Motlow Lady Bucks soccer will return 12 sophomores, including, from left: Megan Blumhoefer from Smyrna, Bailee Walls from Winchester, and Paige Loveless from Murfreesboro.

The Motlow State Community College women’s soccer team will open the 2018 season when it travels to Senatobia, MS, to face Northwest Mississippi Community College on Friday, Aug. 24, with kickoff scheduled for 2 p.m. Official practice begins for NJCAA women’s soccer teams on Aug. 1.

The contest opens a 16-game regular season for the Lady Bucks that concludes Oct. 29 with a home contest against the Martin Methodist College JV squad. Motlow does not have an on-campus soccer facility, so all home games will be played at area high schools. Last season the Lady Bucks played on high school fields in Tullahoma, Manchester, Winchester, Shelbyville, Fayetteville and Smyrna.

There are now four community colleges in Tennessee playing women’s soccer, with Columbia State and Dyersburg State joining Motlow and Southwest Tennessee. All four schools will play at the Division I level of the National Junior College Athletic Association. The Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA) tournament will be Oct. 26-27 in Memphis.

Although five schools are needed to qualify as an ‘official sport’ by the TCCAA, the conference tournament will determine a champion, who will then advance to the Central District I tournament against the top teams from Missouri and Illinois, scheduled for Nov. 1-3 at home of the Region 24 winner. The winner of Central District I, along with the runner-up, will advance to the NJCAA tournament, held in Melbourne, FL., in mid-November.

The Motlow soccer program under Head Coach Andy Lyon won eight games in its inaugural season while losing seven and tying one. The Lady Bucks did not meet the criteria to qualify for the district tournament in 2017 as the lone representative from Region VII.

Motlow will play nine road games and seven home games, with the first home contest scheduled for Friday, Sept. 7, against Columbia State. Other TCCAA home games are Friday, Oct, 5, against Dyersburg State and Friday, Oct. 12, against Southwest Tennessee. Motlow will play home games this season in Tullahoma, Manchester, Winchester, McMinnville, Shelbyville and Smyrna.

The Lady Bucks will take three extended road trips, where they will play two opponents over a two-day or three-day span. Two days after their opener in Senatobia, they will be in Memphis to play Southwest Tennessee. On Sept 2-3, they travel to Oxford, GA, to face South Georgia Tech and Oxford College, and Sept. 21-22, Motlow heads to Meridian, MS, to face Meridian Community College and Hinds Community College.

Visit the official website of Motlow Athletics at MotlowSports.com for rosters, schedules, stats and more. Interact with Motlow Athletics on social media at MotlowSports.

The Titans placed right tackle Jack Conklin and tight end Phillip Supernaw on the team’s “Physically Unable to Perform” (PUP) list on Sunday as they reported to training camp.

Both players missed all of the team’s offseason workouts.

Also, Titans receiver Michael Campanaro and linebacker Rashaan Evans were declared “Non-Football Illness” while defensive tackle Mike Ramsay was placed on “Non-Football Injury.”

Additionally, OLB Kevin Dodd was placed on Reserve – Did Not Report.

On Sunday, the Titans opened training camp for all quarterbacks and rookies — and players who finished the offseason program in June with injuries.

All of the players are eligible to be added back to the active roster by the time training camp kicks off on Thursday at Saint Thomas Sports Park. The rest of the players on the roster are scheduled to report on Wednesday.

Conklin, who suffered a torn ACL in the team’s playoff game against the Patriots in January, said last week he’s made good progress in his recovery. He’s dropped 10 pounds this offseason, but said he’s stronger.

“I am still rehabbing, but things are going well, no setbacks,” Conklin told Titans Online. “It is hard having a new staff, not able to be out there running around. But I have a great team and the staff has done a great job of getting me (healthy). I am excited.

