The T-Ducks’ men and women squads will both play for national championships at Herkimer County Community College in Herkimer, NY on Nov. 13-14.

The men (12-5-1), who will be seeking their sixth national championship since 2008, defeated Triton College, 4-0, on Saturday in the Region II title game. Meanwhile, the women won the District D tournament after defeating Rochester Community & Technical College, 6-0, and the College of DuPage, 2-1, in overtime.

The women (16-3-1), who have won 13 of their last 14 games, will be seeking their third championship since 2004.

Returning this year from last year’s squad are only two players who have game-time experience: Thedford Simmons and Deionta Mitchell. This year’s team also has three red-shirt players from last season.

“So far the biggest challenge is the inexperience that we have. We have 13 new guys and a total of three guys that played college basketball last year,” head coach Jon Felment said. “The level of mental toughness that it takes to play at this level is very high. Right now, these guys are used to playing high school basketball where they might have been the best player on their team or district. Once the season starts, I think our biggest challenge will be handling the adversity that will come with our schedule.”

The T-Ducks will also have the challenge of their opponents playing their best game every outing, considering Richland is the defending national champions.

According to Felment, the T-Ducks’ schedule will be trying at times this season, especially in November when 10 of their 11 games are against NJCAA Division I teams.

“It’s really hard not to compare last year’s team to this year’s team. Nine sophomores last year versus 14 freshmen this year,” Felment said. “I think the biggest thing this group could learn from last year’s group is to be mentally tough, intense and play with passion.”

Last year’s group, Felment added, was not concerned about wins against non-conference schools, but they were ready in January, which is when everything counts. 

“To me, that will be the biggest difference in this year’s team, and if they take anything from last year’s success it will be sticking together when times are bad,” Felment said, adding that this team is very skilled at all positions.  “It really only matters what happens from January to March that makes our season.” 

The T-Ducks enter the season ranked No. 19 among NJCAA Division III teams.

Martinez also scored a hat trick, and added an assist, in Richland’s 5-1 victory over Brookhaven College in the semifinal round.

The T-Ducks now advance to the District D Tournament on Nov. 6-7 at the College of DuPage in Illinois.

“We are excited to be the MAC champion,” Scott Toups, the women’s head coach, said. “However, our goal this year is a national championship. We have a great team and our expectations remain high. Winning the MAC is another step toward our final goal.”

Should the T-Ducks win District, they advance to the NJCAA Division III National Women’s Soccer tournament, where they would be playing for their third national championship since 2004.

“The teams we will be playing are some of the top teams in the country. I imagine they will be some of the best we have seen all year,” Toups said about what to expect at the District D tournament. “I do, however, feel that we can play and be successful against anyone. Our team is playing well right now.”

The T-Ducks will enter the District D tournament having won 10 of their last 11 games. Richland is 14-3-1 on the season.

According the NJCAA website, the T-Ducks, who defeated Cisco College, 3-2, to advance to the championship game, will host the District 3 tournament on Nov. 6-7.

District 3 tournament information such as participating teams and game times are not currently available. 

Richland, which entered the tournament ranked No. 11 among NJCAA Division III teams, is 11-5-1 on the season.

Despite the loss, the T-Ducks, who defeated North Lake College, 25-15, 25-22, 25-16, to advance to the district title game, have plenty of reasons to hang their heads high on this season, beginning with a .500 record at 15-15.

Richland also had several players rank in the top 20 statistically among NJCAA Division III players in several categories.    

Nicole Spruille ranked No. 6 in hitting efficiency at 49 percent while Serita Ingram ranked No. 8 at 45 percent.  Ingram also ranked No. 3 in blocks per set at 1.35 while Spruille also ranked No. 13 in kills per set at 3.23.

Joining Ingram in the block category was Jessica Fletcher, who ranked No. 8 at 1.20 while Jennifer Penn ranked No. 4 in digs per set at 5.53 and Rachel Pinson was ranked No. 19 in assists per set at 7.61.

