SAGU inks scoring threat

Lady Lions address offensive needs

South Grand Prairie's Audrea Davila commits

WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- Building a soccer team begins with defenders and playmaking midfielders. But without offensive threats, a team will lack the scoring punch needed to register wins during close matches.

The Southwestern Assemblies of God University women’s soccer program, preparing for just their seventh season, added a potential frontline player when they signed Audrea Davila. She will graduate from South Grand Prairie High School on June 9.

At 5-foot-5 and 120 pounds, Davila is agile, athletic and quick. While wearing the Warriors’ red and gold for head coach Mark Bolton, she played on defense, as a midfielder as well as at forward. During her senior season at the Class 5A team she scored six goals and racked up five assists.

While at South Grand Prairie, a city of 175,000 in the Mid-Cities between Dallas and Ft. Worth (east of Arlington), Davila made the A/B Honor Roll during her sophomore, junior and senior years.

“I am extremely excited to have Audrea join this program,” said SAGU's second year Head Coach Mandy Fortner. “She has experience playing every position on the field.”

Fortner, a two-time All-American in college as a prolific scorer, knows a thing or two about that needed skill set. She said that Davila “… is quick, technical and has an incredible shot. Audrea has great vision of the field and the developing play.”

“I am hopeful that she will be a strong attacking player for us this fall,” Fortner added. “She has a strong faith and comes from a great Christian background. She should excel athletically and academically at SAGU.”

Davila played Select Club soccer for eight years, the past three with the Dallas Texans 94G Red South team where Gabriel Adames serves as the coach.

Her parents are Cesar and Debora Oviedo and Tony Davila.

About SAGU Soccer

The SAGU Lady Lions are dual Division I members in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Christian College Athletic Association. There are 200 women’s soccer teams in the NAIA. The NCCAA has 106 member schools.

The team competes in the Red River Athletic Conference, which has 15 institutions from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana. Eleven will field women's teams this autumn.

The University of Texas at Brownsville, with over 17,000 students enrolled, are the defending champions. Ranked in the NAIA's Top 20, the Scorpions posted a 17-3-1 mark in 2011.

Southwestern plays all home matches on campus. A year ago they hosted a 12-team college tournament on their two natural playing surfaces adjacent to the Sheaffer Center. 

Beginning this fall, SAGU will broadcast two home games on the internet in HD. No other school in the NAIA livestreams their games in high definition.

Fans can also enjoy free access to all home matches on-line via LiveStats, a digital play-by-play technology.

The Lady Lions report to camp in early August and play their first game on August 24 in Oklahoma City. Their 18-game schedule is available at www.sagu.edu/athletics.

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, SAGU Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.