September was a up and down month for the Delaware State Hornet Fall Athletics. There were several sports that couldn't fit the right notes but fought hard against non-conference opponents. As we begin the month of October here is the recap of the best of September for fall sports.
Lady Hornets Volleyball
The lady hornets Volleyball team had high expectations this season especially trying to compete for the MEAC Championship. Plus Cassandra Joyner had her 1,000th career kill on September 11th at home
So far August and September it's been a up and down season as the lady hornets are a game under .500 at 9-10. They begin the season losing their five of their first six games. Then on September 5th the lady hornets begin to get hot riding a five game game winning streak before losing tough matches to Bucknell, Rutgers, Radford, and La Salle. On September 25 and 26, the DSU begin MEAC play against North Carolina A&T, Winston Salem State, and the new member of the MEAC Conference North Carolina Central. St. Francis got pay back on September 29 to end the lady hornets three game winning streak.
October begins the lady hornets can breathe a little easy after participating in five tournaments in one month. They will begin October with their non-conference game at Lehigh on Tuesday and then begin their MEAC Conference schedule on the weekend of October 9 at home against Hampton and UMES. Then the remainder of October the Lady Hornets will have four of their five games on the road starting with Howard (October 16), Morgan State at home (October 18), Coppin State (October 23), Hampton (October 25), and UMES (October 30).
Lady Hornets Soccer
New Conference, Same Results
The lady hornets soccer are playing in their second season under new head coach Nitan Soni and in their new conference the Great West Conference. The problem is that the lady hornets offense has a tough time scoring goals and winning games. The lady hornets are getting shutout seven times by their opponents, getting outscored 35-2, and manage just two goals all season.
The Lady Hornets has got to find ways to score goals and prevent other teams to gain two or more goals. The lady hornets have whole month of October to turn this season around when they play South Carolina State (twice), Howard, St. Peter's, NJIT (twice), and Wilmington College. If they can do that they could gain momentum for the Great West Conference tournament.
Men's and Lady Hornets Cross Country
September 5 The UMES "Lid-Lifter"
Men and ladies finished 5th
September 12 The Towson Invitational
Men and ladies finished 3rd
September 19 The UD Invitational
Men and Ladies finished 4th
This was the best September for the men's and lady hornets cross country team as they finished in the top 5 in three straight meets. They have already started October by finishing in the top 5 at the their own invitational as the men finished 3rd and the ladies finished 2nd. If they finished in the top 5 at the Delaware Invitational on October 10th they could building momentum to take first place at the MEAC Championships on October 24.
Hornets Football
Everybody already knows what season the Hornets football team will progress. They have already started a season with a forfeit loss to North Carolina A&T, gave up over 350 yards against Florida A&M, then they put their in-state rival University of Delaware to the limit in a loss, and against Hampton the defense was strong by only giving up six points. The offense finished drives in the red zone for touchdowns and that's how you play Hornets football. Now October will be a interesting month when they finally return home against Bethune Cookman (October 10), then a non-conference game in the Big House of Michigan (October 17), Homecoming against Morgan State (October 24 remember the fumble in 2007?) finish off October against last year's MEAC Champion South Carolina on Halloween. I know we don't have a chance against Michigan but if we can win these conference games in October we could be in the driver's seat for a winning season.