Last week, Valero of Dallas didn’t allow a goal in two games while grabbing nine of nine shots. The goalkeeper helped lead the T-Ducks to a 2-0 win over Cedar Valley College and a 4-0 win over Brookhaven College.

On the season, Valero has 79 saves and has allowed only 10 goals, averaging 0.628 goals per game, which ranks No. 7 in the nation.

Valero’s goalkeeping efforts have helped lead the T-Ducks, who are currently ranked No. 5 in the latest NJCAA Division III poll, to a 12-3-1 record.

Meanwhile, Nicole Spruille of Tatum led the T-Ducks to a 2-0 record last week after recording 15 kills and 16 digs in a 3-1 win over Eastfield. The outside hitter followed that stellar performance up with a season high of 20 kills in a 3-0 win over Mountain View.

Overall, the sophomore leads the T-Ducks, who have a 13-13 record, in kills with 235, averaging 3.18 per set. She is also ninth in the nation with a .445 hitting efficiency and No. 13 in kills.

The T-Ducks are scheduled to play their final regular season home match at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24 against Panola College.

Nicole Spruille, who is ranked No. 13 in the NJCAA Division III in hitting efficiency at 42 percent, finished the match with 15 kills.

Directly behind Spruille in the hitting percentage category is teammate Serita Ingram at 41 percent.

The D-Ducks will look to even their overall record at 12-12 on Thursday when they travel to play Mountain View College at 7 p.m.

The volleyball team continued its solid play last week, winning two of its three matches. The T-Ducks began the week with a 25-22, 25-16, 25-6 MAC victory over Cedar Valley College to improve to 4-1 in conference action.

Richland followed up its league win with a 25-5, 25-8, 25-9 win over Southwestern Adventist before falling in four sets, 14 – 25 , 25 – 15 , 20 – 25 , 25 – 27, to NJCAA Division I Tyler Junior College.

The T-Ducks look to improve on their conference record with two road matches this week, starting with a 7 p.m. date tonight against Eastfield College. Richland also travels to play Mountain View College at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15.

MEN’S SOCCER TEAM WIN’S FIFTH STRAIGHT; FORMER PLAYER NAMED HEAD WOMEN’S SOCCER COACH AT LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Since losing to Tyler Junior College on Sept. 19, the men’s soccer team has won five straight games, including last week’s victories over Hill College, 2-0, and Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa, 4-3.

The T-Ducks, ranked No. 9 in the NJCAA Division III poll, next will travel to play Mountain View College at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14 before hosting Tyler Junior College at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17.

In other men’s soccer news, former T-Ducks’ soccer player Babak Abouzar was recently named head coach of the Lubbock Christian University women’s soccer team, which will play its first season in 2010.

Abouzar, currently a graduate assistant at Lipscomb University in Nashville, was a NJCAA All-American at Richland, which he also helped win one of its five national championships.

WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM IMPROVES CONFERENCE RECORD

The women’s soccer team’s five-game winning streak was ended over the weekend but not before the T-Ducks could improve their MAC record to 6-0-1.

Combining to score 13 goals, the T-Ducks defeated Mountain View College, 11-2, on Oct. 4 and North Lake College, 1-0 in overtime, on Oct. 6 before falling to Tyler Junior College, 2-0, on Oct. 10.

The T-Ducks, ranked No. 7 in the NJCAA Division III poll, enter this week’s play scheduled to host Cedar Valley College at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and travel to play Brookhaven College at 4 p.m. on Friday.

Richland’s tie in conference play was against Cedar Valley.

Abouzar, currently a graduate assistant at Lipscomb University in Nashville, was a NJCAA All-American at Richland, which he also helped win one of its five national championships.

 Due to inclement weather Richland’s game against Jefferson may not haven been played on Sunday.

 T-Ducks are ranked No. 11 in the latest NJCAA Division III poll and will look to win their fourth game in a row at 3 p.m. on Thursday at home against Hill College.