JSU Lady Tigers Tabbed to Face No. 2 Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- After advancing to the final round of the 2014 Southwestern Athletic Conference, Jackson State University received an automatic bid to face No. 2 Alabama in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament by default. The 2014 SWAC Women's Tennis Champions, Southern University could not participate in the tournament due to ineligibility.

JSU (10-17) is making its first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2009 and will face UA for the first time in program history. The Lady Tigers are the automatic qualifier out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. JSU will head into the tournament first in SWAC play with an 8-1 record.

Alabama, hosting for the third-straight year and third overall, will take on the Lady Tigers in its first-round match up on Friday, May 9, at 4 p.m. CT. That match will be preceded by the Arizona State/Princeton match that is set to begin at 1 p.m. CT. The winners of both matches will then meet in the second round on Saturday, May 10, at 1 p.m. CT.

NCAA Tournament Bracket

COURTESY JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS & NCAA.COM

LSU rallies to defeat Alcorn State

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – A two-out, three-run home run by junior Conner Hale in the bottom of the eighth inning elevated sixth-ranked LSU (34-11-1) to a 9-7 win over Alcorn State (8-37) Tuesday night at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.

The Tigers travel to College Station, Texas to face Texas A&M beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m. All three games of the series will be televised. Game 1 will be on CBS Sports Network, Game 2 will be on ESPN2 at 12 p.m., and Game 3 will be on ESPNU at 1 p.m.

LSU, which faced deficits of 5-0 and 6-1 during Tuesday’s game versus Alcorn State, recorded its biggest comeback victory since April 7, 2012, when the Tigers also erased a five-run deficit at Florida.

“Let me say first of all that Alcorn State played a tremendous game; we couldn’t get their hitters out and they made some unbelievable defensive plays,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. "(Alcorn State) Coach (Barret) Rey and his players deserve a lot of credit because they played their hearts out, and the played extremely well."

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Anderson retains Fuller on Mizzou staff

COLUMBIA, Missouri  --  New Missouri basketball coach Kim Anderson has already lured in his first big recruit. Tim Fuller, Mizzou’s associate head coach the last three seasons and the program’s top recruiter, has agreed to work on Anderson’s staff.

"I'd like to welcome Tim Fuller as the first member of our coaching staff here at Missouri and applaud how he led this program and kept Mizzou moving forward through practices and recruiting over the last couple weeks," Anderson said in a prepared statement. "Tim has displayed incredible character and loyalty to Mizzou during the transition and demonstrated from our first meeting his commitment and passion for our student-athletes and Mizzou Basketball. I look forward to working closely with Tim as we move our program forward and am excited about the future of Tiger Basketball."

Fuller was a candidate for the head coaching job at Florida A&M and had several recent discussions with FAMU athletics director Kellen Winslow, the former Mizzou star tight end.

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Lawmakers find compromise on FAMU-FSU engineering school

TALLAHASSEE, Florida --  The biggest budget controversy in higher education this session was the Senate's proposed split of the engineering school shared by Florida A&M University and Florida State University.

The House refused to approve $13 million for a separate engineering school at FSU, which Sen. John Thrasher successfully inserted into the budget.

The compromise approved this week is being applauded by the FAMU community: $500,000 for an independent study of the program and agreeing that the Board of Governors, not the Legislature, will have the final say on any changes.

The board will have the option of keeping the status quo or creating engineering programs at each school.

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Alabama State enter NCAA Women’s Golf Regionals

PHOTO COURTESY SWAC.ORG

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana --  After winning a consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference women's golf title, Alabama State University will make its third postseason appearance in four seasons.

The Lady Hornets are included in a field of 378 participants after the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Committee announced the teams and individuals selected to participate in the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Regionals.

ASU will play in the East regional will be played at SouthWood Golf Club in Tallahassee, Florida and will be hosted by Florida State from May 8-10. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution. The Lady Hornets set a scoring record on the course earlier this year.

 

Three regional tournaments will be conducted May 8-10 to determine the championships field. Regional tournaments are considered preliminary rounds of NCAA championships competition, and all national championships policies apply.

More than 350 participants have been selected for regional competition. Among these players, 126 will advance to the championships finals. Eight teams and two individuals will advance from each regional.

The championships finals will be held May 20-23 at Tulsa Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma and will be co-hosted by Tulsa and the Tulsa Sports Commission.

