Month: June 2020

First Drive-Thru Diploma Pick-Up Parade set for Saturday

OLLU will celebrate spring graduates with the first of three Drive-Thru Diploma Pick-Up Parades on Saturday from 9-11 a.m.

Graduates and their families are invited to participate at the San Antonio campus parade. Faculty, staff and students are invited to cheer on the graduates by lining the routes on campus. Social distancing rules must be adhered to strictly. For a map of the parade, click here.

At the end of the parade route in San Antonio, the Bookstore will be selling OLLU merchandise and the 2020 OLLU Fiesta medal. A tent will be set up by the Jersig Center. Proceeds from the medal will benefit the OLLU Student Emergency Fund. The cost is $10.

Graduates who wish to participate in the parade must complete this form. Once the form is complete, graduates will receive additional instructions for participation.


Other general details:

* Graduates and their families are asked to stay in their car and proceed through the parade route (see maps for specific campus).

* Spectators are asked to park in lots not on the parade route and proceed to the route on foot. Spectators must not approach graduates in cars and must maintain proper social distance with other spectators.

* University staff members will be along the route taking photos that will be posted on the OLLU Flickr account.

* Graduates participating in the parades may still participate in the commencement ceremony planned for fall.

* Graduates who do not wish to take part in a parade will have their diplomas mailed to them.

Virtual Town Hall meeting set for June 2

There will be a virtual Town Hall meeting for employees on Tuesday, June 2 at 1 p.m. during this time, President Melby and OLLU administrators will share updates and answer questions. The team will take questions during the Town Hall, but employees are encouraged to submit questions beforehand so the team can better prepare.

Submit questions at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/June2020TownHall

Login information can be accessed at https://ollusa.sharepoint.com/sites/AdministrationDivision/SitePages/Staff-Town-Hall-Webex-Information.aspx.

In the news

Here are media reports from the past several days that brought attention to OLLU:


On May 31: KSAT-12 aired a story about a Jefferson High School volleyball star who signed a letter-of-intent with OLLU. The story included an interview with volleyball coach Scott Mattera.

https://www.ksat.com/sports/2020/05/31/thomas-jefferson-graduate-skyla-st-clair-commits-to-play-volleyball-for-ollu/


On May 28, News 4 WOAI posted a story on its website about the CARES Acts program. The piece explained that all eligible OLLU students will receive at least $200 from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.


On May 27, the San Antonio Express-News published a story on the expansion of athletics at OLLU. While other schools are cutting back during the COVID-19 pandemic, OLLU is adding sports.


For more stories about OLLU from the spring semester, click here: 

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https://ollulakeweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Press-Clippings-Spring-Semester-2020.pdf

OLLU wins seventh consecutive RRAC All-Sports Award

Following a truncated year that saw the elimination of spring sports championships due to coronavirus, the overall result from competition was familiar. OLLU earned its seventh consecutive Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) All-Sports Award with a total of 78 points and a 34-point margin over the field. This year’s achievement helped OLLU surpass (former NAIA, now NCAA D1) Houston Baptist University’s (HBU) mark of six straight outright All-Sports titles. HBU still holds the record for total awards with nine. 

2019-2020 RRAC All-Sports Award
Final Standings
1. Our Lady of the Lake78
2. LSU Shreveport44
3. LSU Alexandria41
4. Southwest37
5. Wiley25
6. Houston-Victoria21
 Huston-Tillotson21
8.Jarvis Christian17

The All-Sports Award is given annually to the RRAC athletic program that performs best across the conference’s sports in a given academic year. Points are awarded to the top five teams in regular-season conference standings using a 10-8-6-4-2 scoring system, while results in conference tournaments and championship events merit additional points on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis. In sports such as cross country, postseason team finishes are awarded regular season and postseason points. A sport must have at least four schools participating to qualify for inclusion in point calculations. 

Baseball, softball, women’s tennis and men’s and women’s track and field were the sports that were eliminated this year so no points were received. 

OLLU had one of the top-ranked teams nationally in women’s basketball where they won the RRAC regular-season title before the national tournament was canceled. The Saints also claimed titles in women’s soccer (regular season and tournament) as well as men’s and women’s cross country. OLLU was also third in the RRAC men’s soccer standings. 

