With over a week and a half gone since the start of fall sports conference play there are a handful of obvious things we now know. But, with what we know, comes a fair amount of unknowns as well. Let’s sort some of these knowns and unknowns out to see where the rest of WAC play may take us.
One obvious thing we know is, Utah Valley men’s soccer senior forward Blake Frischknecht is really, really good at scoring goals. An example of what we don’t quite know is, after New Mexico State in volleyball, whose play is for real and whose is fake?
Men’s soccer
There’s the obvious known to start out with here in men’s soccer — UVU currently sits atop the WAC standings at 4-0. The unknown that remains is will they be able to stay atop the standings?
With seven other teams behind the Wolverines currently sitting at .500 or better, it’s expected to be tough fight all the way to the finish. UVU still has tough match-ups this season with five out of those seven teams.
The WAC Player of the Year honor is also still very much up for grabs — another unknown. It’s shaping up to be a four-man race with UVU’s Frischknecht, Seattle U sophomore forward Declan McGlynn and junior forward Noe Meza, and UT Rio Grande Valley senior forward Kyle Edwards.
Volleyball
The known here in WAC volleyball was mentioned earlier, NMSU is really, really good sitting at 5-0 in first place. So, can anyone keep up with them?
Currently only three other teams in the conference are above .500 behind the Aggies. They are, Grand Canyon University, University of Missouri-Kansas City and UVU. So, which of the three is for real? Well for example, UVU beat GCU, UMKC beat UVU and GCU beat UMKC. You see the parody going on here?
As of right now, that trio is beating one another while NMSU sits on top beating the rest of the field. In this case, it is very well unknown right now who will be there at the end to compete with the Aggies.
A few known names who’ve been putting up great performances to continue to watch out for are first, UVU sophomore outside hitter Kazna Tarawhiti. Next is, UTRGV senior right side hitter Barbara Silva, and finally NMSU middle blocker Megan Hart.
Women’s soccer
Let’s start with an unknown here in women’s soccer, who is actually good? Yes, the standings show that California Baptist — who has won seven straight — is leading at 3-0. But with four teams behind them at .500 or better, of whom they also haven’t faced yet, can they be beaten?
The Lancers were picked to finish tied for seventh in the WAC preseason coaches poll. So this, this was a definite unexpected happening to see them atop the standings even to this point.
The four teams that are currently behind CBU are, SU, GCU, UTRGV and UVU. So, what’s always known in any sport is that anyone can be beaten on any given night. It’s not crazy to think that any of the five teams mentioned here can finish on top by seasons end. Even preseason favorite UMKC, who is currently in seventh place, still has a great opportunity as well.
So, of the three sports now mentioned the most wide-open race has to be women’s soccer with how close the standings look, and who still has to play who.
A couple players to watch out for as play continues to ramp up is first, the WAC preseason Player of the Year pick and UMKC’s sophomore midfielder Rylan Childers. The other is, CBU junior forward Rola Badawiya, who was the WAC Player of the Week recently for the week of Sept. 30-Oct. 6.
What’s next?
Now almost through two full weeks of conference play there is a lot to continue to look out for. There are still many big, deciding games to be played and big time performances to be had. So, continue to keep up with all fall sports and be on the lookout for all the exciting upcoming action. To find out more about standings, schedules, stats and players go here.