East Regional

Schools:

1. Duke (Atlantic Coast Conference)

2. South Carolina

3. Stanford (Pac-12)

4. Vanderbilt (Southeastern Conference)

5. Pepperdine (West Coast Conference)

6. UCF

7. Virginia

8. Auburn

9. NC State

10. Florida State

11. Kentucky

12. Tulane (Conference USA)

13. Louisville (American Athletic Conference)

14. Baylor

15. East Tennessee State (Atlantic Sun)

16. Georgia

17. Campbell (Big South)

18. East Carolina

19. Texas State

20. College of Charleston (Colonial Athletic Association)

21. Troy (Sun Belt)

22. Murray State (Ohio Valley)

23. Seton Hall (Big East )

24. Alabama State (Southwestern Athletic Conference)

 

COURTESY SWAC.ORG

TSU's Edwards, Murphy Named to NFF Hampshire Honor Society

(L) MICHAEL MURPHY AND KADEEM EDWARDS (R)
Courtesy Tennessee State University Sports Information

NASHVILLE, Tennessee   -- Tennessee State lineman Kadeem Edwards and Michael Murphy were named to the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) 2014 Hampshire Honor Society, which is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college career.

A total of 838 players from 267 schools qualified for membership in the society's eighth year, setting a new record for the number of members in the history of the program, which began in 2007.

 

Edwards, who was also named First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference, started 13 games for the Tigers and blocked for Tim Broughton who rushed for 1,146 yards (25th-most nationally) and six touchdowns. The senior protected a quarterback duo that combined for 26 passes touchdowns and only four interceptions.

 

Murphy appeared in all 14 contests for TSU last season, notching 21 tackles – 3.5 for loss. The senior also forced and recovered a fumble while playing a pivotal role in the nation’s sixth-best defense.

 

"We continue to raise the bar each year for the number of student-athletes who qualify for membership in the Hampshire Honor Society," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "The Hampshire Honor Society plays an important role in highlighting that college football players clearly play a leadership role in the classroom as well as on the playing field. We congratulate each of these young men for their commitment to excellence."

 

The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF's current National Scholar-Athlete program greatly expanding the number of scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year. The program further strengthens the organization's leadership role in encouraging academic performance by the student-athletes who play football at the more than 700 college and universities with football programs nationwide.

 

COMPLETE LIST OF INDUCTEES

 

HBCU INDUCTEES

 

College       Inductee

Alabama State University Bobby Wenzig

Benedict College (S.C.) Martin Epps

Delaware State University Marco Kano

Edward Waters College (Fla.) Darrien Carmichael

Edward Waters College (Fla.) Jerry Martin

North Carolina Central University Jordan Reid

Tennessee State University Kadeem Edwards

Tennessee State University Michael Murphy

 

COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

 

Back on top: Xavier Gold Nuggets No. 1 in NAIA coaches poll

The Gold Nuggets earn their fourth all-time No. 1 ranking and first of 2014
after receiving 12 first-place votes and 343 total points.
 
ROSTER
COACH

NEW ORLEANS -- For the second consecutive season, Xavier University of Louisiana has ascended to No. 1 in the NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll.

The Gold Nuggets (15-6) collected 12-of-13 first-place votes Tuesday and swapped places with Georgia Gwinnett, which dropped to second. Xavier defeated Georgia Gwinnett 5-3 on Saturday in the championship of the NAIA Unaffiliated Group 2 Tournament at XU.

On April 16, 2013, the Gold Nuggets became the first XU team in any sport to reach No. 1 in an NAIA coaches poll. They were No. 1 for three consecutive polls before losing to William Carey in the semifinals of the NAIA National Championship, then falling to No. 3 in the postseason poll.

This season the Gold Nuggets were third in the preseason, dropped to sixth in the first regular-season poll but climbed to No. 2 on March 18 after a 5-4 victory at then-No. 1 and three-time defending NAIA champion Auburn Montgomery. Xavier was No. 2 for three consecutive polls before Tuesday's announcement.

It's the Gold Nuggets' 14th consecutive top-10 appearance and their fifth consecutive appearance in the top five.

"It's nice to be No. 1," XU coach Alan Green said, "but we were in the same position last year and didn't finish on top. Our goal now is to refocus and try to come home with a national championship. We know if we don't play our best, anyone in the top five can beat us."

Xavier's next dual will start at 9 a.m. on May 14 in the second round of the national tournament at Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center at Mobile, Ala. The NAIA will announce the 24-team field May 5, and pairings will be revealed May 6.

The top 25:

1. Xavier
2. Georgia Gwinnett
3. Lindsey Wilson
4. Auburn Montgomery
5. Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
6. Brenau
7. SCAD Savannah
8. Vanguard
9. Northwood (Fla.)
10. Oklahoma Baptist
11. Westmont
12. Graceland
13. Coastal Georgia
14. Milligan
15. Concordia (Calif.)
16. Davenport
17. Lewis-Clark State
18. Indiana Wesleyan
19. Cardinal Stritch
20. Northwestrrn Ohio
21. Marian (Ind.)
22. (tie) St. Thomas (Fla.)
22. (tie) Olivet Nazarene
24. Campbellsville
25. McPherson


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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