ATU Athletics

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the fourth-straight year, the Arkansas Tech volleyball team has earned the AVCA Team Academic Award as the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced their annual team academic awards. Additionally, for the third-straight year the Golden Suns’ collective team GPA was among the top 20% of all NCAA Division II, earning them inclusion on the AVCA Team Academic Honor Roll.

“We always tell our players they are called student-athletes for a reason – student comes first. One thing we think is super neat about our team is that they really do value their academics and push each other every day,” remarked head coach Kera Dukic. “The culture in the locker room involves academics too – they know when each other has a big test or a big assignment and they ask each other about it. It’s a really neat thing and we’re so proud of them!”

The Team Academic Award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale. This year’s Honor Roll distinction was bestowed upon the volleyball teams with GPAs in the top 20% of their division.

The Suns are coming off their third-straight winning season under head coach Kera Dukic and are preparing to open their 2021 season at the Dallas Baptist Invitational the weekend of September 3-4

The post Golden Suns volleyball earns fourth straight AVCA team academic award; third straight honor roll award appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

NORMAN, Okla. – A few short months after guiding his Wonder Boys golf team to their first-ever National Championship, it is finally official that Luke Calcatera is the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year as it was announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) on Wednesday that he is the recipient of the 2021 Dave Williams Award, presented by Golf Pride Grips.

A finalist for the award in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Calcatera and his Wonder Boys team put together a dominant 2021 season that culminated in the historic National Championship.

During the 2021 season, the Wonder Boys took part in seven regular season tournaments, finishing in the top-five in each tournament and winning three. In post-season play, the Wonder Boys were equally as dominant beginning with a 13-stroke margin of victory in the GAC Championship Tournament to capture their second-straight conference title. At the regional, the Wonder Boys finished third to qualify for their fourth-straight National Championship Tournament.

In each of their previous three trips to the national tournament, the Wonder Boys advanced to medal match play. This year was no different in that regard, but the Wonder Boys did exceed prior achievements as they finished second overall in stroke play to earn their highest seed ever in medal match play.

In their quarterfinal round match, Calcatera and the Wonder Boys took down Central Region Champion, Central Missouri to advance to the program’s second-ever semifinal round. In that round, the Wonder Boys were paired up with perennial powerhouse West Florida, who had spent much of the year as the No. 1-ranked team according to Golfstat.

The Wonder Boys, who at that point had rose to the No. 4-national ranking according to GolfStat, were unfazed by facing the Argonauts and exacted a bit of revenge as they were swept by West Florida in the quarterfinal match back in 2019. In 2021, the Wonder Boys were in position to return the favor with a sweep, but UWF managed to win a match and draw another to make the overall team match appear close, 3-1-1.

The overall dominant performance in the semifinals propelled the Wonder Boys into their title match with Georgia Southwestern.

Fitting for a National Championship match, the overall team match was not decided until the very end and came down to the final individual match and the final two holes, of which Calcatera and the Wonder Boys would emerge victorious.

In addition to the team achievements on the course in 2021, Calcatera and his lineup of golfers racked up individual honors from the conference level to the national level. At the conference level, Calcatera won his fifth GAC Coach of the Year while all five golfers earned all-conference honors. At the regional level, four of the five golfers earned all-region honors and at the national level, the Wonder Boys had four earn All-America honors as well.

The post ATU’s Calcatera named D-II National Coach of the Year appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – On Monday, the Great American Conference announced Harding University as the winner of the 2021 Commissioner’s Cup and Arkansas Tech as the winner of the President’s Trophy, the league’s two all-sports awards.

Harding captured the Commissioner’s Cup – awarded to the GAC school that totals the most cumulative points in the 12 countable sports of men’s and women’s cross country, volleyball, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s tennis, women’s track & field, men’s and women’s golf, softball and baseball. The Lady Bisons won GAC titles in tennis and track & field and won the Eastern Division in volleyball. Harding added top-three results in men’s and women’s cross country, softball, women’s golf and women’s basketball.

