IU Womens Soccer Player Layla Sirdah Earns B1G Freshman, Offensive Player of the Week Awards
Freshman Forward Layla Sirdah earns her first couple of Big Ten awards Freshman and Offensive Player of the Week, the league announced on Tuesday. Sirdah combined for five goals in two games with two assists out of the team’s 14 goals and 13 assists last week. She scored four goals against Lawrence University in the Hoosiers 9-0 win on senior day and scored the game winner against Evansville in the fifth minute along with assists in the 5-0 victory over the Aces. Sirdah, a native of Duluth, Ga., is the second player in program history to score four goals and tied the most points (8) in a match since Paige Webber in 2023. Her performance against Lawrence helped the Hoosiers tie the most goals (9) and points (25) in a single game since 1998 versus IUPUI. She finished the non-conference portion of the season with 17 points, six goals and five assists. In the Big Ten, she currently ranks second in most points and goals and is tied first in the league with five assists. The Hoosiers open conference play with Ohio State on Thursday at 7:30pm.
Indiana University Women’s Golf Finishes 7th at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in Nicholasville, Kentucky
Indiana Hoosiers Women’s Golf finished seventh at the 31st annual Bettie Lou Evans Invitational played at the Champions Trace Golf Club with a three-round score of 905 (302-296-307; +41). For the second-straight tournament, junior Madison Dabagia paced the Hoosier scoring with a three-round score of 219 (75-71-73; +3). She tied for sixth overall, her first top 10 of the season and third of her career. The Iowa transfer knocked down a team-best 11 birdie conversions and knocked in an eagle on No. 5 in the second round. Dabagia has finished inside the top 20 in both tournaments this season.
Junior Faith Johnson shot a 221 (74-72-75; +5) to tie for 14th, her best finish as a Hoosier since a t-12 effort in the Boilermaker Classic to open the 2023-24 season. Johnson completed six birdie tries for the tournament. Redshirt senior Caroline Smith shot a 230 (80-70-80; +14). Her tournament consisted of two birdies in each round and an eagle on No. 5 in the second round. Redshirt junior Maddie May played seven birdies, including five in the open round. She shot a three-round scorecard of 235 (73-83-79; +19). Senior Beatriz Junqueira signed for a 249 (81-83-85; +33) in her season debut. Indiana will return to tournament action at the Illinois Women’s Invitational from Oct. 7-8 at the Medinah Country Club.
Taylor University Men’s Golf wins the Players Club Invitational
Taylor used its best round since the spring of 2022 to break open a tightly contested top of the leaderboard and cruised to a team title at the season-opening Players Club Invitational in Yorktown, Indiana. The Trojans finished the opening 36 holes of action on Monday with a narrow five-shot lead over Northwestern Ohio and a six-shot gap over Spring Arbor. After posting scores of 301 and 295 in the first two rounds, TU rallied for a seven-under par score of 281 in Tuesday’s solo round to roll to the eventual 26-stroke victory. The final round score of 281 was Taylor’s best team score for a single round since shooting a 280 in the middle round of the 2022 Crossroads League Championships to help secure the program’s sixth-straight league crown. Taylor’s final score of 877 was just 13 shots over par for the tournament and gave the Trojans a 26-shot cushion over runner-up UNOH and a 36-shot lead over third-place Spring Arbor.
Matthew Albright highlighted the two-day event for Taylor by tying for medalist honors with a 54-hole score of 219. Albright shot even-par in his first and third rounds, marking the best single-round scores of his collegiate career. Just back of Albright on the leaderboard was Kyle Kasitz, who used a personal-best score of six-under 66 on the final 18 holes to climb one shot off the lead and in third place overall. Kasitz improved throughout after opening with scores of 79 and 75 in Monday’s action. Also tallying a third-place finish with a final mark of 220 was Tanner Conklin, as Taylor claimed three of the top five scores. Conklin rallied from an opening-round score of 80 to shoot a 68 in the second round and a 72 in the final round. Will Schuitema was the fourth Trojan inside the top 10, carding scores of 76, 77 and 71 to end at 224 and just five strokes off the pace of Albright. Taylor ended the tournament with five players inside the top 15, with Ben Oakley posting successive scores of 79, 75 and 76 to end in a tie for 14th. RV Taylor will return to the links on September 16 and 17 for the Keiser Shootout in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Caitlin Clark Named the WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the Third Consecutive Week
For the third week in a row, Indiana Fever rookie Guard Caitlin Clark has earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors, the league announced Tuesday. Clark was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week during the periods of August 15-25 and August 26-September 1. Clark was also named the WNBA Rookie of the Month and Eastern Conference Player of the Month for August last week. The Indiana Fever tipped off its six-game homestand last Wednesday as Clark averaged 25.0 points, 10.0 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game to help Indiana close the week with a 2-1 record. Clark made 13 3-point field goals across Indiana’s three games and set a franchise record for the most 3-point field goals made in a single season with 111 entering this week.
