Southeastern produced a successful week in athletics as the fall sports season is turning into gear.

SLU football moved to 3-2 on the year Saturday at Strawberry Stadium after trouncing visitors Murray State 48-14. 

Despite the scoreline, the Lions struggled for three quarters holding on to a slim 20-14 lead. Then, the offense awoke, putting the ball in the end zone four times over the final 15 minutes of play, en route to outscoring the Racers 28-0 during the period. 

Southeastern’s one-two punch at the quarterback position continued to produce and it was no different on Saturday. Freshman quarterback Eli Sawyer led the Lions through the air with 234 passing yards and a touchdown going 14/21 on the evening. Senior signal caller Cephus Johnson III posted a 7/9 statline with two total touchdowns (one rushing and one throwing). 

Reigning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year Gage Larvadain had his coming out party with his best performance of the 2022 season. The sophomore standout hauled in eight receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown to boot. 

SLU will look to ride its three game winning streak into the fourth and final game of this home stand against conference newcomers Texas A&M Commerce this Saturday for a Homecoming victory.

The Lions golf team displayed a great showing in Madison, Ill. on Monday and Tuesday, finishing tied for fifth out 16 teams at the Derek Dolenc Invitational. Superb sophomore Charlie Forster made headlines as the Englishman took home the individual championship shooting -7 over the three rounds. 

Forster tied Bradley’s Josh Kirkham, who also finished the tournament at -7 but eagled the eighteenth hole of a par 5 to strike gold on the first playoff hole. This marks the first trophy of the Lawrence Allan era for Southeastern after just his second tourney in charge of the young season.

Lady Lions volleyball continued its stellar start to the season, winning two out of its three games this past week. SLU beat McNeese 3-1 (26-28, 25-22, 25-23, 25-18) on Tuesday at the UC. Despite dropping the first set in overtime, the team stormed back to take three straight securing the victory. 

A Thursday road test vs. UNO south of Lake Pontchartrain proved stiff as the Privateers defeated the Lady Lions in three straight sets 3-0 (20-25, 20-25, 24-26). SLU would bounce back however with a straight set victory of their own taking down Nicholls 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-22) to improve to 4-2 in conference play and 14-4 on the year. 

In its only match of the week, the Southeastern soccer team lost 1-0 at the hands of undefeated Lamar in Strawberry Stadium on Sunday. The green and gold fought hard against the first place team in the Southland but ultimately fell short, dropping to 2-2-1 in conference play and 4-4-1 overall.

SLU’s tennis squad endured a very successful trip to Conway, Ark. (Friday and Saturday) as all four players making the trip across state lines earned victories in the UCA Fall Invitational. Sophomore Hungarian Bogi Csordas defeated Oral Roberts’ Zere Iskakova 6-3 and 7-5 to foreshadow what was to come for her freshman teammate Nadia Hitzman. 

Hitzman also took down Iskakova 6-0 and 6-2 before joining Csordas in doubles as the pair took down Iskakova and LA Tech’s Tiffani Nash 7-5.

Graduate transfer Gabrielle Dekkers and sophomore Polina Paunova joined forces to beat LA Tech duo Lara Unkovich and Valentina Vasquez 7-5 in another doubles victory for the Lady Lions. 

Paunova then won 6-2 and 6-3 over Unkovich in singles to punctuate the green and gold’s trip to Arkansas.