Lady Hornets Equestrian Season Wrap-Up

Its been a up and down season for the Delaware State Lady Hornets equestrian team. At the beginning of season, the lady hornets were ready for another great season of competition plus they signing their best recruit.

During the first three months of the season the Lady Hornets fought hard against great equestrian teams like South Dakota State, Texas Christian, Delaware, Auburn, Tennessee-Martin, Kansas State, and Baylor.

When January came, everything changed from good to bad to worst. Athletic Director Derek Bell and the university announced to drop men's tennis and equestrian due to budget problems.

That announcement didn't sit well with entire lady hornets equestrian team so they took immediate action by staging a protest that in from of the administrative building. Also the equestrian team was also taking DSU to court for violation Title IX.

Even though the lady hornets fought hard to keep the sport they love, they also had other competition to deal like Texas A&M, Georgia, South Carolina, New Mexico State, and Scared Heart.

After all the court room drama and the previous news stories from Delaware news medias were taking place, Lady hornets equestrian will stay for one more year.

Since next year will be their last year of equestrian, the lady hornets will show the Delaware State Athletic department that equestrian will be a competitive team no matter budget crisis they are in.

Young Hornets Shows Improvement During the Spring Game

Yesterday I didn't get a chance to go to Hornets Spring Game scrimmage. But when I read the article from The News Journal about the spring game, the Hornets were finding signs of good progress.

It all starts with Hornets quarterback Anthony Glaud. Glaud was finding his receivers left, right, and the middle of the field were he went four-for-four on a 80yard scoring drive.

Then, it was on to the defense when last year the Hornets keep giving opponents big plays. during the spring game, the defense made two interceptions. One by Chris Johnson and other by Terell Talbert who return that pick for a touchdown.

A lot of backups and starters are filling the right notes, as they expected from a young team, to bring big accomplishments this season.

I still think the Hornets have a long way to go. Even though spring practice is over there is summer practice to deal with before the regular season begins.

Overall I just hope the Hornets continue to build that momentum come summer camps and September.

Lady Hornets Bowling Season Wrap-Up

The 2009-2010 Lady Hornets bowling had a great year and picking up where they left off from last season. With their new coach Ricki Williams-Ellison and the a great roster, the lady hornets finished their season with a record of 98-36.

Delaware State were bowling for strikes, spares, 7/10 splits, and no gutter balls to become MEAC regular season champions.

Delaware State were playing tough opponents such as University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Arkansas State, New Jersey City, Kutztown, and other top bowling teams in the nation.

In the MEAC Tournament, the lady hornets were the number one seed but it wasn't easy to say the least especially in the championship round versus UMES. UMES forces Delaware State to a winner take sudden death elimination game. The Lady Hornets prevail and went on to become the two time MEAC tournament champions.

In the NCAA Tournament, the lady hornets wanted to get to the NCAA Championship and become National Champions. However, it was short stay as the lady hornets as they lost in a double elimination game against number three seed Vanderbilt and number two seed Arkansas State.

The Lady Hornets proved to the MEAC Conference that even though with a new coach and new squad they are here to compete winning bowling games and Baker matches. Come next year the lady hornets bowling team will be stronger than ever.

Pretty Good March For Lady Hornets Softball

It was a good March for the Delaware State Lady Hornets softball. Through 18 games in the month of March the Lady Hornets head into April with a 10-8 record batting .304 and averaging 5.7 runs per game.

The Lady Hornets can find ways to score with their baserunning and putting the ball in play but their pitching needs improvement.

The Lady Hornets pitching ERA is 11.85. Yikes!!! I'm pretty sure their starting pitching can do a lot better espcially in April and May. Already through April 6 the Lady Hornets were swept at the hands of Howard Univeristy.

Can the Lady Hornets continue their winning way or will they will end up in a long slump?

A Difficult March for Hornets Baseball

For a minute I thought the Hornets baseball will have a great start to the 2010season. Instead the Hornets were on the outside looking in.

During their 14 game stretch non-conference schedule in March, the Hornets finished the month with a 1-13 record with bad offense batting .219 and averaging only 3.4 runs a game. The reason why the numbers was so low is because the Hornets were falling behind early in a big hole and couldn't get out of a jam.

Its not just the offense its also their pitching performance as well. Their ERA is disappointing 13.77. The Hornets have to do a better with their pitching command if they wanted to win a lot a ball games and dethrone Bethune-Cookman.

April looks bright for the Hornets with good home game. Through April 6 the Hornets took two of three from University of Maryland Eastern Shore on the road.

