CLEVELAND, MS- Behind 554 yards of total offense, including 312 yards on 15-of-27 passing and four touchdowns from quarterback Scott Eyster, ninth-ranked Delta State (2-1) handed West Alabama its first loss of the season by the score of 43-14 on Saturday night at Travis E. Parker Field. West Alabama was guilty of committing four turnovers (three lost fumbles and one interception).

The Statesmen raced out to a 40-0 lead behind the passing of Eyster to go along with a 27-yard run from Jason Snell. Bryan Walker opened the scoring with a 44-yard field goal following a West Alabama fumble, and the DSU defense got on the board as well with a Pete Golding safety early in the second quarter.

The Tigers got on the board with 2:13 remaining in the third when Eric McCants raced in from 28 yards out to cap a four-play, 41-yard scoring march. Junior A.J. Holloway added another UWA touchdown, scoring from a yard out with 4:39 to go in the game, capping an impressive nine-play, 84-yard drive. Mitch Warfield made good on both West Alabama PATs.

West Alabama netted 225 yards of total offense, including 157 on the ground. Jerin Wright led the rushing attack with 75 yards on 13 carries, while McCants finished with 48 yards on nine carries. James Reiter completed 2-of-13 passes for 31 yards, while freshman Phillip Merryman added 37 yards on 2-of-3 passing. Chris Coach led the UWA receivers with three catches for 61 yards.

Kidane McBride led the UWA defense with eight tackles, including one for a loss to go along with one interception, while Alvin Garrett also turned in three tackles and one sack.

The Tigers fall to 2-1 on the year and will return to action on Saturday when Arkansas-Monticello comes to Livingston for a 7:00 p.m., kickoff.

UWA volleyball drops pair of matches

HUNTSVILLE, – The University of West Alabama volleyball team took part in day-two action at the UAH Tournament on Saturday. The Tigers opened with perennial GSC West power Harding, and dropped a three-game decision (27-30, 13-30, 26-30) before falling to Christian Brothers 3-1 (30-28, 20-30, 27-30, 20-30).

Amanda Heaton led the Tigers in the Harding match with a team-high 15 kills to go along with seven digs. Freshman Allison Nail chipped in with 10 kills and 16 digs, while Melanie Moffett added a match leading 29 digs. Morgan Graffigna rounded out the top Tiger performers with 41 assists.

Heaton again led the way in the CBU match, totaling a team leading 18 kills to go along with 13 digs. Teresa Clements added 12 kills and two block solos, while Rachel Hardaway chipped in with 11 kills. Graffigna dished out 49 assists and Moffett finished with 22 digs.

The Tigers move to 4-9 on the season and return to action on Tuesday when they travel to face West Georgia in the GSC opener. Match time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

UWA cross-country competes at Huntsville

HUNTSVILLE-The University of West Alabama cross-country team continued the 2005 schedule with a trip to the UAH Invitational on Saturday. The UWA men finished sixth out of 12 teams (181), while the Tiger women finished 15th (426). Wayne Miller paced the UWA men with a time of 27:33 (12th) and Brittany Berry turned the best time for the UWA women (25:34).

Other UWA men finishers included: Randy Putman (30:34, 46th), Patrick Kicker (30:50, 49th), Ighel Vegue (31:22, 54th), Luke Pounders (32:04, 61st), Trent Taylor (32:47, 64th) and Deivid Delgado (35:37, 79th).

The women finishers were: Jacki Aiken (25:34, 83rd), Jillian Gibbs (28:04, 97th), Devin Fields (28:25, 98th) and Alisha Berry (29:06, 101st).