Ahhh ... the maddness truly begins

It's now official. Summer's over and the fall sports season is now here ... IN FULL FORCE!!!

This weekend is going to be hopping with Bulldog and Lady Bulldog athletics.

Today, the men's soccer, volleyball and the men's and women's cross country teams are in action, while on Saturday, both men's and women's soccer, volleyball and cycling teams will be competing. Oh yeah, the football team kicks off the season Saturday as well.

I'm excited to see how each and every team will do this weekend. The volleyballers open up conference play against Bryan College tonight at 7 pm in Robsion Arena. This is a HUGE MATCH, especially since it's the Appalachian Athletic Conference opener for both teams. Although Union won the AAC regular-season championship last year in going 16-2 in league play, the Lady Bulldogs went 0-4 versus Bryan in 2007 - dropping both regular-season matches and losing to the Lady Lions in both the conference and region tournaments. Methinks, it's payback time.

The Bulldog soccer team is hosting the Golden Corrall Bulldog Classic and faces off against Johnson Bible College at 1 pm today. Should it win, Union will take on the winner of the Cumberland University-Emmanuel College game Saturday at 3:15 pm. (The losers will play at 1 pm)

Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldog soccer squad will look to extend its shutout streak Saturday with matches against Emmanuae College at 11 am and then Cumberland University at 5:30 pm, marking the first time Union has played TWO matches in the same day - truly a unique feat. Through the first three games of the season, Union has outscored its opponents 21-0. Marcela Salum has netted a team-high seven goals and has 17 total points, while Renata Peixoto boasts six goals, seven assists and 19 total points. Ashley Hall has chipped in four goals as well. And with those three being sophomores and younger, the future looks bright right now for Lady Bulldog soccer.

The men's and women's cross country teams will be opening their seasons Friday at the Shawnee State Invitational in Portsmouth, Ohio. It'll be interesting to see if the Bulldogs build on last year's success and excel as a team this year. Last year, Brandon Kibert qualified for nationals but has since graduated.

And the cycling team will look to improve on last week's strong showing. If it weren't for mechanical issues, the Bulldogs could've had four of the Top 5 riders in the cross-country race. Could be very exciting season the Ridin' Bulldogs!!!

Which brings us to football. Yes, the Bulldogs lost quarterback Joey Waters and middle linebacker Patrick O'Neal. They were great players and will be hard to replace. But I've got a good feeling about this year's team. However, the Bulldogs return a lot of talented players. There's just so much I could say, but I don't where to begin or when to end. I'm just really eager to see how the Bulldogs do at Lambuth this weekend.

Man, it's going to be a busy weekend, but it's going to be a fun one.