The Austin College athletics teams have had a strong year, with 22 student-athletes earning All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference honors so far on the year, including one Player of the Year and one Newcomer of the Year. Three programs have competed in postseason play and three sports remain in competition.
Volleyball
Among the several standout student-athletes at Austin College this season is First Team All-Conference volleyball player Jessica Fleming ’12, who led all NCAA Division III programs in blocks for the second consecutive year. Fleming was the runner-up for SCAC Player of the Year honors and was an American Volleyball Coaches Association All-South Region First Team selection, leading the ’Roos to a 29-10 overall record, including a 9-5 mark in the SCAC.
Fleming wasn’t the only standout on the volleyball team. First-year player Shelby Eaves ’14 was named the SCAC Newcomer of the Year, and Jordan Anderton ’11 earned Third Team All-SCAC honors, marking her third straight year as an All-Conference selection.
Soccer
The women’s soccer program put together its 14th straight winning season, thanks in large part to an outstanding defense that surrendered just eight goals, the fewest in the SCAC and placed among the fewest nationally and finished the year with an 11-4-2 record. The effort was led by Ashleigh Johnson ’11 and Kaitlin Elledge ’12, who were each named First Team All-SCAC, and Johnson was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Elledge was superb in goal all year, collecting 10 shutouts, and was named to the ESPN Academic All-District Team along with MacKenzie Lund ’11 and Andrea Schneider ’12.
The men’s soccer team finished the year with an overall record of 6-8-3, behind the outstanding play of Chris Melton ’12, who earned Second Team All-SCAC honors and was a standout academically, named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America Scholar-Athlete. Melton finished the year tied for third in the SCAC with 12 goals on the season.
Football
On the gridiron, head coach Loren Dawson led the ’Roos to a 4-5 record in his first year at the helm and the team landed 10 players on the All-SCAC teams, led by First Team selections Austin Light ’11, Matt Finke ’11, and Greg Harrell ’11. Light was also named First Team All-Region as an ESPN Academic All-Region honoree for his outstanding work in the classroom. Other players who earned All-SCAC accolades include Ethan Tanner ’12, Kenneth Eneh ’12, Evan Coachman ’11, Braydon MaQuar ’12, Joshua Willis ’11, Travis Zambiasi ’11 and Tanner Martin ’12.
Basketball
The men’s basketball team returned to the SCAC Tournament for the fourth straight year, narrowly falling to eventual conference runner-up DePauw in the first round of action. The ’Roos finished the year 12-14 overall and had four players earn All-SCAC honors, led by 3rd Team All-Conference guard Jordan Hancock ’14, who finished among the leading scorers in the SCAC. Josh Saunders ’12, Scott Straley ’12 and Walter Phillips ’13 each earned Honorable Mention accolades, with Saunders leading the SCAC in blocked shots while all three players averaged double digits in the scoring column on the year.
The women’s basketball team had an up and down year under first year head coach Michelle Filander, winning five of their first nine SCAC games before dropping their final eight games of the season to finish with a 7-17 overall record. Kersti Marusich ’12 was among the leading scorers in the conference and was named an All-SCAC Honorable Mention performer for the year, while several first year players including Erin Riley ’14 and Brooke Melton ’14 showed tremendous promise as Filander guides the team into next season.
Swimming and Diving
The men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams had solid seasons and competed well at the SCAC Championship meet, with several swimmers turning in career best performances, while Chase Gaddy became the first Austin College swimmer to earn All-SCAC honors before tragically passing away this spring.
Still In Play
Baseball
The baseball team has gotten off to a bit of a slow start under first year head coach James Rise, going 3-13 thus far on the season, though their record has been a bit deceptive as the team has been in every ballgame thus far only to see luck go the way of their opponents in several late game situations. Tyler Steed ’11 has gotten off to an outstanding start on the mound, and is currently among the conference leaders in both innings pitched and strikeouts.
Softball
The softball team has gotten off to a 9-15 start on the year and has already had some big highlights, including Stefanie Faith ’11 becoming the SCAC’s all-time leading home run hitter. Faith currently has 34 career home runs, and is also on pace to challenge both the single season home run and runs batted in records as well as the career RBI mark.
Tennis
The men’s and women’s tennis teams have also gotten off to solid starts this season, with the women currently boasting an impressive 6-2 record behind the outstanding play of Minnie Satyavada ’11, Kelly Lewis ’11, Lizzie Flint ’12 and Arianne Goddard ’14 while the men are currently 1-7 as Tyler Roush ’13 has followed up his strong freshman season with an outstanding start to 2011.
