Jackson State faces tough obstacle in Las Vegas

JACKSON, Mississippi -- The odds are not in Jackson State’s favor of having fun in Las Vegas.

The Tigers face UNLV at 9 p.m. Thursday in the season opener for both teams.

Jackson State, under first-year coach Tony Hughes, has never beaten an FBS school in its 12 previous tries. The Tigers are also 0-2 against teams in the Mountain West Conference. The Rebels beat Jackson State 39-2 in 1975 in their previous meeting.

“We’ve prepared for this moment,” Hughes said in a SWAC teleconference call. “It’s not like this just snuck up on us and, ‘Oh, wow, we have to fly out to Las Vegas.’ I think our guys will be ready to play.”

Quarterback LaMontiez Ivy leads a high-powered Tigers offense with a deep receiving corps.

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After a year away from the SWAC championship game, Southern begins the chase again

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern has become accustomed to being a championship program, which is what made the 2015 season so difficult to digest.

A 6-5 record and a third-place finish in the SWAC's Western Division does not cut it, not after the previous two seasons ended in Houston and the SWAC Championship Game.

So, Southern made sweeping changes — many of which were difficult for coach Dawson Odums — in an effort to recapture some championship mojo.

Gone is the entire defensive staff, as well as last season's offensive coordinator, Chad Germany. Odums, who was his own defensive coordinator in his first three full seasons, relinquished that role to his former college teammate, Trei Oliver. Chennis Berry was promoted from within the ranks to take over as offensive coordinator.

"We had been therCe for three years, didn’t like the direction, and I wanted to remove myself from it," Odums said.

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Second-year coach Wood looks to bring FAMU ‘back into the competition’

MIAMI, Florida -- Florida A&M was slow out of the gates in 2015 in coach Alex Wood’s first season.

The Rattlers were slow to end the season, as well. A 1-10 season was not what he envisioned, but now Wood has a glimpse of where his team needs to improve.

And with Florida A&M on a streak of four consecutive losing seasons — a combined 11-35 record — Wood is eyeing a quick turnaround in his second season.

“People are anxious,” Wood said. “They’re always asking ‘When are you going to get back?’ because they want us in these games. … That’s our job: To get us back into the competition so it’s exciting football for the MEAC and for FAMU football.”

But after last season, it looks like the Rattlers might still be at least another year away from being in the thick of the competition.

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MEAC commissioner challenges alumni to take ownership of their institutions

Dr. Dennis Thomas
MEAC COMMISSIONER

NORFOLK, Virginia -- There is no sugarcoating the state of HBCUs: Our institutions are hurting. Nationwide, state funding continues to decline, and our athletic programs are under tremendous financial strain to balance their budgets.

I know most HBCUs have strong alumni support. I see them at games and hear from them throughout the year. They are vocal and full of pride. I applaud this. But our institutions need more than a vocal and proud alumni base to survive, they need consistent financial support. If you venture to an institution’s development office and ask for a list of alumni who have given $1,000 or more, you’d be hard-pressed to find more than 5,000 alumni who have done so. That’s hard to hear, but it’s fact. Despite the lack of donors at that level, our alumni – the same ones who are proud and love their schools – are prone to criticize, even though they have not earned the right to do so. Which is why I have accepted the opportunity by The Undefeated to set the record straight – and to educate.

Let me be clear: We need more alumni to be financially active at their respective institutions. I certainly don’t mean to lump all alumni in the same bucket. I know we have thousands of alumni nationwide who consistently support the affairs of their alma mater. But we have a small number carrying the larger load, and frankly, it’s gotten too heavy for the faithful few to carry.

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from THE EDITOR DWIGHT FLOYD: FAMU @ Delaware State Football Game Seven Preseason Pick

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- Dover, Delaware is a very friendly place for Delaware State.

Their lone win in 2015 happened at home in a one point win against Howard University. The Hornets will be looking to avenge a FAMU Homecoming loss with a homecoming win of their own. You would think that the teams should be about even because they both had one win seasons last year.

Expect FAMU to run and pass well against these Hornets and unless the Hornets play better defense this will be a another long season for them. This is another game that FAMU should win.

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Hampton @ FAMU Football Game Eight Preseason Pick

Hampton trampled a weary FAMU Rattlers near the end of last season in Hampton, Virginia. This time it will be an improving Rattler team at home.

Expect this game to be about defense. The team that is able to make that one key stand will win this game. It may come down to a field goal.

FAMU’s passing game will remains it strength as the running game shows marked improvement over last year. Hampton will rely mostly on running. I’m giving FAMU the homecoming edge.

