Sun Belt Olympic Sports Update Jan 8th
While football season for the Sun Belt concluded on Jan. 2nd and men’s basketball season heading into conference play, many other Sun Belt student-athletes are making their mark on the national scene.
Here’s a look at how teams across the conference fared in the past month.
All rankings are accurate as of Jan. 5th.
Volleyball
Arkansas State entered its first-round NCAA Tournament matchup against Baylor looking to pull off a historic upset — and it started strong.
The Red Wolves won the opening set before Baylor responded with two straight set victories, including a tightly contested third set that ended 30-28. Arkansas State rebounded to take the fourth set 25-23, forcing a decisive fifth set.
Baylor closed out the match with a 15-10 win in the fifth set to advance to the second round. Arkansas State finished the season 22-9 overall and 12-4 in Sun Belt play.
Women’s Basketball
As teams enter the third week of conference play this week, the Sun Belt race is beginning to take shape, with clear contenders emerging and other facing an uphill climb,
Arkansas State and Marshall sit atop the standings, both unbeaten in conference play at 4-0 and holding identical 13-3 overall records.
Arkansas State is riding an 11-game winning streak after opening the season 2-3. The Red Wolves’ most notable victory during that stretch came in an 81-72 upset of SEC opponent Arkansas.
Offensively, Arkansas State is led by Zyion Shannon. The senior guard from Smyna, Tennessee, ranks tied for sixth in the Sun Belt at 14.3 points per game while shooting 27.9% from3-point range.
Defensively, senior Wynter Rogers averages seven rebounds per game, while Shannon is third in the conference with 2.8 steals per game.
Marshall has emerged as one of the conference’s biggest surprises. Picked eighth in the preseason Sun Belt poll, the Thundering Herd rebounded from a 2-2 start — which included games against Indiana and Kentucky — to win 11 of their next 12 contest.
Unlike Arkansas State, Marshall did not have another Power Five opponent to boost its NET ranking, but all but one of its nonconference wins came by double-digits.
Timaya Lewis-Eutsey ranks second in the conference, averaging 16.2 points per game on 50.8% shooting. The senior guard out of Trenton, New Jersey, also leads the Sun Belt in steals with 3.4 per game.
Coastal Carolina is the lone team projected in the preseason top six currently sitting in the bottom half of the standings.
The Chanticleers (7-9, 0-4) are coming off their best finish in five seasons and just the program’s third 20-win season since joining Division I in 1986. A frontloaded schedule featuring BYU, Virginia Tech and NC State was designed to prepare Coastal Carolina for conference play.
However, its best win came against UNC Greensboro on Dec. 10. Despite the slow start, the Chanticleers have been competitive. Their four conference losses have come by an average of five points, including an overtime loss to Marshall.
In ESPN’s latest Bracketology, Marshall is projected as the Sun Belt representative, slotted as a No. 12 seed in a matchup against No. 5 Ole Miss.
To see the update Sun Belt conference standings and more news, click here.
Wrestling
Since the last update, Appalachian State has competed in three invitationals and traveled to Durham to face Duke.
At the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the Mountaineers did not place in the top eight in any weight class. Kaden Keiser was the top finisher, placing in the top 12. Nine of Appalachian State’s 10 losses came against nationally ranked opponents.
That same weekend, the Mountaineers competed at the Patriot Open in Fairfax, Virginia. Brayden Fahrbech finished fourth at 149 lbs. At 165 pounds, Anthony Conetta finished third while Nicholas Grizales placed sixth.
Colt Campbell finished fourth at 174 pounds and Logan Eller rounded out the placements with a fifth-place finish at 197.
Appalachian State rebounded Dec. 17 with a dominant 31-8 victory over Duke. Only Jeremiah Price (157) and Campbell fail to secure the victory, with Campbell falling to No. 23 Aidan Wallace.
The Mountaineers then traveled to Chattanooga, Tennessee las weekend for the Southern Scuffle, hosted by conference rival Chattanooga.
Tomas Brooker recorded his first two victories over Top 25 wrestlers on his way to a third-place finish at 184 pounds. Brooker was one of only five Appalachian State wrestlers to advance to the second day of competition.
In the latest FloWrestling rankings released Jan. 5, Keiser moved up to No. 27 in 149 pounds, while Brooker debuted at No. 24 at 184 pounds.
To see the update conference standings and more news, visit the Southern Conference page here.
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