Mules scoring in bunches to lead Rhodes
For Mid-South sports fans unaware, Rhodes University has a women’s field hockey team.
And, by scoring 15 goals and eight assists in nine games, junior forward Hailey Mules is leading all NCAA Division III players with a 4.22 points per game average.
“We’ve had a really great season so far, and I think it does have a lot to do with my teammates,” Mules said. “I’ve just been doing what my coach has been telling me to do. At the beginning of the year, she was trying to drill in my head to cut into the middle when I’m taking the ball up and then once I started doing that, it started to really work out for me.”
Rhodes (8-1) plays at Randolph-Macon on Sunday and the University of Mary Washington on Monday. Mules is participating in the game she’s played since the first grade. And for 48 hours, she will be playing in the vicinity of her hometown of Baltimore. Which leads us to why she’s majoring in business at Rhodes.
“I love warm weather, so I just wanted to go south,” said Mules, “and not many schools in the South have field hockey. I felt like this was the farthest south I could go.”
Field hockey is played in two 35-minutes halves, with a running clock. Incidentally, it took a little longer than that for Mules’ most memorable match.
“I believe it was our Wittenberg game (Sept. 8) where we went into overtime, and I scored the (game-winning) goal,” she said. “It's just like super exciting to have done that. I felt our team had worked so hard for that game — and then to come out with the win, it was great.”
Mules and her teammates are less than a month away from competing in the Southern Athletic Association conference tournament. It will be hosted by Hendrix College Nov. 2-4 in Conway (Ark.)
Said Mules: “We want to go as far as we can. We’re going into (the remaining games) with strong attitudes, and hopefully come out with the win.”
Memphis women’s soccer sweeps weekly honors
For the first time in the American Athletic Conference, a women’s soccer team has run the table when it comes to weekly Player of the Week honors. And that squad was none other than the University of Memphis. Award winners for the week of Oct. 8 were: Sophomore Clarissa Larisey (Offensive Player), senior Olivia Gauthier (Defensive Player), sophomore Elizabeth Moberg (Goalkeeper) and freshman Tanya Boychuk (Rookie).
The Tigers, who defeated Houston and SMU on the road last week, will take a 12-2 record into Sunday's contest against visiting South Florida. On the men’s side, Memphis midfielder Edgar Alaniz was named the AAC Rookie of the Week. The Tigers tied Temple last week in Philadelphia, 1-1. Alaniz notched his second goal of the season in the 60th minute.
Keys Jr. wins MSC defensive player of week
For the second time this season, former Southwind and current Cumberland University defensive back Jimmy Keys Jr. has garnered Mid-South Conference Bluegrass Division Defensive Player of the Week honors. During last Saturday’s Homecoming game against Georgetown College, Keys registered eight tackles (seven solo) and had an interception in a 13-7 loss.
Entering this week’s action, the 5foot-8, 146-pound junior was tied for sixth in the MSC with three interceptions. Keys Jr. had played in only four games.
Memphis women's golf has strong finish in Kentucky
The University of Memphis women’s golf team heads to the Magnolia Invitational on Sunday in West Point (Miss.) coming off a strong showing in the Bluegrass State. Competing at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, hosted by the University of Kentucky, five golfers combined to set a single-round school record 278 to help the Tigers finish fourth (874).
Two Memphis seniors finished in the Top 10 individually. Michaela Fletcher shot a career-low 67 in the final round to tie for seventh (214). Sydney Colwill came in 10th (216). Kentucky (858) won the team title, followed by Penn State (860) and Middle Tennessee (869).
Northwest Mississippi's Smith honored
Northwest Mississippi Community College has received the David M. Halbrook Award for student-athlete completion rate achievement for the 2017-18 academic year. Former Lake Cormorant standout Harley Smith was also recognized for owning the highest GPA among Ranger women.
Smith, a NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete, concluded her NWCC academic career with a 3.96 GPA. As a pitcher, she was second all-time in appearances (57), fourth in wins (22) and complete games (23) and fifth in strikeouts (166). Northwest had 99 percent of its student-athletes graduate or complete all their necessary courses.
Sunday Sports Brunch is a weekly look at movers, shakers and newsmakers on the Memphis sports scene, from youth level to the pros. If you have an item of interest, please contact Chris Van Tuyl at christopher.vantuyl@commercialappeal.com.