The following feature was written specifically for ULMAthletics.com by the ULM sports information office. Any use of the following text, partial or otherwise, must give credit to www.ULMAthletics.com and the ULM Sports Information Department.
One of ULM's deepest positions in the upcoming soccer season will be along the defensive front and sophomore Raydan Phillips is a big reason why. The physical Phillips came to ULM last year fresh off a National Championship with her Club team and continued that success with the Warhawks. Phillips cracked the starting lineup early and often, getting the nod 17 times. On Sept. 5, the Arvada, Colo., native scored her only goal of the season in ULM's first victory of the 2006 campaign. In 2007, Phillips will team with junior Rachel Hobson to give the Warhawks a strong defensive core in their second year in the Sun Belt Conference. Phillips dropped by www.ULMathletics.com to answer a few questions about her summer and the upcoming season.
Fill us in on where you are, what you have been doing and how your summer is going?
This summer I have been playing in the United Soccer League with the Mile High Edge in Arvada, Colo. I have also been playing club soccer with my team, Real Colorado. We won our state tournament and went to Las Vegas, Nev. for Regionals. We lost in the semifinals in Nevada. I am also taking summer school classes at Metro State College in Denver, Colo.
What is something you learned from the team's first year in the Sun Belt Conference?
One thing I learned from being in the Sun Belt Conference is that there are a lot of good teams. I think we could have put up a better fight if we would have shown everything that we had, but since it was our first year I don't think we knew what to expect. Now we do and we will be strong this next season.
What are your expectations and goals for yourself and the team in 2007?
I am hoping we can make it to the conference tournament this upcoming year and I think we have full potential to do.
What have you been doing to reach your goals?
I have been taking summer school to make sure I keep my grades high for next season. I am also playing a lot of soccer to make sure I stay in shape and get a lot of soccer exposure.
Why did you choose ULM?
I chose ULM because of the soccer program.
Do you have any plans for the rest of your summer?
My plans for the rest of the summer are to play soccer with the Mile High Edge. We are traveling to Seattle, Wash. and Vancouver, Canada for a couple of games and hopefully we will make it to playoffs so that I can keep playing the sport I love.
When you aren't playing soccer, what are you doing?
When I am not playing soccer I am usually shopping or spending time with my cousins and family. At this point in time I do not have a job that I am in desperate need of.
Other than yourself, which of your teammates do you think will surprise people in 2007 and why?
I think Mallory George will surprise everybody because of how she finished the year last year. In our last game [at Louisiana-Lafayette.] she surprised our whole team with three amazing goal-saving shots including saving a penalty kick. The girl who was shooting the kick had not missed one her whole career until Mallory George came into the picture. I think if she picks up where she left off nobody will get the ball past her.
What is your favorite ULM soccer memory?
My favorite ULM memory is our last game in conference when we were playing Louisiana-Lafayette. I think they were in the upper end of the conference so we knew they were going to be tough, but it had been tied all game and we were dominating and giving them a run for their money. I'm sure they thought we were just going to be easy and their coach was going crazy. I don't know what got into our team, but we knew it was our last game so we gave it everything we had and we ended up tying them and it felt so great knowing we can compete in this league.
What are you studying at ULM and why did you choose it? What do you want to do with your degree when you are done playing soccer?
I am studying kinesiology at the moment. I chose it because I like studying the body and its movements. I'm also very interested in movement because I tore my ACL and meniscus and want to help other people recover from injuries as well as I did. I want to become involved in physical therapy.
