Entering heart of MEAC slate, B-CU tries to fix mistakes

Bethune Cookman at Hampton

WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday
RECORDS: B-CU 2-2, 1-0 MEAC; Hampton 0-3, 0-1 MEAC
RADIO: WELE (1380-AM

DAYTONA BEACH -- Last year, Bethune-Cookman coach Brian Jenkins turned a critical eye on himself and his program after the Wildcats suffered a 22-3 loss at North Carolina A&T.

B-CU went on to win its final six games of the season.

Consecutive losses to Miami and Tennessee State the past two weeks has Jenkins searching for answers once again.

But while the recovery last year was too late for the 'Cats to get back into the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference race after they had suffered two MEAC losses, this year B-CU (2-2, 1-0) is still very much in control of its own fate.

“We're still looking forward to the rest of our season,'' said senior safety D.J. Howard, “because although we wanted to win the Tennessee State game, it wasn't a conference game, so we're still in line to win the conference and make the playoffs.''

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Gold Nuggets rally from 7 down in 4th set to defeat SUNO

NEW ORLEANS — Chinedu Echebelem had 10 kills and 11 digs Monday, and freshman reserve Patrice Smith scored five points during a fourth-set rally which gave Xavier University of Louisiana a 25-23, 25-21, 19-25, 25-22 women's volleyball victory against SUNO at The Castle.
    

The Gold Nuggets (8-4 overall, 2-0 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) won their third in a row and extended their school-record road win streak to eight. They snapped the school-record nine-match win streak of the Lady Knights (9-3, 1-1).
    

SUNO led 12-5 in the fourth set before Xavier rallied with two kills and three blocks from Smith and three Taylor Reuther kills. Moira Kirk's ace tied the set at 17, and the Nuggets went ahead to stay on the next rally on an errant SUNO set. Xavier scored its final two points on SUNO attack errors and moved to match point after Kirk and Alexandria Rencher blocked a Christal Hollins attack.
    

Reuther had nine kills, eight digs and two aces, and Kirk and Claudia Haywood had eight kills and six blocks apiece. Kirk served two aces, hit .538 — the third consecutive match that she topped .500 — and had a career-high nine digs.
    

Zipporah Washington had 18 kills and 13 digs for SUNO, and Hollins had 13 kills and 11 digs.
    

"We had key players come in late in the match and give us a boost," XU coach Christabell Hamilton. "Patrice Smith was one of them. Alex Rencher also did a great job at setter when Franziska Pirkl got hurt and left the match. Alex had a bad start but calmed down and kept her composure."
    

SUNO outhit Xavier .159 to .129 and had advantages of 56-40 in kills and 69-63 in digs. But the Lady Knights committed 58 errors, 17 more than the Gold Nuggets.
    

Xavier trailed 13-11 in the opening set before taking control with a 7-1 run which included two Kirk kills and one ace apiece from Pirkl and Reuther. Echebelem's ace put the Nuggets ahead to stay at 22-21 in the second set, and Reuther closed with a kill.
    

The Gold Nuggets are 16-0 against GCAC opponents during Hamilton's two seasons as coach, including 12 regular-season victories.
    

Xavier, which has played 10 of its 12 matches on the road, will travel for GCAC matches at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fisk and 1 p.m. Saturday at Philander Smith. The next home match will start at 6 p.m. Oct. 5 against Edward Waters at The Barn.

Box score

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

VISIT: XULAATHLETICS

VISIT: XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

    

THE SHOW: BOOMBOX CLASSIC - JSU Sonic Boom of the South vs. SU Human Jukebox Marching Band

SU seeks better discipline

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  - Since Southern’s coaching change brought a new atmosphere to practices, the two words used most in describing it have been “discipline” and “military-like.”

That sure didn’t show on Saturday.

For all of interim coach Dawson Odums’ emphasis on discipline, the Jaguars were remarkably undisciplined in their 28-21 victory against Jackson State.

They were penalized 14 times for 136 yards — numbers that were hard for Odums to stomach. At more than 10 penalties and 85 yards per game, SU is the third-worst team in the conference in that category and had several that could have cost it the game this weekend.

The Jaguars helped along the Tigers’ second touchdown drive in the fourth quarter with a personal foul that moved them to the SU 26, and an illegal block penalty on a kickoff cost Southern 20 yards when it needed to run off the final four minutes of game clock to win the game.

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Jackson State faces Prairie View A&M Saturday

JACKSON, Mississippi — A season that began with talk of a SWAC championship has turned into a tale of survival.

After losing 28-21 to previously winless Southern University, Jackson State football coach Rick Comegy called for changes in hopes of saving a season that started with championship aspirations. Yes, the Tigers (1-3) are just 1-1 in SWAC play with seven games to go, starting with Saturday's home game against winless Prairie View A&M.

But as JSU enters the meat of its conference schedule it does so with far more questions than answers.

Comegy said personnel changes are coming but, perhaps more importantly, an attitude adjustment is needed for the Tigers, who have looked sluggish and over-matched early on in all three of their losses. None was more alarming than last week's disastrous start.

In that game, Southern returned the game's opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown. It was an early blow that seemed to floor JSU as the Tigers fell behind 28-0 in the third quarter. It was a lack of fight that most irked Comegy.

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SWAC Preview: Mike Davis prefers challenge of winning at Texas Southern to ‘torture’ of a year off

HOUSTON, Texas  -  Only once since grade school has Mike Davis not spent the winter either playing basketball or teaching it. Cut by the Milwaukee Bucks in training camp before the 1983 NBA season, Davis opted to put his basketball career on hold a few months in order to finish his degree.

"That was like torture," Davis said. "I've been around basketball all my life. That experience taught me I can't be doing nothing during basketball season."

Memories of that miserable winter fueled Davis' efforts to find a new coaching gig this offseason after UAB fired him in March. Even though he'll receive $625,000 from UAB this year because he had one season left on his contract, the 52-year-old Alabama native insists he'd have coached a high school or junior high team before he took a full year off from basketball.

Texas Southern spared Davis from a return to the youth ranks in August when athletic director Dr. Charles McClelland hired him as the school's interim coach. It surprised many in basketball circles that a SWAC school could land a man who led UAB to four straight 20-win seasons and took Indiana to the 2002 national title game, but Davis found the job attractive for many reasons.

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TSU's Merkel Six Strokes Off Lead at SIUE

Kelly Merkel
Freshman
Hometown: Columbia, Tennessee
High School: Columbia Central High School
(Courtesy: Sam Jordan / TSU Athletics)

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Kelly Merkel led the Tennessee State women's golf team on day one of the SIUE Doubletree Intercollegiate. The freshman shot a 12-over 84 on the Par-72, 6,025 yard course at Sunset Hills Country Club in Edwardsville, Ill. on a beautiful 76 degree day.

Merkel recorded ten pars on the day and is tied for ninth with four other golfers. The Columbia, Tenn. product is six strokes behind co-leaders Savanna Schubert of Lipscomb and Cassie Rushing from Southern Illinois, who are at 6-over.

Amelia Dap recorded a birdie on the par-4 eighth hole on her way to a 92 on Monday. Dap is 14 strokes off the lead heading into the final day of competition

.

Sarah Needleman is tied for 57th with Evansville's Kelly Lamarche after carding a 97.

The final round is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.

SIUE Doubletree Intercollegiate-Day 1 Results

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION