Gold Nuggets win at Tougaloo for 4th straight victory

TOUGALOO, Mississippi -- Xavier University of Louisiana, led by career highs of 17 kills from Claudia Haywood and 14 kills from CeCe Williams, earned a 25-16, 21-25, 25-18, 25-12 women's volleyball Monday at Tougaloo.

The Gold Nuggets (4-2 overall, 2-0 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference) have won four straight. They have won 45 consecutive matches against GCAC opponents -- 36 in the regular season -- and 43 in a row against HBCUs.

Haywood and Williams combined for 20 kills in the final two sets. Xavier hit .282 in the final two sets after hitting .121 in the first two.

Xavier served a season-high 11 aces, and freshman Jelena Vujicic collected her first five of the season. Jodi Hill had a career-high four aces, and Franziska Pirkl had two.

Hill had eight kills and a career-high-tying four blocks. Darian Harris had 20 digs, and Pirkl had 43 assists and 12 digs in her third double-double of the season.

Williams had three kills and a block in a 7-2 run which gave Xavier a 14-7 lead in the fourth set. Williams ended the match with a kill of a free ball.

Chassidy Harris led Tougaloo (1-6, 0-3) with 13 kills. The Lady Bulldogs have lost five straight.

Xavier hit .208 for the match with 51 kills, 68 digs and six blocks. Haywood hit a season-high .452, and Williams hit .303.

Xavier will play GCAC opponent Philander Smith at noon Saturday at XU's Convocation Center.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 

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Coach's fund-raising saves season for FAMU golf team

The return of the team means that the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference will have a championship tournament this year and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- When Marvin Green set out to raise money for FAMU's golf team, two things were on his mind – longevity of the program and an opportunity for his players to compete for a full season.

"FAMU's golf has been around for 60 years and we want to be around for 60 more years," Green said Thursday. "We want to be considered a viable and important part of our athletic program. We just want to be something that the whole community is proud of."

Green said that he has raised $30,000, which will cover the cost of a 10-tournament schedule and avert suspension of the program. The Rattlers will play their first event on Sept. 26 in the Hall of Fame Tournament, a major for HBCUs that is sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Atlanta.

FAMU announced suspension its golf team in June in a cost-saving move by athletics director Kellen Winslow. Green's effort guarantees that they won't miss this season after all.

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Battle of the Bands: Elon University Marching Phoenix vs. North Carolina A&T State University Blue & Gold Marching Machine

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Published on Sep 14, 2014
Courtesy of the North Carolina A&T BGMM Media Team...

Special thanks to the Elon University family for the wonderful hospitality they extended to us during the game, to include inviting us to perform second during halftime. This is the least we could do to show our appreciation for such a class act... Thomas L. Jones, Jr.

Camera: 4x Canon 5D mkII, Canon C100
Audio: Sennheiser MKH-8000 series mics, Sound Devices 788T recorder, camera audio

XU's Jackson, Kitto finish 1-2 at Southern Miss Invitational

Kwame Jackson (17:30.8 for 5K), Brent Kitto (17:32.8) and Christopher August
(17:42.5) placed 1-2-4 at Southern Miss Invitational cross country meet.

MOSELLE, Mississippi -- Xavier University of Louisiana's Kwame Jackson edged teammate Brent Kitto by two seconds Saturday to win the men's individual title at the Southern Miss Invitational cross country meet.

XU's women, led by Catherine Fakler's fourth-place finish, placed second out of five teams and scored better than NCAA Division I opponents Alcorn State and Southern. Xavier is an NAIA member.

Jackson ran 5,000 meters in 17 minutes, 30.8 seconds to earn his second victory in three meets this season and his fifth victory for Xavier. Jackson, a senior, has 16 top-10 finishes and 11 top-5s in 22 collegiate meets.

Kitto earned his second runner-up finish of the season and his third straight top-4. He ran four seconds ahead of third-place Darien Hennington of Alcorn State.

It's the second time in three meets that Jackson and Kitto were the two fastest overall finishers.

Xavier's Christopher August was fourth in 17:42.5 and claimed his third top-10 of the season.

Fakler ran her 5K in 19:48.2. It was her 17th top-10 finish and 14th top-5 in 23 collegiate meets.

Briana Simms was the Gold Nuggets' second-fastest runner. She was 13th in 21:56.2.

Rebecca Ulrich of Southern Miss won in 19:06.6 and led the Golden Eagles to the team title with 21 points. Xavier was second with 62 points, followed by Alcorn State with 66, Southern with 84 and SUNO with 142.

Xavier's men did not qualify for team scoring.

Other XU finishers were Emmanuel Detiege (15th place, 19:33.9) in the men's race and Hannah Finnegan (15th, 22:13.2), Hali Yarmush (16th, 22:24.5), Carlee Calais (19th, 23:10.7), Reeka Belton (20th, 23:14.6), Ashley Flournoy (21st, 23:26.2) and Zahri Jackson (28th, 25:48.1) in the women's.

Next meet for both XU teams will be the LSU Invitational at Highland Road Park in Baton Rouge, La., next Saturday. The women will race at 8:05 a.m., followed by the men at 9:15. Distance for both will be 5K.


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAATHLETICS
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

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In the FCS Huddle: Moving out of the shadows

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania  --  Others receiving votes.

For much of the week, those words sound important yet not so important at the same time.

But on Saturdays, some of the others receiving votes in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 force people to take notice of their teams.

They are not just "other" teams.

Some will make it into the Top 25 either sooner or later. Definitely sooner if they continue their impressive starts to the season.

North Carolina A&T stands a one-point loss against No. 5 Coastal Carolina away from being 3-0. Saturday's road win over Elon underscored how the Aggies might be better than their No. 40 ranking. Coach Rod Broadway has a dandy playmaker in sophomore running back Tarik Cohen.

Just a hunch, but Montana and Coastal Carolina probably have inflated national rankings at No. 4 and 5, respectively. Bethune-Cookman will move up from No. 13, but the Wildcats struggled past Grambling State and probably are ranked too high as well.

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2014 South Carolina State University Marching 101

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Jackson State hopes to fix offensive woes before SWAC play

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Jackson State's much-talked-about offense was silenced by Tennessee State in Saturday's 35-7 loss.

With that, the first item on JSU's agenda this week is 1) Intense film study.

There has to be an explanation why Jackson State (2-1) struggled to get more than three plays in a series. The first thought that came to coach Harold Jackson after the loss was quarterback protection.

Sophomore LaMontiez Ivy has been sacked nine times after three games this season; seven came in Saturday's rout.

"We just switched up our blocking protection, and it started working for us, but it was a little too late," Ivy said.


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