SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The Southern Conference announced today the Athletes of the Month for September. One athlete is chosen from each fall sport: football (offensive and defensive), men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball and men’s and women’s golf.
Football
Offense
Georgia Southern’s Jayson Foster leads the nation in rushing with 197.5 yards per game including three 200- yard efforts to start the year tying a Southern Conference record. He has 13 rushing touchdowns in four games. Foster, Canton, GA, native tied a Georgia Southern record and a Southern Conference record with six against Coastal Carolina. He has completed 72.2 percent of his passes for 449 yards and two touchdowns. Foster is ranked 5th nationally in total offense with 309.8, 3rd in scoring with 19.5 and 4th in all-purpose yards with 211. He is a two-time Southern Conference player of the week and a nationally player of the week by three organizations. He is ranked 4th in Southern Conference history for most rushing yards in a four game span with 790. He has led Georgia Southern to a 3-1 mark to start the season and accumulated 15 touchdowns in four games.
Defense
Appalachian State’s Corey Lynch has blocked two kicks, intercepted a pass and made 37 tackles in five games to lead Appalachian State to a 4-1 start. Lynch, a senior from Cape Coral, Florida, had a memorable start to the season when he blocked a 34-yard field goal attempt as time expired at Michigan to preserve Appalachian State’s 34-32 win over Michigan. He had 11 tackles versus the Wolverines. Against Elon, Lynch set up a touchdown when he blocked a punt near the end of the first half. He also intercepted an Elon pass in the end zone
Men’s Soccer
Bryan Amos, a senior goalkeeper for Furman posted a nation leading 0.237 goals against average while allowing only three goals in over 759 minutes. He led the Paladins to a 8-1-0 record and a top-25 ranking during the month of September. Amos led the country with a 0.938 save percentage and notched five shutouts and helped Furman climb to third in the NSCAA/Adidas South Region rankings over it first nine matches. Amos guided Furman to a seven consecutive wins until it was beat by nationally- ranked Washington 1-0 in overtime.
Women’s Soccer
Lauren Conner, a sophomore midfielder from Davidson, led the Wildcats to a share of the Southern Conference lead and a season best five game winning streak to finish the month of September. Davidson has a 6-3 overall record and a 2-0 record in conference play. She had five goals and one assist in September. Her goal against High Point in overtime was a game -winner, her second goal was against Mercer to take the lead. Her third goal came against SEC powerhouse LSU. She had a game -winner against Appalachian State and goals against The Citadel. Conner was named Southern Conference player of the week for the week of September 25 through October 2. Conner shares the award with Anna Betton of Furman
Furman's Anna Betton was named Co-Southern Conference Women's Soccer Player-of-the-Month after recording nine goals and four assists while leading Furman to an 8-3-0 mark during the opening month of the regular season. The senior's nine goals and 22 total points led the league by a wide margin and placed her in the nation's top 20 in both categories. The Greensboro, N.C., native totaled two multi-goal games, scored in seven of Furman's 11 matches and netted the game-winner versus UNC Asheville. Betton tallied the game-winning goal in Furman's 4-3 win at Appalachian State on Sunday to give her 10 goals in 13 matches this season. Her 29 career goals rank seventh among the Lady Paladins' top career goal scorers.
Volleyball
Branagan Fuller, a outside hitter for the UNC Greensboro, tallied 3.98 kills per game in September. She had a 32 kills and a .301 hitting percentage against Furman both were career highs in the 3-2 win. She led the team with 203 kills overall, .398 kills per game and 25 service aces in September. She is second on the team with 151 digs. Fuller closed out the month with six consecutive games with double -digit kills and seven double-doubles.
Women’s Golf
Frederique Bruell, junior from Elon, had a team leading 74.56 scoring average for nine rounds while playing in all four of Elon’s September tournaments. She posted a team -high third place of 62 golfers at the Sea Trail Intercollegiate while pacing the Phoenix to a team title. She had a team best fifth- place finish of 120 golfers to lead Elon to a runner-up finish at the Great Smokies Collegiate. Bruell carded two rounds of par or better during the month, including a career-low round of 69.
Men’s Golf
Matt Cook, senior for Western Carolina, led the Catamounts to back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Raines Development Group and the Xavier Invitational. He posted a seasonal best of third at the Raines Development Group event at Country Club of South Carolina carding a even par 216. He most recently shot 8-under par, 208 at the Xavier Invitational against a very talented field to finish tied for 10th. In three events during September he averaged 71.44 strokes per round while shooting a low of 68 twice.