Arkansas Tech became the first recipient of the President’s Trophy – given to the program that earns the highest percentage of points based on the sports they sponsor. The Wonder Boys won their second-straight men’s golf title and continued the postseason success with the conference’s first team national title. They tied for the regular-season title in baseball. The Golden Suns won the Eastern Division in women’s basketball and placed second in women’s cross country, women’s golf and volleyball.

Oklahoma Baptist took third in both standings. The Bison claimed GAC titles in women’s cross country – their fourth straight – and women’s soccer – their third in four seasons. They added division titles in men’s basketball and volleyball. The Bison completed an undefeated season in volleyball and reached No. 1 in the AVCA rankings.

Southern Arkansas finished fourth. The Muleriders captured their fifth regular-season title in baseball and finished atop the softball standings for the third-straight season. SAU tied Arkansas-Monticello for the Eastern Division crown in men’s basketball. The Muleriders qualified for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament for the first time in program history.

Southwestern Oklahoma State, Henderson State and Southeastern Oklahoma State took the next three positions. The Lady Bulldogs basketball team won a regular-season title for the fourth-straight season and reached the finals of NCAA Regional Tournament. The Reddies outlasted Arkansas Tech in a playoff to win their second women’s golf title. The Savage Storm finished as the runners up at the Women’s Basketball, Tennis and Softball Championships.

East Central, Southern Nazarene, Ouachita, Arkansas-Monticello and Northwestern Oklahoma State rounded out the standings. ECU won its seventh men’s cross country title. Ouachita placed second to Oklahoma Baptist in the women’s soccer regular season race but defeated the Bison to win the GAC Championship title. UAM shared the Eastern Division title in men’s basketball with SAU.

The post Harding, Arkansas Tech claim 2021 GAC All-Sports trophies appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

RUSSELLVILLE – Arkansas Tech head men’s basketball coach Mark Downey has announced the transfer addition of another Natural State prep standout for his 2021-22 team, this time with local product Taelon Peter returning home to the River Valley.

“Taelon is a dynamic player that will electrify the fans in Tucker Coliseum,” Downey said. “He is high-major athlete, and his one year at the Division I level has helped him mature as a smart, hard-working player as well.”

“I am so excited to have Taelon join our family. We are committed to building this program with local players that have great character and Taelon checks all these boxes. Tech fans should be really excited to watch him for the next four years!”

Peter, a Class 5A Arkansas All-State player as a senior at Russellville, transfers into the Wonder Boys basketball program after spending his initial college season at NCAA Division I Tennessee Tech University.

In his lone year with the Golden Eagles, Peter saw action in six of the team’s first seven games before missing out on the remainder of the season due to injury. In that limited action, Peter averaged 8.3 minutes off the bench and scored in four of those games.

Prior to heading to Tennessee Tech, Peter was a two-sport athlete at Russellville High School, playing basketball for head coach Kyle Pennington and representing the track & field team for head coach Ben Goodman.

As a senior in basketball, Peter was named the Class 5A-West Player of the Year, the River Valley Now Player of the Year and an Arkansas Basketball Coaches Association Top-5 Player. That year, Peter also led his team to a 23-6 record and a second-straight Class 5A-West Conference title while averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game. Additionally, he shot 54.0 percent from the floor and 38.0 percent from 3-point range.

With eligibility waivers being granted by the NCAA for winter sport athletes this past season due to lingering effects of COVID-19, Peter will enter ATU as a freshman with four years of playing eligibility.

The post Former Russellville Cyclone Taelon Peter transfers home to Tech appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The 2021 season came to a close for the Arkansas Tech baseball team on Saturday afternoon as the Wonder Boys fell to top-seeded Central Missouri by a score of 7-4.

The season ends with the Wonder Boys winning 26 games and claiming a share of the GAC Regular Season Championship after going 23-10 in conference play. It was the second regular season GAC title for the Wonder Boys under head coach Dave Dawson. The Wonder Boys then advanced to their first-ever GAC Tournament Championship Game, but ultimately lost to Henderson State.