“You don’t want to come back too early and hurt it again. You want to make sure you are full health and ready to go. If I come back too early, I am not only hurting myself, but I am hurting the team. If I can’t play at the level I need to perform at, there’s really no reason I should be out there playing. I think I need to earn my way back health-wise and practicing and that is something I am working toward and something I am excited to get back to.”

By placing players on “Non-Football Illness” or “Non-Football Injury” the players have extra time to get healthy before camp begins. Some of the players could be on the field for the first day of camp.

The Coffee County Lady Raider volleyball team finished up play in the Eagleville Team Camp on Friday.  The Lady Raiders went 2 and 2 on the day in the double elimination tournament.  Coffee County finished the 3 day team camp with a record of 5 and 5.

The Lady Raiders opened tournament play on Friday morning with a win over Columbia Academy.  The Lady Raiders won in 3 sets, 6-25, 26-24 and 15-9.  The Lady Raiders lost in the 2^nd round in straight sets to Lawrence County.  Coffee County fell 9-25 and 13-25 to the Lady Cats.  In the loser’s bracket, Coffee County got a 3 set win over defending state tournament participant Summertown.  The Lady Raiders won 15-25, 26-24 and 15-13.  The Lady Raiders were eliminated in the semifinals by Columbia Academy in straight sets 20-25 and 16-25.

The Lady Raiders will be back in action on Thursday.  Coffee County will host a varsity play day at the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym.

The Nashville Sounds upended the Oklahoma City Dodgers 8-5 Sunday night in front of 10,697 fans at First Tennessee Park to salvage a series split. Sheldon Neuse drove in four runs on two extra-base hits in the victory.

The Nashville Sounds handed Oklahoma City’s Manny Bañuelos his worst outing of the year as they tagged the All-Star for a season-high seven runs, all earned. The runs came in bunches as the Sounds scored multiple runs in three different innings against Bañuelos. Nashville’s James Naile logged his ninth quality start of the season as he went 6 1/3 innings and gave up five runs but just three were earned.

Nashville used a three-run second inning to take a 3-0 lead. Jorge Mateo lined a run-scoring double to open the scoring. Two batters later J.P. Sportman came through in a big way for his first hit at the Triple-A level. Sportman looped a double into shallow left field to drive in a pair of runs.

The Sounds made more noise in the third inning. With two outs Anthony Garcia worked a walk to prolong the inning. Neuse stepped up to the plate and launched a two-run blast beyond the left field fence. The home run was Neuse’s fourth of the season and extended his hitting streak to eight games.

Oklahoma City began to chip away at the 5-0 deficit in the fourth inning. Catcher Kyle Farmer belted a solo home run in the fourth and then the Dodgers posted two unearned runs in the fifth. The Sounds responded with two runs of their own in the fifth inning. Neuse ripped a two-run double down the left field line to restore the four-run lead for the Sounds.

The Dodgers tacked on runs in the sixth and seventh innings while Nashville also added a run in the seventh inning.

Without the services of Bobby Wahl the Sounds turned to Josh Lucas to get the final three outs. Lucas walked the leadoff batter but retired the next three in succession for his fourth save of the season.

The Sounds are off on Monday before beginning a three-game series in Las Vegas against the 51’s Tuesday night at Cashman Field. Right-hander Chris Bassitt (2-4, 5.36) starts for the Sounds against right-hander Cody Martin (2-3, 7.21) for the Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m.

Post-Game Notes

• With tonight’s 8-5 win, the Sounds improved to 49-51 on the season.
• Tonight’s crowd of 10,697 fans was the 14^th sellout of the season and 69^th all-time at First Tennessee Park.
• Third baseman Sheldon Neuse had two hits for the Sounds and is now on an eight-game hitting streak. His longest of the season is nine games. His four-RBI were a season-high.

The 2018 season is the Sounds’ 41^st in franchise history and fourth as the Oakland Athletics’ top affiliate. Single-game tickets are available now by calling (615) 690-4487 or by visiting www.nashvillesounds.com.