William Carey eliminates Gold Nuggets in NAIA semifinals

MOBILE, Ala. -- William Carey gained revenge for a regular-season loss to Xavier University of Louisiana and defeated the Gold Nuggets 5-0 Friday in the semifinals of the NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship.

The Lady Crusaders (14-8), seeded fifth, upset the top-seeded Gold Nuggets (19-8), who were trying to become the first XU team in any sport to reach the championship round of an NAIA national tournament.

Sophomore Carola Orna won in doubles and singles to lead William Carey, a 5-1 loser at home to Xavier on April 5. William Carey entered that regular-season dual ranked second, and Xavier was sixth. The April victory helped move the Nuggets to the No. 1 ranking in the final three coaches polls entering the tournament.

"Today the roles were reversed," XU coach Alan Green said. "William Carey had the mindset we had on April 5. Today we weren't fighting back, and we were letting them do whatever they wanted to do with us."

The Lady Crusaders swept all three doubles matches -- including Orna and Maja Vuzem's 8-6 victory against Kourtney Howell and Brion Flowers, No. 1 in the ITA NAIA rankings -- and won at the first and sixth singles flights. Orna, ranked 20th in singles, beat sixth-ranked Howell 6-4, 7-5 to end the match.

Of the four unfinished singles matches, William Carey led in all four.

"I don't want to take anything away from William Carey," Green said. "They came out way ready to play. Their coaches did a great job getting them ready. They took over the match from the very first ball toss in doubles to the very end. William Carey was not to be denied. That's what we were up against."

Sarah-Maria Spruch and Julia Angerman gave the Lady Crusaders a 1-0 lead with an 8-2 victory against Simone-Alyse Ewell and Amber Brown. Anastasiya Zviahintseva and Malin Collin made it 2-0 with their 8-5 decision over Amanda Materre and Olivia West.

Collin, the other Lady Crusader to win in doubles and singles, defeated Jordyn Goody 6-1, 6-1.

"We got way down in all three doubles matches, then climbed back into two of them, but William Carey closed those out," Green said. "In singles, we showed signs of life on courts 1-5 by playing well in the second sets."

William Carey will play second-seeded and defending champion Auburn Montgomery for the championship at 1 p.m. Saturday. The men's championship will match Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and Auburn Montgomery at 9 a.m. Xavier -- including the Gold Rush, eliminated in Thursday's quarterfinals -- will watch it all before traveling home.

"I want them to see what they should have been doing or could have been doing," Green said of his women. "They've got to absorb every aspect of this tournament. Today they saw how much it hurts. Tomorrow we'll see the champion and how they act and feel."

The Gold Nuggets entered the semifinals with a school-record 11-dual winning streak, a 16-0 record this season against NAIA opponents and a 12-0 record against ranked NAIA opponents.

"I told our women we had a really great season," Green said. "There was nothing to hang their heads down about. They were all crying. We have to feel this kind of disappointment before we can become a national champion.

"Most champions go through this, so this is our process."

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

MEAC baseball: B-CU wins two to advance to Saturday

NORFOLK, Virginia — Bethune-Cookman won two elimination games in the Mid
-Eastern Athletic Conference Baseball Championships on Friday to advance to Saturday's play.

In the first game, B-CU won 11-5 against North Carolina A&T (16-38).

In the second game, B-CU (33-24) won 7-3 against North Carolina Central (27-29).

"I couldn’t be happier,” B-CU coach Jason Beverlin said. “The energy and focus they showed for 18 straight innings was outstanding, especially the second game.''

The Wildcats will play the loser of Savannah State vs. Coppin State, which is at 1 p.m. Saturday, in a game at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Scott Garner (6-5) gave up three runs on four hits, struck out three and walked eight in six innings for the win against N.C. A&T. Despite a run on the board, Garner held a no-hitter for the Wildcats through the fourth inning. He worked out of two bases-loaded jams with no runs surrendered.

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Judge to decide if former B-CU football coach was fired over age

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  — Alvin Wyatt, the winningest football coach in Bethune-Cookman history, will learn next week whether he will add another “W” to his win column — only this time it would be against his old university which he is suing for $1.2 million, accusing it of breach of contract.

Wyatt, 65, is suing B-CU, accusing it of breach of contract and age discrimination after he was fired in 2009 and replaced by then-39-year-old Brian Jenkins. Circuit Judge Terence R. Perkins said he would issue a ruling on Wednesday after the nonjury trial this week at the City Island Courthouse Annex.

 

Wyatt was fired on Nov. 23, 2009, two days after the Wildcats were pummeled
42-6 by rival Florida A&M in the Florida Classic. While Wyatt had a record of 90-54 in 13 seasons, his last season was a losing one at 5-6.

 

One of Wyatt’s attorneys, Peter Heebner, argued in his closing statement that B-CU broke its contract and that it owed Wyatt $1.2 million. He said Wyatt had a contract that automatically rolled over unless he received an unsatisfactory evaluation. Wyatt’s evaluation in 2008 was satisfactory, he said. And he did not receive an evaluation in 2009. 

 

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NSU athletic director uses interim tag as opportunity

 NORFOLK, Virginia  -- The interim tag is here to stay at Norfolk State - at least when it makes sense to athletic director Marty Miller.

Former Spartans assistant basketball coach Robert Jones, who was named interim head coach on April 15 when Anthony Evans left for Florida International, is the latest NSU assistant to move into his or her sport's top spot on an interim basis.