The Wonder Boys’ season body of work was still more than good enough for them to earn the No. 4-seed and an at-large berth into this year’s Central Region Tournament. It was the second time that the Wonder Boys have made a regional as well.

In the final game of their 2021 season, the Wonder Boys fell behind in the third inning to the No. 2-ranked Mules (41-6) as UCM scored five runs that frame. The Mules went on to score single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 7-0 lead.

The Wonder Boys broke into the run column in the sixth inning on a solo home run out to left field off the bat of Garrett Crews. Two innings later, the Wonder Boys struck for three runs and pulled within that margin thanks to a solo homer by Gabriel Garcia and a two-RBI double in the left-centerfield cap off the bat of Josh Detweiler.

On the mound, the Wonder Boys used three arms with Riyan Rodriguez getting the start. He worked 2.2 innings and then gave way to Mason Griffin (Rogers, Ark.). Griffin pitched the next 4.1 innings and struck out three. Hayes Cox handled the final two innings and did not allow a hit while striking out one.

The post Wonder Boys’ season end in Central Region tournament appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

When Arkansas Tech University’s Andre Jacobs stepped to the 17th tee at PGA National’s Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Friday afternoon, he carried on his shoulders the hopes and dreams of a process that was set into motion three quarters of a century earlier.

It began when Sam Hindsman made the decision to leave Arkansas State Teachers College to join the physical education faculty and coaching staff at rival Arkansas Tech in 1947. A few years later, he recruited a 6-foot-7 two-sport star out of Waldron named Don Sevier to play football and basketball for the Wonder Boys.

Thirty years after his graduation from Tech, Sevier was in the role of director of athletics when the position of ATU head men’s basketball coach came open. Sevier selected Marty Barnes, and he brought with him an assistant coach named Dave Falconer.

Falconer added the duties of head men’s golf coach at Arkansas Tech in 1989. He led the Wonder Boys to four Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference titles (1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995), three berths in the NAIA National Tournament (1993, 1994 and 1995), the 2004 Gulf South Conference championship and seven appearances in NCAA Division II postseason competition (1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2010).

Each of these men came within an eyelash of delivering the ultimate prize in college athletics — a national championship — to Arkansas Tech.

Hindsman was the coach and Sevier was a player when the Wonder Boys basketball program made back-to-back appearances in the NAIA National Tournament semifinals in 1954 and 1955.

Sevier was there again, as an assistant coach alongside head coach Don Dempsey, when Arkansas Tech’s 1971 football team finished as the NAIA national runner-up.

Barnes and Falconer led the Wonder Boys basketball program back to the NAIA National Tournament semifinals in 1995.

But as Jacobs arrived at the penultimate hole of the 2021 NCAA Division II Championships on Friday, no men’s team from Arkansas Tech had ever climbed to the pinnacle and it had been almost 30 years since the Golden Suns basketball program earned the only two national championships in school history.

The match between Jacobs and Georgia Southwestern’s Jaxson Daskalos was tied. The other four matches were already decided, and they had been split two wins for each side. The fifth and final match would determine the national champion.

Jacobs was more than equal to the weight of the moment.

He birdied the par-3 17th hole while Daskalos made bogey, providing Jacobs with a two-stroke lead going to the final hole. He held on to win by a single stroke, and the hopes and dreams of Hindsman, Sevier, Dempsey, Barnes, Falconer and so many other coaches, student-athletes, students, alumni and fans finally came true.

The Wonder Boys were national champions.

They were led there by a direct descendant of the coaching tree outlined above. In 2003, Falconer recruited a slender left-hander from McKinney, Texas, to play for the Wonder Boys. Luke Calcatera earned four letters and was a member of ATU’s 2004 GSC championship team.

After Falconer passed away on June 11, 2011, Calcatera was chosen as his successor.

Now, almost exactly 10 years later, the circle is complete. The ultimate goal has been achieved. And I’m sitting in my kitchen, 1,200 miles from the trophy presentation, living vicariously through the text messages from our interim director of athletics, Abby Davis, and fighting back tears of joy as I type all this. Fight On, Arkansas Tech. We did it.

