LSC Roundup 10-6

Darwinian future awaits remaining teams after Oklahomans exit - J Scott Russell, Times Record News
Welcome to the new-look Lone Star Conference.

With apologies to the teams in the North Division that will go to their new conferences next season, the first two weeks of play in the South have given us a preview of what life will be like in the future.

Gone will be two or three early-season wins over the Oklahoma schools — although some of them will still pop up on the schedule as non-conference games — and it will be survival of the fittest among the Texas teams and Eastern New Mexico.

And as Incarnate Word showed the Midwestern State Mustangs, you can’t afford to overlook or look past anyone.

In addition to that overtime contest, the South had Angelo State hang with West Texas A&M before falling in the first week of South Division play, while Abilene Christian was handing Tarleton State its worst loss ever.

But the Texans rebounded and beat Angelo State last Saturday.

And then the No. 5 Wildcats and then-No. 6 Texas A&M-Kingsville started what could be five straight weeks of top-10 showdowns — although some of the teams may no longer be in the top 10 when these games are actually played.

UCO's Ethan Sharp builds confidence - Scott Munn, The Oklahoman
EDMOND — Ethan Sharp had already sold his football coach. Sharp's challenge was to convince his teammates. Prove it to fans. Convince himself that he was good enough to start at quarterback for Central Oklahoma.

Sharp has accomplished each task.

After six weeks of the college football season, the sophomore has become one of the best passers in the Lone Star Conference. Sharp directs an offense that averages 30.6 points and 388.6 yards per game.

"I decided it was time for me to lead this team, and I think they have confidence in me now,” Sharp said. "And my own confidence has soared.”

Lone Star Domination - Fort Worth Star Telegram

A special shout-out and a big thank you to the great Kent Johnson, the athletic media relations director at West Texas A&M. KJ made sure that I didn't forget to mention the following: The AFCA Division II football poll features four Texas schools in its top 25. Four are in the top 10.

Abilene Christian-5th
West Texas A&M-7th
Midwestern State-8th
Texas A&M-Kingsville-10th

The common thread? Those four teams are all in the South Division of the Lone Star Conference. That's like the SEC on steroids.

Midwestern State plays at ACU this weekend. Both teams are undefeated.

- Mac Engel


Rams add two to practice squad - St Louis Dispatch
Cornerback Terrail Lambert worked out Tuesday for the Rams and will be added to the practice squad. He joins defensive tackle Jimmy Saddler-McQueen, who was signed Monday to the practice squad.

Lambert, 24, signed with San Francisco in 2009 as an undrafted rookie out of Notre Dame but spent most of last season on the Indianapolis practice squad. He was released by the Colts at the end of the 2010 preseason. At Notre Dame, Lambert started 31 games and had four career interceptions, one of which he returned for a game-winning touchdown against Michigan State.

Saddler-McQueen was signed last April by Chicago as an undrafted rookie from NCAA Div. II Texas A&M-Kingsville. He spent most of training camp and the preseason with Dallas before getting released by the Cowboys. Saddler-McQueen recorded a forced fumble in his first exhibition game with the Cowboys and had a safety later in the preseason against San Diego.

LSC Volleyball: Six earn weekly honors - LSC Office
A full slate of Lone Star Conference games along with non-conference contests are scheduled this week. Abilene Christian and West Texas A&M are both 4-0 in conference play to lead the league with Central Oklahoma (4-1) behind them as competition for one of eight spots at the LSC Volleyball Championship continues.

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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Neely Borger, Abilene Christian University, FR, Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo HS
Borger was a catalyst for the Wildcats as the pulled an upset of No. 11 Emporia State on Saturday. Borger was outstanding offensively finishing the weekend with a .387 hitting percentage with 35 kills on 63 attempts. She led ACU in kills with 13 in the win over ESU hitting a hot .722 with her biggest seven kills coming in the final two sets. Borger also showed a defensive presence recording 10 blocks and accounting for 49 points in four matches for the Wildcats.

Chelsea Gibson, Angelo State University, SO, Spring Branch, Texas, Smithson Valley HS
Gibson recorded 40 kills, seven total blocks, five digs with a .306 hitting percentage in four matches at the Lady Blues Regional Crossover Tournament in Topeka, Kan. Her performance earned her All-Tournament Team honors. She had two double-digit kill performances versus No. 12 Truman State (15 kills) and at No. 7 Washburn (11 kills). Gibson has totaled a team-leading 162 kills (3.06 kills per set), 34 total blocks (0.64 blocks per set) and a .289 hitting percentage on the season.

DEFENSIVE
Kelsie Edwards, Abilene Christian University, JR, Highlands Ranch, Colo., Highlands Ranch HS
Edwards was outstanding over the weekend for the Wildcats as she recorded 63 digs in the four matches. Edwards was one dig shy of her season high against UNO as she recorded 20 in a straight set victory for the Wildcats. She recorded double-digit digs in every game for ACU including 18 to lead all players in the loss to Truman State giving her a total of 222 on the season moving her closer to the top 10 all-time at ACU.

Brittany McDonald, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, JR, Carrollton, Texas, Creekview HS
McDonald helped Southeastern to a 2-1 week that included its first LSC win of the season. McDonald was dominant at the net both offensively and defensively. On defense, she turned in 14 blocks, four of which were solo, over nine sets, averaging 1.56 blocks per set. Offensively, she averaged 2.56 kills per set and had an attack percentage of .465 for the week. Her numbers were bolstered by a school-record performance in a win over St. Mary’s in which she hit .850 for the match with 17 kills in 20 attempts. The mark was also good enough to tie her for third all-time in the NCAA record book.

