While football continues to take center stage, 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 week.
All rankings are accurate as of Sept. 28.
Men’s Soccer
While the top half of the conference continues to distance themselves from the bottom half, one matchup pitted two ranked teams against each other on Sept. 28 in Statesboro, Georgia. No. 19 Georgia Southern hosted No. 4 ranked Marshall at Bo Pitts Field, and the first half lived up to the billing.
Ricky Louis got the scoring started for the Eagles, finding the back of the net in the 30th minute off a Mitch Picksley assist. The Thundering Herd equalized in the 58th minute, when Keaviano Francis got his first goal of the season. It was Marshall’s only goal on 15 shot attempts.
Louis scored against in the 79th minute for his sixth goal of the season — and second multi-goal game — to give Georgia Southern the 2-1 victory. It marked the Eagles’ first win over a ranked team since 2013, ending a 13-game winless streak (0-12-1). Georgia Southern’s last victory came in its final season as a member of the Southern Conference, when it defeated then-No. 14 Furman in overtime.
Louis was rewarded for his performance on Tuesday, earning Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week honors. South Carolina’s Mika Habel got Defensive Player of the Week after holding Queens University and James Madison scoreless.
Georgia Southern’s win caused several changes to the Top 25, with the Eagles moving up 13 spots to No. 6. West Virginia dropped two to No. 8 after drawing High Point and defeating UCF; Marshall dropped 18 spots to No. 22; and Kentucky dropped six spots to No. 24.
Top Games for the Week Ending Oct. 9:
- No. 6 Georgia Southern at No. 8 West Virginia
- Georgia State at No. 22 Marshall
To see the update Sun Belt conference standings and more news, click here.
Women’s Soccer
Texas State continues to lead the overall standings with a 3-0-1 conference record after a 2-1 victory at home against Georgia State. Old Dominion leads the East Division with a 2-0-2 record and is tied with ULM for second overall. The Monarchs dominated Southern Miss on Sunday with a 7-1 victory, led by two goals from Ashley Economopoulos. ODU attempted 31 shots, compared to four by the Eagles.
ULM played to a scoreless draw against Coastal Carolina in an evenly matched fixture, with both teams attempting seven shots.
Texas State’s Mady Soumare was named Offensive Player of the Week after contributing to both goals in the Bobcats’ 2-1 victory. Troy’s Taylor Richards earned her second Defensive Player of the Week award in the past three weeks, recording her conference-leading fourth shutout of the season against James Madison.
To see the update Sun Belt conference standings and more news, click here.
Volleyball
Conference play began last weekend, with four teams recording two-game weekend sweeps. Georgia Southern swept Old Dominion in both matches in Norfolk, Virginia. Southern Miss also won back-to-back 3-0 matches at home against ULM. South Alabama dropped one set in each of their two matches against Troy.
But all eyes were on Huntington, West Virginia, as Coastal’s Jalyn Stout broke the NCAA all-division record for most career triple-doubles, recording 11 kills, 11 assists and 11 digs in the Chanticleers’ 3-0 victory on Friday. It was her 40th career triple-double, breaking the record set last season by Jordyn Gates of Division II Grand Valley State. In Saturday’s match, Marshall took the first set before Coastal won the final three to sweep the weekend series.
Despite Stout’s recording breaking weekend, James Madison’s Kennedy Louisell earned her second Offensive Player of the Week of the season after notching 41 kills and 45.5 points in a weekend split with Appalachian State.
Coastal’s Anna Rita earned her second Defensive Player of the Week nod in the past three weeks, tallying 14 total blocks and a .643 hitting percentage in their sweep of Marshall. Georgia Southern’s Kirsten Barrett earned her third Setter of the Week honor, averaging 12 digs per set in helping her team sweep ODU.
To see the update Sun Belt conference standings and more news, click here.
Cross Country
Only one cross country event took place last week, with Louisiana competing in the Cowboy Stampede hosted by McNeese State. The women’s team won the event, led by Ella Segura’s first-place finish 5,000-meter race. The Rajun’ Cajuns placed five runners in the top 10 and 11 in the top 20.
Henry Lyon won the men’s four-mile race, finishing just over five seconds ahead of McNeese’s Ryan McCarthy. The team finished third, finishing 11 points behind Houston Christian. Both Lyon and Segura earned Sun Belt Runner of the Week honors.
To see the update Sun Belt conference standings and more news, click here.
Golf
Several Sun Belt golfers and teams posted top performances last weekend.
Appalachian State finished 11-under par at the Ironwood Collegiate Tournament, placing fourth overall. Alex Martin led all Sun Belt golfers with a 4-under-par finish, tied for 11th place.
Arkansas State won the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational by one stroke over host Colorado. Thomas Schmidt took home the individual title, carding a 22-under par score.
At the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, both Louisiana schools earned top-10 finishes. The Rajun’ Cajuns placed third with 3-over, while ULM finished seventh at 17-over. Louisiana’s Malon Rotgieter and the ULM’s Louis Anceaux tied for fourth individually at 6-under par.
On the women’s side, Old Dominion and Coastal Carolina had strong showings at the Tot Hill Farm Invitational in Asheboro, North Carolina. The Monarchs finished second with 14-over par, while the Chanticleers placed third place at 23-over. Coastal’s Carla Bourdeaux won the individual title, finishing 3-under par.
Women’s Field Hockey
Old Dominion split two matchups last week, improving to 2-0 in Big East play with a 2-0 victory over Quinnipiac. On Sunday, the Monarchs lost to Michigan 4-1, dropping to 4-5 overall.
In MAC play, Appalachian State earned two conference victories last weekend. After shutting out Bellarmine on the road Friday, the Mountaineers (8-1, 3-0 MAC) edged James Madison 5-4 at home Sunday. The loss ended the Dukes (7-4, 2-1 MAC) three-game winning streak, which included a 5-0 win over Longwood.
Sophia Baxter earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for App State after scoring two goals and anchoring the defense to stop multiple fast breaks.
To see the update conference standings and more news, visit the Big East page here or the MAC page here.
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