By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Dexter Lady Bearcat tennis team opened their season with an outstanding performance on Tuesday afternoon. The Lady ‘Cats traveled to Charleston to face off against the Lady Bluejays in a varsity-only matchup.

Dexter won every match during the day, and blanked the Lady Bluejays in five of the nine matches in the contest.

Senior Jessica Snider providing the most entertaining match of the day.

Snider, who faced senior Makayla Thompson, battled back from a big deficit to claim the 8-6 win.


“Jessica’s match was hard fought,” head coach Leanne Dooley said. “Jess came back from being down 1-4 early.”

Snider was also involved in the closest doubles match of the day; along with partner Shanna Gant, the duo downed Thompson and Dazique Gillespie 8-2.


The Lady ‘Cats have their first home match Wednesday afternoon, when they take on the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs.


The match is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start.

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Photo Above:
Shanna Gant returns a serve during a summer practice. Gant won both her singles and doubles matches in the Lady 'Cats' season opener against Charleston. SMT File Photo by Andrew Cato.

Matt Miller of Dexter was the winner of the first week of the ShowMe Time’s Pigskin Pick'Em Challenge with a total of 20 out of 22 points possible.

“We just started Week Two and I am personally excited about this week, because it is the start of college football, which is what I live for in football season,” said Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor. “It’s never too late to start playing Pigskin Pick’Em. Everybody’s going to have that week in the season when maybe their picks aren’t that great. This is especially true given the overwhelming number of suspensions in college football and the injuries and contract holdouts in the NFL preseason.”

All points earned by players roll over each week of the contest to go toward the finale and the Grand Prize of a 42-inch flatscreen television. First place this week was Miller, second Kurt Lovelady, third place was Dustin Benson. Winners of the weekly drawings were Denny Putnam and Kim Lacy.

Weekly prizes are awarded on a weekly point-total basis with the top three players getting prizes from the ShowMe Times and our sponsors. In addition, there are two randomly drawn prizewinners each week. To be fair to all players, an individual can win only one prize per week.

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Photo Above: ShowMe Times Sports Editor Andrew Cato presents Matt Miller with his prizes as the first week's winner in the Pigskin Pick'Em Challenge.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

After several weeks of hot practices, the Lady Bearcat tennis team opens its season this afternoon, when they hit the road to face the Lady Bluejays of Charleston.

Head coach Leanne Dooley - who also heads the men’s team - expects great things out of the 2011 rendition of the squad.

“We’re going to have a dandy team this year,” Dooley said. “We’ve got a lot of good athletes coming in, especially some of these basketball players.”

The Lady ‘Cats have a slightly lopsided schedule this year. The squad alternates between ‘away, home, away’ in their first three games, and then have six straight home matches.

They close the season with five straight road matches leading into the District Tournament on October 6.

The Lady ‘Cats have three matches this week: they open the season today at Charleston. Wednesday (Aug. 31), they face off with Sikeston at home. Thursday (Sept. 1), the squad goes back on the road against the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules.


All matches this week are scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start.

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Photo Above: Haley Hubbard returns a serve during one of the 'Cats' many practice sessions this summer.

From the Williams Baptist College Sports Information Department

WALNUT RIDGE -- The Williams Baptist Soccer team opens the season on Wednesday, August 31, against Freed-Hardeman University, with new faces and high hopes.

The key new face is the one on the sidelines. Former Williams soccer player Shane Stolz has taken over as the new head coach. Stolz graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from WBC in 2009.  After working two years at Stephens Inc., an investment corporation in Little Rock, AR, Stolz had an opportunity to return to Williams and coach soccer, and he couldn’t pass it up.

“We are trying to change the culture of the team,” said Stolz.  “We want to be a hard working team that possesses the ball. All of our returners have been very good leaders. Our guys are buying into the system so far. If we are better at the end of the day than we were at the beginning it was a successful day, and we are trying to do that every day.”

Stolz thinks his players all have the ability to play a fast paced, possession style game, and he also thinks this style gives his team the best chance to be successful.

“We have a South American feel about our team.” Stolz went on to say.  “These guys have grown up playing the short possession style of soccer that I want my team to play.”