Although an interim tag could raise concern among potential recruits, Miller said he has no plans to change what he admits is an unorthodox pattern of hiring.

"It works if you have the right person in place," Miller said. "And for us, it has worked."

Miller, the school's longtime baseball coach until he ascended to the AD position in 2004, has made similar hires in volleyball, baseball, bowling and track and field "because there were individuals in place when the head coach left," he said. He has conducted national searches to fill head coaching positions in football, women's basketball, tennis and softball when he didn't see a viable candidate close at hand.

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SIAC Champions fall to Valdosta State; Stillman Tigers end season in Tampa

TAMPA, Florida  – Valdosta State defeated Stillman 6-2 in the first elimination contest of the 2013 NCAA Division II South Region Tournament at Spartan Field in Tampa.

After Stillman left a runner stranded in the top of the first, Valdosta State jumped out early scoring five in the bottom of the inning.  While the Tigers routinely outscore their opponents in the early innings (74-26 in the first inning), it was the Blazers who triggered the early scoring output.  A Jake Fields single to left scored Hunter Thompson for the opening run of the game before four of the next six batters each drove in a run.  Stillman starting pitcher Joey Falletta registered one out against eight batters allowing five runs and walking two.

Valdosta State would add another run in the bottom of the third when Cooper Lemonds homered to left field.

Stillman broke into the scoring column in the top of the fourth when Kyle Smith scored on a Fernando Tanaka fielder's choice.  Stillman added another run in the top of the sixth inning when Kameron McCreless scored on Ken Perkey's single to right center field.

In the game, Kameron McCreless went 2-for-3 with a run scored while Fernando Tanaka and Ken Perkey each went 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Seth Booth went 2-for-5.  On the mound, Kevin McNorton worked 7 2/3 innings striking out four while allowing one run on five hits.

For Valdosta State (34-17), Bryant Hayman, Cooper Lemonds and Daniel Hoover each had two hits in the game.  Dom Demasi worked six innings striking out four in the win.  Ben Weil worked 1 2/3 innings striking out two for the save.

Stillman ends its season with a 30-16 overall record and the 2013 SIAC Championship.

COURTESY STILLMAN COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION

Cool in the Clutch: Gonzalez’s triple in 9th helps WSSU Rams stay alive

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Winston-Salem State isn’t done yet.

With the Rams down to their last out, Rafael Gonzalez ripped a bases-clearing double in the top of  the ninth inning Friday that gave WSSU a 7-5 victory against Concord (W.Va.) in an elimination game in the Atlantic Region playoffs.

The Rams, seeded No. 2 in the regional and ranked No. 23 in Division II, will play again at 2:30 today at Wake Forest Ballpark.

“It doesn’t seem to get any easier,” Coach Kevin Ritsche of WSSU said. “In a game like this, you get into a regional, and they are all close games. We made some mistakes early, and we didn’t capitalize early, but thankfully Jordan Carlton kept us in there even though he gave up some home runs. And J.R. Wright came in, and he’s been a bulldog for us in this regional.”

NEXT GAMES:

7	May 18, 11 a.m.	No. 1 Millersville (39-17) vs. No. 5 East Stroudsburg (34-17)
8	May 18, 2:30 p.m.	No. 4 Shippensburg (29-21) vs. No. 2 Winston-Salem (39-12)
9	May 18, 6 p.m.	Game 7 Winner vs. No. 3 Seton Hill (41-15)

PHOTO GALLERY

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Michelle Obama at Bowie State: Too many fantasize about being ‘a baller or a rapper’

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland  --  Michelle Obama encouraged the graduates of Bowie State University on Friday morning to live up to the legacy of their university’s founders and the leaders of the civil rights movement by promoting the importance of education in the black community.

“Just think about this for a moment — for generations, in many parts of this country, it was illegal for black people to get an education,” Obama told the predominantly black crowd, referring to the period in which Bowie State was founded. “Slaves caught reading or writing could be beaten within an inch of their lives.”

The creation of the small school that eventually became Bowie State University was an “eloquent act of defiance,” she told the crowd of about 600 graduates and several thousand of their supporters at the Comcast Center in College Park.

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

Obama encouraged the students to keep a hunger to learn, quoting abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who said education “means the uplifting of the soul of man into the glorious light of truth, the light by which men can only be made free.”

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Michelle Obama Gets Honorary Degree, Gives Speech at Bowie State Graduation

COLLEGE PARK, Maryland  --  The first lady received an honorary degree from Bowie State University before speaking to about 600 graduates during their commencement Friday.

Michelle Obama received the Honorary Doctorate of Law during the ceremony. She then spoke to the students about their perseverance.

"We need to dig deep to find the grit and determination for students today like the first students of Bowie State," the first lady told the crowd. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of the sacrifices my parents made for me."

Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker III tweeted Friday that the "2013 BSU grads will never forget [Michelle Obama's] words."

The event was held on at the Comcast Center at the University of Maryland in College Park to accommodate a crowd of more than 10,000.

When the first lady's appearance was first announced, some parents and professors were disappointed because ...

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VIDEO: Michelle Obama Bowie State University commencement address

Winston-Salem State squanders 4-run lead in playoff opener

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  All season the Winston-Salem State Rams have been good at holding leads but on Thursday afternoon in the Atlantic Region first-round game it didn’t happen.

