Good afternoon UIndy fans, there's a lot to be happy about in the Greyhound Nation and Around the Pound is your one stop shop for the good news. Be sure to check every Monday to see what has and will happen with your Greyhounds!
FOOTBALL
UIndy football was astonishing once again as they continued their revenge tour from last season. Two big highlights came out of this weekends game at Ohio Dominican. With a 12-yard rushing touchdown, senior Toriano Clinton officially became UIndy's all-time leading rusher, eclipsing a nine-year-old record held by Klay Fiechter. The record-breaking performance by Clinton also earned him GLVC Offensive Player of the Week. But that was not the only highlights to come out of Football, they once again captured a clutch victory, down by one point, with just sixteen seconds left on the clock, Connor Kinnett launched a ball down the right sideline into the hands of Alonzo Derrick for a game winning touchdown.
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WOMEN'S SOCCER
The first conference win of the season and a career milestone was the story to be told for UIndy women's soccer this past week. After falling in a tight 1-0 match on Friday to Illinois Springfield, the Greyhounds came out of the gates hot at Lewis. Suhkmani Shergill recorded her first career goal, that went on to be the decider, at the 13th minute. A clean sheet by MaKenna Nickens kept the Flyers off the scoreboard as the Hounds held on for a 1-0 victory.
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COACH'S CORNER
With picking up their first conference win, the women's soccer team now looks to build momentum after four tough matches against conference opponents. Head Coach
Holly Cox talks about the youth of her team, the tough conference play so far and the improvements moving forward. Cox said that the team has worked hard, and it's exciting to see how they will improve.
"I do think the ladies have worked hard, but I don't think we've played the best soccer just yet, which is exciting though because moving forward, I think we're only going to get better, and it's only going to build more confidence. We had the first opening weekend against two tough teams, so it was nice to get a result against a tough Lewis side on a Sunday, away, was great win."
With a tie against No. 15 McKendree and a good win against Lewis, Cox said the team has shown they can compete with the best teams in the conference. She said these results are building towards their goal.
" I almost think that we could have gotten more out of that game [against McKendree], it's great to walk away with some points, the tie at the end of the day is going to help us move forward in conference play."
The team, hit by graduation and injuries, is playing a large number of freshmen and sophomores, a large amount in their defensive line. According to Cox, this group has shown their willingness to get better.
"We are very young, sometimes with being young, you can be a little naïve at times, the nice thing about this group is their taking feedback and they're trying to adjust their play and is it always perfect, no, but it never is perfect, even seniors make mistakes, all we look for is to fix the mistakes and not make them over and over again. Moving forward, with having such a young group right now that are still able to perform and get results against good teams, that really does excite me for the future."
Of the young players, Cox highlighted the play of MaKenna Nickens, Ava Kettler and Chloe Noon so far this season.
"MaKenna Nickens has been doing great in goal, it's a tough ask to step in and play in such an important role, as a young inexperienced freshman, the game is that much quicker, it is that much more physical, and she has really stepped up and commanded her box and commanded her back-line, so she's really stood out to me. Another one would have to be Ava Kettler; she's played a lot of minutes so far for us and has stepped in again into a position that isn't the easiest position to play. She's an integral part of our back line, not only is she solid defensively, but she's also doing well on the attack. Chloe Noon has done really so far, scored a couple of goals early on in season, and has come and played in a variety of different roles for us in the midfield. "
Cox said that moving forward, the goal is to be consistent throughout practice, and translate that work into games. She said they want go back into the defensive juggernaut they have been in the past.
"I'd love for us this weekend for us to get back to that desire and need to keep clean sheets, that's what's going to win us games. We get opportunities to score goals, but keeping a clean sheet, keeping other teams from scoring on us is what's going to allow us to continue accumulating those points, getting those important ties, getting those 1-0 victories over the Lewis' over the weekend, is due to a good defensive effort."
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MEN'S SOCCER
It was a rough week for men's soccer, going 0-1-1 in their conference matchups. They forced a 1-1 draw against Illinois Springfield on Friday and fell to the Flyers Sunday by a score of 1-0.
VOLLEYBALL
UIndy Volleyball had a split this past week, falling to No. 15 Lewis 3-0, before turning the corner a performing a sweep of their own against Illinois Springfield.
WOMEN'S GOLF
The DBU Women's Classic was the task at hand for UIndy women's golf and they were up to the task. In the stacked field the Greyhounds finished fifth, led by Elise Stasil was the top dog for the Hounds posting an impressive 72-70-68 to finish T-4 at -6.
MEN'S GOLF
It was a big tournament for UIndy men's golf as they took on the Doc Spragg Fall Invitational, hosted by the University of Findlay last Monday and Tuesday. The men's team finished seventh in a field of seventeen.
UP NEXT
Friday, Sept. 30
Women's Soccer vs. Quincy, 5 p.m.
Volleyball at Quincy, 7 p.m.
Men's Soccer vs. Quincy, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 1
Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving, 12 p.m.
Volleyball at Truman, 4 p.m.
Football vs. Southwest Baptist, 6 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 2
Women's Soccer vs. Truman, 12 p.m.
Men's Soccer vs. Truman, 2:30 p.m.
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