Last Wednesday during Indiana’s first win of the homestand against the Los Angeles Sparks, Clark recorded 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to become the sixth player in WNBA history to record multiple triple-doubles. On Sunday during the Fever’s win against the Atlanta Dream, Clark tallied 26 points and 12 assists for her 14th double-double this season and a franchise record for the most double-doubles recorded in a single-season. Clark enters the final four games of the regular season only 53 points shy of breaking Seimone Augustus’s record of 744 points for the rookie single season scoring record. She recorded her 300th assist in just 35 games, the fastest ever for any player in league history. Clark continues to lead the league in assists (8.5 apg) and all rookies in scoring (19.2 ppg), steals (1.3 spg) and minutes (35.8 mpg) per game. The Fever host the Las Vegas Aces in back-to-back matchups this evening and Friday and then will face the Dallas Wings for its final home game of the regular season on Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Former Indiana Hoosier Kyle Schwarber moves past Ted Kluszewski for Most MLB Home Runs by a Former IU Player
Kyle Schwarber’s home run on Monday evening was a lot like the 279 that preceded it. The Philadelphia Phillies star blasted a 447-foot-long ball to deep right center field that was a no doubter the instant it left his bat. But home run number 280 carried special significance in IU circles. With his Monday evening bomb, Schwarber now has more Major League Baseball home runs than any former Indiana University baseball player. He passed Ted Kluszewski, whose previous mark of 279 home runs stood for 63 years. Kluszewski hit his last MLB homer on Sept. 26, 1961. The home run also tied Schwarber for seventh in MLB history, with Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, for the most homers (127) through the first three seasons with any club. Schwarber now has 34 home runs on the season, and he has hit more than 30 for four straight seasons.
Kluszewski played one war time baseball season at IU in 1945 and hit .443. He also started for the 1945 IU football team that went undefeated and won the Big Ten. He led the MLB in home runs in 1954 with 49. Schwarber hit home run 280 in 3,875 career at bats, while Kluszewski had 5,929 for his career. At .298, Kluszewski had a much better career batting average than Schwarber’s .230. It will be a long time before anyone from IU catches Schwarber. Alex Dickerson has the third-most home runs among former Hoosiers with 40. And he’s no longer in the MLB. In fact, there are no other former IU batters in the league.
Taylor University Football Sweeps MSFA Weekly Honors After Overtime Win at ONU
Following its 58-51 overtime win at Olivet Nazarene to improve to 2-0 on the young season, the Taylor football team swept the Mid-States Football Association Mideast League Player-of-the-Week honors, with Jameson Chesser, Reid Messer and Lucas Shilts all being recognized. Chesser was named the MSFA Mideast League Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 206 yards and two touchdowns in the Trojan victory. Chesser averaged 7.6 yards per touch over his 27 carries, set up TU’s game-tying field goal in the closing seconds with a 23-yard reception and scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
Messer was named the MSFA Mideast League Defensive Player of the Week after coming up with two key interceptions and long returns. Messer picked off back-to-back passes in the first half, returning the first pick 45 yards for a touchdown and the second for 16 yards to set up another Taylor touchdown. Shilts took home MSFA Mideast League Special Teams Player-of-the-Week honors after taking care of 10 points for the Trojans. Shilts converted on seven-of-eight point-after attempts and also split the uprights from 31 yards out with 10 seconds remaining to force the overtime session. The MSFA Player-of-the-Week honor is the first for Chesser and Messer, with Shilts taking the honor for the third time. With the three awards, Taylor Athletics has now claimed five weekly honors for the 2024-2025 year, with four coming from the football team. Taylor (2-0, 1-0 MSFA) will return to action on Saturday, September 14, with a 7:00 pm start time inside Turner Stadium against Judson (1-0).
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