Aiken's Payton signs with Prairie View A&M University

AIKEN, South Carolina - Justin Payton and the Aiken High tennis team came up one win short of a state title this year, but Payton's tennis career is far from over. The Hornet senior signed his letter of intent Wednesday to play at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas.

Payton said that he chose the Division I Panthers over Florida A&M, Coastal Carolina, Xavier University of Louisiana  and Benedict College because of how the team can help him improve as a player.

"I really liked the campus," he said. "I feel like the team is going to make me better."  Payton said the coaching staff guaranteed him a spot in the Panthers' top five. He added the combination of experienced players at Prairie View and his deep playoff runs with the Hornets will help the Panthers' pursuit of Southwestern Athletic Conference titles.

"I feel like me going to the university as a freshman, and the team has a bunch of leaders," he said of the Panthers, who will only lose one senior from this year's team.

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Rice edges Prairie View A&M 3-2 in NCAA regionals

HOUSTON — Michael Fuda hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to give Rice the go-ahead run and the Owls held on to beat Prairie View A&M 3-2 in the opener of the Houston Regional on Friday night.

The Owls (41-17) scored one run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Ford Stainback and another in the third inning when Michael Ratterree tripled to score J.T. Chargois. The game remained tied until Fuda's home run.

Prairie View A&M (28-24) had a brief 2-0 lead after scoring in the second on Colby Hines' two-run double.

Rice starter John Simms (6-0) went seven innings, and allowed two runs — one earned — and two hits, while striking out seven and walking three. Tyler Duffey earned his seventh save by pitching two scoreless innings and striking out three.

Prairie View starter Derrick Mitchell allowed two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings.

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Florida's Crawford throws no-no vs Bethune-Cookman

GAINESVILLE, Florida -- Jonathon Crawford was nearly perfect for Florida. Turned out the Gators right-hander was plenty good enough to make some college baseball history.  Crawford threw the seventh no-hitter ever in the NCAA tournament, shutting down Bethune-Cookman in a 4-0 victory in the opener of the Gainesville Regional on Friday night.

"When I came out for the eighth, I got really nervous and excited and that's when it hit me that I could get a no-hitter," Crawford said. "I was pumped. It was crazy, but a lot of fun. I guess it's a pretty big deal."  No doubt about it.

Crawford, a sophomore who wasn't even part of the Gators' three-man weekend rotation this season, faced the minimum 27 batters. The only player to reach base was Bethune-Cookman's Jake Welch on a walk in the third inning, and Florida catcher Mike Zunino threw him out trying to steal.

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'Historic' Class for ASU Basketball

ALBANY, Georgia -- The deadline for the college basketball signing period has passed, but the Albany State Golden Rams are still very much alive.

ASU Head Coach Chris Cameron gave this 2012 signing class the label of historic. Cameron is certainly confident in their talent (and his recruiting abilities), but the high praise stems from their South Georgia roots.

Local talent has been missing from the Albany State roster in the past, but not anymore- three of the four players in the 2012 class hail from Southwest Georgia.



The Golden Rams inked Thomasville point guard Trey Gosier, Worth County-native Jerome Hamilton and Americus-Sumter’s Shaquille Harris to round out their southern sweep.

Cameron believes bringing the “229” area code back to the Golden Rams should bring the team closer together.

“One of the things it does for us is it provides a team full of chemistry...guys that like each other. I think that's one of the biggest things that we're going to have on the upcoming team that we haven't had in the past- (these) guys have played against each other in high school and know each other,” Cameron said.

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ASU Tees Off for Title Drive

ALBANY, Georgia -- The Albany State football team is prepping for a drive to the SIAC title with summer workouts. On Friday, Boosters of the “Blue and Gold” did some driving and pitching to fundraise for the ASU program.

The Golden Rams held their 10th annual at the Flint River Golf Course raising money for the program. The ASU athletes on the football field are working to reclaim the SIAC championship after falling to Miles College in the inaugural championship game last season.



ASU Head Coach Mike White talked about how his team handled that first championship game and how it will be different this season.

“(We) kind of know what to expect this year...how that's all going to work out. There won't be any changes in the middle of the year like it was last year, but we expect to be right back in the hunt and just kind of understand how you play your cards this time,” Coach White said.

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XU All-Americans: Didavi 1st team, Taylor again 2nd team

Zach Taylor

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Loic Didavi is a 2012 NAIA Men's Tennis All-America first-team selection, and doubles partner Zach Taylor made the second team for the second straight year.

Earning honorable mention was XU's Viktor Svoboda.

Taylor is Xavier's first two-time men's tennis All-American of the modern era. But Didavi made the team for the third straight year — he was second team in 2011 and 2010 at Auburn Montgomery.



Loic Didavi

Didavi became Xavier's sixth men's tennis All-American of the modern era, all in the past five seasons. Hassan Abbas (2011), Mike Green (2009), Terry Richardson (2009) and Miroslav Vukicevic (2008) were second-team selections.

Didavi, a junior from Cotonou, Benin, was 25-6 in singles and 27-8 doubles and earned top-10 rankings in singles and doubles from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. He was ITA/NAIA South Regional champion in singles and doubles (with Taylor) in October and was NAIA Player of the Week for April 2-8.



Viktor Svoboda

Taylor, a senior from Monroe, La., and a graduate of St. Frederick High School and Ventura College, was 19-6 in singles and 25-7 in doubles. He was a three-time Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week and set a GCAC career record with six weekly awards.

Svoboda, a sophomore from Kamenice, Czech Republic, and a transfer from Lewis-Clark State, was 18-12 in singles and 19-10 in doubles in his XU debut. He recorded three singles victories and three doubles victories (with Corey Huggins) against NCAA Division I opponents.

Xavier was 18-8 this season, winning a conference/group championship for the seventh consecutive season, setting a school record for season victories and qualifying for the NAIA National Championship for the fourth straight year. The Gold Rush reached the quarterfinals at nationals and became the first XU team in any sport to advance that far since 1973.

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Gold Nuggets' Howell is second-team NAIA All-American

Kourtney Howell

NEW ORLEANS — Kourtney Howell, the leader of a Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis team which earned a berth in the national tournament, has been named second-team NAIA All-American for 2012.

She is the fourth XU women's player in six seasons to earn that honor, joining Dominique Bell (2007 first team, 2008 second team), Angelina Callis (2009 second team) and Anastesia Opata (2008 and 2009 first team).

Howell, a sophomore from Cypress, Texas, and a graduate of Cypress Woods High School, was 17-16 in singles and 15-17 in doubles this season, her first at Xavier since transferring from Navy in January 2011. She recorded five singles victories against ranked NAIA players, and she won a three-set super-tiebreaker against Chane Hines of NCAA Division I South Alabama. The Gold Nuggets trailed 2-0 in the semifinals and finals of an NAIA unaffiliated group tournament in April, but they got doubles and singles victories from Howell to rally for 5-2 decisions which gave Xavier an automatic berth at nationals.

Howell tied a Gulf Coast Athletic Conference season record with four Player of the Week awards, and she was NAIA Player of the Week for April 23-29.

"Kourtney is a very talented player," XU coach Alan Green said. "She is the first female I have coached who has the ability to finish almost every point at the net. She is a very smart and powerful young lady."

Xavier ranked 19th in the NAIA postseason coaches poll after qualifying for nationals for the sixth time in eight seasons.

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