Fifth-seeded East Stroudsburg rallied from a four-run deficit to upset the second-seeded Rams 8-6 in 10 innings in front of about 100 at Wake Forest Ballpark.

The Rams, ranked No. 23 in Division II, seemingly had a comfortable 6-2 lead after seven innings. Riding the solid pitching of starter Tyler Hickernell the Rams looked like they were on their way to the winner’s bracket.

The Warriors (34-16) had other ideas as they won their fifth in a row and did so in dramatic fashion. Middle relievers John Markley and Michael Drye of the Rams struggled in the eighth and the Warriors scored four runs to tie the game at 6.

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Despite lower ticket sales, Charlotte wants CIAA to stay

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  --  City leaders raised questions on Thursday about price gouging at uptown hotels and parking facilities during the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association college basketball tournament while emphasizing the need to keep the annual event in Charlotte. At the same time, they learned that ticket sales fell 13.5 percent during the past year.

The complaints aren’t new. Both the former and current commissioners of the 13-member conference of historically black colleges and universities have voiced similar concerns.

Tom Murray, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, answered questions about room rates and other matters Thursday while making a presentation on preliminary findings from the 2013 tournament. Publicly owned Time Warner Cable Arena hosted the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments last winter, the eighth consecutive year the CIAA’s showcase event has been played in Charlotte.

Despite smaller schools and a level of competition below the familiar names in the NCAA men’s championship, the CIAA ranks among the most popular college basketball events in the nation. It combines basketball with alumni parties, fashion shows, musical competitions and a nonstop parade of tie-in parties.

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READ RELATED ARTICLES
Charlotte city leaders disappointed with Visitor's Authority
Charlotte leaders fighting to keep CIAA in town

Alabama State stages late-night rally, stuns Southern in tourney

FORT WORTH, Texas — Alabama State rallied from a six-run deficit to end Southern’s long day of baseball with a stunning 10-9 defeat Thursday night at the SWAC tournament.

The Jaguars (21-22) had begun Thursday with a 7-1 victory over Alabama A&M in a game that began at 9 a.m.

Alabama State’s victory came at 1:15 a.m. Friday, with the tying and winning runs scoring on a squeeze bunt and an SU error.

Before that, D.J. Wallace had hit a grand slam and driven in five runs against the Hornets.

C

aleb Hatcher drove in three runs, and Jose DeLeon provided clutch pitching for 7.1 innings.

He left with a 9-3 lead, but with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth.

Josh Powell walked Richard Amion to force in one run, then gave up a two-run double to Leo Rojas. Powell allowed a fourth run to score when Richard Gonzalez’s groundout sent Amion home, cutting the Jaguars’ lead to 9-7.

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Ram Ramblings: WSSU doing its share to help Winston-Salem economy

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  Athletics director Bill Hayes laughed when I asked him what is Winston-Salem State known for. Is it a football, basketball or baseball school?

“Right now we are all about baseball,” he said. “And like Vince Lombardi used to say ‘winning isn’t everything it’s the only thing.’”

The Rams have done their share of winning and then some this season between the national-ranked football team, the men’s basketball team and now the baseball team all three programs achieved a rarity. All three were national ranked at some point during their seasons, which doesn’t happen a lot at any level.

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‘A coach at heart,’ Saint Augustine’s Williams quietly became a coaching icon

COACH GEORGE WILLIAMS
SAINT AUGUSTINE'S UNIVERSITY

RALEIGH, North Carolina  -- Thirty-two NCAA Division II team championships, more than 150 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles and 200-plus coach of the year awards. But who’s counting? Certainly not George Williams.

Williams, the legendary Saint Augustine’s track and field coach, has built a dynasty at the small, historically black college in Raleigh, N.C., during his 37-year tenure at the helm of the program. 

It was something he certainly never dreamed of when he took over the program as a favor until the school found a permanent replacement for the outgoing track coach in 1976. At the time, he was working as an administrator in the school’s alumni office. 

A 1965 graduate of St. Augustine’s, Williams played basketball for the college and ran track as a way to keep in shape. But he knew nothing about coaching track and field athletes. 

“The first year, I think my team scored four points in the conference championship,” Williams said. “I had always been a part of a winning program in everything I had done and I decided to go talk to Dr. Leroy Walker, who was the track coach at North Carolina Central — a very successful track coach. I asked him about setting up programs and how he did things. He explained to me about biomechanics and techniques and gave me a book about biomechanics. I began to read that and tried his practice schedule.”

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Nuggets find focus, become XU's 1st to reach NAIA semifinals

MOBILE, Ala. — Alan Green, the women's tennis coach at Xavier University of Louisiana, described it succinctly. "We got on each other," he said of a team meeting during the customary 10-minute break between the doubles and singles matches in Wednesday's quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship.

    

The spirited discussion — Green addressed his players, then the players talked among themselves — was beneficial for the Gold Nuggets. After dropping 2-of-3 doubles matches, top-seeded and top-ranked Xavier rallied in singles and defeated ninth-ranked Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 5-3.

    
This is the first time a Xavier team in any sport has reached the NAIA's national semifinals. The Gold Nuggets will play fifth-seeded William Carey at 1 p.m. Friday, and for the second straight day it will be a rematch of a regular-season dual. Xavier won 5-1 at Carey on April 5 when the Lady Crusaders were ranked second and the Nuggets were sixth. That victory was one of several which helped propel Xavier to the school's first-ever No. 1 ranking on April 16.
    
One month later, the Gold Nuggets still are No. 1. Remaining there, however, is another issue.
    
"When you're on top, you've got a target on your back every time," Green said. "We have to understand that. Both times we played this week, the other team came out with a lot of energy — a lot more than we had. We have to be able to come out from the start and match our opponent's energy. I hope we learned something here today and will come out tomorrow with the same sense of urgency we had during singles."
    

Xavier's only doubles victory came at the third flight when Amanda Materre and Olivia West defeated Ana Gonzalez and Meena Bennett 8-3. The Nuggets' Kourtney Howell and Brion Flowers, No. 1 in the most recent ITA NAIA doubles rankings, lost 8-5 to Hui-l Huang and Kristina Marova after winning by that same score in their March 28 meeting. Howell and Flowers entered with a 10-match win streak.

    

"Embry-Riddle outworked us at the start," Green said. "They wanted it more than we did."

    

But after 10 minutes of talk, the Nuggets were able to flip on the energy switch and keep it on. "In singles," Green said, "we came out and took charge on five of the six courts."
    
XU freshman Simone-Alyse Ewell tied the dual at 2 with her 6-1, 6-3 victory against Giovanna Tomiotto at No. 4. Materre, the only Nugget to win in doubles and singles Wednesday, gave her team a 3-2 lead when she defeated Paolo Montero 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3. It was Materre's eighth consecutive singles triumph. Marova defeated Flowers 6-3, 6-2 at No. 2 to tie the dual for the third time, but Amber Brown at No. 5 put the Nuggets ahead to stay with 6-2, 6-3 decision over Gonzalez.
    

Howell then clinched for the Nuggets for the second straight day and a team-leading eighth time this season when she beat Huang 7-5, 6-1 in a matchup of top-10 NAIA players. Howell needed two tiebreakers to beat Huang in the regular season and conclude a 7-2 XU victory.

    

Xavier's comeback in singles defied a seven-season trend. Before Wednesday, the Nuggets were 0-55 in dual matches since the start of 2007 when they lost at the top two doubles flights. It happened six times previously this season, but all against NCAA Division I opponents.

   

 In six previous appearances at nationals, all under Green, the Nuggets never got past the second round.

    

"This is a great accomplishment to be in the semifinals," Green said. "I never thought as a coach that I would reach the heights that no other XU coach had ever reached. I am honored and humbled to be able to accomplish this for our great university. It's amazing."

    

But there's more work to do Friday, and Green's analysis was equally succinct. "If we're No. 1, we have to play accordingly," he said.

    

The Nuggets extended their school-record win streak, which they set Wednesday, to 11. They're also 12-0 this season against ranked NAIA opponents. Embry-Riddle, the NAIA runner-up a year ago, finished 12-11.

Results

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAATHLETICS

Vanguard singles out Gold Rush in NAIA quarterfinals

MOBILE, Ala. — At least two singles victories are required to win an NAIA tennis dual match. Xavier University of Louisiana's men didn't win any Thursday, and that helped Vanguard earn a 5-2 victory against the Gold Rush in the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship.
    
It was the first time this season that the Gold Rush (15-8) failed to win at least once in singles.
    
Xavier's only points came in doubles, where Loic Didavi and Kyle Montrel defeated Stefan Kilchhofer and Roger Muri 8-5 at the No. 1 flight, and Nikita Soifer and Viktor Svoboda beat Lukas Larsson and Robin Wagner 8-5 at No. 2. A year ago, when Vanguard beat Xavier 6-3 during the regular season, the Lions won all three doubles matches.
    
Xavier, seeded sixth, was eliminated in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. Vanguard (24-0), seeded third, will play second-seeded Auburn Montgomery in the semifinals at 9 a.m. Friday.
    
Muri clinched for the Lions at No. 2 singles when he defeated Soifer 6-2, 6-4. Muri is 22-0 in singles this season. But not every Vanguard winning streak remained intact. Didavi and Montrel became the first doubles team this season to defeat Kilchhofer and Muri, who entered 8-0.
    
It was more of the same for Soifer and Svoboda, who finished the season with a seven-match win streak and 15 wins in their last 16 doubles matches.
    
But Vanguard, like every other Xavier opponent this season, received two effortless points because of the Gold Rush's five-player roster — resulting in defaults at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles — and took the lead for good when Yahor Kryvaruchka defeated Svoboda 7-5, 6-1 at No. 4. Svoboda lost for just the second time in his final 15 singles matches of the season.
    
Daymon Johnson gave Vanguard a 4-2 lead when he beat Benjamin Brading 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5. Muri then clinched, leaving Didavi and Montrel on the court in matches which appeared headed for third sets.
  
 "It was a pretty good match, although we lost," said XU coach Alan Green, whose Gold Rush were appearing at nationals for the fifth consecutive year. "I think we gained a lot of respect from every team that watched us play. We got congratulated by a lot of people, including Vanguard's coach, about how amazing our team was to be at nationals with five players and playing at such a high level.
  
 "We gave Vanguard a scare. But all the credit should go to Vanguard. They hung tough and did what they had to do. Some of their players were starting to cramp up during singles because of the heat, but they were able to finish. Their 1-2 singles players, Kilchhofer and Muri, are legit."
  
Playing his final dual for the Rush was Didavi, the team's only senior. He was 41-12 in singles and 45-13 in doubles in two seasons at Xavier after transferring from Auburn Montgomery. On Monday he was announced as the ITA NAIA National Senior Player of the Year.
    
