USA Volleyball’s Daniel Earns More SBC Weekly Honors And Makes History
Freshman Mechell Daniel was named Sun Belt Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season. This is the sixth consecutive week a Jaguar has earned the honor. She also made Sun Belt History by being the first honoree to earn Freshman of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week honors in the same week. Photo by Brad Puckett | usajaguars.com
Mechell Daniel made history on Monday when she earned both Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week and Sun Belt Freshman Player of the Week honors. She is only the fifth Jaguar to earn the offensive player of the week honor.
This is the fourth time Daniel has been named the freshman player of the week and marks the sixth-consecutive week the honor went to a South Alabama Jaguar. This is the first time Daniel has been named the offensive player of the year in her Jaguar career.
In helping to lead the Jaguars to a perfect 3-0 record this week and clinching a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, she recorded a pair of double-doubles and just narrowly missing a third against Troy. For the season she has 12 double-doubles with 11 of them coming against Conference teams.
The Chelmsford, England native currently ranks third in the conference in kills (3.83) and points (4.36), and is tied for sixth in service aces (0.25).
USA Women’s Volleyball will conclude their regular season on the road this weekend with matches at Western kentucky on Friday and Georgia State on Sunday. They will then prepare for the Sun Belt Conference Championships the following weekend at Troy University.
USA Women’s Volleyball Team Clinched SBC Tournment Spot With Win Over ULM
The University of South Alabama women’s Volleyball team clinched a berth in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 3-0 win over Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday afternoon at Jag Gym. This will be the program’s first berth since the 2010 season and their 17th overall.
The Jags (13-13 overall, 8-8 SBC) will finish out the regular season next weekend with matches against Sun Belt leader Western Kentucky on Friday and Georgia State on Sunday.
The win on Sunday marks the sixth win of it’s last seven matches to bring momentum into the final week of the regular season. USA is currently in a three-way tie with Lousiana-Lafayette and Texas-Arlington for fourth place in the conference.
Freshman Mechell Daniel earned her 12th double-double of the season with 10 kills and 13 digs, this is her 11th against Sun Belt Conference foes. Fellow Freshman Jessica Lewis finished with seven kills and 17 attacks. Mallory Moore, also a freshman, added six kills as well.
ULM fell to 6-26 overall and 2-14 in Sun Belt play.
“I think this is the first time during the conference season that we controlled the match pretty much the whole time,” Jaguar head coach Amy Hendrichovsky stated after the match. “Towards the end of the third set, we made a little change to the lineup and lost a few points, but for the most part, we controlled the match the whole time. Our team was able to be mature and come out with the same focus and same intensity after each break, so that was good to see.”
“Going into this season, it was a goal for us to make the conference tournament, but with the way we are playing right now, we’ve set higher goals,” Hendrichovsky continued. “It’s nice that we didn’t barely get in or back our way in. We actually won our way in and we’re hoping for a decent seed. It could be anybody’s game once you get in the tournament. We’ll now focus on these next two matches and look to gain some momentum.”
The Sun Belt tournament will be held at Troy University on November 21 through November 23.
USA Women’s Soccer Advance To SBC Championship Match On Sunday
The South Alabama women’s soccer team celebrate an overtime shootout win in the semifinal match against Arkansas State in San Marcos Texas. They advance to the Championship Match on Sunday, November 10 at 1pm. | sunbeltsports.org
The championship match is set for the Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship. The #2 seeded Jaguars defeated #6 seeded Arkansas State in an overtime shootout. Later, the #1 seeded Western Kentucky defeated #4 seeded host Texas State 1-0 to also advance.
Arkansas State struck first in the eighth minute when Samhia Simoa took a free kick pass from Ashley Jackson inside the 6-yard box and got it by Drish for the early 1-0 lead.
The Jags tied it up in the 21st minute when Lauren Allison collected a rebound after a shot deflected off of ASU Goalkeeper Amanda Lee and she was there to put it in the net for the tie.
Neither team would score the remainder of regulation and would go into overtime at a 1-1 gridlock. Then neither team could muster an attack in the first or second overtim periods which forced a shootout to determine who would advance.
In the shootout, both teams connected on 4-of-5 shots. South Alabama’s Jordan Duncan netted the first attempt to put the Jags up 5-4 then ASU senior Alex Furr answered by netting her own goal past USA’s Melissa Drish to tie it up again.
Jaguar Shawn Meach then scored again for the Jags as she placed her kick just out of reach of Lee to take the 6-5 lead. Then Drish stopped ASU’s Jenna Duerst’s attempt to secure the victory for the Jags.
South Alabama and Western Kentucky will face off in the Championship match on Sunday at 1pm (CT). The match will be aired on the Sun Belt Network, check your local listings for channel information.