THE NATIONAL CHAMPION WONDER BOYS

Santiago De La Fuente, Freshman, Mexico City, Mexico
Henry Frizzell, Freshman, Frisco, Texas
Austin Gean, Senior, Florence, Ala.
Andre Jacobs, Sophomore, League City, Texas
Francois Jacobs, Sophomore, League City, Texas
Trevor Brunson, Sophomore, Lowell, Ark.

Luke Calcatera, Head Coach
Adam Anderson, Volunteer Assistant Coach

The post Wonder Boys golf captures first national championship for Arkansas Tech appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Despite grabbing more than 50 rebounds for the fifth time in its last six games, Harding could not overcome 24% shooting from the field and fell 67-56 to Arkansas Tech Monday in a matchup of the top two teams in the Great American Conference Eastern Division.

The loss snapped a five-game Harding winning streak and dropped the Lady Bisons to 5-3 overall and in the GAC. Arkansas Tech remained undefeated at 8-0 overall and 7-0 in conference and ran its home winning streak to eight games dating to last season.

“I thought we batted pretty well for most of the night,” Harding head coach Tim Kirby said. “We hung around but when we needed to make a big play, we just came up empty.”

Harding pulled within six points twice in the fourth quarter, but Tech scored each time and pulled away.

The Lady Bisons had 55 total rebounds, including 25 offensive rebounds. Harding outscored Tech 18-0 on second-chance points, but Tech shot 45% from the field to hold off the Lady Bisons.

Carissa Caples, playing her 100th game at Harding, scored 10 points. Katelyn Burtch also added a career-high 10 points. Sage Hawley had eight points and led the team with 14 rebounds and six assists.

Tech’s Nikki Metcalfe was key for Arkansas Tech on both ends. She led the team with 16 points and tied a Tech record with 11 blocked shots.

Neither team shot well in the third quarter. Tech outscored Harding 11-10. The Lady Bisons were 3 of 19 (15.8%) from the field but made 4 of 6 free throws.

Tech led by 10 early in the second quarter, but Harding got key 3-pointers from Lexie Davis, Kylee Coulter and Kennedy Cooper in the quarter to stay close. Hawley made a turnaround jumper with 37 seconds left to cut Tech’s halftime lead to 35-29. Harding shot 40% in the quarter but only 26.5% in the half. Tech shot 50% from the field (14 of 28), the 3-point line (4 of 8) and the free-throw line (3 of 6).

Arkansas Tech scored the first 10 points before Hannah Collins drained a 3-pointer from the right baseline. Harding missed its first six shots and made only one of its first 10. The Lady Bisons shot 3 of 19 in the quarter, but two of them were 3-pointers. Harding trailed 16-5 but scored the last six points of the quarter.

The Lady Bisons return to the Rhodes-Reaves Field House Thursday to take on Southern Arkansas.

The post Boards not enough as Harding falls to Arkansas Tech appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

RUSSELLVILLE – The No. 19/18 ranked Arkansas Tech women’s basketball team dominated both sides of the court from the opening tip to the final horn as they routed visiting Henderson State by a score of 98-62 on Thursday night inside Tucker Coliseum.

The win improves the Golden Suns to an unblemished 7-0 record overall and a 6-0 mark in the Great American Conference.

The dominance in the game started early for the Golden Suns as they scored the game’s first points on their very first possession to stake claim to their one and only lead. From there on, the Golden Suns took control of the game thanks to a remarkable shooting effort.

In the first quarter alone, the Golden Suns attempted 16 field goals and made 12 of them as they were an unconscious 75% overall. Naturally, the Golden Suns would not continue to shoot at such a high clip as the game wore on, but they still managed to shoot at least 50% from the field in each of the final three quarters of play. All told, the Golden Suns shot 57% overall for the game, going 38-of-67.

The 57% shooting for the Golden Suns matched a season-high that they first achieved in their 115-94 win over Southern Arkansas back on January 14.

