Chattanooga Mocs' Davis Tull AFCA All-America pick

Friday, January 1, 1904

photo Davis Tull of UTC

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga defensive end Davis Tull has received another postseason honor. Already named the Southern Conference defensive player of the year, the redshirt sophomore made the American Football Coaches Association's FCS All-America team, which was released Tuesday. The first Moc to make the AFCA squad since 1990, Tull had 12.5 sacks in 2012, which ranked No. 2 in the FCS, and his 18.5 tackles for loss ranked fifth. He set UTC single-season records in both categories, and his 17.5 career sacks is second all-time behind Josh Williams' 23.5. Tull was one of three SoCon players on the AFCA's one All-America team. Joining him were Elon wide receiver Aaron Mellette and The Citadel center Mike Sellers. Tull and Sellers were two of just seven non-seniors on the team.

Softball

• Polk County High School senior Sydney Sloan has committed to play softball at Chattanooga State. Sloan's first contact from the program came more than a year ago from former coach and now East Caroline head coach Beth Keylon-Randolph, who first gave Sloan hitting lessons when she was 9. Chattanooga State's new head coach, Blythe Golden, continued to recruit Sloan. The senior third baseman was on the campus Monday and decided when she left to accept Golden's scholarship offer. "I think she's very organized," Sloan said. "She's very involved with her players and wants them to excel academically. I like the fact she wants her players to focus on academics, and the aspect of it being close to home." Sloan is a three-time All-District 5-AA selection who batted .449 with 12 homers and 47 RBIs for Polk last spring. "I really think her best bet was to go to a junior college where she can get on the field and play," Polk coach Bill Triplett said. "She'll bring a work ethic that's second to none. She's going to hit her home runs. She'll hit for power once she adjusts to junior college pitching on a day-to-day basis." Sloan said she plans to major in nursing.

Basketball

• The Lee University men's basketball team zoomed up to No. 3 in the NAIA Division I poll Tuesday -- after being 15th in the preseason poll -- and then rose to 10-0 with a 90-55 thumping at home in Cleveland against Knoxville College. Steve Bennett and Will Barnes each had 21 points, Bennett with nine rebounds and Barnes with five assists, for the Flames, while Corey Billingsley scored 12 points, Chad Lee had 11 rebounds with 11 points and Chase Dunn delivered six assists. Marcus Smith had 20 points for Knoxville College (1-7).

• Jessie Blankenship scored 14 points, Ruth Gibson had 10 points and seven steals and Kiaira Cooper contribued 11 rebounds with three steals as Covenant College defeated visiting Sewanee 63-47 in Division III women's basketball Tuesday. That made the Lady Scots 5-1. Kayla Sewell had 12 points, six blocked shots and seven rebounds and Clarissa Medley collected nine rebounds for Sewanee (2-3). The Covenant completed a sweep by edging the Tigers with balance, 50-47. Colton McGriff led the Scots (3-3) with eight points, and three teammates scored seven each. Brett Bouldin had 11 for Sewanee (3-2) but missed a tying 3-pointer just before the final horn.

• Carrin Nash scored 21 points and Brandon Cole and Robert Troino added 15 and 14 as Bryan College won 73-66 at Hiwassee in men's basketball Tuesday night. Brandon Carpenter led the host Tigers with 17.

• Reinhardt swept visiting Tennessee Temple in basketball Tuesday, prevailing 48-43 in avenging a recent women's loss and winning 90-84 in the men's game. Hampton Mack had 18 points and 10 rebounds, including seven offensively, for Temple's Crusaders (5-4), who took a 75-73 with 4:50 remaining on a fastbreak basket by Rashaud Bell. Quinton Woods led the Eagles (4-5) with 19 points. Taylor Hay had 20 points, Taylor Johnson 15 points and 13 rebounds and Dalton's April Besley 12 rebounds for the Lady Eagles (6-5); Amanda Rector and Jessica Salera led the Lady Crusaders (2-6) with nine apiece.

• Chattanoogan Kayla Kelly of Milligan College was the Appalachian Athletic Conference women's basketball player of the week for her contributions in two wins. The junior guard, a former Arts & Sciences standout, had a career-high 29 points with 3-of-5 3-point shooting plus seven rebounds against Montreat after totaling 17 points and six rebounds against Virginia Intermont. Kelly scored seven points Tuesday as the Lady Buffs lost 72-50 at UVA-Wise.

Cycling

• King College freshman Megan Rogers from Soddy-Daisy was the overall winner in the Collegiate Women's B-class cyclocross event Saturday at Mars Hill, N.C. It was Rogers' first official competition for King, as she recently was cleared after recovering from a preseason training injury. The course difficulty and race-day conditions forced numerous competitors from the race.