Month: November 2022

Ten PsyD students presented at national conference

Ten Counseling Psychology doctoral students from the Latina/o class of Ezequiel Peña, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, presented at the National Latinx Psychological Association’s (NLPA) 2022 conference in Denver, Colorado, in late October.

The student presenters were: Grace Ancira, Alyssa Arredondo, Jovanna Chavez, Marissa Collier, Olivia Hinojosa, Andrea Nava Quintero, Mayra Perez, Amanda Vega, Kelsey Tovar, and Kendalle Wexler. Dr. Peña also organized a symposium session with three colleagues, Drs. Carlos Ramos, Adriana Gil-Wilkerson, and Julian Crespo, in the Marriage and Family Therapy program. 

The National Latinx Psychological Association is the foremost national association dedicated to advancing Latinx psychology in the U.S. NLPA’s mission is “to create a supportive professional community that advances psychological education and training, science, practice, and organizational change to enhance the health, mental health, and well-being of Hispanic/Latinx populations.” https://www.nlpa.ws/ 

Each peer-reviewed symposium session, listed below, included three to four individual presentations. The symposium presentations:  

Arredondo, A., Perez, M.I., Wexler, K.C., Nava Quintero, A., & Peña, E. (2022, October 20-22). Social constructions of love and marriage: Strengths-based approaches to therapy with diverse Latinx couples [Symposium session]. National Latinx Psychological Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO, United States.  

Vega, A., Tovar, K., Hinojosa, O., & Peña, E. (2022, October 20-22). Salud integrada para todxs: Culturally-attuned approaches to expanding access to mental health services for diverse Latinx communities [Symposium session]. National Latinx Psychological Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO, United States.  

Ancira, G., Chavez, J., & Collier, M. (2022, October 20-22). Concientización de femicidio: Transnational experiences and strengths-based interventions of Latinas vulnerable to femicide [Roundtable session]. National Latinx Psychological Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO, United States.  

Peña, E., Ramos, C.A., Gil-Wilkerson, A., & Crespo, J.F. (2022, October 20-22). Integrative approaches to Latinx psychology: The use of narrative, testimonio, and other literary devices in training Spanish-English bilingual therapists [Symposium Session]. National Latinx Psychological Association Annual Conference, Denver, CO, United States. 

Criminology and Criminal Justice students finish second at CSI competition

OLLU Criminology and Criminal Justice students took home second place at the Crime Scene Investigation competition at the Southwestern Association of Criminal Justice Conference in Austin on Oct. 19. 

The students narrowly missed first place by five points. The following Criminology and Criminal Justice students were awarded their plaque at the closing award ceremonies on Oct. 20: Chloe Felices-Perrier, Ashley Morehead, Arielle Soto, and Naomi Casanova.

Also at the conference, OLLU Criminology and Criminal Justice students co-authored a poster presentation with Dr. Harrison Watts. It was titled Best Practices of Criminal Justice Student Groups: Advice from the 2020 ACJS Student Group of the Year. Students presenting included Mia Ortiz, Nailea Rodriguez, Chloe Felices-Perrier, and Rylie Ruiz.

Deadline to submit projects to Marketing and Communications for fall semester is Friday

To ensure all projects for the end of the semester are completed in a timely manner, the last day to submit project requests to the Marketing and Communications Office is Friday, Dec. 2. This includes ecards, evites, event registration forms, programs, flyers and any other print or digital items.

To submit a digital request, visit https://ollu.formstack.com/forms/project_request_form

The project request form will reopen at the beginning of the spring semester.

In The News

Recent media coverage that brought attention to OLLU:

On Nov. 12, a story in Crescent City Sports about Xavier’s volleyball victory over OLLU in the RRAC Tournament championship: 

Gold Nuggets rally late to win conference tournament championship for 12th consecutive season

On Nov. 9, a story about the mother of late OLLU volleyball player Angelina Martinez and her attempt to raise awareness about drunk driving:

https://www.ksat.com/video/news/2022/11/10/woman-who-lost-daughter-in-traffic-crash-raising-awareness-of-road-safety/

On Nov. 7, a story in the Longview News-Journal about two OLLU-Jarvis Christian volleyball matches, won by the Saints: 

https://www.news-journal.com/etvarsity/jarvis-notebook-basketball-volleyball-news/article_f0c36aaa-5ec0-11ed-9ae8-2f1b95f4d53e.html

Volleyball loses marathon championship match to XULA

The volleyball team dropped a five-set thriller against Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Tournament Championship Match. The Saints are now 21-5 overall. The Gold Nuggets receive an automatic bid to the NAIA Volleyball Championships. Tijana Kruta and Camila Ramirez were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Head Coach Scott Mattera commented, “We knew it was going to be a battle and it was an absolute classic of a championship match. We can analyze all we want but the bottom line is that one single bounce and we are celebrating rather than in tears. The effort was there and I’m so proud of this team. This will be fuel and the future is bright!”

History
The Saints were 5-2 against the Gold Nuggets prior to the match.

Basics
The Saints won a competitive first set 25-22. Ramirez recorded three kills in the final five points and OLLU had three aces. The Gold Nuggets responded in the second set with a .382 hitting percentage. Both teams had double digit kills in the second frame, but Angela Egonu’s power sealed the set for the Gold Nuggets.

The back-and-forth contest continued after the match was evened by Xavier. The Saints forced XULA into 13 errors in the third set. OLLU won the final five points of the set to take a 2-1 lead. The Saints committed costly errors towards the end of the following set. The frame was tied 18-18 and the Gold Nuggets won seven of the next eight points.