"Our guys leave here with heads held high," Green said. "We battled all season, even though we were short a player. We never backed down from anybody."
    
Not only is this the first XU program to reach the NAIA quarterfinals in consecutive years, but the Gold Rush also finished at least seven victories above .500 for the second consecutive year, another program first. That's impressive when you consider the schedule during that time: 27 duals against ranked NAIA opponents, 12 against NCAA Division I teams. Eighty percent of the Rush's schedule came against those opponents.

Results

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
XULAATHLETICS

Stillman Tigers fall to Tampa in NCAA South Region

TAMPA, Florida  – Tampa downed Stillman 5-4 in the opening game of the 2013 NCAA Division II South Region Tournament at Spartan Field in Tampa.

The Spartans got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when B.J. Zimmerman grounded out to the second baseman to score Sean O'Brien from third.  In the bottom of the second, Jacob Tillotson singled to center to score Zach Alvord.

Stillman broke into the scoring column in the top of the third inning.  With one out, Kameron McCreless singled through the right side to score Chris Brown, who was hit by pitch.  The next batter, Nick Baldeli-Boggs singled to center field to score Kyle Smith, who reached on a single.  With runners on second and third, the Tigers tried the squeeze play with two outs, but a close play a first ended the threat.

Smith approached the plate to open the top of the fifth inning and hit a towering shot to right field.  But the Florida winds kept the ball inside the part as the Tampa right fielder made the catch on the warning track, silencing the temporary cheers of the Stillman faithful in attendance.

In the bottom of the fifth, Zimmerman hit a shot to right center field scoring Connor Obrochta and Tillotson and giving Tampa a 4-2 lead after five innings of play.

In the top of the sixth inning, T.J. Rock singled to open the inning before being replaced by Cameron Stallings.  Stallings advanced to second on a Jordan Creel sacrifice bunt before stealing third.  DH Ken Perkey then singled to right to score Stallings.  Tanaka then singled to right advancing Perkey to third, giving the Tigers runners on the corners with one out.  However, a double play in the middle infield would end the scoring threat.

Tyler Colvert replaced Tyler Vails on the mound for Stillman in the bottom of the second and quickly struck out the side.  Dustin Dunn opened the top of the seventh with a single up the middle.  Two batters later, McCreless would double down the left field line to score Dunn and tie the game at 4-4.

In the bottom of the eighth, Stillman picked up two quick outs before allowing a walk.  After a stolen base, a throwing error scored Gawrych to give Tampa a 5-4 lead.  In the bottom of the inning, after two outs, Kyle Smith drew a walk against SSC Pitcher of the Year Mike Adams.  Adams was dominant in relief sitting down six Tiger pitchers on seven pitches entering the inning.  With a runner on first, a Tampa fielding error put Tigers on first and second with two outs.  However, a groundout to the second baseman ended the threat and the game.

In the contest, Seth Booth finished the game going 3-for-5 while McCreless and Ken Perkey each had two hits. On the mound, SIAC Relief Pitcher of the Year Tyler Vails got the start, working five innings allowing four runs and two walks while striking out one. Tyler Colvert (2-3) worked three innings, surrendering one hit, one run (unearned) and a walk while striking out four.

Stillman (30-15) returns to action to take on the loser of the Delta State / Valdosta State o
n Friday, May 17 at 11 am.

Box Score

PHOTO GALLERY

COURTESY STILLMAN COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION

Alabama A&M Athletics -- Hires former Lady Vol Semeka Randall

HEAD COACH SEMEKA RANDALL
 WOMEN'S BASKEBALL
AAMU LADY BULLDOGS
(Photo Courtesy: AAMU Athletics)

Tennessee All-American, National Champion, and WNBA Veteran begins new era in the "Rocket City"

NORMAL, Alabama --Director of Athletics, Bryan Hicks, announced the hiring today of Semeka Randall as the new Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Alabama A&M University. She is slated to begin her new duties effective immediately.

Ms. Randall is a native of Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2000 with a degree in Speech Communication.  While at UTK, Randall was a stand-out defensive player for the powerhouse Lady Vol women’s basketball program from 1998-2001.  She was a key member on the 1998 NCAA Championship team that went 39-0.  In addition, Randall received Kodak and AP All American honors in 1999 and 2000.

After her college career, she played professionally with the Seattle Storm, Utah Starzz, and the San Antonio Silver Stars of the WNBA, in addition to playing internationally during the WNBA off season.

Randall began her coaching career in 2002 as an assistant with Cleveland State University.  By 2004, she was an assistant coach at Michigan State University, and helped the Spartans to the 2004 NCAA Championship game.  She also served as an assistant at West Virginia University from 2007-2008.  Most recently, Randall was the Head Coach at Ohio University.

“I am very happy Semeka Randall is a Bulldog!” said Hicks.  “We expect her to set the tone for our women’s basketball program and take us to the next level.  President Hugine, Dr. Rolle, and the Board of Trustees have been very supportive in our pursuit of excellence in athletics.  This hire is further proof of that support.”

COURTESY ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

READ RELATED ARTICLES:
A&M Names Women's Basketball Coach
Photo Gallery: Press Conference Semeka Randall

Valley opens 2013 season against Florida A&M

GREENWOOD, Miss. - Mississippi Valley State Athletics Director Ashley Robinson says Delta Devils' football season-opener against Florida A&M will give the school national television exposure.

