Fall Sports Highlights

FOOTBALL ETBU Football finished the 2019 season at 6-4 for their fifth winning season in a row. The Tigers went 6-3 in the American Southwest Conference. After starting 0-2, the Tigers won six of their final eight games, including a homecoming win over Howard Payne, 41-35, and keeping “The Claw” in the Battle of the Border Claw over Louisiana College, 31-7. Senior Brian Baca set a new school record with the most passing touchdowns (64) breaking the previous mark of 62 set by Josh Warbington. Baca also became the second quarterback in program history to complete over 500 passes (501) for over 7,000 yards (7,192) in a career. In addition, he was named a Campbell Trophy semifinalist and was named AllASC first team for the second year in a row. Head Coach Brian Mayper became only the second head coach to have back-to-back winning seasons since Ralph Harris did in 2002 and 2003. ETBU had four ASC Players of the Week, Anton Clark (Defensive), Grant LaPoint-Teate (Defensive), Jeremiah Robertson (Offensive), and KJ Kelley (Defensive). Kelley was then named to the D3football.com “Team of the Week” on November 4. In all, 12 members earned All-ASC awards with three players on the first team: Baca, Sirbatian Charles (CB), and Clark (LB). Jalen Blanton (WR), Kelley (CB), LaPoint-Teate (CB), and Robertson (RB) were named to the second-team while Mauricio Aceves (P), Tariq Gray (WR), Jonathan Kalafatis (OL), Michael Kalafatis (OL), and Cory Stang (OL) were honorable mention. Justice Henson was named a member of the ASC Sportsmanship Team of the Year.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Tiger Men’s Cross Country sent participants to the NCAA Division III South Regional for the sixth time in the last seven years. Junior Mack Broussard achieved three top five finishes as the team’s top runner, including 2nd place at the University of Texas-Tyler Braveheart Invitational and ETBU’s home meet. He placed 43rd at the regional meet and fourth at the American Southwest Conference Championship with an 8K time of 26:29.2 Broussard earned his third straight All-ASC first team award, and the ASC Sportsmanship Award. He was also named ASC Runner of the Week twice. Sophomore Stephen Brown also qualified for the regional meet after finishing 26th at the ASC Championships. Brown’s best finish of the year came at the University of Texas-Tyler Braveheart Invitation, where he finished in 11th place.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY Women’s Cross Country produced three, top-five team finishes this Fall, including 2nd place at LeTourneau, 3rd at University of Texas-Tyler, and 4th at ETBU's home meet. Sophomore Almalisseth Rodriguez was the top runner with her best finish in 5th place at the ETBU meet. She qualified for the NCAA Division III South Regional meet with a 17th place finish at the American Southwest Conference Championship, where ETBU finished in 7th place as a team.

MEN’S TENNIS Tiger Men’s Tennis competed in two individual tournaments during the fall semester. At the American Southwest Conference Fall Individual Championship Tournament, John Herr (Flight B) and Dalton Barron (Flight H) achieved the highest finishes in singles at 3rd place. Tyler Howard and Andrew Deutsch would pair up to reach the finals in Flight B as Herr and Joseph Salinas took the Consolation Championship in Flight A. At the ITA South/Southwest Regional Tournament Championship, Herr had the best run reaching the round of 16 in Flight A singles. Salinas won three matches in a row in Flight A consolation bracket after a first round loss. Matthew Fuhr also had success in the consolation bracket winning the Flight D Singles Championship. ETBU opens their 2020 season with a home match against the University of St. Thomas.

WOMEN’S TENNIS Playing in two fall tournaments, ETBU Women’s Tennis improved their play gearing up for team competition in the spring. In the American Southwest Conference Fall Individual Championships Tournament, two players advance in the winner’s bracket in Abby Jones (Flight E) and Maddi Davis (Flight F). In doubles, Jones and Corrine Hall would finish in 3rd place in Flight C. Facing the toughest players in the ITA Fall South/Southwest Regional Tournament, Elisa Kendall would reach the finals in Flight A, but fell short of defending her championship from 2018, falling 7-5, 7-6. Kelsey Roberts and Kylee Mixon would advance to the “B” doubles championship falling, 8-4. ETBU began the Spring Semester on January 25 with a home match against University of St. Thomas.

MEN’S GOLF Tiger Men’s Golf started their second season competing in four fall tournaments. Their best finish was at Louisiana College’s Fall Invitational, where they finished in 3rd place. Leading ETBU was Hank Crain, who earned ASC Golfer of the Week honors, placing 2nd with 146 (75-71), missing 1st place by only one stroke. ETBU would place 7th in both the Rockwind Links Intercollegiate hosted by McMurry University and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Fall Intercollegiate Invitational. At the American Southwest Conference Fall Preview, ETBU finished 8th. Riley Griffin was named to the All-Tournament Team for finishing in 7th place.

