BCSP Notes . . .

The three HBCUs invited to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship Tournament will each face the top seed in their respective region.

CIAA champion Bowie State, SIAC titleist Albany State and West Virginia Conference champion West Virginia State will begin their championship run against the No 1 seed in their region. Each team earned an automatic bid to the tournament by winning their conference championship.

BSU's Lady Bulldogs (25-12) seeded eighth in the Mid-Atlantic Region will meet No. 1 Lock Haven (43-6) Wednesday, May 7 at 11:30 a.m. in Kutztown, PA.

WVSU (41-14), also a #8 seed, will play host and top-seed Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (45-9), Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. in Edwardsville, IL.

Albany State (33-20), also seeded eighth, will face top-seeded Barry University (40-6) on the Buccaneers home court, Wednesday in Miami Shores, FL. The Lady Rams and Bucs have already met earlier this season with Barry taking a 3-1 and 5-2 doubleheader win over ASU in Albany.

The NCAA Division II Softball Committee announced the 64 teams that will participate in the 2008 NCAA Division II Softball Regional Championships, Sunday evening. Eight teams will participate at each of eight regional sites in double-elimination tournaments to determine the final eight championship participants. Regional competition will be held May 7-11. Winners of each regional will advance to the finals May 14-17 in Houston, Texas, as part of the NCAA Division II National Championships Festival.

Six HBCUs vie for Div. II Tennis titles

Tuskegee's men and women, Benedict's women, Shaw's men, Virginia State's women and West Virginia State's women have all been awarded berths in NCAA Division II Tennis Championship Tournaments.

The championships consist of a 16-team single elimination tournament. Each of the eight regions will conduct two first- and second-round tournaments: East, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, South, Great Lakes, Central, North Central and West. The winner of each first- and second-round tournament advances to the finals in Houston, Texas, with the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority and Rice University serving as co-hosts, May 14-17.

Tuskegee's men will face Ouachita Baptist (14-4) on the campus of the University of West Florida in Pensacola, FL on Thursday, May 9 at 11:00 a.m. The Golden Tigers (21-5) dominated the SIAC and earned an automatic bid after taking home the SIAC championship in Tuscaloosa, AL during the Spring Sports Championship.

Tuskegee women's team (22-4) will face North Alabama (9-5) on the campus of Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA, Wednesday, May 8 at 10:00 a.m. TU also received an automatic bid after dominating the SIAC and winning the tennis championship in Tuscaloosa, AL.

Benedict's women's team received an at-large bid after finishing second at the SIAC Spring Sports Championship and finishing the year 16-8. They will face the host institution West Florida in Pensacola, FL on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m.

Virginia State, winners of the school's first CIAA women's tennis crown, will enter the 2008 Championship seeded eighth in the South Atlantic Region hosted by Armstrong Atlantic State University in Augusta, GA. The Lady Trojans (17-1) will take on top-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State (25-1), who claimed an automatic bid by winning the Peach Belt Conference title. Their match is scheduled for 9:00 a.m., May 8.

Shaw (11-5) captured its fourth consecutive CIAA men's title and will also play at 2 p.m. vs Armstrong Atlantic (25-0) Wednesday afternoon. Armstrong Atlantic, winners of the Peach Belt Conference regular season and tournament titles, is the top seed and is ranked #1 in the country.

West Virginia State will be making the program's first NCAA appearance after finishing 21-2 and winning the West Virginia Conference tournament. The Yellow Jackets will be playing in Midland, Mich., beginning next Thursday, facing host and top seed Northwood (16-2) at 11 a.m. CT. ­ Onnidan.com

Pilgrim not returning to Hampton

Hampton University head men's basketball coach Kevin Nickelberry has indicated that starting forward Matthew Pilgrim will not be returning to the team next season.

Last season the highly-touted sophomore, perhaps the top player of Nickelberry's first recruiting class in 2006, averaged 7.7 points and 5.2 rebounds while starting in just 11 games for the Pirates. The 6-8, 225-pound native of Cincinnati, Ohio started 19 games during his freshman season averaging 11 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He missed the first nine games this season with a broken foot and was suspended from the team late last season before returning for the conference tournament.

In making the announcement, Nickelberry said there would be no further comment on the matter.

© 2008 Azeez Communications, Inc.

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