"This is our chance to show the world what Valley is about, and we don't plan on disappointing," Robinson told a Greenwood civic club this week.

Valley will play Florida A&M in the MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 1. Robinson says it will be telecast on ESPN.

"Just to put in perspective about how big a game this is," Robinson said, "that day when you get home from church and sit down to relax there'll be only one college football game on TV. It won't be LSU. It won't be Alabama or USC. Nope, not Ole Miss or Mississippi State either. It'll be that quiet up-and-coming school down the road - Mississippi Valley State."

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Virginia State University President: There is no place for hazing

ETTRICK, Virginia  --  Enough is enough when it comes to hazing. That’s the message from Virginia State University President Keith T. Miller.

“Outdated rituals performed in the name of brotherly love have no place in building a better world,” Dr. Miller told solemn students, faculty and staff mourning two popular freshmen, Marvell Edmondson and Jauwan Holmes, both 19. They drowned April 20 trying to cross the Appomattox River as part of a hazing ritual to join an off-campus club called Men of Honor, which the university has described as unsanctioned and unapproved.

“As a community, as an institution, we will not tolerate” such rituals, Dr. Miller said during the school’s memorial service for the two students last Friday at Daniel Gymnasium, six days after their deaths stunned the campus.

“We must learn the lessons of Jauwan and Marvell to ensure that these young men’s deaths were not in vain,” Dr. Miller said in seeking to give meaning to the deaths of the youths, now among the long list of American college students who have died or suffered injuries from harsh hazing while seeking to join a fraternity, sorority or other group.


This is an example of a storm-whipped Appomattox River that claimed the
the lives of two promising VSU Freshmen students.

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XU Gold Rush reach NAIA quarterfinals for 2nd straight year

MOBILE, Alabama  —  Loic Didavi, Nikita Soifer and Viktor Svoboda won in doubles and singles Wednesday to lead sixth-ranked Xavier University of Louisiana to a 5-3 men's tennis victory against No. 11 Belhaven in the second round of the NAIA National Championship.

    

The victory was the fourth in a row for the Gold Rush (15-7), which matched a season high. The XU men have won 12 of their last 15 duals, with all but one of the victories occurring on the road during that period.

    

Xavier had a first-round bye and was competing for the first time since April 21.

    

It's the second consecutive year that the Gold Rush reached the quarterfinals. Xavier will play unbeaten, third-seeded and third-ranked Vanguard, a 5-1 winner against Warner, at 9 a.m. Thursday. Prior to 2012, just one team in XU history — coach Bob Hopkins' 1972-73 men's basketball team — had reached the NAIA quarterfinals.

    
Soifer and Svoboda, winning for the 14th time in their last 15 doubles matches, defeated Jefferson Nino and David Mejia 8-6 at the second flight to tie the dual at 1. Didavi and Kyle Montrel gave Xavier a 2-1 advantage with an 8-2 victory against Nikita Lisov and Andres Yepez at No. 1. Both XU doubles teams have six-match win streaks.
  
Didavi, announced Monday evening as the ITA NAIA National Senior Player of the Year, gave the Gold Rush a 3-2 lead when he defeated Lisov 6-1, 6-2 at the top singles flight. Enrico Patriarca defeated Xavier's Benjamin Brading 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5 to tie the dual at 3, but the Rush took the lead for good when Svoboda defeated Mejia 6-4, 7-5 at No. 4. Soifer, playing the second flight, ended the dual and recorded his team-leading fifth clinching victory this season with a 6-3, 6-3 decision against Nino.
    
"This was a good win for us," XU coach Alan Green said. "We hung tough against a good opponent. We played really well in doubles and brought some momentum into the singles matches, then we got off to a good start in singles. We had some tough first sets, but I thought we were better prepared for the heat and were able to wear Belhaven down a bit."

    

Soifer's singles victory was his first of the season against a ranked opponent. Nino was 32nd and Soifer 17th in the most recent ITA NAIA individual rankings. Svoboda got revenge against Mejia — who beat him in a third-set super-tiebreaker during Xavier's 5-4 home victory Feb. 28 — and won for the 13th time in his last 14 singles matches.

    

The victory was the Gold Rush's sixth of the season against a ranked NAIA opponent.

    

Vanguard is 23-0, and the Lions' top two singles players, Stefan Kilchhofer and Roger Muri, are a combined 44-0 this semester. Xavier played at Vanguard each of the past two seasons, winning 6-3 in 2011 and losing 6-3 in 2012.

    

"It will be a very interesting matchup against an unbeaten team and a top-3 seed," Green said. "We are looking forward to the challenge and to see how we match up."

By Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director

XULAATHLETICS

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUSIANA

FAMU football coach Earl Holmes eager to restore pride in Rattlers

FAMU HEAD COACH EARL HOLMES
(Courtesy: FAMJ Athletics)

Holmes, who is in his first season leading his alma mater, says he is eager to get back to rich winning tradition

ORLANDO, Florida  --  New Florida A&M coach Earl Holmes refused to let his players step on a football field without going through a history lesson.

During meetings that spanned three days, he taught the current class of Rattlers about the program’s rich tradition.

He talked about College Football Hall of Fame FAMU coach Jake Gaither, who posted a 204-36-4 during his tenure leading the Rattlers.

He talked about College Football Hall of Fame FAMU running back Willie Galimore, a star also known as “The Wisp” because of his remarkable speed and sharp lateral moves.

