Another Award for UCA Athlete

Every year, the GSC names five males and five females as “Top Ten” award winners. The award is based on athletic, academic and extracurricular achievement during the previous academic year. UCA has now placed a student on the list three of the last four years.

Blake Barlow, a senior defender for the men’s soccer team last season, not only helped UCA to the national quarterfinals on the field, but in the classroom has a 3.91 GPA in general business administration. Barlow, from Tulsa, OK, was also given one of 28 NCAA Post Graduate scholarships. He started all 19 games this season, and his defense held opponents to just over 1 goal scored per game. Barlow is no stranger to academic accolades. He has been named to the 3.0 Club and Dean’s List for UCA athletics four times, is a Co-Sida Academic All-American, and three times has been named to the GSC Academic Honor Roll and All-Academic Team.

The third part of the formula for the Top Ten award is also well-covered. As a member of the Honors College, Barlow traveled to Belize to help clean up a riverbed. He was Vice President of Programs and Scholarship Chair for his fraternity for three years and has volunteered at AETN telethons. In April, Barlow was named Co-Male Student-Athlete of the Year.

News from the GSC Media Days

GSC Pre-Season Poll

It was also announced that UCA will be on television two times as part of the GSC television package. These games have been rescheduled to Thursdays as below:

1) North Alabama – Thursday, Sept. 29, 7:00 @ Estes Stadium
2) vs. Arkansas Tech – Thursday, Nov. 3, 7:00 @ Burkle Field in Russellville

The games will be shown on Comcast/Charter Sports (CSS) and seven of those will be simulcast on Cox Sports. The football schedule has been updated HERE.

(Information from UCA Sports Information Dept.)

Program on the Rise?

You may not have heard of Lubbock Christian University, but for seven years, they had one heck of a volleyball team. Head Coach Steven McRoberts left LCU with a 251-82 record and 75% win percentage. He takes over a UCA program that hasn’t had the same success.

“I think one of the ADs told me that we haven’t had a winning season in 11 years,” McRoberts said, “but if you look at the records a lot of them are really close.”

Last year, the Sugar Bears finished 14-16 and fifth in the west division of the GSC. Nine players will return this season and McRoberts signed five- four incoming freshman and a junior college transfer. Because he was hired early in the spring, McRoberts was able to go through spring practices with the team.

“I feel like we were able to accomplish a lot especially from a philosophy and chemistry standpoint,” McRoberts said. “One of my preseason philosophies is that everyone comes in on an equal footing. That means if you were a previous all-american or previous bench person or new player that’s never stepped on campus, what I do is try to figure out the 6 to 10 best players and that’s what you go with.

“I don’t bring players in that I don’t think will help us one way or another- whether that means someone that will push the others hard in practice or be a helper on the court.”

McRoberts brings 11 years of solid experience to the position. His 1998 LCU team finished ranked #5 in the country, and he was named conference coach of the year five times.

Q: What are the goals for your team this season?

A: That’s a good question. One of the biggest things not only for me but the incoming freshman and recruits is to see what the level of competition is like. The returning players will probably be able to tell you better what to expect and where we might finish. I don’t have any wins and losses in mind. The biggest thing I want to do is establish a hardworking team. But, at this point I just don’t know what we’re going to do.

Q: Do you have what I guess could be called a coaching philosophy?

A: I want my players to graduate. I want to be known as a team with players that are going to work really hard- with players that are going to respect people. And again I want to have a team that UCA will be proud of. Whether that translates into wins and losses, as it usually does, I want people who come to watch us to enjoy it and see a team that’s fighting for UCA.

Q: The program hasn’t experienced the winning that your previous program has. Is there anything you’ll have to do to establish that clichéd winning mentality?

A: I feel like we already started talking about it. The bottom line is that we improve. From a coaching standpoint, I would be disappointed if we don’t have a winning season because I think we have a lot of good players. It’s my job to get them working together and competing. They had a few injuries last year that hurt them or they probably would have been more competitive on the whole.

Soccer Review

Senior Ryan McKean finished his collegiate career with a bang. He racked up post-season accolades and led the team in goals (13), to the GSC championship game and for the second time in three years, the NCAA tournament. The team was beaten 2-1 by Lincoln Memorial in the GSC championship match, but the season wasn’t over. A 2-1 win over Rollins made the Bears 2004 South Region champs. The Bears reached the NCAA semifinals in 2002 and were just one win away from returning. The game with then #5 UNC-Pembroke was evenly matched. Both teams had five shots on goal and both goalkeepers made four saves, but UCA’s fifth shot hit the post. Pembroke’s Sascha Görres’ unassisted goal with under ten minutes remaining ended UCA’s season in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Head Coach Chad Flanders‘ second season was even more successful than the first. He led the Bears to a 11-6-3 record, 5-1-1 in conference and was named GSC Coach of the Year. McKean was named GSC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, GSC Co-Player of the Year and First Team All-South Region. Senior Kelly Franklin was named to the All-South Region Second Team. Five players were named to the All-GSC teams, and the team jumped from completely out of the polls to finish the season ranked #7.

Also, it shouldn’t be forgotten that West Florida was the preseason favorite to win the GSC. UWF’s season was cancelled after Hurricane Ivan.

Baseball Wrap-up

The UCA baseball team (25-23) was the preseason pick to finish 3rd in the west division. The team started off by losing eight of their first 10. Then they raced out to an 8-3 conference record by the end of march, but that was when the wins almost stopped coming completely. The bears lost the last four conference series’ and finished with an 11-12 Gulf South Conference record, sixth in the West Division and two spots out of the GSC tournament. Most of UCA’s woes came on the road where they were 7-13.

The team hit over .300 on the season, but when they lost, they tended to lose big — only one, 1-run loss on the year. In the 23 losses, UCA was outscored 120-73. The team will lose five regular players who have completed their eligibility: Jeremy Mason (P), Barrett Ward (1B), Mitch Cameron (OF), Brian Post (OF) and Chris Dickens (IF).

Ward and junior Todd Gossage were at the top of almost every offensive category. Gossage was joined on the second-team All-GSC list by sophomore shortstop Jonathan Ashworth. Zach Barnett became the leader on the mound. Finishing with a 7-4 record, Barnett was the only bear player named to the All-GSC First Team. Barnett led the team in starts (14), wins, strikeouts (56) and was fifth in the league with a blistering 2.80 ERA (pitchers with 10+ starts).