USA’s Rush Hendricks Named To Academic All-District Team
Junior Rush Hendricks was named to the CoSIDA’s Academic All-District team. Photo by John Adams | usajaguars.com
Junior Rush Hendricks was honored for his work in the classroom this week as he was named to the first-team tight end on the Capital One Academic All-District 4 squad by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
This makes the third year in a row that at least one Jaguar has been honored by the organization. Trey Clark was a first-team selection the past two seasons and was named to the second-team Academic All-America in 2012. Alex Page was voted to the first-team last fall.
Hendricks has appeared in all eight games this season and made his first career start against Arkansas State. He caught passes against Southern Utah and Kent State and as part of the special teams unit, he has been credited with five solo tackles.
In the classroom the 6’3″ 235-pound Jay, Florida native has maintained a 4.0 GPA since enrolling in school and has twice been named to the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List.
He will advance to the Capital One Academic All-America Team ballot. The honorees for the first, second and third All-America teams are expected to be announced on Thursday, December 5.
In order to be eligible for academic All-District honors an individuals must have at least sophomore status both academically and athletically, be a starter or important reserve and maintain a minimum 3.30 cumulative GPA. CoSIDA’s District 4 at the NCAA Division I level includes the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
South Alabama’s football team has their third and final bye this weekend. The student-athletes are in the midst of three days off before returning to the practice field on Sunday to resume preparation for their trip to Navy on November 16.
Woodson To Undergo Surgery Today
Danny Woodson Jr. ends the season with 26 catches for 439 yards and four touchdowns. | usajaguars.com
Jaguar wide receiver Danny Woodson Jr is scheduled to have surgery today to repair his ruptured Achilles’ suffered near the end of the Jags game against Arkansas State.
Woodson’s injury typically has a six month recovery time.
The sophomore transfer from the University of Alabama was granted a waiver from the NCAA allowed him to play immediately for the Jags. He caught two passes for 54 yards against the Red Wolves including a 47-yard completion to put the Jags at the 2 yard line and gave him his third reception of over 40 yards in the last two games.
His season ends with 26 receptions for 439 yards and four touchdowns. He ranked fourth on the team in catches, third in receiving yards and second among those with 14 or more catches in yards per catch (16.9).
The previous week at Texas State, Woodson caught two touchdown passes of 42 and 43 yards to help the Jaguars rally back and take the lead in the fourth quarter.
The Jags will take three days off starting Thursday before returning to regular game-week preparation mode to prepare for their game at Navy on Saturday, November 16.
South Alabama Soccer Earns #2 Seed For SBC Championships
The University of South Alabama women’s soccer team earned a #2 seed for the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Women’s Soccer Championship that begin on November 6 in San Marcos, Texas.
The Jags finished the season 12-5-2 overall and 5-2-1 in Sun Belt play. Regular season champ Western Kentucky finished the season with an 8-5-5 record overall and 6-2-0 record in Sun Belt play. WKU won the regular season with 18 points with the Jags finishing second with 16 points in a tie with third place UL-Lafayette but by virtue of winning their head-to-heat matchup, USA won the tiebreaker.
Additionally the Tournament Schedule was released and can be seen below. The Jags will open Tournament play against 7th seeded Georgia State (6-9-1, 4-4-0 SBC) at 10am on Wednesday, November 6. The Championship game will be held on 1pm on Sunday, November 10 and will be broadcast live on the Sun Belt Network.
2013 Sun Belt Conference Soccer Tournament Seeds
1. WKU (8-5-5, 6-2-0 SBC [18 pts])
2. South Alabama (12-5-2, 5-2-1 SBC [16 pts])
3. UL-Lafayette (8-6-3, 5-2-1 SBC [16 pts])
4. Texas State (7-8-2, 4-3-1 SBC [13 pts])
5. Troy (8-9-1, 4-3-1 SBC [13 pts])
6. Arkansas State (9-7-2, 4-4-0 SBC [12 pts])
7. Georgia State (6-9-1, 4-4-0 SBC [12 pts])
8. UALR (4-13-0, 1-7-0 SBC [3 pts])
2013 Sun Belt Conference Soccer Tournament Schedule of Events
Wednesday, November 6
MATCH 1 – 10 a.m. CT – No. 7 Georgia State vs. No. 2 South Alabama
MATCH 2 – 1 p.m. CT – No. 6 Arkansas State vs. No. 3 UL-Lafayette
MATCH 3 – 4 p.m. CT – No. 8 UALR vs. No. 1 WKU
MATCH 4 – 7 p.m. CT – No. 5 Troy vs. No. 4 Texas State
Friday, November 8
MATCH 5 – 4 p.m. CT – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
MATCH 6 – 7 p.m. CT – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
Championship Sunday, November 10
MATCH 7 – 1 p.m. CT – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner (Broadcast Live on Sun Belt Network)
All times central
Jags Lose Woodson For Season
South Alabama’s season just got a bit tougher. One of the Jags big play receivers, Danny Woodson Jr, will miss the remainder of the season with a ruptured Achilles suffered in the Jags 17-16 loss on Saturday.
