ST. LOUIS -- Indiana State sophomore Danielle Varner has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts as the Sycamores went undefeated during a tough three-game stretch of road games at Illinois-Chicago, Akron and Wright State. The Sycamores own a 3-2-2 record so far this season with all seven matches coming on the road.

Varner continued to lead the Sycamore defense with a pair of shutouts and just two goals allowed this week. She was extremely active as she continues to be the front line of defense and limit the amount of shots that opponents are able to get on goal. To wit, the Sycamores faced 40 total shots over the three road games and only 11 were made on goal. That's just 27.5 percent of opponents shots that were made on target. Of those, only two found their way into the back of the net. 

She added to her contributions with her first goal of the season -- a second half equalizer at Akron which led to a 2-2 draw with the Zips. Indiana State allowed just 0.67 goals per game over the three-game road stretch -- just the two goals against Akron while holding Illinois-Chicago and Wright State to zero.

The Sycamores have gone undefeated over a three-game road stretch for the first time since 2015 and Indiana State's three road victories are the most in a single season since 2015. ISU has never gone four road matches in a row without a defeat. 

Also honored this week by the MVC were Valparaiso's senior forward Cory Griffith as the Offensive Player of the Week and Missouri State's redshirt freshman forward/midfielder Anna Durnin who was named Newcomer of the Week.

Indiana State concludes its eight-match (nine, including the road exhibition at Purdue) stretch to begin the season on Friday, September 7 at Eastern Illinois. Kickoff is set for 4 pm (ET).