Now the Hornets are looking to proved to the MEAC Conference they can be a good contender when they play Towson (two times), Coppin State (three times), University of Delaware, Florida A&M (three times), Georgetown, and Norfolk State (three times).

Lets see if coach J.P. Blandin can find a different strategy to find ways to score and get their pitching performance in order.

Lady Hornets Bowling 2X MEAC Champions

Even with a new coach, the results remain the same for the Delaware State Lady Hornets Bowling team as they are the two time MEAC Tournament Bowling Champions.

The Lady Hornets were the number one seed in the MEAC Bowling Tournament with wins over Bethune Cookman (first round), Norfolk State (second round), University of Maryland Eastern Shore (third round).

In the championship round, both teams went back and forth in Baker play. Tied at three games, the Lady Hawks topped DSU 206-205 to force another match in the double-elimination bracket.

With everything on the line, the lady hornets didn't panic as both teams went back and forth again until the fifth and decided match has started. It appears to be a best of three as the lady hornets won the fifth match but UMES refused to quick to win the sixth match and forced a the seventh and final match.

Lady Hornets dug deep and pull off the victory in the final match to the MEAC Tournament Champions.

I am so proud of the lady hornets for what they accomplish this year. Also for new coach Ricki Williams-Ellison its was a wonderful start to her coaching career during her first year as lady hornets bowling coach.

Now the lady hornets are heading for the NCAA Bowling Tournament for the second straight year whoever their opponent is, the Lady Hornets will be ready to pick up where they left off. Last year, the lady hornets posted their first NCAA tournament victory and went on to the final four only to lose in the semi-finals to national champion Nebraska.

This year the lady will be stinging down pins and bowling for strikes in en route to hopefully become National Champions.

Stingers: The Hornets are the third team to win back-to-back MEAC bowling titles in the 11-year history of the tournament, joining Maryland-Eastern Shore (2005-08) and North Carolina A&T (2001-04).

This also marks the first time that a Delaware State team in any sport has captured consecutive MEAC championships since women's indoor track & field earned five straight titles from 1984 to 1988.

Once again congratulations to the Delaware State Lady Bowling team for becoming MEAC Bowling Tournament Champions. Good luck in the NCAA Tournament. HORNETS!!!

Hornets Basketball Season Review (Men's Edition)

Lets just called the Hornets men's basketball season the almost-redeem team. The reason why I say that is because last season the Hornets only had eight wins all season, six of them where conference. Plus they had a lot of junior transfers but that plan didn't work and Hornets didn't play with a lot of heart. That can frustrated for Coach Greg Jackson, Sr.

This year is way more different. The Hornets was protecting homecourt, their defense was like the Detroit Pistons, find ways to score, keep opponents frustrated when they cant get the ball also letting the Delaware State crowd get into game by making more noise. Plus the Hornets proved doubters wrong because the Hornets were picked to finished ninth in the MEAC Conference. Instead they finished second. The reason why I say almost redeem season is to what happen in the MEAC Tournament but I will get those details later.

For now lets take a stroll down memory lane as we recap the 2009-2010 Hornets basketball season.

Home court advantage:
Hornets started the season 4-1

The Hornets started season fresh and was tested tough at home by Division I, Division II, and Division III opponents.

DSU 67, Holy Family 57
Hornets witnessed the debut of freshman Alibaba Odd, who became a fan favorite in Memorial Hall when he scored 15 points vs Holy Family. The Hornets defense forced Holy Family to commit 20 turnovers which result in 17 Hornets points off of turnovers.

DSU 60, Wilmington College 44
For the third straight year, Delaware State continued their winning ways against Goldey-Beacom's rival Wilmington College as three different Hornets scored in double figures but its wasn't their shooting. It was their defense and their free-throws that gave the Hornets the victory. Delaware State forced Wilmington College to commit 26 turnovers that result in 23 Hornets points. Also the Hornets made 85% from the free throw line in order to make up for their shooting troubles.


Maine 59, DSU 56
The Hornets almost did everything right: shooting 50% from the field, 46% from three point land, 75% from the free throw line, and used their full court press through most of the game. There were two mistakes that cost the Hornets the game. The first mistake was that they were get out rebounded by Maine's big men by getting second chance points. Second mistake the Hornets couldn't score a bucket in the final 2:47 of the second half.

DSU 59, Mary Washington 43
It wasn't the Hornets starters that helped win the game, it was the bench players that gave the Hornets momentum. Despite Marcus Neal performance (17 points and five three pointers), the bench gave a huge lift by scoring 29 points and the defense kept Mary Washington in check.

