We have a couple of great weekends on campus upDr. coming this month. We have Brad an action-filled week coming Teague up, beginning with Volleyball playing in the Prince Center for the last time this season on the 10th.
UPCOMING EVENTS November 10 – Volleyball vs. Nicholls (7 p.m.) 10-14 – Men’s Soccer @ MVC Tourney (TBD)
On the 11th, our women’s basketball team plays Indiana in the Farris Center – a great way to begin what we hope is a tremendous season. That night, our men’s basketball team also plays at Stanford, a tough program with much tradition. Certainly a difficult test, but also a great opportunity and environment, for Coach Williamson’s revamped team.
11– Women’s Basketball vs. Indiana (7 p.m.) Men’s Basketball at Stanford (9:05 p.m.) 12 – Volleyball vs. Southeastern La. (1 p.m.) match played in the Farris Center 12 – Football vs. Texas State (4 p.m.) Military Appreciation Day
On the 12th, our football team plays Texas State in the final game of the season at 4 pm with a chance to make the playoffs and close out with 7 straight wins. We need to fill up Estes Stadium for the final game this year on ‘The Stripes’ of First Security Field!
13 – Men’s Basketball at Sacramento State (3 p.m.) 15 – Women’s Basketball vs. Alabama (7 p.m.) 16 – Men’s Basketball vs. Philander Smith (7 p.m.)
Earlier that afternoon, volleyball is back in the Farris Center in preparation for our hosting the Southland tournament on November 18-20.
18-20 – Southland Conference Volleyball Tournament matches played in the Farris Center 21 – Women’s Basketball vs. Paul Quinn (7 p.m.)
Stay the week and watch the women’s basketball team play Alabama at the Farris Center on Tuesday, the 15th, the Men’s home opener on Wednesday, then the Volleyball tournament on the weekend.
22 – Men’s Basketball vs. Ecclesia (5 p.m.) 25-26 – Women’s Basketball at Texas Tech Invitational (25 – vs. ULM 8 p.m.; 26 – at Texas Tech 1 p.m.)
Going to be a great couple of weeks! Hope to see you at our events.
26 – Men’s Basketball vs. Eastern Illinois (4 p.m.)
Brad
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junior wideout Jesse Grandy
LAST & GOAL
BEARS ENTER FINAL GAME WITH GOAL OF FIRST FCS PLAYOFFS WITHIN REACH After winning their 6th straight game last weekend at Northwestern State, the Bears finish the Southland Conference portion of their season sitting 6-1 in the league – second only behind Sam Houston State – and ranked No. 19 nationally. While the Bears could still finish with a share of the title with a Demons upset of the Bearkats, SHSU has locked up the league’s automatic qualifier to the FCS Playoffs by virtue of their win over the Bears in Sept.
grams in Louisiana Tech and Arkansas State. The final hurdle is a Bobcat team which is 6-4 this season playing as an FCS Independent as Texas State transitions to FBS and the Western Athletic Conference. They are coached by former Alabama head coach Dennis Franchione, in his first year at TXST. The Bobcats are 4-2 against Southland teams this season, having lost 38-28 to Southeastern Louisiana and 23-10 to Northwestern State. They have wins over Stephen F. Austin (35-26), Nicholls (38-12), McNeese State (21-14) and Lamar (46-21). They are 2-3 on the road this season with wins at SFA and McNeese and losses at SE La., Texas Tech (50-10) and Wyoming (4510).
The Bears do, however, have a say in making their first D-I playoff appearance via an at-large berth. To have a chance at one of the 10 at-large spots, the Bears need a win over Texas State this Saturday at First Security Field at Estes Stadium to record their 7th D-I victory of the season.
It will be the final meeting for the teams before the Bobcats’ departure for the WAC. Last season the Bears won 49-17 in San Marcos, avenging the Bobcats’ 27-24 win in Conway in 2009. The Bears also won the other two meetings – 31-24 in San Marcos in 2008 and 63-21 in Conway in ‘07 in Nathan Brown’s 7-touchdown performance. Kickoff is 4 p.m.