Championship honors were on the line in the fifth and deciding set. The Saints jumped out to an 11-8 advantage and forced a timeout by the Gold Nuggets. The teams swapped points and OLLU eventually had a match point at 14-12. Egonu recorded another kill for Xavier and Ramirez followed with an attacking error. Kennedy Wade had a pair of kills following the 14-14 tie to give XULA the title.

Scoring overview
Set One – OLLU 25 – XULA 22
Set Two – XULA 25 – OLLU 17
Set Three – OLLU 25 – XULA 16
Set Four – XULA 25 – OLLU 19
Set Five – XULA 16 – OLLU 14

Set review
In the first set, OLLU recorded 15 kills and seven errors on 36 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .222.

The Saints had 11 kills in the second set and three errors on 31 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .258.

In the third set, OLLU recorded six kills and three errors on 26 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .115.

The Saints had nine kills in the fourth set and seven errors on 34 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .059.

In the fifth set, OLLU recorded five kills and four errors on 29 total attacks for a hitting percentage of .034.

On the offense
Overall, the Saints had 46 kills for a hitting percentage of .141. XULA totaled 63 kills for a hitting percentage of .189.

Ramirez led the Saints with 15 kills. Egonu totaled a team-high 20 kills for the Gold Nuggets.

Lauren Reynard assisted on 40 plays for the Saints. Emi Riglioni tallied 28 assists for the Gold Nuggets.

Defensive standouts
OLLU had a total of 60 digs, led by Ramirez with 22. Linda Mungai tallied 29 digs for XULA.

Serving it up
Ramirez and Julissa Casas had two aces apiece for the Saints. Three different Gold Nuggets players had one service ace each.

What’s next
The Saints will have a chance at a bid to the NAIA Volleyball Championships. The announcements for the 48-team bracket will be made today at 10 a.m.

Women’s soccer falls to TAMUT in RRAC Tournament semifinals

The women’s soccer team ended the 2022 season with a loss against Texas A&M University-Texarkana (TAMUT) 5-1 on Nov. 10. The Saints finish the year with an 8-4-7 overall record and 5-1-5 mark in Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) play. The Eagles advanced to the RRAC Tournament championship match. 

Head Coach Arthur Salazar commented, “Certainly, this is not how we envisioned ending the season. Nevertheless, I’m proud of this team in how they handled the season. I want to make sure to thank our seniors for everything they have given to this program and university. Their commitment and sacrifice have helped us to maintain a high level of competitiveness during their time here. Making it to the conference final three years straight and finishing top four this year is no simple feat. I am so thankful each of these players have chosen to be here at OLLU and appreciate their efforts.”

History
The Saints were 5-1-1 against the Eagles prior to the match.

Basics
The Eagles offense hit on all cylinders during the RRAC Tournament semifinal. Italia Avila started the scoring at the 21st minute on a penalty kick and Johanna Rodriguez added another goal at the 37-minute mark. Lyndee Rheinberger responded for the Saints following the 2-0 deficit. She scored with an assist from Kyleigh Spree-Kolos just under a minute after the Eagles went ahead 2-0. The Saints went into halftime down by only one goal.

Texarkana’s offensive pressure continued in the second half. They tallied three goals and denied the Saints from scoring. The Eagles totaled nine shots on goal and seven corner kicks. The Saints took eight shots with four on goal. Tess Pitcher made four saves in net for OLLU.

Scoring overview
22′ – TAMUT – Italia Avila
37′ – TAMUT – Johanna Rodriguez
38′ – OLLU – Lyndee Rheinberger (assisted by Kyleigh Spree-Kolos)
61′ – TAMUT – Keyla Quiroz (assisted by Ariell Hopkins)
81′ – TAMUT – Alyssa Daily (assisted by Chayce Walker)
85′ – TAMUT – Chayce Walker

Inside the box score
Leading the way for the Saints’ offense was Rheinberger and Sara Garza with two shots on goal each. Three different Texarkana players had two shots on goal.

Overall, the Saints tallied eight shots, with four on goal. Texarkana recorded 14 shots with nine on goal.

OLLU had four corner kicks and the Eagles took seven.

Seven from OLLU are on the Volleyball All-Red River Team

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2022 All-RRAC Team and postseason award-winners as voted by the conference’s coaches. The RRAC also recognized student-athletes who best exemplify the tenets of the NAIA Champions of Character program with the Volleyball Champions of Character team. OLLU has seven members included in this year’s team.   

Recipients from OLLU are as follows:

Setter of the Year: Lauren Reynard

Co-Defender of the Year: Tina Trevino

Freshman of the Year: Mia Dorsey

Camila Ramirez joins Reynard, Trevino and Dorsey on the All-Conference First-Team. Both Ramirez and Trevino are second-year honorees.

Second-Team honorees are Mia Francis, Madalyn Gonzalez and Tijana Kruta. Kruta was named to the First Team in 2018 and the Honorable Mention Team in 2019 and Second Team in 2020 and 2021. Gonzalez also adds Champions of Character honors this year.

Five Saints selected to Women’s Soccer 2022 Red River Athletic Conference All-Conference Team

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2022 RRAC Women’s Soccer All-Conference Team. Postseason award winners were voted by the conference’s head coaches.

Named to the All-Conference First Team is Deanna Tarango. She was part of the First-Team in 2020.

Madison Herrera has been named to the Second Team. In 2019, she received Honorable Mention honors and in 2020 and 2021, she was named to the First Team.

Receiving Honorable Mention are Kyleigh Spree-Kolos and Rachel Dziuba. Spree-Kolos was part of the Second-Team in 2020 and the Honorable-Mention Team last year. Dziuba is also the team’s Champions of Character selectee.

Kaitlyn Olivas is selected to the All-Freshman Team.