DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University men's soccer is set to take the field Saturday for its second intrasquad scrimmage (closed to the public but airing on the Averett Sports Network at 2 p.m.). Over the past week, head coach Philip Wilson said the team has been working on several things since last Saturday's first scrimmage.

"This week we focused on some small sides games to get some fitness and emphasizing combination play in tight spaces and how to create overloads in certain areas of the pitch," Wilson said.

Overall, Wilson was happy with their first scrimmage on Aug. 29.

"I thought the guys played really well last week considering we had only practiced twice as a whole team," he said. "I would like to see the team be a little more disciplined tactically and work on creating overloads in the wide spaces — something we worked on this week. Although the team played well last week, we are still not as sharp as we need to be so I will be emphasizing work rate and fitness in this week's scrimmage.

Wilson has been extremely impressed with the focus and work rate from all of his returners so far and said a few of the freshmen have really stood out and played beyond their age thus far.

"Conner Brown has really stood out because of his work ethic and positive mindset," Wilson said. "Adrian Oyler is a very composed defender who will throw his body in the way of anything. Rion Klaas is an extremely mature player who can control the tempo of the game and cause a lot of issues for opposition and Alexander Soerensen has been very effective in contributing to the attack from the outside back position. All four of them have transitioned to the college level seamlessly."

TACKLING IT DIFFERENTLY: Football has been blessed this fall in the sense that resocialization protocols have afforded defensive coordinator David Clark the opportunity to split his defense into smaller position groups. Each comprised of upperclassmen veteran leaders and newcomers with the goal of making it an easier transition for the freshmen.

"I am very happy with how we have started this camp," Clark said this week. With all the challenges we have been presented with, our guys have responded appropriately. We have been in small groups up to this point, so we have put a big emphasis on technique and basic scheme knowledge. Our staff and young men have done a great job focusing on we can control and getting better with every opportunity. We look forward to moving into full team practices, where we will get to test what we've been doing to this point against our offense.
Defensive backs coach Dustin Beck noted the excitement and energy the defense has shown on the field.
"The players have been anxious each time a practice day is on the calendar and have been extremely focused on wanting to get better each time they have a practice," Beck said this week.

Meanwhile, on offense head coach Patrick Henry has taken a different approach, opting to break his squad into groups comprised of one to two quarterbacks, several receivers and offensive linemen as well as a running back or two and tight ends. This allows each group to get more individualized hands on instruction and enables drills and offensive sets to run smooth.

Football is progressing well through the resocialization process with the hopes of advancing into the next phase within the coming days and begin team contact drills. With their first scrimmage set for Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. contact drills are a large part of preparing the team to take the field and ensure of safety and development of its players.

USING TECHNOLOGY: Many teams have embraced Zoom over the past few month, including volleyball. Head coach Danny Miller brought in a large freshman class, and he worked on creating a welcoming environment in a difficult time for the freshmen by scheduling more Zoom meetings so they could all become comfortable with one another entering preseason once they arrived on campus.  

"I have become very comfortable here at Averett my first semester because of the guidance and support from the upperclassman, the faculty and staff," freshman Makkenzie Compton said.

The volleyball team is now within a week of its first scrimmage, which will closed to the public but available to be viewed through the Averett Sports Network on Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m.

TEAM EFFORT: Despite having a roster with 14 newcomers, women's soccer head coach Meghan Mauzy-Fleming has been impressed with the group, along with the returners.

"They came in with intensity and have already made a huge impact," Mauzy-Fleming said of her newcomers. "It's not so much of what I have done to make them feel comfortable, but what our returners have done. They have been incredible leaders. Every freshman I have spoken with raves about how awesome the upperclassmen are and how included they make them feel."

This past week, the women's soccer team has been working on clear communication and direction, as well as the details of their technique.

OFF AND RUNNING: Averett's cross country programs began practicing this past week under new head coach Hayden Rader. Spring sports teams are scheduled to begin to start practicing in the next week.