A win would not guarantee the Bears a playoff berth, but would certainly make UCA one of the most attractive options for an at-large bid with a 7-game winning streak, a Top 20 ranking and losses only to a national Top 5 team and a pair of successful FBS pro-
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TURNOVERS TURN IT AROUND BEARS HOLD 22-7 ADVANTAGE IN TAKEAWAYS DURING WINNING STREAK Heading into the final game of the regular season, the Bears are on their longest winning streak since moving to NCAA Division I play in 2006, having defeated their last six opponents. Though there have been many contributing factors to the current run – among them the health of the likes of Nathan Dick, Jackie Hinton and Frank Newsome – one of the biggest factors has been in the turnover count. Even in the brutal three-game stretch in September in which the Bears lost consecutive games to Louisiana Tech (currently 2nd in the WAC at 4-1), Sam Houston State (ranked No. 3 in the country as one of two undefeated FCS teams at 9-0) and Arkansas State (sitting atop the Sun Belt at 5-0 and 7-2 overall), UCA forced more turnovers (4) than they committed (3). But in the six games since, the Bears have turned it up and opponents have turned it over – repeatedly, to the tune of 22 turnovers to just 7 for the Bears. After 10 games, the Bears rank 5th in FCS football in turnover margin at +16 (+1.6 per game) and are tied for1st in with 15 fumble recoveries. In the last two games, in which UCA has won by 26 and 25 ponts, the Bears have decisively won the turnover battle – forcing 9 against Southeastern La. and 3 against Northwestern State, while committing 0 against the Demons.
junior linebacker seth allison
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Megan Herbert junior forward rogers, ark.
Dewan Clayborn senior guard little rock, ark.
COURT IS IN SESSION
Much-anticipated basketball seasons begin this week for the Bears and Sugar Bears, as the two teams start their seasons on Friday, Nov. 11 against high-profile opponents. The Bears, with an overhauled roster featuring 10 new faces and 13 recruited by 2nd-year head coach Corliss Williamson, get going on the road against Pac-12 member Stanford, picked 6th in the league’s preseason poll. The Cardinal is coached by former Duke All-American and Hall of Famer Johnny Dawkins, in his 4th year at Stanford. That same night, the Sugar Bears open up their season inside the Farris Center against Indiana out of the Big Ten, the first time a team from a BCS league will come into the UCA arena. The wait for the second will be much shorter, however, as Alabama comes to Conway on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Led by junior forward Megan Herbert, last year’s Southland Conference Player of the Year, the Sugar Bears have high hopes of contending for a league title after finishing as runners-up in last year’s SLC Tournament. The Sugar Bears were picked 2nd behind defending champion McNeese State in the league’s preseason polls, receiving a pair of first-place votes in both the coaches’ and sports information directors’ polls. Season tickets are on sale now. Visit ucasports.com for full details.
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TOURNEY TIME UC A TO H HOST OS T SOUTHL AND VOLL E YBALL VOLLE YBAL L CHAMPI CHAMPIONSHIPS ONSHIPS FR OM N FROM NOV. OV. 118-20 8 -20 IN FARRI FARRISS CENTER
MEN’S SOCCER EARNS BERTH BERT H IN FIRST MISSOURI VALLE Y TOURNE Y
daylon schiffel freshman citrus heights, calif.
jessica nagy sophomore carleton, mich.
After advancing to the championship match of the 2010 Southland Conference volleyball tournament and coming up short, the Sugar Bears hope to have an even better run in 2011 as they host this year’s tournament in the Farris Center. Entering the final week of the regular season, the Sugar Bears are tied atop the Eastern Division with Lamar, with matches remaining against Nicholls and Southeastern La. on Thursday and Saturday.
The men’s soccer program will be making its first Division I postseason appearance this week as the Bears travel to Omaha, Neb. to the Creighton University campus for the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The 5th-seeded Bears will do battle with 4th-seeded Drake, a team UCA defeated 2-1 in Conway on Oct. 22. The Bears and Bulldogs will play the first match of the tournament on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
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RECORD BOOK REPORT In the photo above, Nathan Dick completes a pass to Jesse Grandy, the Bears’ leading receiver this season. Through 10 games, Grandy has recorded 604 yards on 38 receptions, with 6 touchdowns. Grandy’s 604 yards is the highest total for a first-year UCA receiver since 2001 when Michael Norvell – now the Co-Offensive Coordinator at the University of Pittsburgh – had 832 yards on 63 receptions with 7 TDs. Grandy is 2nd on the team in TD receptions, trailing Dominique Croom’s 7. The last time the Bears had two players with 7 or more receiving TDs in a season was 2008 when Marquez Branson had 11 and Willie Landers had 7. Aaron Fairooz (12) and Austin Cade (7) accomplished it in 2005. Dick, the senior QB from Allen, Texas, is currently 3rd in the country in pass efficiency with a rating of 161.40. He has 430 pass completions for his career – 4th most in school history, and needs 16 to pass Randy Huffstickler for 3rd. Nathan Brown holds the record with 856. Dick is also 6th in career passing yardage at UCA with 4,902, needing 190 to move past Chris Freeman for 5th. With 25 TD passes this season, Dick is tied with Brown’s 2005 season for the 4th-best in school history. Getting to 26 would tie Brown’s ‘07 season for 3rd, and he would need 5 to tie Brian Stallworth’s 30 in ‘01. Dick would need to tie Brown’s single-game record of 7 TD passes to get to 32 for the season, which would eclipse Brown’s record mark of 31 set in ‘08.
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