Woodson transferred to South Alabama from the University of Alabama in May and applied for a waiver to play immediately, which was granted.
On the second to last series for the Jaguars, he was playing away from the ball and had to come to the sideline in apparent pain.
His big play ability will be missed by the Jaguars offense. Against Texas State he scored on touchdown receptions of 42 and 43 yards as the Jags came back to take the lead, but were eventually defeated by a field goal with four seconds remaining.
Woodson is the Jaguars fourth-leading receiver with 26 receptions for 409 yards and four touchdowns. He is the third leading scorer with 24 points. However his threat as a downfield receiver cannot be measured. When Texas State attempted to cover him in man-to-man, Woodson made them pay with five receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns. But when he does pull double-coverage it has opened Shavarez Smith and other receivers to draw one-on-one coverage for some big play opportunities.
The coaches will have two weeks to work on their offensive plan without Woodson as they get ready for the home stretch of their season. With four games remaining, the Jags will host the top two teams in the Sun Belt in Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe with a trip to Atlanta to play the last place team in the conference, Georgia State, sandwiched in between. But before those final three conference games, the Jags will travel to Annapolis to face the Naval Academy who lost to Notre Dame 38-34 on Saturday.
University of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron tweeted his support to his hometown team.
S/O to South Alabama Fball team for a awesome year so far. I know there has been tough losses but stay to the grind & they will turn to W’s
— AJ McCarron (@10AJMcCarron) November 4, 2013
Achilles heel injuries typically requires about six months to heal. Former Jaguar linebacker Jake Johnson also suffered a ruptured Achilles on the same field back in January during his first practice session for the Senior Bowl.
The Sun Belt Conference Announces Affiliation With New Miami Beach Bowl
The Sun Belt Conference announced that it has tie-ins with the newly created Miami Beach Bowl. The Bowl will be owned and administered by the American Athletic Conference and will be played at the Miami Marlin’s new stadium, Marlins Park, which opened two seasons ago.
The Sun Belt will be in the six year bowl rotation for the game along with Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference.
In 2014 and 2015, Conference USA will face a team from the AAC. In 2016 and 2018, a team from the MAC will face an AAC team. That leaves a Sun Belt team to take part in 2017 and 2019.
“The Sun Belt Conference is excited to be included in this new bowl game,” said Commissioner Karl Benson. “Our student-athletes and fans look forward to postseason opportunities and I know that the Miami Beach Bowl will be a great showcase for college football.”
“We are very pleased to host the Miami Beach Bowl at Marlins Park,” said Marlins President David Samson. “Bringing postseason football back to the site of the Orange Bowl should bring a smile to the faces of college football fans throughout South Florida. The history of college football in Miami is replete with fond memories of great players making historic plays on these hallowed grounds. Marlins Park is a perfect venue for exciting college football, and we look forward to many memorable matchups in the years to come.”
Marlins Park will be able to seat 34,000 for football with 50 luxury suits, a retractable roof, climate controlled temperatures and a natural grass playing surface. It opened in 2012 for Miami Marlins, a Major League Baseball team.
Homecoming Activities
Homecoming activities today on the South Alabama campus:
- College Reunions 4-5:30pm on the lawn of Alumni Hall.
- Wall of Honor Unveiling Ceremony 5:30pm at Moulton Tower and Alumni Plaza
- Homecoming Parade 6:30pm South Drive
- Homecoming Pep Rally/Basketball Fan Night 7:00pm at the Mitchell Center
- “Battle of the Greeks” NPHC Step Show 9:00pm at the Mitchell Center
Saturday:
- South Alabama and Kent State kickoff time is 2pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium
- Stadium gates open at 8:00am
- Pregame Tailgating including Sprit Stick Competition
- Jaguar Prowl from the Southeast to the Southwest corners of the stadium at 11:40am
- Homecoming Court presentation at Halftime
Sun Belt Conference In Rotation For New Bahamas Bowl
The Sun Belt Conference will be part of a rotation among five conference for the new Bahamas Bowl. Along with the Sun Belt the Mountain West Conference, Mid-American Conference, American Athletic Conference and Conference USA will make up the five conference rotation.
The inaugural Bahamas Bowl will kick off in December 2014 at the Thomas A. Robinson Stadium. The stadium current seats 15,000 people, but has the ability to be expanded to hold up to 30,000 and is named for the Olympian track and field star.
The agreement for this new bowl game is for the next six seasons beginning in 2014.
“The Sun Belt Conference is thrilled to be part of this new football bowl game,” Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson said. “Our student-athletes and fans look forward to being able to enjoy the history and traditions of Nassau and the country of the Bahamas while at the same time being part of the history that will come with this event.”
Earlier this year the Sun Belt worked out a connection with the new Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama while Conference USA was included in the rotation for the new Boca Raton Bowl just last week.
It is expected that a creation of a new bowl game to be played at Marlins Park in Miami that will be anchored by the American Athletic Conference.