By Sameer Malla
Following UTPB’s narrow 27-24 victory over Western Oregon at McArthur Field, linebacker Hayden Kelly was rewarded with the Lone Star Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week award.
Kelly intercepted Western Oregon quarterback Gannon Winkers’ pass with under a minute left in the contest for the game-sealing 55-yard touchdown.
He also had a career-high 10 tackles to go along with 2.5 tackles for a loss, a solo sack and a pair of deflected passes in the win.
Kelly was informed of his award at Monday’s UTPB’s press conference about the award.
“That’s a team award – with how the defensive line was playing and how the defensive backs were covering,” Kelly said.
As for the interception, Kelly also credited his teammates for locking down on the receivers and creating disruption with the defensive line.
“I was just thinking to go score and trying to put this game away,” Kelly said. “We had a great pass rush up front and great coverage in the back. … The (Western Oregon) quarterback made some bad throws all game and forced it up. I just got on it.”
The Falcons (2-2 overall, 1-1 in conference) go on the road to face the West Texas A&M Buffaloes (2-2, 0-2) on Saturday night to continue conference play.
> > Volleyball: The UTPB volleyball team won their second straight game in a 3-1 set victory at home against conference rival Texas Woman’s (10-6, 1-3). The team was led by senior middle hitter Taurie Magee, who had 11 kills and a team-high four blocks on Saturday.
The upperclassman-laden team (13 of the squad’s 19 players are either juniors or seniors) lost five of six games between September 3 and September 17 but have since rebounded in their two back-to-back home wins.
“We had a good weekend – we have two important Lone Star wins,” head coach Tim Loesch said. “Even more importantly, the team is playing better and playing together. Our offense is improving. So, we are really happy to see all of those things come together for us. It was good preparation for our long road out this upcoming weekend.”
The Falcons (7-7, 2-1) will have its next three matches on the road-a grueling stretch of three games in four days-as they face Cameron (5-11, 0-4) on Friday night.
They will then follow that with a match at Lone Star Conference-leading West Texas A&M (11-4, 4-0) on Saturday.
UTPB then will face Western New Mexico (2-15, 0-5) on Monday.
“We have to be able to replicate what we do in our own gym and on practice, on game days at home – we have to be able to do that on the road and not be distracted by the crowd,” Loesch said. “I think if we can do that, we’ll be in a good spot.”
>> Men’s Soccer: The UTPB men’s soccer team (2-1-2) escaped with a 3-2 win against Dallas Baptist (1-3-4) on Saturday night at home after freshman forward Gabriel Nevarez scored a 90th-minute game-winning goal in a come-from-behind victory.
The Falcons trailed 1-0 at halftime after a 13th minute penalty kick goal by Dallas Baptist forward Peyton Voelker.
The home team responded with three second half goals, with the game-tying penalty kick goal coming off the leg of senior forward Gustavo Barroso in the 88th minute, followed by Nevarez’s game-winner.
“We had a good week of preparation, and to top it off, we had a good win on Saturday,” head coach Victor Domingues said in Monday’s UTPB press conference. “We knew we were creating chances – we knew we were getting there.
“It was just a matter of actually putting it in the back of the neck on Saturday that we put three away so I could not be more excited for the team.”
The team goes to San Antonio to face St. Mary’s (3-0-4) on Wednesday night, and then turns around back home against the University of Texas at Tyler (5-1-1) on Saturday afternoon.
Domingues says the Falcons should not overlook the veteran-laden St. Mary’s squad.
“St. Mary’s is a very experienced team,” Domingues said. “(They have) a very good offense. They have a lot of returners – a lot of older guys as well their entire backline have four to five years of experience.”
>> Women’s Soccer: The UTPB’s women’s soccer team (2-4-1, 0-3) lost their fourth straight game, 4-0, on Wednesday against West Texas A&M (7-1, 1-1). Even though the team has been winless since their 2-0-1 start, the Falcons did hold the conference rival in check during the opening 33 minutes.
“This is a team that is playing well, but it’s not reflected on the overall record,” head coach Carla Tejas said in Monday’s press conference. “I think it’s even better.”
In terms of overall improvements, Tejas is focused on the offensive aspect, moving forward.
“I think our offense has to be a little bit more aggressive,” Tejas said. “We’re very aggressive off the ball. But I think when we get the ball we have to move forward quicker in finding those spaces.”
The team plays their next home game against conference-leading Angelo State (9-0-1, 4-0) on Wednesday, then goes on the road to face Texas Woman’s (1-5-3, 1-1-2) in Denton on Saturday afternoon.
>> Follow Sameer Malla on Twitter at @OA_SameerMalla