As they have done all season long, the Golden Suns got offensive production from multiple sources. Against the Reddies, all 13 players that saw action scored at least two points. Five of those players scored in double figures with Jalei Oglesby scoring a game-high 18 points off the bench. Nikki Metcalfe was next in scoring with 14 points. She also added 10 rebounds to notch her second double-double of the season.

Ashlei Lopez was next in scoring with 13 points. Jayana Sanders and Trelyn Tyler rounded out double-figure scoring with 12 points each.

The Golden Suns will now prepare for a Monday night clash with rival Harding. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside Tucker Coliseum.

The post No. 18/19 Arkansas Tech dominant in win over Henderson State appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

HOUSTON, Texas – The Arkansas Tech baseball team picked up their first win of the season on Sunday afternoon as they closed out the 2021 Houston Winter Invitational with a 12-2 win in eight innings over Lubbock Christian.

In addition to the offensive outburst that saw Tech rack up a baker’s dozen worth of hits, the Wonder Boys (1-2) played flawless defense and received a quality starting pitching effort from returning junior Hayes Cox. Cox would pitch six complete innings in which he scattered three hits, allowed two earned runs, walked two and struck out five.

The offensive support of Cox started early as the Wonder Boys cashed in on a Kandon Bennett leadoff double in the top of the first inning with a two-out RBI double by Garrett Crews. An inning later, the Wonder Boys added two more runs to take a 3-0 lead. The runs in the second came on a RBI single to left off the bat of Jonathon Arrieta and a sacrifice fly to right by Trace Maddux.

In the third, the Wonder Boys put together their best offensive inning of the young season as they scored six runs on four hits while also benefiting from a LCU error.

That frame began with a walk to Crews. In the next at-bat, Josh Detweiler connected for a two-run home run out to left field. Matt Robbins followed with a single up the middle and three batters later, the bases were loaded with one out thanks to a hit-by-pitch on Arrieta and a walk issued to Landon Lord. The walk to Lord spelled the end of the game for the LCU starter, but it did not end the damage to his line.

Following the move to the bullpen, the Wonder Boys plated four runs as Bennett singled to shortstop for a RBI. Maddux then reached on a fielder’s choice that saw an errant throw by the LCU shortstop which allowed both Lord and Arrieta to score. Evan Hafley then drove in Maddux on a single through the left side to give the Wonder Boys a 9-0 lead.

LCU finally got to Cox and scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the third on a leadoff home run. That would be the only damage allowed by Cox in the frame.

Neither team scored in the fourth or fifth innings. The Wonder Boys were also held scoreless in the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, LCU scored their second and final run of the game and off Cox on a sacrifice fly to left field.

Over the next two innings, the Wonder Boys were able to extend their lead out to double-digits with a run in the seventh and a two in the eighth. The run in the seventh had Bennet’s feet all over it. After he initially singled through the left side, Bennett then stole second base. He then took third on a wild pitch and later scored on a second wild pitch.

In the eighth, Drew Bailey hit a sacrifice fly for the first run while Bennett doubled to right-centerfield for the second run.

As the Wonder Boys were positioning themselves for a potential run-rule victory, the relief arms of Mason Griffin (Cabot, Ark.) and John Walsh ensured a ninth inning would not be needed as they pitched scoreless innings in the bottom half of the seventh and eighth.

Griffin, a true freshman from Cabot, made his collegiate debut in the seventh and retired the side in order while registering a pair of strikeouts. Walsh, a redshirt freshman made his season debut and notched three strikeouts to put the exclamation on the Wonder Boys’ first win of the season.

The Wonder Boys will now have about a week and a half before their next action. On the weekend of the February 12, the Wonder Boys will take part in the Henderson State Invitational and will play a trio of GAC foes in non-conference games. The first of those will be a Friday afternoon game against Southern Arkansas. On Saturday, the Wonder Boys will play Henderson State and on Sunday, they will take on Ouachita.

