WAXAHACHIE – Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) announces the resignation of head football coach, Ryan Smith, who has indicated a desire to pursue other coaching opportunities. In the previous four years, SAGU football holds an 18-21 record and finished 9-3 in 2021 while winning the National Christian College Athletic Association’s Victory Bowl.

SAGU will begin the process of finding a new head coach immediately. SAGU Athletics has a mission to pursue spiritual formation in student-athletes, prepare student-athletes to be servant leaders, and provide an atmosphere of athletic excellence.

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) won its first-ever NCCAA Softball National Championship after defeating No. 3 Columbia International University (CIU) 7-4.

The Lions trailed 3-0 after the second inning, but climbed back into the game in the fourth, as Rosie Guadarrama and Illeana Salinas each had RBI-singles to make it 3-2. Airiana Magdaleno tied it up in the third with an RBI-single that scored Alana Ortega. In the sixith inning, SAGU would tack on 2 more runs before Maddie Watson crushed a 2-run home run to make it 7-4. In the circle, Ashlyn Teran picked up the win in relief, going 5.1 innings and allowing just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 batters.

SAGU opened pool play with a 9-8 loss against No. 7 Arlington Baptist University (ABU), losing in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning. The No. 2 seeded Lions bounced back with a 6-4 win over No. 6 Hannibal-LaGrange University, led by Kassandra Vargas who cranked a home run and drove in two runs. SAGU then defeated CIU 6-5, as Salinas went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI’s and 1 run scored. The Lions finished 2-1 in pool play and advanced to the semifinals after a 6-5 win over ABU in a pool play tiebreaker game.

In the semifinal matchup against No. 1 Mid-America Christian University, the Lions came out strong as Teran hit a grand slam in the first inning. SAGU would go on to win 5-2 as Teran picked up the win on the mound, allowing 6 hits and striking out 7 batters.

The Lions’ Rosie Guadarrama was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player.

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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – On Saturday afternoon in the Abe Lemons Arena, the SAGU Volleyball team won the 2021 Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship for the first time in program history. They defeated Wayland Baptist University in three sets with scores of 25-21, 25-19, and 25-23. The Lady Lions only lost one set throughout the entirety of the tournament. With this championship win, SAGU Volleyball has officially clinched a spot in the NAIA National Tournament.
 
“Our kids played an outstanding match today,” head coach Hank Moore said. “Our offense stayed fast throughout the match. Our defense was incredible. All of our kids played very hard. This was a huge win for our program. I’m very proud of the entire team. Our first conference tournament championship and our first automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament.”
 
Alexis Mealer led the SAGU offense once again with 19 kills hitting .255 throughout the match. Mealer accounted for 20.5 points against the Pioneers. Abby Wells added 12 kills, hitting .370 in the match while Ava Myers totaled 7 kills. Riley Burcham had a championship performance as she accounted for 36 assists, 14 digs, and 3 kills. Tessa Glick led the SAGU backcourt with 17 digs, giving her 544 digs on the year.
 
As a team, the Lady Lions ended the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament with a .240 hitting percentage and 140 kills while their opponents hit just .112. SAGU also totaled 196 digs, 17 aces, and 12 blocks throughout the tournament.
 
Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Statistics
 
Alexis Mealer was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, and Riley Burcham was also named to the All-Tournament Team. Mealer ended the tournament totaling 53 kills and averaging 5.30 kills per set. She hit .293 over the three games played. Riley Burcham put together a brilliant performance over the three games played in the tournament as she totaled 112 assists averaging 11.20 assist per set. She also led all players in service aces with 5 and added 40 digs.
 
The Lady Lions will now await to hear who their opponent will be at the 42^nd NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship Opening Round.  The opening rounds are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 20 at various NAIA schools across the country. The Volleyball national championship includes a field of 48 teams. Forty-Eight teams will compete in 24 national championship opening round matches played on campus sites nationwide on November 20th. Opening round winners will advance to the final site for a 24-team pool play tournament. One team from each pool advances to single-elimination championship play. The final championship site will be held at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux, Iowa.

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PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana College football team had itself in position to come out of its first ever Sooner Athletic Conference contest with a victory, but saw it slip away late as Southwestern Assemblies of God University scored a touchdown with five seconds left to drop the Wildcats in the SAC opener 20-13 to the Lions Saturday night at Wildcat Field. 

The name of the game for most of the contest was defense as both teams struggled to get moving offensively. The Wildcats struck first in the second quarter as LC took advantage of an 18-yard punt that set the Wildcats up on SAGU’s side of the field, moving into the red zone before calling on Hunter Martensson from 36 yards out, which he converted to give LC a 3-0 lead. 

But just about five minutes later, a SAGU offense that had been stymied for most of the first half hit on one big play, a 44-yard touchdown pass to take the lead with 8:30 to go before halftime, even as Gerald Burton blocked the point after attempt to keep the score at 6-3, which would be the halftime score. 