And he talked about former FAMU offensive lineman Henry Lawrence, who was a first round NFL Draft pick.

“Some eyebrows lit up, eyes got big and some palms got sweaty,” Holmes recalled. “I told them, at one point, we were the best school in the country. . . . Now they know they're not just playing to win some games. They're playing to restore the tradition of FAMU football.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Chalk Talk: Jacksonville   
PHOTO GALLERY: Chalk Talk: Orlando

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Scott Signs With NCAA D-II Claflin University

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina  --  Sophomore forward Karahn Scott has signed her letter of intent and will be moving on to Claflin University after spending two successful years with the Express.

Scott chose Claflin, an NCAA D-II school, over NCAA D-I schools such as Valparaiso University and Fairleigh Dickinson University.

While leading the Express to the NJCAA D-II National Tournament for the first time since 2003-04, Scott averaged 12.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and two steals per game as a sophomore. Following the season, she was named Second Team All-Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC). Additionally, she was named to the Region XII District I All-Tournament team.



During her sophomore campaign, Scott tied and broke the program's single game rebounding record. On Dec. 22, she pulled down 21 points, along with adding 21 points, against Mid-Michigan Community College to tie the record. Later, on Jan. 30, she pulled down 22 rebounds, along with 19 points, against Edison Community College to break the record.

In her two-year career, she averaged 10.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.5 steals and one assist per game. Additionally, she totaled 584 points, 533 rebounds and 88 steals in two years.

During her freshman year, Scott was named the team's Most Improved Player after averaging 7.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. In the team's final game of the season, Scott had 18 points and 19 rebounds.

Scott is a graduate of Scott High School in Toledo, OH, where she averaged 12.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game as a senior.

As a sophomore, Scott led the Express to an OCCAC title, a Region XII District I championship and a seventh place finish as the NJCAA D-II National Tournament. Additionally, the team won 28 games, just one off the single year mark for most wins in program history.

Claflin University finished 6-21 last season and advanced to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Tournament Quarterfinals.


By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Owens Community College
Perrysburg, Ohio

Monarch, McChester selected to lead Claflin basketball programs

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina  --  Claflin University has tapped a veteran coach with vast experience in molding championship-caliber teams and a young, energetic motivator, recruiter and teacher to lead its men’s and women’s basketball programs, respectively.

Athletics Director Dr. Jerome Fitch announced Wednesday that Scott Monarch was named the head men’s basketball Coach and Deont’a McChester will lead the women’s program. Monarch is coming to Claflin from the University of Northern Colorado where he was an assistant coach last year. He was also an assistant coach at Marquette University where he helped lead the Golden Eagles to four NCAA appearances from 2008 to 2012. McChester was the lead assistant for the Lady Panthers last year and was interim head coach.

“We are very pleased and excited that Scott and Deont’a will lead our basketball programs,” Fitch said. “Scott brings an outstanding track record of coaching and recruiting. Deont’a’s style of coaching has resonated with our players and his determination and attention to detail will enhance our women’s program. We believe these characteristics will translate into consistent winning and competitive programs at Claflin.”

From 2000 to 2006, Monarch was the head coach at Panola College of Carthage, Texas, where he became the winningest coach in school history. In 2003, he was named the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 14 Coach of the Year and his team captured the Eastern Conference title.


Dr. Fitch, Dr. Tisdale, Coach Monarch, Coach McChester
(Courtesy Claflin University Athletics)

Monarch also held assistant positions at Tennessee State University, Grambling University and Kentucky Wesleyan College. After graduating from Mississippi Valley State University in 1990, he landed his first coaching position as an assistant at McClennan Community College of Waco, Texas. In 2008, he was an assistant at Tyler Junior College, where the team compiled a 25-4 record and captured the Texas Eastern Conference title. While at Marquette, Monarch is credited with recruiting Jimmy Butler, a first round draft choice of the Chicago Bulls, and Jae Crowder, the 2012 Big East Player of the Year.

Monarch said the fundamental goal of his coaching is to enhance and promote learning. He said the primary lesson he has learned in his 22 years of coaching is that students learn differently, and a coach should create an environment where different learning styles can thrive. In addition to displaying knowledge and expertise for his sport, a coach must display a passion for learning, he said.

“A passion for learning is the greatest characteristic of my coaching that I want to impart on my students,” Monarch said. “I want the student-athlete to understand that learning is a process that never ends, and that this passion doesn’t start and end with the sport they are participating in while I am coaching them. I want to learn more about my students as people, athletes and learners so that I can provide each with the atmosphere and motivation they need to reach their professional and personal goals.”

Coach McChester’s goals are specific and deliberate: to be a relentless recruiter and bring the best and brightest student-athletes to Claflin; instill his determination, self-motivation and high energy to his players; and bring the women’s program back to national prominence.

A Flint, Mich. native, McChester says he is a coach who focuses on developing fundamental skills.

“The execution of the fundamentals and being in the best possible condition gives us our greatest chance to be successful here at Claflin University,” he said.  “Claflin University’s women’s program has a history of being one of the elite programs in the nation.  I feel privileged to be a part of the staff to help bring this program back to the top in women's basketball on the national level,” he said.

Before his tenure at Claflin, the Keuka College of Keuka Park, N.Y. graduate held the position of women's head coach of the Flint Lady Monarchs, a women's professional team in Flint, Mich. From 2010-2012, McChester led the Lady Monarchs to back-to-back elite eight appearances in the Women’s Blue Chip Basketball League (WBCBL) national tournament.  The team also won consecutive northeast regional championships. For his efforts, McChester was named Coach of the Year for 2011 and 2012.

