Coach Tony Ingle's Dalton State team was picked to win the Southern States Athletic Conference men's basketball championship for the 2017-18 season. The Roadrunners edged William Carey 94 points to 90 in the coaches' preseason poll, and with eight first-votes to two for the Crusaders. Martin Methodist and Faulker were picked third and fourth in the 10-team league. While William Carey was 26-8 and an SSAC regular-season co-champion, Dalton State went 29-5 and won the conference tournament, and All-SSAC first-teamers Isaiah Box and Carnilious Simmons are among its returning players. Simmons averaged 15 points and 10.4 rebounds a game last year, while Box averaged 13.9 points, 3.5 assists and two steals.
Volleyball
» Covenant College hosted and upset Berry 3-0 in an NCAA Division III nonconference match Wednesday night, and Berry (20-4) is ranked No. 1 regionally while Covenant (16-7) is No. 8. Set scores were 25-23, 25-23, 25-17 in the Lady Scots' eighth consecutive victory and 13th in 14 matches - and Berry's first loss in 16. Schuyler Moore had 32 assists and 10 digs and Hannah Harris had 11 kills for Covenant, which got eight kills apiece with 13 and 12 digs from Jessica Seehorn and Ginny Moore and 18 digs from Emily Moore. Carson VanCampen led the Vikings in kills with 11, and Hannah Kate Thompson had 23 assists while Elizabeth Ragland had 23 digs.
» After visiting Cleveland State tonight, the Georgia Northwestern volleyball team will host its annual Pink Games on Saturday at the Rossville Athletic Complex. That will be a tri-match with Pensacola Christian and Andrew College, starting at 1 p.m., and proceeds and donations will benefit the MaryEllen Locher Cancer Center in Chattanooga. GNTC is 1-14 but won its last match - 3-0 (25-21. 25-23, 25-23) at The Crown College in Powell, Tenn. - as Morgen Simmons had 13 digs and three aces. Tori Hall added 10 digs and Anna Schorle and Jamese Miller had five and four blocks with five kills each. Kayleigh Goff also served three aces.
Soccer
» Dalton State's NAIA 19th-ranked men's soccer team won 2-1 at Middle Georgia State in a Southern States Athletic Conference doubleheader Wednesday. Jorge Hurtado scored both goals for the Roadrunners (9-3, 3-2), the first one less than two minutes after the hosts took a 1-0 lead at 25:23. The Lady Roadrunners (6-6, 0-5) lost 2-0 on goals by Sam Silva and Alejandra Wahn for Middle Georgia (6-7, 2-3), which had a 14-7 edge in shots, 9-3 in shots on goal.
Running
» Sewanee junior Sarah Carlton was selected the Southern Athletic Asssociaton women's runner of the week for her personal-record performance at the Berry Invitational cross country meet. She finished 48th out of 212 entrants in the 6-kilometer race.
Diving
» Sewanee sophomore Noel Whitlock was the SAA diver of the week after winning both the five- and six-dive 1-meter women's events in a dual meet against Berry. Her two scores added up to 397.50 points, qualifying her already for the NCAA Division III regional.