“As we receive this record-breaking recognition, we need to issue a special thank you to all administrators, professors and personnel that support and help our program develop scholar student-athletes,” says OLLU Director of Athletics Shane Hurley. “This is an honor for our athletic program and institution, and it is a result of high expectations and demanding cultures set by our coaches, as well as the resilience of our student-athletes.”

LSU Shreveport finished as the runner-up in this year’s standings. The Pilots won the last two RRAC championship events on March 7, when they claimed both the conference men’s and women’s basketball championship games. LSUS placed second in the regular-season standings for both of those sports while achieving second place and fifth place in the men’s and women’s soccer results. 

LSU Alexandria landed in third place in all-sports points with a men’s basketball regular-season title and a women’s soccer second-place finish to its credit. The University of the Southwest placed fourth with runner-up efforts in men’s and women’s cross country, while Wiley earned fifth place. The University of Houston-Victoria (men’s soccer champion) and Huston-Tilllotson University (volleyball champion) tied for sixth. 

Men’s basketball season overview

The men’s basketball team finished the 2019-2020 season with a 10-18 overall record and 6-12 mark in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). The Saints finished seventh in the conference and fell one spot shy of competing in the conference tournament.

See overall men’s basketball record books here.

Ruben Monzon (SO/San Diego, Calif.) (Second Team), Michael Saladin (SR/Beaumont, Texas) (Second Team) and Victor Roper (FR/San Antonio, Texas) (Honorable Mention) were all named to the RRAC All-Conference team. Monzon was chosen as the team’s Champions of Character. Roper took home the title of Red River Freshman of the Year.

Monzon was selected as RRAC Player of the Week for Nov. 11-17 after scoring 26 points and grabbing 16 rebounds against Southern University-New Orleans. He was also named RRAC Character Athlete of the Week for April 15.

Individual statistic leaders for the Saints included Monzon with 29 steals and 218 rebounds, Saladin with 15.91 points per game, Tyler Giron (SO/Houston, Texas) with 45 assists and Roper with 24 blocks.

Saladin became the Saints all-time leading three-point percentage shooter with a .464 average. Embry became the single-season free-throw percentage leader with an .854 mark this season.

The Saints defeated No. 22-ranked Texas Wesleyan University in one of the most thrilling games in recent Saints history. OLLU won 138-127 in double overtime and three Saints players scored more than 20 points each.

Another memorable victory for the Saints came on the road against NCAA D2 Eckerd College. Embry tallied 27 points and Monzon added 21 in an 88-83 Saints win.

The longest winning streak for OLLU was four games in the latter part of the season. They defeated conference opponents Wiley College, Huston-Tillotson University, Paul Quinn College and the University of the Southwest.

Chris Dial finished his first season as head coach after being named interim head coach the season before and holds a 17-37 record at OLLU.

The Saints will begin their 12th season in 2020. Most matches will be live-streamed on the OLLU Saints Network and all will include live stats.

OLLU congratulates student-athletes earning their degree

OLLU celebrated the spring graduating student-athlete class of 2020 with a special Mass broadcast on Facebook on May 7. The Mass was held in recognition and thanksgiving for graduates whose commencement ceremonies had to be postponed until December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Father David Garcia offered blessings for all the graduates, and he blessed graduation symbols such as rings and other jewelry. OLLU President Diane E. Melby, PhD, addressed graduates and their families and friends during the Mass.

Spring graduates will be included in commencement ceremonies in December.

Upon the conclusion of the Saints’ 13th season of NAIA athletics, 27 student-athletes graduated from OLLU.

Athletic Director Shane Hurley said, “The ultimate goal of our student-athletes is to not only excel in their sport but to earn their degree. We are proud of all of those who sacrificed so much to put in hard work and dedication to be able to achieve this great feat. I, along with our coaches and staff, are proud of everyone for their success.”

Of the 27 athletes graduating, two played multiple sports, including Andrew Moczygemba (Cross-Country / Track and Field) and Patience Okpe (Track and Field / Basketball). Two softball alumni members, Tiffany (Stritz) Subia and Brooke Vasquez, earned their MBAs.

Here is a list of who received their degrees this spring 2020, their sport and their degree:

BASEBALL
Mick Hernandez
BBA MARKETING

BASKETBALL
PJ Escobar
BS KINESIOLOGY
Irma Jean Ealy
BA CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Brandon Joseph
BBA MANAGEMENT
Ryan Otis
BA CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Michael Saladin
BS KINESIOLOGY
Kasey Saldana
BS BIOLOGY
Lena Wilson
BS KINESIOLOGY

CHEER
Lauryn Castro
BA COMM DISORDERS
Juliana Guerrero
BBA MARKETING
Jazlyn Hernandez
BA CDIS

CROSS-COUNTRY / TRACK AND FIELD
Andrew Moczygemba
BBA MARKETING

SOCCER
Adam Bieker
BS BIOLOGY
Ilaina Brenes-Rodriguez
BS KINESIOLOGY
Matheus Campos
BBA MANAGEMENT
Giovanni Cardenas
BS KINESIOLOGY
Maryssa Garza
BS BIOLOGY
Nick Genthon
BS CHEMISTRY
Joel Gonzalez
BA CRIMINAL JUSTICE

SOFTBALL
Tiffany (Stritz) Subia
MBA HEALTH CARE
Brooke Vasquez
MBA MANAGEMENT

TRACK AND FIELD / BASKETBALL
Patience Okpe
BA MULTIDISCIPLINARY

TRACK AND FIELD
Aundrea Culliver
BS KINESIOLOGY
Miki Romain
BS BIOLOGY
Clayton Townsend
BS BIOLOGY

VOLLEYBALL
Natalie Fazio
BA MULTIDISCIPLINARY
Anyssa Rivera
BA POLITICAL SCIENCE

Special Note: Some listed will finish out their studies in the summer, but would have been able to walk the stage in the spring.

Women’s soccer season overview

The women’s soccer team captured its fifth Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) regular-season title in 2019 after a 13-3-1 season and 8-1 conference record.  After defeating LSU-Shreveport in the semifinals, the women earned a spot in the conference tournament final. The Saints won the conference title due to a forfeit by the University of the Southwest.

See overall women’s soccer record books here.

Selected to the RRAC All-Conference team were Dawson Brinkley (SO/San Antonio, Texas) (First Team), Baye Polansky (JR/Helotes, Texas) (First Team), Jaylin Seto (SO/Houston, Texas) (First Team), Maryssa Garza (SR/Portland, Texas) (Second Team), Andrea Villarreal (FR/Cypress, Texas) (Second Team), Erika Zapata (SO/Baytown, Texas) (Second Team), Jessica Zapata (SO/Baytown, Texas) (Second Team) and Madison Herrera (FR/Helotes, Texas) (Honorable Mention). Liliana Briseno (SO/San Antonio, Texas) was selected as the team’s Champions of Character. All-Tournament selections were Brinkley, Victoria Castro (SR/McAllen, Texas) and Herrera.  Arthur Salazar received RRAC Coach of the Year honors.

Brinkley was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.

During the season, Brinkley was selected as Offensive Player of the Week twice, while Polansky received one offensive weekly award. Herrera was named Defensive Player of the Week twice, and Erika Zapata received one defensive weekly award.

The Saints held opponents scoreless nine times, which included a streak of six games. OLLU led the RRAC by allowing an average of only 0.59 goals per game.

Brinkley led the Saints with 11 goals, 43 shots and 29 shots on goal. She also recorded a hat trick against Texas College in a dominant 11-0 Saints victory. Seto led the team with seven assists.

Brinkley broke the single-game shots on goal record with eight against Texas College on Oct. 5. The Saints totaled 38 shots on goal as a team against the Steers, which is also a program record.

The women received five first-place conference ratings throughout the season.

Salazar finished his seventh season as head coach for the Saints and has tallied a career 91-36-6 record and 50-10-2 conference record. The Saints’ only loss this season at home was to Wayland Baptist University on Sept. 9 by the score of 1-2. Their only conference loss was to Huston-Tillotson University on Oct. 10 by the score of 0-1.

The Saints will begin their 13th season in August 2020. Most matches will be live-streamed on the OLLU Saints Network.