The men’s soccer team ended its season last week after losing 1-0 to the University of the Southwest in the Red River Athletic Conference quarterfinals match. The fourth-seeded Saints finished the year with an overall record of 11-4-1 and a conference record of 4-2-1. Southwest, the fifth seeded team, will advance to the conference’s semifinals round on Nov. 8 in Houston. The Mustangs record is 6-8 overall and 4-3 in the conference. Read more online.
For the first time in school history, the women’s soccer team won the Red River Athletic Conference regular season and finished undefeated with a 6-0 conference record. The Saints beat Huston-Tillotson University 2-0 on Saturday evening to clinch the title. The team is the No. 1 seed the in the conference tournament. The first round begins this Friday with the No. 3-seed University of the Southwest (3-2-1/6-7-1) hosting No. 6-seed Texas College (1-5/4-10-2). No. 4-seed Huston-Tillotson (3-2-1/4-7-2) will host No. 5-seed Bacone College (2-4/6-10). Then on Nov. 8, the Saints (6-0/14-2-1) and the University of Texas at Brownsville (5-1/11-3) will play the winners of the Nov. 1 games. The semifinals and championship match, which will take place on Nov. 9, will be held at the Houston Amateur Sports Park in Houston. Read more online.
The men’s soccer team finished the regular season in third place after beating Huston-Tillotson University 5-2. The Saints (4-2-1/11-3-1) will host No. 6-seed University of the Southwest (3-4/4-9) on Friday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. No. 4-seed Huston-Tillotson (4-3/5-8-2) will host No. 5-seed Wiley College (3-2-2/7-4-3) on Friday, as well. The winners of those two games will advance to the semifinals on Nov. 8 and will face either No. 1-seed University of St. Thomas (6-1/11-3-2) or No. 2-seed University of Texas at Brownsville (5-1-1/12-2-2). The winners of the semifinals will play the championship match on Saturday, Nov. 9. These games will take place at the Houston Amateur Sports Park in Houston. Read more online.
The men’s basketball program is in its fifth season, and with just four returning players, the Saints will have an almost entirely new team entering the court, a situation the team has not faced since the start of the program in 2009. The Saints finished last season with an 18-13 overall record and a 14-8 record in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC). As the No. 4 seed in the conference, the Saints lost to Texas Wesleyan University, 101-92, in the tournament’s quarterfinal. The Saints have qualified for the playoffs all four years. According to head coach Russell Vanlandingham, the conference had many quality teams last year, with two of them finishing in the top four at the NAIA National Tournament. Read more online.
The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) cross-country teams participated in the Mid-States NAIA Classic on Saturday, and according to Coach Stephen Sherman, the teams played their best meet ever. “Whereas the meet at UIW was perhaps collectively our worst meet ever, this one was for sure collectively our best meet ever. After the result at UIW, I challenged this group to step up, and they did it with emphasis. It was fun to watch, and I could tell the result was enjoyable for them. All of them ran this race masterfully, and it should give them much needed confidence headed into the conference meet in two weeks.” Read more online.
Our Lady of the Lake University Saints Athletics announced the release of a free mobile iOS application for the iPad and iPhone. The release follows the launch of the Saints’ brand-new web site last month.
The app can be downloaded at no cost on the iTunes app store here.
Designed for the community to stay connected on the go, the app acts as a mobile host to information provided on the athletics website, www.OLLUSaintsAthletics.com, and the athletics’ social media channels, including www.facebook.com/OLLUSaintsAthletics, www.twitter.com/OLLUSaints, www.youtube.com/OLLUSaints, Instragram: OLLUniversity_Saints and Vine: OLLUniversity_Saints.
The app, created by the athletics’ website-hosting company — SIDhelp – was officially released after Apple, Inc. approved the final version for the iTunes store in October.
The new app will allow Saints Athletics to provide fans and the OLLU community instant and insightful access to all athletics information. With the app, users can read the latest headlines and game recaps, access student-athlete and staff bios, view team schedules, get connected through the various department social media channels, and even watch or listen to live events when a Wi-Fi connection is available.
The softball team hosted its second round robin of the fall on Saturday. Participants included the local club team, the Challengers, Southwestern Assemblies of God University and Schreiner University. The Saints opened up the tournament at 9:30 a.m. with a scrimmage against the Challengers. They returned to the field at 11 a.m. to face SAGU. At 12 p.m., SAGU played Schreiner, and at 2 p.m., Schreiner played the Challengers. OLLU played the last game of the afternoon at 5 p.m. against Schreiner. No scores were taken. Read more online.
The Office of Alumni Relations and the Saints tennis teams hosted their annual Fall Tennis Mixer last Friday. More than 30 children and alumni gathered at the tennis courts to get free tips from the members of the men’s and women’s teams. Afterward, participants enjoyed pizza and camaraderie.
Despite outshooting Wiley College 23-4, the men’s soccer team tied the Wildcats 1-1 on Saturday afternoon. Earlier this week, the Saints made their debut in the NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll at No. 20. Prior to the beginning of the game, the Saints honored seniors Luis Flores, Yared Temesgen, Martin Hansson, Osiris Estrada and Salim Sandoval. Each received a bouquet of flowers from Head Coach Shane Hurley and Assistant Coach Arthur Salazar, and another set of flowers from OLLU’s Office of Family Relations. In addition, the men received a photo montage depicting each year they played on the soccer team. Flores played all four years for the Saints. Temesgen joined the team in 2009 but had to sit out a year due to injury, so he was actually a member of the Saints for five years. Sandoval also joined the team in 2009, but last year, he was injured. He was hoping to play this season, but his injury was too severe. And, both Estrada and Hansson joined the team last season.
After beating Wiley College on Saturday afternoon, the Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) women’s soccer team has clinched at least a share of the Red River Athletic Conference regular season title. The 4-0 win moves the Saints to 5-0 in the conference and 13-2-1 overall, while Wiley drops to 0-4 and 0-13 overall. Earlier this week, the Saints made their debut in the NAIA Women’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll at No. 21. This is the first time ever that the Saints have been ranked in the poll. In previous weeks, the team has received up to 10 votes. Prior to the beginning of the game, seniors Alyssa Mora, Emily Backus, Cindy Lima-Caceres, Brianna Otis, Victoria Vazquez and Chelsea Flores were honored. Each received a bouquet of flowers from Head Coach Shane Hurley and Assistant Coach Arthur Salazar, and another set of flowers from OLLU’s Office of Family Relations. In addition, the women received a photo montage depicting each year they played on the soccer team. Mora joined the team as a sophomore, while Flores played in 2011 and this season. Backus, Lima-Caceres, Otis and Vazquez each played four years for the Saints.
The Saints took about 12 minutes to put the first point on the board after Stephanie Diaz took a pass from Amaris Tavares. The ball deflected off the Wiley keeper for the goal.