When assistant coach Eric Smith was asked to describe the upcoming season in one word, the word he chose was “New.”  “It’s very new, everything about it,” said Smith. “Coach Stolz is building on the program, but bringing in new philosophies, as well as many new young players.”

Thirteen of the 21 players are new to the Williams soccer program. “We have a very young nucleus that is energetic and ready to go,” said Stolz. “We are looking for contributions out of many of our new guys.”

Lucas Carmargo, a freshman from Brazil, scored a goal in an exhibition played against Northwest Mississippi Junior College last week. Williams won the friendly 2 – 1 with Khalil de Lima scoring the second goal for Williams. De Lima is a sophomore from Brazil and is also a newcomer to the Williams soccer team.

“We looked good for the first 25 minutes,” said Coach Stolz. “After that we got a little tired. We saw a lot of positives but also saw many things we can work on, which is good.”

The Eagles have three upperclassman to go along with a strong nucleus of young players. Harold Owiti, a senior from Kenya, and juniors Esteban Piccinni from Paraguay and Henry Pineda from Green Forest, Ark., will provide experience.

Stolz is looking for leadership and hard work out of his upperclassmen, saying they know that no starting jobs are set in stone, and if they are outworked by a younger player they will end up on the bench. He says having the talented young players helps push the whole team to be better.

“Consistency” was the word Coach Stolz used to describe what he is looking for from his young team.

“A goal of ours is to make the conference tournament for the first time in Williams soccer history. We also want to be a .500 team. We feel that both are very achievable if we play consistently, and the way we know we can.”

The soccer team has a positive outlook on the year, and the players seem energetic and excited about the season. “It’s going to be a good year,” Eagles Captain Lucas Braga said.

The Eagles’ first game is Wednesday, which is also the first day of class at Williams. The game starts at 3:00 p.m.     


Photos Above:

Top Photo: The 2011 Williams Baptist College Men’s Soccer team.

Bottom Photo: WBC welcomes a new head coach this year: Shane Stolz, a 2009 graduate of Williams. He also doubles as the school’s Sports Information Director. 

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Williams Baptist College is a four-year, Christian liberal arts college located in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. DHS Alums Tyler Tanner, a member of the baseball team, and Ryan Windham, a member of the basketball team, are both students at the school.

     

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

ESSEX -- The Lady ‘Cats opened their 2011 campaign in dominating fashion against the Richland Lady Rebels on Monday night.

The Lady ‘Cats swept the contest, winning both the JV (25-16, 25-3) and Varsity (25-19, 25-15) matches in two sets.

“I think we got our first-game jitters out of the way,” head coach Lauren Hutchcraft said. “I thought we were prepared - we got out here and were a little shaky, especially in the first set.”

The ‘Cats were led by a great group of returning players - Lindsey Hindman recorded seven digs and three aces; Hannah Noe recorded seven assists, nine digs, and four aces; Libero Erika Mouser recorded 11 digs and was 8/8 from the service line - and some ‘new blood’ in freshman Jessica Lindsey.


Lindsey, the lone freshman on the varsity squad, put up great numbers in her first match: six digs, five kills, four blocks, one ace, and was 7/8 from the service line.

“Jessica Lindsey, she ended up with four blocks tonight. She is probably nervous, but you can't tell,” Hutchcraft noted. “She’s played phenomenal ball so far, being a freshman that’s pulled up on varsity - especially playing some of the teams we play. I’m glad we got the first game out of the way so she can get over some nerves.”


Despite the lopsided score, Hutchcraft noted the talent of her squad’s opponent. “Richland played well tonight,” she said. “They have some great girls on their team.”


The Lady ‘Cats will face the Kennett Lady Indians in their home opener Tuesday (Aug. 30) night at the BEC. Hutchcraft said the team looks forward to the district matchup, but noted that her team would have to be a little sharper on the court to move to 2-0 on the season.

“We face Kennett tomorrow night at home. They will be a good team, with some really athletic girls,” Hutchcraft said, “and they’re district competition, so hopefully we’re less nervous and play a little better tomorrow night.”

JV action is set to begin at 6:00 p.m., with Varsity action immediately following.