University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Ola Akinniyi earns spot on Preseason All-Conference USA team
8/6/2018 11:40:00 AM | Women's Soccer
IRVING, Texas -- Southern Miss senior defender Ola Akinniyi's breakout 2017 season has earned her a nod on Conference USA's preseason team, as announced Monday by the league.
Akinniyi, a native of Denton, Texas, last year earned First-Team All-Conference and CoSIDA Academic All-District VI honors. Akinniyi, a defender, led the Golden Eagles this season in goals scored (seven), after not scoring at all her first two years. She also scored four of the last 10 goals in the 2017 season and holds a 3.7 GPA in architectural engineering.
In league play, Akinniyi ranked eighth in goals and ninth in goals per game. For the season, she boasted her impressive seven goals on just 21 shots. She led the team with a .762 shots-on-goal percentage.
Combined with Becky McMullan (second team) and Miah Zuazua (all-freshman), the 2017 campaign was the first time a Southern Miss trio placed on the All-Conference team. Akinniyi was the first to make the First Team since Sarah McFadden in 2007.
Southern Miss also garnered one first-place vote in the preseason standings. Rice, the overall favorite, collected 10, while North Texas had the other three.
The Golden Eagles open their season Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT with a home exhibition against Mississippi Valley State.