If the Pirate’s band shows up they’ll have to face the Marching 100 and Joe Bullard. That’s an unbeatable combination.

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XULA picked 1st again; Tomasoni is preseason All-GCAC

Juliana Tomasoni

 NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana has been picked to repeat as Gulf Coast Athletic Conference volleyball champion, and the Gold Nuggets' Juliana Tomasoni is on the preseason All-GCAC team.
     
The conference's seven head coaches made the selections, which the GCAC announced Monday.
     
XULA, which seeks sixth consecutive GCAC regular-season and tournament championships, received 5-of-7 first-place votes and 47 points in the poll. SUNO is second with 42 points, and Dillard is third with 32. SUNO and Dillard received one first-place vote apiece.
     
The Gold Nuggets have won 72 of their last 73 matches against GCAC opponents. The lone loss was in five sets last year at SUNO, which earned a shared of the 2015 regular-season title.
     
Tomasoni, a junior outside hitter/defensive specialist from Nova Trento, Brazil, and a former Northeastern Oklahoma A&M standout, was one of seven named preseason All-GCAC. In her first season at XULA, Tomasoni ranks second in the GCAC with 4.18 digs per set, third with a .237 hitting percentage and fourth with 3.0 kills per set.
     
After opening the season with out-of-state tournaments each of the past two weekends, XULA (1-7) will play five times this week in its home city. The Gold Nuggets will visit Loyola Tuesday for matches at 5 p.m. against St. Thomas (Texas) and 7 p.m. against Loyola, then play host to the second annual Big Easy Blastoff at the Convocation Center. XULA will play Friday at 11 a.m. against Pikeville and 5 p.m. against William Carey and Saturday against Southwest (N.M.) at 11 a.m.

GCAC Preseason Voting
All-Conference
Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	Hometown
Kaylin Davison	Edward Waters	OH	5-9	Jr.	Columbus, Ohio
Carla Novaes	Talladega	OH	6-1	Sr.	Sao Paulo, Brazil
Shelby Stewart	Dillard	OH	6-0	Jr.	Houston, Texas
Marija Stojijkovic	SUNO	S	5-8	So.	Belgrade, Serbia
Juliana Tomasoni	Xavier	OH/DS	5-9	Jr.	Nova Trento, Brazil
Autumn Trimble	Philander Smith	RS	6-2	Jr.	Mobile, Ala.
Cailyn Ware	Dillard	OH	5-7	Sr.	Pearland, Texas
Preseason Player of the Year:  Carla Novaes, Talladega

Order of Finish  (first-place votes in parentheses)
Rank	School	Points
1	Xavier (5)	47
2	SUNO (1)	42
3	Dillard (1)	32
4	Philander Smith	27
5	Tougaloo	20
6-tie	Edward Waters	14
6-tie	Talladega	14

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Gold Nuggets win at Loyola to end their losing streak

NEW ORLEANS — Juliana Tomasoni had 15 kills, hit .371 and served three aces Tuesday to help Xavier University of Louisiana rally for a 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 27-25 volleyball victory against Loyola at the Wolf Pack's First NBC Court.
     
The Gold Nuggets (2-8) snapped a five-match losing streak, their longest in six seasons.
     
XULA played twice at Loyola. In their first match, the Gold Nuggets lost 25-18, 25-17, 26-24 to St. Thomas (Texas).
     
Tomasoni also had four assists, five digs and two blocks. She reached double figures in kills for the fifth time this season.
     
Against Loyola, Hasani Salaam had nine kills, and Monet Fontaine and Terri Drake had eight apiece.Amanda Perry had 16 digs and reached double figures for the ninth consecutive match to tie a XULA record. Taylor Ducros and Kayla Jones had 10 digs apiece. The Gold Nuggets' .248 hitting percentage and nine blocks were season highs.
     
XULA recorded back-to-back wins against Loyola at the Wolf Pack's home court for the first time. The Gold Nuggets won in five sets last season. Loyola leads the series 12-6, but the Gold Nuggets won six of the last seven meetings.
     
Against St. Thomas, Salaam had 10 kills and hit a career-high .556 with no errors in 18 attacks. Adili Rikondja had eight kills and hit .438, both career bests, and Perry had 10 digs and two aces.
     
XULA will play its home opener Friday in its Big Easy Opener at the Convocation Center. The Gold Nuggets will play Pikeville at 11 a.m. and William Carey at 5 p.m. SUNO and Southwest (N.M.) also are in the tournament; they'll meet at 9 a.m. Friday to open the five-team, nine-match, two-day event.

GAME 1

GAME 2

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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