“We welcome Coach Monarch and Coach McChester to the Claflin University family,” said President Henry N. Tisdale. “Our student athletes are poised for success on and off the court under this new leadership.” 

COURTESY CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

WSSU well-rested and ready heading into D-II playoffs

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  No. 23 Winston-Salem State worked hard all season to reach the Atlantic Region baseball tournament and today will start its bid to move on to the Division II College World Series.

Second-seeded WSSU (38-11) will take on fifth-seeded East Stroudsburg (33-16) in a first-round game at 2:30 at Wake Forest Ballpark. The six-team double-elimination tournament will start at 11 a.m. with Seton Hill playing Shippensburg, and top-seeded Millersville will play Concord in today’s final game at 6 p.m.

 

Thursday

 

NCAA Atlantic Region Schedule

 

(Double elimination, at Wake Forest Baseball Park)

 

Game 1: No. 1 Millersville (38-16) vs. No. 6 Concord (36-18), 11 a.m.

Game 2: No. 2 Winston-Salem State (38-11) vs. No. 5 East Stroudburg (33-16), 2:30

Game 3: No. 3 Seton Hill (39-15) vs. No. 4 Shippensburg (28-20), 6 p.m.

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Nuggets set pair of records in NAIA victory vs. Wildcats

MOBILE, Ala. — The Xavier University of Louisiana women's tennis team quickly reversed the momentum Wednesday and cruised into the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship for the first time in the program's history.
    
The Gold Nuggets, the tournament's No. 1 seed and ranked first in the most recent coaches poll, lost the first game in each of their three doubles matches against 17th-ranked Indiana Wesleyan, then stormed back for a 5-0 second-round victory.
    
Xavier (18-7) set a program record with its 10th consecutive victory. The previous record was nine, set in 2004 and tied the following season. The Nuggets also became the first XU women's team in any sport to reach the NAIA quarterfinals. The women's tennis program was 0-5 in second-round matches before Wednesday.
    
The Nuggets will play ninth-ranked Embry-Riddle (Fla.), a 5-2 winner against eighth-seeded Westmont, at 1 p.m. Thursday. For the first time in XU tennis history, both teams have reached the quarterfinals. The XU men, who defeated Belhaven 5-3 earlier in the day, will play Vanguard at 9 a.m. Thursday. No Xavier team in any sport has reached the NAIA semifinals.
    
"It was a great start for us to win all three doubles matches," said coach Alan Green, whose Nuggets are 11-0 this season against ranked NAIA opponents. "We probably had some early jitters, and Indiana Wesleyan had the advantage by playing the day before when we had a bye. But we got past that in a hurry."
    
Xavier's Kourtney Howell and Brion Flowers, No. 1 in the ITA NAIA doubles rankings, gave the Nuggets a 1-0 lead in the dual when they defeated Andrea Meyering and Lauren Wilson 8-1. At the third flight, Amanda Materre and Olivia West made it 2-0 with an 8-3 decision over Rachael Heiniger and Kristen Futrell. Then Simone-Alyse Ewell and Amber Brown completed the doubles sweep with an 8-4 victory against Katie Wilson and Kim Mella.
    
It was the third time in 12 duals at nationals — the first time since the 2009 opening round against McKendree — that the Nuggets won all three doubles matches.
    
Howell and Materre, the Nuggets' winningest singles players, finished the rout. Materre defeated Meyering 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3, and Howell beat Heiniger 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1 for her team-leading seventh clinching victory of the season. Of the four uncompleted matches, Flowers led at No. 2, and Ewell led at No. 4.
    
"Kourtney and Amanda got on and off the court pretty quick, and it was over," Green said.
    
Materre has a seven-match singles win streak, and Howell has won 11 of her last 14 decisions. In doubles, Howell and Flowers have won 10 in a row, and Ewell and Brown have won three straight since losing 5-of-6.
    
Indiana Wesleyan, which started the season 18-0 and was making its 14th consecutive appearance at nationals, finished 24-4.
    
The Xavier - Embry-Riddle quarterfinal will be a rematch of a March 28 dual which the Nuggets won 7-2 at Embry-Riddle. All five XU singles victories that day were in straight sets.
    
Green's initial assessment of the quarterfinal pairing? "I don't think it will be easy," he said.

 

Results

By Ed Cassiere, SID
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

'Back that can do everything’: S.C. State picks up Kentucky transfer

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina  --  After rushing for 1,500 yards as a junior at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, running back Justin Taylor attracted the interest of future national champion Alabama.

Defensive line coach and former Calhoun County head football coach Chris Rumph actively recruited the 5-10, 217-pounder for the Crimson Tide and he initially committed to the school. However, a season-ending right knee injury in the second game of Taylor’s senior year curtailed those plans and he ended up signing with Kentucky.



Looking to move closer to home after redshirting this past season for the Wildcats, Taylor is heading for South Carolina State. In a telephone interview Wednesday, Taylor confirmed news released two days ago by Tiger Illustrated of his plans to play for the Bulldogs next season.

“They talked about being a family,” he said. “They talked about building the program about me and that’s what I’m looking for. Just basically, I was looking for someone who really wanted me at their school.”

Taylor requested and received his release from Kentucky, where he was ...

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