TAMIU Men's Soccer Heads for Regional Tournament

After winning its second straight Red River Athletic Conference title over the weekend the Texas A&M International University men's soccer team is set for a return trip to the NAIA Region VI Tournament.

The regional tournament will be played this Friday and Saturday at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Okla.

TAMIU is the number three seed in the four-team tournament.

The Dustdevils will play second seed Oklahoma Baptist on Friday at 2 p.m. Host and number one seed Southern Nazarene will play Science & Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) in Friday's other semifinal game. Friday's two winners will play for the Region VI title and automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament on Saturday. The championship game will kickoff at 2 p.m.

All three of the other teams in the regional tournament are members of the Sooner Athletic Conference. TAMIU has a 3-1 all-time record against SAC opponents.

Earlier this season the Dustdevils posted road wins against SAC schools St. Gregory's and Oklahoma Christian and a neutral site win over USAO. Southern Nazarene defeated TAMIU, 4-0, in the semifinal round of last season's Region VI Tournament.

Volleyball Notes

TAMIU volleyball had a busy weekend, winning four of five matches played over a four-day period to wrap up the regular season. TAMIU finishes the regular season 24-6 overall and as the second place finisher in the Red River Athletic East Division with a 13-4 conference mark.

TAMIU will now participate in the RRAC postseason tournament this Friday and Saturday at Texas Wesleyan University. The Dustdevils will open tournament play against UT-Permian Basin on Friday at 3 p.m. The winner of that match will play the winner of the Texas Wesleyan vs. Southwestern Assemblies match in the semifinal round on Friday evening.

Teams on the other side of the bracket are six-time defending conference champion Houston Baptist, Bacone College, College of the Southwest, and Huston-Tillotson.

The RRAC Championship match is scheduled for Saturday at the top three finishers in the RRAC Tournament will advance to the Region VI Tournament, which will be hosted by UT-Permian Basin on Nov. 19-20.

Cross Country Notes

On the heels of an amazing performance at the NAIA Region VI Championships, junior Anetra Matthews has qualified for the NAIA Cross Country National Championships. Matthews finished second at the regional meet on Saturday at Oklahoma Baptist University with a career-best 5K effort of 18:56.70.

The only runner to finish ahead of Matthews was defending national champion Miriam Kaumba of OBU. The NAIA National Championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 20 at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.

Basketball Notes

The start of the 2004-05 season is just around the corner for TAMIU's men's and women's basketball teams. The men get started with a road game at St. Mary's on Tuesday, Nov. 16 and the women start with a home contest against Monterrey Tech on Wednesday, Nov. 17.

The home-opener for the men will be on Friday, Nov. 26 against Texas A&M-Kingsville.