Rush, Nuggets beat ranked teams from Northwood (Fla.)

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — Loic Didavi's three-set singles victory gave Xavier University of Louisiana a 5-4 men's tennis decision against Northwood (Fla.) on Wednesday.

The Gold Nuggets defeated Northwood 6-3.

All four teams are ranked in the NAIA. Xavier's men and women are eighth, Northwood's women are 14th, and Northwood's men are 15th.

The XU men (10-5) rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to increase their win streak to four duals, a season best. They've won seven of their last eight duals. The Nuggets (10-7) have won six of their last eight and are 6-0 this season against ranked NAIA opponents.

Didavi dropped a first-set tiebreaker 7-0 to Alvaro Iturriaga but won the next two sets 6-2, 6-3.

Didavi has eight consecutive singles victories and is 5-0 this semester in split-set matches.

"What can I say about how our guys competed today?" XU coach Alan Green said. "Northwood is very good and could have easily won this match. Today Loic was the guy who gutted out a victory for us when it was on the line."

Also with an eight-match win streak are Nikita Soifer and Viktor Svoboda, who gave Xavier its only doubles point with an 8-6 victory against David Cathalina and Nikita Borodatov. Soifer beat Guilherme Azambuja 6-0, 6-2 in singles, and Svoboda improved his win streak to seven with a 6-3, 6-1 decision against Borodatov. Scoring the other Gold Rush point was Kyle Montrel, a 6-1, 6-2 winner against Cathalina.

The Gold Rush have five victories this season against teams in the current NAIA top 25.

In the women's dual, the Gold Nuggets won for the first time in two years despite singles losses by Kourtney Howell and Amanda Materre. Picking up the slack included freshman Brion Flowers and sophomore transfer Olivia West, both winners in doubles and singles.

In doubles, Flowers and Howell defeated Rose Bellevue and Adelaide Wood 8-1, and West and Materre defeated Julia Ferraz and Melanie Snowberger 8-4. Flowers beat Bellevue 6-0, 6-0 in singles, and West clinched the dual with her 0-6, 6-2, 6-0 decision against Snowberger. Also rallying from a first-set deficit was Amber Brown, who defeated Ferraz 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The Nuggets' other singles winner was Simone-Alyse Ewell, who beat Livia Toth 6-3, 6-3.

"Our women got some good production from our depth, which was much needed because our top of the lineup has been carrying us for the most part," Green said.
Justyna Wojcik, No. 7 in the ITA's NAIA singles rankings, defeated Kourtney Howell, who is eighth, 7-5, 7-5.

Northwood's men are 9-4, and the women are 7-5.

Both XU teams will conclude their Florida trip with duals at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach. Embry-Riddle's men are ranked second in the NAIA, and the women are seventh.

Results: Men Women

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

Gold Nuggets drop 5 places, rank 17th in postseason poll

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana dropped five spots to finish 17th Wednesday in the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Postseason Poll.

It's the lowest rank of the season for the Gold Nuggets (24-6), who closed the regular season with 12 consecutive victories before losing to Fisk in the quarterfinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament and to Faulkner in the opening round of the NAIA Division I National Championship.

Xavier was 11th in the preseason poll and spent six weeks in the top 10, including highs of ninth place on Dec. 11 and Jan. 8. The Nuggets were 10th on Feb. 26.

This is the fourth consecutive year and the 10th time in Bo Browder's 14 seasons as head coach that the Gold Nuggets are in the final top 25 of the season. This is the second consecutive year that the final poll was conducted after the national tournament. Xavier was 16th in the 2012 postseason poll.

Xavier will enter the 2013-14 season trying to extend a streak of 44 consecutive top-25 appearances. That streak began on Jan. 25, 2010.

NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Postseason Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through end of season) Rank Team Record Points Last 1 Westmont (11) 30-4 281 4 2 Lee (Tenn.) 34-3 271 7 3 Freed-Hardeman 34-2 262 1 4 Cumberland 33-3 255 6 5 Oklahoma City 28-4 245 2 6 Lubbock Christian 31-4 233 3 7 Westminster (Utah) 29-4 231 5 8 Vanguard 25-4 218 8 9 MidAmerica Nazarene 30-3 207 9 10 Campbellsville 25-10 196 14 11 Benedictine (Kan.) 28-6 189 11 12 The Master's 25-6 172 10 13 Georgetown (Ky.) 23-10 171 16 14 Rogers State 24-10 168 15 15 Shawnee State 24-10 149 18 16 Columbia (Mo.) 27-7 147 13 17 Xavier 24-6 143 12 18 Faulkner 26-7 131 21 19 Wiley 29-4 114 17 20 Lyon 28-5 110 20 21 Carroll (Mont.) 21-10 108 23 22 William Woods 26-6 99 22 23 Our Lady of the Lake 30-4 82 20 24 Bethel (Tenn.) 21-11 66 24 25 Southern Poly 25-6 65 RV Others receiving votes: LSU-Shreveport 64, St. Catharine 37, Coastal Georgia 36, Cumberlands 35, SUNO 17, Central Methodist 11, Auburn Montgomery 3. By Ed Cassiere, SID XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA XULAATHLETICS

Former Randolph-Clay Red Devils star Ellington closes college career on top at Texas Southern

Dexter Ellington #2 vs. Kansas State

HOUSTON, Texas — There’s frustration and there’s utter frustration — and then there’s what

Dexter Ellington went through this year.

Ellington, a former (Albany) Herald Super 6er, had a long journey from Randolph-Clay (High School, Cuthbert, Georgia), where he was a star for the Red Devils, then he landed at Texas Southern, where he was hoping to have a huge senior season.

A combination of some bad luck and a bad ankle made this an almost unbearable season for Ellington, a starting point guard who saw his frustration hit a high point last week when the NCAA Tournament began without him.

I’m sitting here watching Gonzaga play Southern (University) and I still can’t believe it,’’ Ellington said last Thursday as March Madness began. “We beat Southern (in our conference). We could have been there. We could be playing right now.’’

Texas Southern never had a chance. The Tigers were on probation because of violations committed by their former coach and were ineligible for postseason play. And to make things worse, Texas Southern not only won the SWAC regular season title by going 16-2 in the conference, but they ended the season as one of the hottest teams any where.

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McClelland has TSU Athletics Department Back on Track

The TSU Football program has added Howard (2014) and Bethune-Cookman (2015) to its schedule

Dr. Charles McClelland
ATHLETICS DIRECTOR
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

HOUSTON, Texas  --  As the old saying goes, anything good doesn’t come easy, and the task of turning around the Texas Southern University Athletics Department, wasn’t for Dr. Charles McClelland.

Approaching his fifth year anniversary as the head man in charge, Dr. McClelland along with his coaches, support staff, and the blessing of TSU President Dr. John Rudley, has the Tigers athletics program back on track and in much better shape than what he inherited.

Dr. Charles McClelland was named Texas Southern University’s Director of Athletics in April of 2008. In his position as athletics director, McClelland supervises 16 sports- nine women’s and seven men’s. His daily duties include managing budgets, scheduling, fundraising, marketing and keeping abreast of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules and regulations.

For McClelland, success in athletics is not just about winning championships, but it’s about graduating student-athletes.

“TSU athletic program is on a strong solid foundation,” McClelland said during a recent interview. “We’ve put a lot of time and energy in putting together a strategic plan across the board.”

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Morgan State football coach Donald Hill-Eley working to rebuild his program after firing that wasn't

DONALD HILL-ELEY
HEAD FOOTBALL COACH
MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

BALTIMORE, Maryland  --  Donald Hill-Eley has always told his Morgan State football players that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond.

Now, after enduring as strange a few months as any college coach could fathom, Hill-Eley is striving to live by his own lesson.

In late November, following the Bears' third straight losing season, Hill-Eley accidentally received an e-mail outlining the university's plan to seek his replacement. For almost six weeks after that, as rival coaches ramped up recruiting for 2013, he heard nothing official about his status. Day after day, he reported to work but was not allowed to have contact with his team.