WOMEN’S GOLF ETBU Women’s Golf had three top-five finishes in the fall including a 4th place finish at the Rockwind Links Intercollegiate hosted by McMurry University. They were led by top ten finishes from Cali Brockway and Emily Watson, who both tied for 8th in the tournament. ETBU had 5th place finishes in both the UMHB Lady Crusader Invitational and the American Southwest Conference Fall Preview. Watson was named to the ASC All-Tournament Team finishing tied for 4th place with a 159 (77-82), which was seven strokes off of 1st place.

MEN’S SOCCER Head Coach Chad Cox guided ETBU Men’s Soccer to their second straight American Southwest Conference Tournament. ETBU went 7-11 overall, winning their last three regular season matches. The Tigers finished 6-5 in the ASC as the sixth seed, earning an overtime win at Schreiner University, 4-3, to start the season, and an upset win over 2018 ASC Champion University of Mary HardinBaylor, 2-1. ETBU won their final three matches over Sul Ross State University, 1-0, Howard Payne University, 3-2, and LeTourneau University, 4-0, to finish in 6th place. Named to the first team, Travis Atkinson ended his career as a fourtime All-ASC selection. He was the only ASC player this year named All-ASC four years in a row. Named to second team, Max Ponticorvo earned the ASC Offensive Player of the Week twice. Isaiah Simien also made the second team, Tristan England made third team, and Travis Floyd was honorable mention.

WOMEN’S SOCCER Tiger Women’s Soccer won seven matches in 2019 and went 3-1-1 in overtime games under first year Head Coach Kristin Cox. ETBU earned overtime victories against Schreiner University, 2-1, University of Ozarks, 1-0, and Sul Ross State University, 3-2. They also recorded shutout wins against the Mississippi University for Women, 2-0, Millsaps College, 2-0, Belhaven University, 5-0, and Louisiana College, 3-0. Riley Broughton, Ashleigh Rondon, and Amy Pineda each scored goals for the wins. Six players were named All-ASC for the year, including Rondon to the second team, along with third team members Raegan Kappler and Brianna Mickshaw and honorable mention selections Olivia Gallegos, Kayla Nichols, and Laura Williams. Rondon earned ASC Offensive Player of the Week.

BASS FISHING In a banner season, Tiger Bass Fishing claimed the Yeti FLW School of the Year Championship for the Southern Conference in September, their first team championship. The Tigers logged a win, three top 10 finishes, one top 15, and multiple top 35 finishes. Their consistency at different fisheries (Lake Sam Rayburn, Lake Texoma, and the Arkansas River) led to their first-ever Yeti FLW College Series Southern Conference Team of the Year Title for 2019. Mason Beatty and Jacob Keith qualified for the FLW National Championship, finishing second at the Arkansas River Tournament. Brett Clark and Cody Ross took 3rd place, and Keith and Kaden Proffitt earned 4th place at the Bassmaster/Carhartt College Series qualifier on Lake Sam Rayburn. Grant Hendrix and Cameron Tullis had the top boat in 20th place at the Cabelas Collegiate Fishing Series on Lake Dardanelle, and Keith/Proffitt finished the fall season in 10th at the Bass Outlaw Outdoors qualifier for the Bassmaster/Carhartt College Series. The Tigers are slated for five tournaments this spring.

VOLLEYBALL Tiger Volleyball finished 14-14 and went 7-7 in the American Southwest Conference East Division under first-year Head Coach Darby Graff. ETBU won their first six matches with four gains at the Austin College Classic claiming wins over Austin College, University of St. Thomas, Centenary College, and Paul Quinn College. Julia De Los Santos was the ASC East Division Defensive Player of the Week for her play at the Austin College Invitational. She finished with 99 digs, including a career high (37 digs) against Austin College. Four players earned All-ASC awards: Bailey Byas and Allie Fennell were named to the East Division first team, Annie Harris the second team, and Cassidy Zellmer honorable mention.

HOCKEY Off to their best start in program history, ETBU Hockey opened up the year with 17 straight wins. They swept the series from Texas State, the University of Texas, Dallas Baptist University twice, University of North Texas, and Texas Christian University twice. That run also included regional wins over California State University-Northridge, California State University-Fullerton, and Long Beach State University. Following the outstanding fall season, the Tigers are 17-1-1 and leading the Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference North Division. Four players have earned Texas Collegiate Hockey Conference Players of the Week: Tyler Fitzgerald, Ryan Gruszka, Riley Knott, and Filip Soderstrom. ETBU finished out the last six games of the regular season in January.