Baylor Soccer Earns Recognition from Awards, Top 25 Poll after 2-0 Week of Big 12 Play
Baylor Soccer was ranked in the top 10 by the IWSOC/USC poll for the second time this season, coming in at No. 9 in Tuesday’s rankings. The Bears spent a week at No. 6 after beating preseason No. 10 Arkansas and Texas A&M in the first week of the season.
The Bears of Betty Lou have gone 7-1-1 since that 2-0-0 start, thanks in no small part to goalkeeper Azul Alvarez. The 5th-year shot-stopper has a pair of clean sheets to go along with her 35 saves and .761 save percentage. Those performances have landed Alvarez on the 2026 Hermann Trophy Midseason Watch List, as announced Wednesday afternoon by the Intercollegiate Women's Soccer Organization for Coaches (IWSOC) in partnership with United Soccer Coaches, who also conduct the top 25 poll.
Alvarez is one of three goalkeepers on the midseason watchlist and one of four representatives from the Big 12 Conference, alongside Colorado twins Faith and Hope Leyba and Texas Tech’s Taylor Zdrojewski.
The Hermann Trophy, presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club, is the nation’s highest individual honor in collegiate soccer and recognizes the National Player of the Year as voted on by Division I head coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches. There will be 15 semifinalists named on December 4th before being narrowed to three finalists, with the winner announced on January 8th.
Elsewhere for the Bears, junior midfielder Noelle Sather was crowned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after scoring a goal in both 2-1 wins against Oklahoma State and Cincinnati.
Those two games were Sather’s first appearances for Baylor since the first week of the season; the former USF transfer having represented her home country of Canada in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland for the last month.
The honor is the first conference weekly award of Sather's career, Baylor's 75th all-time nod and the 23rd offensive-specific award since the league added the category ahead of the 2000 season.
The Bears continue conference play on Friday with the Kansas Jayhawks visiting Waco. No. 9 Baylor vs. Kansas kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday night at Betty Lou Mayes Field, and entry, as always, is free (stream available on ESPN+).