DSU 75, University of Delaware 67
It was the first state rivalry that everyone has been waiting for. For the first time since 2000 Delaware State and University of Delaware were duking it out on the hardwood and both teams didn't let the fans disappointed. The atmosphere was full of Hornet red all around Memorial Hall with very few Blue Hen fans. None the less it was the Frisco Sandidige Show scoring a career high 26 points. It also a free throw shooting contest but the Hornets were going to the free throw 40 times making 30 of those free throws. That's a lot of free throws.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-Conference Games Full Brick Walls; Hornets lose six straight games
The Hornets continued their non-conference schedule this time on the road trip and on the wrong side of the tracks scoring only 49 points a game. The one game that would've been a Hornets victory was against University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Delaware state had chances to win but missing key shots down the stretch cost the Hornets the game as they couldn't secured their first conference win. Other than that the shots were not fallen as the Hornets played tough teams like Arizona State, UCLA, Ohio State, and Arkansas.


I give Hornets credit versus Ohio State because they stay in the game for most of the 1st half. The Buckeye crowd was booing their own team and the Hornets did whatever to prevent Ohio State from scoring a lot of points. However without Evan Turner due to injury the Buckeyes manage some key runs on offense and prevent the hornets from making easy shots to pull ahead to win the game.

Then on the day before the New Years Eve, the Hornets were back home against Lehigh University. DSU came from behind and Jay Threatt tied the game with under 20 seconds left in the 2nd half. With time running out Threatt had a chance to be the hero instead he tried to draw the foul and the layup was missed followed by a missed put back by Marcus Neal as the game went into overtime. In the overtime period, the Hornets struggle on offense and defense as they were outscored 13-7 in a 73-66 defeat.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


A Big Test to Proved Doubters Wrong
Now its was the moment of truth the MEAC Conference Schedule. The Hornets started the month of January 6-1 with making huge home wins over Winston-Salem State (at the buzzer), South Carolina State, and Hampton (snowstorm game).

Also the road wins over Coppin State (on ESPNU), Bethune-Cookman, and FAMU. The Hornets only lost came at the hand of Morgan State. DSU had a 15 point lead until the final seven minutes when Morgan State rallied to win to game thanks to a Hornet collapse.

In February and March 4, was a nothing but crazy defense, great plays on offense, fun memories and not so good memories.


The best games were the four game home stead where Delaware State went 3-1 with with wins over Bethune-Cookman, FAMU, and Coppin State. The most exciting game was the rematch between DSU and Morgan State. Morgan State tried to take the Hornet crowd out of the game but late in the second half the Hornets rally but fell short on a missed three pointer.

Last but certainly not least is the final home game of the year when we say goodbye to our Hornet seniors Frisco Sandidge, Marcus Neal, Greg Smith, and Kris Douse.

The Hornets were playing University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Even though the Hornets 57-37 win, it was the war of words between Hornets fans and Hawks fans. Hawk fans and cheerleaders tried to get the best of Hornet fans but DSU fans made the best noise with their chants, the trash talking and cheerleaders.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A Roller Coaster Ride in the MEAC Tournament
In the quarterfinals the Hornets were playing against Bethune-Cookman. The Hornets had commanding lead but the Wildcats refuse to quit in the second half as they made key buckets and free throws to rally. DSU struggle to survive but made sure Bethune-Cookman didn't win the game.

During the semi-finals against South Carolina State, the Hornets shooting was very cold as ice and the defense barely kept them in the game. During the final eight minutes of the second half, the Hornets rally making key buckets, free throws and picking up the defense as the Hornets take the lead. However, South Carolina State forced overtime with a game-tying three pointer to forced overtime.

During the overtime session, both teams traded baskets as the Hornets took a slight four point lead but South Carolina State made key free throws and rebounds to end the game and putting a heartbreak to the Hornets season.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a good season for the Delaware State Hornets basketball season. Their defense was great but their offense has got to score more points. this year the Hornets only average 58.5 points per game. If the Hornets don't score in the 60s or 70s next year, there will problems come next year for the Hornets.

If the Hornets can keep up their intensive defense, then the Hornets will able win a whole lot of games come next season.

Now that our four seniors are graduating, its up to Chad Wilson, Marques Oliver, Jay Threatt, and Trevor Welcher to pick up the pieces of where they left off. Will the Hornets continue their winning ways or will it be a sluggish year in 2010-2011 for Greg Jackson senior and the Hornets? Only time will tell.