During the same time, the chairman of the university's Board of Regents attempted to oust Morgan president David Wilson, the man seemingly behind Hill-Eley's own uncertain situation. That coups was ultimately unsuccessful. In early January, Hill-Eley finally heard from Kevin Banks, the university's vice president for student affairs: Morgan would honor the final year of his contract and he would remain coach.

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SCSU Bulldogs using spring practice to build offensive backfield

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina  --  The arrival of spring may not have marked a new beginning yet from a weather standpoint.

There is, however, a “rebirth” of sorts taking place currently with the South Carolina State football team. It’s occurring in the backfield where a staple of the Bulldogs’ offense – the running game- has performance less than stellar in recent seasons.

“We’re making a reemphasis toward running the football,” Running backs coach Danny Lewis said. “Not the say we ever got away from it from a mentality standpoint, but let’s just say we’re dedicated to making a recommitment towards running the football.”

Since the graduation of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s all-time rusher Will Ford in 2009, no Bulldog player has rushed for over 1,000 yards. With the offensive line’s struggles in run blocking and losing leading rusher Jalen “Scoot” Simmons with a shoulder injury late last season, S.C. State finished with its lowest conference ranking in rushing offense (133.5 yards per game) under head coach Buddy Pough.

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Rush, Nuggets grill Webber in opener of Florida trip

BABSON PARK, Florida  --  Xavier University of Louisiana's tennis teams, both ranked eighth in the NAIA, won 15-of-17 matches played Tuesday and defeated Webber International's men and women in the opener of a spring-break trip.

The Gold Rush won 6-3, and the Gold Nuggets won 8-1.

Loic Didavi, Nikita Soifer, Kyle Montrel and Viktor Svoboda won in doubles and singles for the Rush (9-5), as did Kourtney Howell and Amanda Materre for the Nuggets (9-7). The XU men have won three straight and 6-of-7.

"Both our teams played well," XU coach Alan Green said. "The conditions were very tough out there because it was very windy. But we adjusted well and took care of our business on the court."

Didavi and Montrel defeated Valentin Bayh and Jonathan Cohen 8-3, their 11th victory in 13 doubles matches this semester. Soifer and Svoboda improved their win streak to seven with an 8-0 decision against Alwin Leysner and Nickolay Kodinov.

In singles, Didavi defeated Bayh 6-1, 6-2 for his seventh consecutive victory. Soifer defeated Kodinov 6-1, 6-3, Montrel beat Cohen 6-2, 6-2, and Svoboda clinched the dual with a 6-2, 6-0 decision against Leysner.

The Gold Nuggets won all three doubles matches for the sixth time this season and snapped three-match losing streaks at the No. 2 and 3 flights. Howell and Brion Flowers defeated Julija Stojkovska and Laura Nowak 8-3, Amber Brown and Simone-Alyse Ewell beat Nathalia Chaddad and Chandler Reed 8-5, and Materre and Olivia West defeated Holly Parnelll and Ashley Palmer 8-2.

Materre was first off the court in singles after beating Chaddad 6-0, 6-2. Howell then clinched the dual with a 6-2, 6-4 decision against Stojkovska at No. 1. Both Howell and Materre are 11-4 in singles this semester, and Howell has won six of her last seven matches.

West beat Parnell 6-2, 6-1, Jordyn Goody defeated Reed 6-0, 6-0, and Nicole DeLoach beat Palmer 6-2, 6-0.

Webber International's men are 9-6 -- the Warriors were 28th in the most recent NAIA poll -- and the women are 3-13. The Gold Rush snapped the Warriors' three-dual win streak and gave them their second loss in the last nine duals. The Lady Warriors have lost four straight.

Both XU teams will play Northwood (Fla.) at noon EDT at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla., a suburb north of Orlando. Northwood's men are ranked 15th in the NAIA, and the women are 14th.

By Ed Cassiere, SID

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

XULAATHLETICS