OVC
Tennessee State @ Bethune-Cookman, 4pm
SWAC
Arkansas Pine Bluff 24, Alabama State 21 Final (Thursday)
Alabama A&M @ Texas Southern, Noon
Southern @ Jackson State, 5 pm
Praire View A&M @ #1 North Dakota State, 4 pm
Alcorn State@ Arkansas State, 7 pm, ESPN3
Mississippi Valley State@ Northwestern State (La.), 7 pm
CIAA
Bowie State @ Saint Augustine's, 1:30pm
Lincoln (Pa.) @ Livingstone, 1pm
Chowan @ Shaw, 1pm
Virginia State @ Johnson C. Smith, 1 pm
Elizabeth City State @ Fayetteville State, 6 pm
Virginia Union @ Winston-Salem State, 6 pm
SIAC
Concordia-Selma @ Clark-Atlanta,
Lane @ Morehouse,7pm
Miles @ Albany State (Ga.), 7 pm
Kentucky State @ Stillman, 6 pm
Benedict@ Fort Valley State, 2pm
The South Carolina State Bulldogs vs. Texas A&M Aggies @ 7 pm ET, View Game at ESPN3.
MEAC
South Carolina State @ Texas A&M, 7 pm ESPN3
Norfolk State @ Ohio, 2 pm ESPN3
North Carolina Central @ Savannah State, 7 pm
Florida A&M @ Delaware State, 6 pm
OTHERS
Central State (Ohio) @ Saint Joseph's (IN), 1 pm
Cheyney @ East Stroudsburg, 1 pm
Lincoln (Mo) @ Pittsburg State, 8 pm.
Concord @ West Virginia State, 1 pm
North Carolina Pembroke @ Virginia University of Lynchburg, 1 pm
New Orleans @ Edward Waters, 2 pm
Langston (Ok) @ Lamar, 8 pm, ESPN3
* All Game Times are stated in Eastern Time Zone
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Gold Nuggets shine against Lady Tigers in GCAC opener
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sophomores Moira Kirk and Taylor Reuther combined for 24 kills and a .657 hitting percentage Friday to lead Xavier University of Louisiana to a 25-9, 25-8, 25-14 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference women's volleyball victory against Edward Waters.
The Gold Nuggets (6-4 overall, 1-0 GCAC) are the defending conference regular-season and tournament champions. They earned their 15th consecutive victory against GCAC opponents.
Kirk hit .737, the highest in a match by an XU player since the program resumed in 2010. She had 15 kills, a season best, and one error in 19 attempts. Her 10 blocks Tuesday in a four-set home loss against Mobile were the most by a Gold Nugget since the start of the 2010 season.
Reuther hit .563 on nine kills and no errors in 16 attempts.
Xavier's .567 team hitting percentage was its best since the start of 2010 and a strong reversal from a season-low .050 against Mobile.
The Gold Nuggets had advantages of 43-19 in kills and 10-1 in aces. Six Nuggets served at least one ace, with Reuther and CeCe Williams producing three apiece. Williams had six kills and hit .556 in nine attacks.
Xavier scored 11 consecutive points, five on kills by Kirk, to build a 15-4 first-set lead. The Gold Nuggets led 17-4 in the second set and had a 9-1 run in the third after a tie at 7. Kerris Crier's kill ended the 58-minute match.
"I am very happy with our team's performance," XU coach Christabell Hamilton said. "We definitely needed that win. Not only because it was our first conference match, but also because we needed a motivational boost to get us back on track."
Xavier entered with a two-match losing streak, home losses to Spring Hill and Mobile. The Nuggets have not lost on the road since opening day when they dropped a pair to nationally ranked Lee (Tenn.) and Lindsey Wilson in the Lee Invitational on Aug. 24.
Edward Waters is 4-7, 0-1. The Lady Tigers, 0-5 the past three seasons against Xavier, will be the Nuggets' next home opponent Oct. 5.
Xavier will remain in the city to play Trinity Baptist in a non-conference match at 11 a.m. EDT Saturday. The next GCAC match will start at 7 p.m. Monday at SUNO.
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
VISIT: XULAATHLETICS
Sportsedit Weekly Commentary: Tennessee State and BCU Could Meet Again
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| DWIGHT FLOYD Weekly Commentary |
4:00 P.M. EST
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - Just how important is the game between the undefeated Tennessee State Tigers and the Bethune Cookman Wildcats? Neither team is going to make $600,000 dollars off of this non-conference game nor will it have an immediate impact on who makes the playoffs, which after all is the big prize that awaits both teams provided they are able to win their conference championship or get an at-large bid.
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - Just how important is the game between the undefeated Tennessee State Tigers and the Bethune Cookman Wildcats? Neither team is going to make $600,000 dollars off of this non-conference game nor will it have an immediate impact on who makes the playoffs, which after all is the big prize that awaits both teams provided they are able to win their conference championship or get an at-large bid.
The easiest road to the FCS 1-AA playoff is an automatic bid via a conference championship. For the Tigers and Wildcats that means protecting primary players from injuries that could otherwise ruin the season before it realistically gets started.
As far as the conference goes this is a “preseason” or “prep” game to iron out wrinkles and finalize team strategy for conference play. Not that either team expects to lose this game. Because of the proud tradition of both bands this is a potential rivalry from the start.