Midway through the third quarter, the Wildcats knotted the game back up. Canaan Leon took an handoff on an end around play and ran for 43 yards to set up the Wildcats inside the Lion red zone again. However, the drive would stall and Martensson drilled a field goal attempt from 30 yards to even the score at 6-6. 

With the game tied and now in the final 15 minutes, the Wildcats took the advantage first. After a quick three-and-out by the Lions deep in their own territory, a 29-yard punt set up LC at the SAGU 37. And all it took was one play for Devin Briscoe to get around the right edge, break two tackles, and stroll into the end zone to make it 13-6 LC with 11:42 left in the game. 

But on the Lions first offensive play following the Briscoe score, SAGU connected on a 32-yard pass to begin a seven-play drive that ended with a 22-yard touchdown pass to even the score back up at 13-13 with just more than eight minutes left in regulation. 

Both teams started to struggle moving the ball again as a light rain fell over Wildcat Field. But field position became a big ally to SAGU as a personal foul penalty following a punt backed up the Wildcats deep. A quick three-and-out and a 16-yard punt set up the Lions deep in LC territory with less than a minute left. And SAGU took advantage of the opportunity, going on a three-play drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass with just five seconds left in the game to snatch the victory in the contest. 

Devin Briscoe led LC’s attack on the ground with 16 rush attempts for 107 yards and a score. Canaan Leon had three rushes for 64 yards. The Wildcats as a team rushed for 244 yards in the contest. 

It wasn’t the best of games through the air for the Wildcats as Sal Palermo III went six of 19 for 59 yards and an interception before leaving the game in the third quarter. James Powell, Jr. came in and went two of 12 for 46 yards. Canaan Leon added two receptions for 22 yards to his rushing and special teams totals to finish the night with 87 all-purpose yards. Tayvien Cole had a 42-yard reception to make him the top receiver in terms of yards gained. 

Cole Jones was all over the place for the Wildcats defense, finishing the contest with 13 total tackles, seven solo and six assisted. 2.5 of his tackles happened behind the Lions line of scrimmage for a loss of yards, recovered a fumble, and broke up a pass. D’Mario Weathersby had five tackles, one for loss. Tyren Young forced the fumble that Jones recovered, and Bennie Clark III picked off the Lions QB. 

The Wildcats (0-2, 0-1 SAC) head on the road for the first time in 2021 for their final non-conference contest of the season, a date with NCAA D-I FCS team Abilene Christian. Kickoff between the LC Wildcats and ACU Wildcats (0-1) is set for 6:00 P.M. at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium. 

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OKLAHOMA CITY – Arizona Christian garnered the No. 1 position in the preseason Sooner Athletic Conference football poll.

Conference coaches chose Southwestern Assemblies of God’s Jordan Barlow as preseason SAC offensive player of the year.

Riley Tucker from Arizona Christian took preseason league defensive player of the year, and Austin Bohn of OUAZ picked up preseason SAC special teams player of the year.

Barlow, a senior quarterback from Van Buren, Ark., piled up 1,539 yards through the air while topping the SAC in touchdown passes (13), completion percentage (59.7 percent) and passing efficiency (136.6) last season. Barlow landed second-team all-conference acclaim in 2020-21.

Tucker, a junior defensive back from Burleson, Texas, ranked No. 1 among the NAIA with six interceptions and seventh nationally in passes defended per game (1.40). Tucker provided the Firestorm with such game-turning plays as a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown against Lyon on March 13 and a 40-yard fumble return for a score at OUAZ on March 6. Tucker became the SAC defensive player of the year and two-time SAC defensive player of the week while accumulating 59 tackles the past season.

Bohn, a senior punter from Erie, Colo., finished second in the nation with 44.1 yards a punt with a long punt of 59 yards last season. Bohn snagged conference special teams player of the year and first-team all-SAC.

Arizona Christian assumed the preseason favorite role after reeling in seven top votes and 76 points in the poll of the SAC head coaches. The Firestorm (9-2, 6-0 SAC) captured the league title and went to the NAIA Football Championship Series for the first time in program history.

OUAZ (4-1 last season) grabbed 71 points and two first-place votes in the voting. Langston hauled in the other No. 1 vote as well as 64 points.

Southwestern Assemblies of God (56 points) came in fourth, while Panhandle State (41 points) held the fifth spot in the survey of SAC coaches. Lyon nabbed the sixth spot, and Texas Wesleyan had seventh.

Wayland Baptist drew the eighth slot with Louisiana College and Texas College coming next. The SAC expanded this season to include Louisiana College, which joined the NAIA for 2021-22.

The NAIA Football Championship Series kicks off Nov. 20 at host school sites throughout the nation. The national title game takes place Dec. 18. Arizona Christian, Louisiana College, Lyon and Panhandle State each open play Aug. 28. Arizona Christian faces Lincoln (Calif.) at 11 a.m. MST (1 p.m. CDT) Aug. 28 in Glendale, Ariz.

2021 SAC Preseason Football Poll

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