The post Bats come alive for Arkansas Tech to pick up first win of the season appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

RUSSELLVILLE – Scheduled to play one another four times in the 2020-21 regular season, the first meeting of the year between the Arkansas Tech and Harding women’s basketball teams on Monday night was nothing short of another classic in the series as the Golden Suns edged the Lady Bisons by a score of 78-76.

In what is the definition of a closely-played back-and-forth game, the score was tied up 13 times, the lead changed hands on 15 separate occasions and neither team led by more than eight points.

The largest lead of the game for the Lady Bisons (0-2, 0-2 GAC) was six points and came to begin the game as Harding opened up the first minute of action on a 6-0 run. The Golden Suns (4-0, 3-0 GAC) eventually knotted the game at six-all at the 7:22 mark on a three-pointer by Kaley Shipman. Jayana Sanders had hit a three of her own about a minute earlier to give the Golden Suns their first points of the game.

With the score tied at nine-all at the 6:15 mark, Ashlei Lopez pushed the Golden Suns ahead on a painted jumper. The Golden Suns would maintain a slim lead of the Lady Bisons the remainder of the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Harding took a one-point lead thanks to a split trip to the free throw line by Kennedy Cooper. On the ensuing possession, the Golden Suns regained the lead on a three-pointer by Hannah Villines. That trifecta sparked a 9-0 scoring burst in little over a minute to give the Golden Suns their largest lead of the game, eight points, 29-21, with 7:29 to play in the first half.

At the 3:58 mark of the quarter, the lead was once more eight points for the Golden Suns thanks to a mid-range jumper by Shipman. Over the next two or so minutes, Harding went on a 7-0 run to pull within a point, 35-34, with 1:34 left on the clock.

Sanders answered right back with another three-pointer and the Golden Suns eventually hit the locker room with a two-point lead, 38-36.

The second half was when the game got really close.

In the third quarter alone, the score was tied three times and the lead changed hands 10 times. The last of the lead changes in the third quarter went the way of the Golden Suns as Shipman buried a three-pointer. A pair of free throws in the waning seconds of the period by Harding, however, made it a one-point lead for the Golden Suns heading into the fourth quarter.

The margin between two of the perennial powerhouse women’s basketball programs in the GAC remained razor-thin throughout the fourth quarter. The largest lead for either team in that final period was a mere four points by the Golden Suns at the 8:58 mark, and that margin lasted just a trip back down the court as the Lady Bisons’ Kellie Lampo made a layup on the ensuing possession.

From that point on, the score was tied on seven different occasions and the lead changed hands twice.

The last of those lead changes came at the 3:03 mark on a fastbreak layup by Shipman which broke what was a 69-all tie. Forcing that tie score as three-pointer just seconds earlier by Lopez. Shipman was also fouled on the layup and went on to finish the and-one opportunity.

Twice over the next minute of action, Harding was able to tie the score, but the Golden Suns did not relinquish the lead to the Lady Bisons.

Tied at 74-all with just under a minute to play, Sanders drained a three-pointer.

The final seconds of the game proved to be anxiety-packed as the Golden Suns were able to overcome missing three-of-four free throws in the final 20 seconds of the game. The lone make during that stretch came from the newest newcomer to the team, Trelynn Tyler as she made the first of two on her trip to the charity stripe with just five seconds left.

On her miss of the second free throw, Harding came down with the rebound and got the ball into the front court looking to possibly win the game with a three-pointer, but no shot was able to be had as a pair of Lady Bisons collided with one another at the top of the key, allowing the game clock to expire before a shot could go up.

In the hard-fought win, the Golden Suns shot 43% overall from the floor (26-of-60) and were a season-best 9-of-18 from three-point range. A total of three players scored in double figures for the Golden Suns and were led by 23 points from Jayana Sanders. Kaley Shipman was next with 17 points and Ashlei Lopez rounded out double-figure scoring with 16 points.

The Golden Suns are now preparing to close out their season-long three-game homestand on Thursday night against Southern Arkansas. Tip-off for the game against the Lady Muleriders is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

The post Golden Suns take first game of series with Lady Bisons appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.