Monique Hundley is coming off the best season of her college career, and she has been rewarded for it by being named to the preseason All-Sun Belt Conference team. Hundley is the only Panther to be named to the conference team.
“I was honestly very surprised,” Hundley said. “I didn’t expect to get awarded something like that so early in the season. I knew that last season was probably my best season out of all four years, and I know I worked really hard. I’m super thankful for that, and I couldn’t have done it without my team, truly.”
Last season, Hundley shot a team-high 45 shots, with 19 being on goal. She also played over 1,500 minutes and feels that is why she had her best season in a Georgia State uniform.
Hundley switched positions last year from an outside midfielder to a holding midfielder, and she was a big fan of the move.
“I preferred to play there because I can see the field more,” Hundley said. “I’m able to see the field more and give instruction to other people, whereas [while playing at] outside mid, I was just kind of restricted to a certain area. So I think just moving me into a position where I can see the whole field and give instruction to everybody else has helped me to understand the game a little bit better.”
The switch should continue to work well for Hundley and the Panthers this season because of her strengths as a player. She is a very technical player and communication is a big part of her game. Hundley likes to talk a lot on the field and admits to a little trash talk here and there.
The senior came to Georgia State back in 2015 from Scott, Louisiana. Since she arrived in Atlanta, she has grown tremendously, both on the soccer field and mentally.
Before her junior season, Hundley would doubt herself even to the point where she would think that she wasn’t good enough to play with the other 21 players. She recognized that her mental game was the weakest of her skills, but instead of letting it continue, she worked until she corrected the problem.
“I think the mental side of things really set me back my first two years,” Hundley said. “I was always hard on myself, and it took time for me to realize that I have potential that everyone else had, and I think working my way into the starting 11 from my freshman year until now has really made me realize, ‘You’re just as good as anybody else.’”
Hundley was not recruited by head coach Ed Joyce, but he has helped her a lot since he took the job in 2016. She bought into his system, and now she is one of the leaders in the program.
With her senior season underway, Hundley hopes to make it a memorable one.
