The next two games on the road begin with Lane College Sept. 8, before Clark Atlanta’s first divisional game against Fort Valley State Sept. 15. With Concordia University (9/22) and AUC Rival Morehouse College (9/29) at Panther Stadium wrapping up the last two home games in September, CAU alternates home and away games for the remainder of the season.

After a non-divisional match-up at Miles College Oct. 6, the Panthers will battle in two consecutive East divisional games which includes CAU homecoming against Benedict College (10/13) and a road game at Albany State Oct. 20.

In the last home game, the Panthers will host Tuskegee University Oct. 26, for senior night before wrapping up the regular season on the road against Stillman College Nov. 3, for the second consecutive year.

“This is a schedule that we feel will give us strong support from Panther Nation,” added Smith-Jones.

The winners of the East and West divisions will play for the 2012 SIAC championship title on Nov. 10 in Atlanta, Georgia.

2012 CAU PANTHERS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

9/1 UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA
9/8 at Lane College
9/15 at Fort Valley State University**
9/22 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY
9/29 MOREHOUSE COLLEGE**
10/6 at Miles College
10/13 BENEDICT COLLEGE** (Homecoming)
10/20 at Albany State University**
10/27 TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY
11/3 at Stillman College

Home games in BOLD CAPS are played at Panther Stadium.
**Denotes SIAC East Division Games

                                                                                                                                           

COURTESY Dana Harvey, Director of Sports Information, Clark Atlanta University

XU Nuggets sign two more, including another from Louisiana

BRION FLOWERS

VASHNI BALLESTE

NEW ORLEANS — Two more high school seniors — Brion Flowers of Lafayette, La., and Vashni Balleste of Rock Tavern, N.Y. — have signed women's tennis scholarships with Xavier University of Louisiana. The Gold Nuggets have signed four for the 2012-13 academic year.

Flowers, who attends St. Thomas More High School, is a  TennisRecruiting.net  four-star prospect ranked fourth in Louisiana, 21st in the Gulf States region and 141st nationally. She has won 71 percent of nearly 400 USTA matches during the past five seasons.

As a sophomore at St. Thomas More in 2010, Flowers was the Division I-Class 5A state singles champion.  She reached the singles semifinals as a freshman in 2009 to help STM win the girls state team championship.

Balleste won 11 consecutive singles matches this past fall for Washingtonville High School. She won the American Tennis Association girls 18 doubles title with Floridian Nia Rose this past August. Balleste's highest girls 18 singles ranking in the USTA Eastern Section is 124th.

Former pro and NCAA doubles champion Katrina Adams has coached Balleste for the past year.

Both signees are honor roll students. Flowers will be a pre-medical major at Xavier, and Balleste will major in mass communications.

Previously announced signees were Simone-Alyse Ewell of Detroit and Alexandria Locure of New Orleans. Xavier will have three from Louisiana on the 2012-13 women's roster, including Jordyn Goody of Lake Charles, a freshman on the team this season.

Xavier competes in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. Coach Alan Green's Gold Nuggets qualified for the NAIA National Championship five of the previous seven seasons and won first-round dual matches at nationals all five times.

2012-13 Xavier women's tennis signees

Name Ht. Yr.* Hometown High School

Vashni Balleste 5-4 Fr. Rock Tavern, N.Y. Washingtonville

Simone-Alyse Ewell 5-5 Fr. Detroit, Mich. The Roeper School

Brion Flowers 5-6 Fr. Lafayette, La. St. Thomas More

Alexandria Locure 5-4 Fr. New Orleans, La. John Curtis Christian

* athletic classification at Xavier in fall of 2012



ED CASSIERE, SID



By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

Listen to Roman Banks on Inside SU System

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - Listen to an exclusive audio replay of Southern University head men's basketball coach Roman Banks on Inside SU System hosted by Robyn Merrick.

Banks led the Jaguars to a 17-14 record and a second place finish in the SWAC on his way to being named the 2012 LSWA Coach of the Year.

Inside the Southern University System airs Sundays at 6 p.m. on KQXL 106.5 FM in Baton Rouge and on the web at q106dot5.com.

COURTESY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS