OLLU received 209 to be ranked No. 19 in the NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The Saints ended their season on Nov. 23 during the first round of the NAIA National Championship Tournament. OLLU lost 1-0 to William Carey University (No. 10), which in turn lost to Embry-Riddle University (Fla.) (No. 6) 1-0 to end its season. The Saints won the Red River Athletic Conference Regular Season and Conference Tournament for the first time ever. They finished the season with a 16-3-1 overall record and a perfect 6-0 in conference. Read full story online.
Category: Sports
Five OLLU athletes named 2013 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the men’s soccer, women’s soccer and volleyball student-athletes that have been named 2013 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes. OLLU student-athletes Martin Hansson, Emily Backus, Alyssa Mora, Victoria Vazquez and Bryttany Willoughby are among the honorees.
Hansson, a senior on the men’s soccer team is receiving this award for the first time. Last year, he received the Champions of Character award, as well as conference scholar athlete honors. Read more online.
OLLU women’s soccer seniors Backus, Mora and Vazquez all three received the award last year. In addition, Backus has received the CoSIDA-Captial One Academic All-District Award, and all have been named conference scholar athletes in each of their years at OLLU. Read more online.
Willoughby, a junior on the volleyball team, is also receiving this award for the first time. In her previous two years at OLLU, she has received conference scholar athlete honors, as well as the CoSIDA-Capital One Academic All- District Award. Read more online.
In order to be nominated as a Scholar Athlete by an institution’s head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status.
OLLU launches official online merchandise store
Last week, OLLU announced the launch of the brand-new OLLU Saints Gear web site that features a wide variety of products with the University’s official branding. The site, www.ollusaintsgear.com, includes clothing, business accessories, luggage, food items and myriad of other popular items. Products in the inventory contain those with official OLLU logos, to include those of The Woodlands, the Rio Grande Valley and Alumni, as well as Saints athletics logos. As the OLLU community continues its Christmas shopping, members are encouraged to consider purchasing items featured here, where a portion of everything sold will benefit the University.
Courtney Bayliss selected as conference ‘Women’s Basketball Player of the Week’
Courtney Bayliss earned a share of the Red River Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week award for Nov. 25-Dec. 1. She shares the award with Chelsea Davis of the University of St. Thomas. Bayliss, a junior forward from Perth, Australia, reached a career high in points with 31 in a 91-69 victory over Wayland Baptist University on Saturday. She also chipped in five rebounds, three blocks and four steals while sinking six three-pointers. The Saints remain unbeaten at 4-0 on the season. Read full story online.
Men’s basketball loses close games to St. Gregory’s and USAO
The men’s basketball team lost two close games this weekend at the St. Gregory’s University (SGU) Classic. On Friday, the Saints lost 91-93 to St. Gregory’s and Saturday, the team lost to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) 84-89. The losses drop the Saints to 3-5 overall, while SGU improves to 8-0 and USAO to 3-4. Saints sophomore Christian Wood-Dvorak finished with his first double-double scoring 18 points and adding 13 rebounds in the first game. Roberson added 22 points, but he left the game after playing 18 minutes due to foul trouble. Dylan Elias scored 17 points for the Saints adding seven assists. In the game against USAO, the Saints fought through the second half coming as close as one point with two and a half minutes left in the game. USAO kept the momentum and beat the Saints 89-84 not allowing the Saints to lead at all in the second period. The Saints committed 13 turnovers while forcing 19. Roberson scored 24 points, while Terence Berry added 17. OLLU will begin its Red River Athletic Conference schedule on Dec. 6 against Langston University in Langston, Okla. The Saints will then play conference opponent Bacone College on Dec. 7 in Muskogee, Okla. Read full story online.
Women’s basketball comes back after first-half deficit to beat Wayland Baptist
After trailing by as much as 12 points in the first half, the women’s basketball team came back to beat Wayland Baptist University (WBU) 91-69. The win moves the Saints to 4-0 overall, while WBU drops to 2-4. Head Coach Christopher Minner said, “It was a good comeback victory for us. We played with some energy and intensity in the second half, and we shot the ball well in the second half. We still need to improve on our rebounding. After a bad first half, the team did a great job in not giving up and finishing up the game. Plus, our man-to-man defense was good in the second half and enabled us to get some key stops.” The Saints forced 29 turnovers, while giving the ball up 15 times. The Saints shot 43 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 48 percent from the free throw line. Junior Courtney Bayliss led the Saints in scoring with 31 points including 12-of-25 from the field, 5-of-15 from 3-point range and 1-of-2 free throws. She added five rebounds, three blocks and four steals. The Saints will continue their road schedule on Monday when they play NCAA Division II McMurry University at 6 p.m. Read full story.
OLLU among qualifiers in NAIA Cross-Country National Championships Field
The 32-team field and individual qualifiers for the NAIA Women’s and Men’s Cross-Country National Championships were announced by the national office last Monday. The Our Lady of the Lake University women’s team qualified after placing first in the Red River Athletic Conference Championship Meet last Friday. In addition, men’s cross-country’s Jonathan Yanez qualified as an individual after he placed second in the meet. The women’s field is made up of 21 conference, independent and unaffiliated grouping champions; two conference, independent and unaffiliated grouping runners-up and nine at-large selections. The women’s meet will take place on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kan. The women’s 5K race will begin at 11:45 a.m. CST. The men’s field is made up of 21 conference, independent and unaffiliated grouping champions; one conference, independent and unaffiliated grouping runner-up and 10 at-large selections. The men’s meet will also take place prior to the women’s race at 10:30 a.m. CST. Read full story online.
OLLU among qualifiers in NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championships Tournament
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the NAIA Women’s Soccer National Championship qualifiers for the 30th Annual event. The 31-team championship will get underway with the National Championship Opening Round at 15 campus locations on Nov. 23. The 15 Opening Round winners, as well as host Mobile, will advance to the national championship final site in Orange Beach, Ala. The Orange Beach Sportsplex houses the 16 teams from Dec. 2-7. After winning both the Red River Athletic Conference regular season title and the championship tournament, the Our Lady of the Lake University Saints qualified for its first-ever national trip. The Saints are ranked No. 18, up one place from last week, in the 2013 NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll — Final that was released on Nov. 17. Read full story online.
OLLU’s Nashae Owens selected as conference ‘Women’s Basketball Player of the Week’
Nashae Owens earned selection as Red River Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the dates of Nov. 11-17. Owens, a junior guard from Pearland, Texas, averaged 20.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game as the Saints won a pair of games at the LSU Shreveport Classic. She exploded for 26 points and seven assists in a 92-86 victory over Xavier University, the highest ranked team OLLU has ever beaten. Owens then accounted for 14 points and six assists in a 99-72 trouncing of Philander Smith College. She made 12-of-24 shots from the field on the week as 17th-ranked OLLU ran its record to 3-0. Read full story online.
OLLU men’s basketball loses close game to MidAmerica Nazarene
The men’s basketball lost its home opener against NAIA No. 15-ranked MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) 99-97 before an enthusiastic Mabee Gymnasium. The Saints drop to 1-3, while MNU improves to 6-0. Head Coach Ryan Wall said, “The kids played hard, but we made some mental mistakes and the ball just wasn’t falling in for us when we needed it to. But MidAmerica is a good team with a coach who will be in the Hall of Fame one day. The game was a good practice for us to get ready for conference.” Saints’ senior captain Marcus Thompson scored a career-high 21 points, including 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. He added eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Xavier Roberson scored 29 points consisting of 8-of-12 field goals, 4-of-7 field goals and 9-of-12 free throws. Dylan Elias scored 20 points for the Saints to include 8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3-point range. The Saints committed 12 turnovers while forcing 23.
The Saints will return to Mabee Gym next Friday and Saturday to host their third annual Halo Classic. On Nov. 22, Northwood University will face the University of St. Thomas at 5:30 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., the Saints will play Texas Wesleyan University. On Nov. 23, St. Thomas will play Texas Wesleyan and at 4 p.m., the Saints will play Northwood. Read more online.