Perhaps just as important to both schools is putting butts in the seats and increasing revenue at the gate. Not many fans came to see the Wildcats play at the home of the Miami Hurricanes last week and the Tigers lost an opportunity to play FAMU in the annual Atlanta classic because of a drop in fan support. Message to the Tiger-Wildcat fans: This is not a time stay at home.
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TSU Tigers travel to Florida to face Bethune-Cookman
NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Tennessee State travels to Bethune-Cookman on Saturday in a battle between two of the top HBCU's in the nation.
TSU played its first on-campus home game since the 1998 season last Saturday, defeating Austin Peay 34-14 at Hale Stadium. Since 1999, the Tigers have played at LP Field (and will play two home games there this season), but returned to "The Hole" and won in front of 14,264 fans, the 21st largest in stadium history.
The win helped the Tigers improve to 3-0 on the season for the first time since 2008.
TSU quarterback Michael German was named OVC Offensive Player of the Week after completing 27-of-36 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns in the victory.
The 27 completions and 318 yards were new career-highs while the three touchdowns tied his career-best. German finished the day with a 51-yard touchdown pass to A.C. Leonard to cap the scoring. Leonard had five catches for 82 yards.
Travis James was German's favorite target on the day, grabbing a career-high nine passes for 109 yards and a score. Freshman Telvin Hooks led the Tigers with 66 rushing yards while Trabis Ward added 49 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore defensive back Steven Godbolt III had four tackles, two pass breakups and a fourth quarter interception; it marked his third interception of the season and he now ranks second nationally in that category. Godbolt also ranks fifth nationally in passes defended (2.0/game).
Overall, the TSU defense did not allow a 100-yard rusher for the fifth-straight game dating back to last season. The 20-point margin of victory by TSU snapped a streak of five-straight games decided by three points or less vs. Austin Peay.
The Wildcats are under the direction of third-year head coach Brian Jenkins who led the team to a share of the MEAC Championship and a playoff berth in 2010 and an 8-3 record a season ago. Bethune-Cookman started the season with a 38-28 win over Alabama State and a 27-14 win at South Carolina State.
Last week the Wildcats faced off with Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) foe Miami (Fla.), falling 38-10 to the Hurricanes. B-CU scored the first points of the game as Isidore Jackson scored from a yard out late in the first quarter. Miami would score the next 24 points, including three touchdowns by Duke Johnson (on a kickoff, rush and catch).
Rodney Scott led the Wildcats with 72 yards on the ground while Jackson added 66 yards and the touchdown. Overall, Bethune-Cookman had 233 rushing yards on the day.
It's the seventh all-time meeting between the teams on Saturday, but the first since the 1987 season. The Tigers hold a 5-1 all-time advantage in the series but the Wildcats won the last meeting 16-13.
The game is the first home game of the season for Bethune-Cookman and will be the team's annual Hall of Fame Game.
The game is the first home game of the season for Bethune-Cookman and will be the team's annual Hall of Fame Game.
TSU assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Jeff Parker will be honored on Friday night with his induction into the Hall of Fame. It marks the first true road game of the season for TSU, who have played two home contests and a neutral site affair.
B-CU is ranked first in the Heritage Sports Radio Network Black College Football FCS Poll and the Sheridan Broadcasting Poll. Meanwhile, TSU is second in the Heritage Poll and third in the Sheridan.
Kickoff is schedule for 3 p.m. CST.
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TSU Head Coach Rod Reed Weekly Teleconference Sept. 18 COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION | |
FVSU looks for sharper game against Benedict
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| HEAD COACH DONALD PITTMAN |
FORT VALLEY, Georgia - The offense and defense are showing progress, and the kicking game has been pretty solid from the start. Now, about those penalties ...
Cutting down on flying flags is the priority of Fort Valley State head coach Donald Pittman when his team welcomes Benedict to Wildcat Stadium in SIAC action Saturday night.
“Too many penalties,” he said. “I’m happy with the win, but the one regret I have is we have so many penalties.
”FVSU is 2-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play while Benedict is 0-3 as it enters its conference opener. Pittman might have jinxed the Wildcats when he talked of how happy he was with their discipline in the season opener at Delta State, when they were penalized seven times for 68 yards.
ECSU hopes to sustain momentum
Vikings coach Waverly Tillar says ECSU is going to try to extend the 95-yard drive it used to beat Albany State 13-12 last week.
“We’re basing this week on our last drive, we’re going to use that as momentum going into Fayetteville,” he said. “That was Viking football. The run-pass sequence was really working for us. I think we’re on the way now.”
The drive Tillar was so excited about was a 12-play beauty in the fourth quarter that rallied the team from a 12-6 deficit.
WSSU Rams begin defense on CIAA title tonight
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina - Fifth-ranked Winston-Salem State built momentum during the nonconference part of its schedule. Now it will find out if it carries over into CIAA play.
WSSU (3-0) will start defense of its CIAA championship at 6 p.m. today at Bowman Gray Stadium against Virginia Union (2-1), which also will be playing its conference opener.
"We are going to go out and do what we do, and the points will be there for us," said wide receiver Jameze Massey, who helped the offense get on track with last week's 55-21 win against Morehouse.
Coach Connell Maynor watched his Rams win close games against UNC Pembroke and Concord then put everything together last week in their first blowout of the season.
Maynor said he has been impressed with how the Rams have improved each week.
"That shows that our guys are coachable, and they aren't going to make the ...
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