SETTER
IJ Moronu, Abilene Christian University, SR, Ft. Worth, Texas, Paschal HS
Moronu has continued to show validity to her preseason LSC Setter of the Year selection as she helped run the ACU offense to a tune of a .201 hitting percentage. Individually, Moronu hit .392 as she added 24 kills for the Wildcats as they finished 3-1 on the weekend. Moronu was outstanding adding 148 assists for an average of 9.25 assists per set. She is also sitting at 561 assists on the season and is just 56 shy of third all-time in the Wildcat record books.

Jordan Neal, Texas A&M University - Commerce, FR, Joshua, Texas, Joshua HS
Neal had a career-best 57 assists in the five-set win over Incarnate Word and 25 assists in the contests against Texas Woman’s and Texas A&M-International. Also against the Dust Devils, she had two service aces and three kills. She also had three kills against the Cardinals and four more against the Pioneers.

Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25
1 Cal Poly Pomona
2 Findlay (Ohio)
3 St. Cloud State (Minn.)
4 Indiana (Pa.)
5 Florida Southern
6 Bellarmine (Ky.)
7 Bentley (Mass.)
8 Tarleton State (Texas)
9 Grand Valley State (Mich.)
10 St. Joseph's (Ind.)
11 South Carolina-Aiken
12 Rollins (Fla.)
13 Midwestern State (Texas)
14 Seattle Pacific (Wash.)
15 Metropolitan State (Colo.)
16 West Liberty (W. Va.)
17 Merrimack (N.Y.)
18 Central Oklahoma
19 Central Missouri
20 Alabama-Huntsville
21 Drury (Mo.)
22 Virginia Union
23 Philadelphia (Pa.)
24 BYU-Hawaii
25 Mount Olive (N.C.)
Others to watch: Felician (N.J.), Bridgeport (Conn.), Kutztown (Pa.), West Virginia State, Valdosta State (Ga.), Clark Atlanta (Ga.), Arkansas Tech, Montevallo (Ala.), Catawba (N.C.), Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.), Minnesota State-Mankato, Winona State (Minn.), Fort Lewis (Colo.), Humboldt State (Calif.), Stonehill (Mass.), Queens (N.C.), Augustana (S.D.).

The Sporting News D2 Top 10

1 Findlay (Ohio)
2 Bellarmine (Ky.)
3 Grand Valley State (Mich.)
4 Arkansas Tech
5 Cal Poly Pomona
6 Indiana (Pa.)
7 Seattle Pacific (Wash.)
8 West Liberty (W. Va.)
9 Winona State (Minn.)
10 Bentley (Mass.)
Possible breakthroughs: Alabama-Huntsville, Anderson (S.C.), Augustana (S.D.), Bloomfield (N.J.), BYU-Hawaii, Central Missouri, Central Oklahoma, Drury (Mo.), Felician (N.J.), Ferris State (Mich.), Florida Southern, Fort Lewis (Colo.), Geogia College & State, Hillsdale (Mich.), Humboldt State (Calif.), Kentucky Wesleyan, Lynn (Fla.), Mary (N.D.), Metro State (Colo.), Midwestern State (Texas), Minnesota State-Mankato, Montevallo (Ala.), Mount Olive (N.C.), Philadephia (Pa.), Queens (N.C.), Rollins (Fla.), St. Cloud State (Minn.), Southern Indiana, Stonehill (Mass.), Tarleton State, South Carolina-Aiken, West Virginia State.


Sporting News Preseason All-Americans

First Team: Chris Banchero (Seattle Pacific), Gage Daye (Bloomfield), Justin Keenan (Ferris State), Darryl Webb (Indiana), Dauntae Williams (Central Oklahoma).
Second Team: Jet Chang (BYU-Hawaii), LaMarshall Corbett (Angelo State), Chris Hall (Lynn), Justin Ringler (Grand Valley State), Nick Wolf (Rollins).
Honorable Mention: Darius Adams (Indianpolis), Daniel Bailey (Queens), Thomas Baudinet (St. Anselm), D.J. Blackmon (Lenoir-Rhyne), Donnelle Booker (Cal Poly Pomona), Simel Boyd (Francis Marion), Sharif Bray (Cheyney), Justin Brock (Quincy), Tyler Bullock (Nebraska-Omaha), Kyle Caiola (Findlay), Rashad Callaway (Tampa), D'Mario Curry (Lincoln Memorial), Byron Faison (USC-Aiken), Chris Hagan (Midwestern State), Alex Hall (Drury), Braydon Hobbs (Bellarmine), Marquel Hoskins (San Francisco State), Nathan Hyde (Findlay), Dominique Jones (Fort Hays State), Jeremy Kendle (Bellarmine), DeAndre Lansdowne (Fort Lewis), Jefferson Mason (Minnesota State-Mankato), Darin Mency (Merrimack), Josh Miller (W. Va. State), Anthony Moody (Mary), Brian Morris (Humboldt State), Donte Nicholas (Metro State), Corey Pelle (West Liberty), Blake Poole (Saint Martin's), Cody Schilling (Augustana), Justin Swidowski (Holy Family), Brian Tracey (Bentley), Anthony Tucker (Winona State), Marques Whippy (BYU-Hawaii), Taylor Witt (St. Cloud State), Chris Woods (Pfeiffer).



MSU opens NCAA Division II South Central Rankings at No. 1
Unbeaten, untied Mustangs return to NSCAA D2 Rankings at No. 3
Midwestern re-enters NSCAA Division II Rankings again