ANNVILLE, Pa. (Conference News) – The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) has announced its conference weekly award recipients for the week ending Oct. 3, 2021. A total of 20 student-athletes were recognized for performances from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, 2021.
During the fall season golf and tennis weekly awards will be announced on Tuesdays following any competition that occurs during the fall segment of their seasons.
CROSS COUNTRY (#MACxc)
MAC Men’s Runner of the Week
Noah Griffin (Lebanon Valley / Sr. / Finksburg, Md.) paced the Dutchmen at the Paul Short Run on Saturday with a second-place finish out of 218 runners. Griffin crossed the line with a time of 25:52.5 in the 8K race.
MAC Women’s Runner of the Week
Lauren Wick (Lebanon Valley / Sr. / Harrisburg, Pa.) repeats as conference runner of the week for her third of the season. Wick won the Paul Short Run (6K) against a field of 263 runners with a time of 21:47.2.
FIELD HOCKEY (#MACfh)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Erin Callahan (Widener / Sr., M-F / Bridgeton, N.J.) posted 11 points on four goals and three assists to lead the Pride to a 2-0 week. Callahan began the week with one goal and two assists in a 6-0 win over Gwynedd Mercy. The senior then scored three goals and dished an assist in a 12-0 win over Neumann.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Isabel Villegas (Messiah / Sr., D / Mechanicsburg, Pa.) made big defensive contributions in No. 5 Messiah's 5-0 win over Albright on Saturday. The senior recorded a defensive save late in the third quarter while anchoring a defense that allowed just two shots in the game.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Alyssa Appleby (Stevens / Sr., F / Washington, N.J.) netted two goals and added an assist to lead Stevens to a perfect 2-0 week, including a 4-2 win over DeSales in MAC Freedom play. Appleby started the week by scoring the pivotal game-tying goal in the fourth quarter against Cabrini to help the Ducks grab a 3-2 overtime win. She then scored the second goal of the game and assisted on the third that proved to be the game-winner in the victory over DeSales.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Carly Eidle (Wilkes / So., GK. / East Greenville, Pa.) recorded 14 saves over two games and had a .778 save percentage for the Colonels. The sophomore earned the victory with eight saves during a 5-1 conference win over Delaware Valley. Eidle made six saves on 16 shots faced in a setback against Elizabethtown.
MEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Lucas Strange (Lebanon Valley / Jr., F / Blandon, Pa.) earns his second conference weekly award of the season. Strange scored four goals to lead the Dutchmen to a 2-0 week. The junior scored two goals in a 3-0 win over Elizabethtown. He followed that performance with two goals in a 7-1 win over Albright.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Diesel Fiore (Eastern / Fy., GK / Las Vegas, Nev.) made 13 saves and allowed just one goal in 200 minutes of action in a 1-0-1 week. In a 1-1 draw against Catholic, Fiore made five of his six saves in overtime. The first-year goalkeeper then made seven saves in a 1-0 win against Hood.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Daniel Tittelmayer (Arcadia / Sr., M / Delran, N.J.) tallied one goal and two assists while matching a career-high four points in a 5-2 win over Penn State Berks on Thursday. The game marked the senior's second-straight game with an eight-point performance.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Andrew Slusser (Wilkes / So., D / Fleetwood, Pa.) played in all 180 minutes of two shutout victories for the Colonels last week. He anchored a defense that held University of Scranton and FDU-Florham to a combined six shots on goal over two games and led the Colonels to a conference opener victory over the Devils.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Alli House (Hood / Fy., M / Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) led the Blazers to a 4-3 overtime win against Eastern with two goals. It was the first conference win for the Blazers and snapped Eastern’s four-match winning-streak.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Keegan Caffrey (Stevenson / Sr., GK / South Windsor, Conn.) earns her second conference weekly award of the season. Caffrey recorded two shutouts while making eight saves. In a 2-0 win over Immaculata, the senior made three saves on six shots faced. Then in a 0-0 draw against Salisbury, Caffrey made five saves on 23 shots faced.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Emma Sweitzer (Misericordia / So., M / Dallas, Pa.) led the sixth-ranked Cougars with four goals in the first half of an 8-0 win against Delaware Valley in conference action. She scored three goals in less than nine minutes of play, including goals in 14th, 19th, 23rd and 43rd minutes of play.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Erica Blackburn (FDU-Florham / Jr., GK / Marlboro, N.J.) earns her second conference weekly award of the season. Blackburn led the Devils to a 1-0-1 week with a win over crosstown rival Drew and MAC Freedom rival Wilkes. Against Drew, Blackburn made three saves on three shots on goal in a 2-0 win. On Saturday at Wilkes in a 2-2 draw, she played the final 65 minutes of the match which included 20 minutes of overtime and made three saves to help the Devils earn a conference point.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL (#MACvb)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Chayney Barnhart (Messiah / Fy., MH / Thurmont, Md.) helped the Falcons to two 3-0 wins this week. Against Alvernia, she tallied 11 kills with a .526 hitting percentage to push the Falcons over the Golden Wolves. Against Lancaster Bible College, she led the team with 10 kills on route to the 3-0 sweep of the Chargers. She also tacked on two service aces against the Chargers. She finished the week with 21 kills and a .432 hitting percentage.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Sophia Eckerd (Stevenson / Fy., RS / North East, Md.) posted an impressive 21 block assists while adding nine digs in a 3-1 week for the Mustangs. Eckerd recorded six blocks against both Lebanon Valley and Lynchburg, five against Marymount and four against No. 1 Johns Hopkins. Eckerd also recorded 35 kills.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Caroline Garretson (DeSales / Jr., MH / Huntington. N.Y.) earns her second conference weekly award of the season. Garretson helped DeSales post a 2-1 record last week with a team-high 52 kills and hitting .363 for the week. She added four aces. She posted 19 kills and hit .500 in the win over Arcadia and had double-digit kills in all three matches, including 21 against Muhlenberg and 12 against McDaniel.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
McKenzie Brady (DeSales / Jr., L / Falls Church, Va.) earns her second conference weekly award of the season. Brady recorded 71 digs (5.07 dps) in a 2-1 week for the Bulldogs. The junior had a week-high 33 digs in a win over Arcadia, 22 digs against Muhlenberg and 16 digs against McDaniel. Brady also had eight aces for the week.
SWIMMING (#MACswim)
MAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week
Janis Kirsis (Arcadia / Jr. / Spring Valley, N.Y.) led the Knights to a season-opening dual meet win at Hood with three first-place finishes coming in the 100-yard backstroke (54.43 seconds), 200-yard freestyle (1:47.56) and 200-yard freestyle relay (1:31.98).
MAC Women’s Swimmer of the Week
Risa Krauss (Arcadia / So. / West Chester, Pa.) led the Knights to a season-opening dual meet win at Hood with three first-place finishes. Krauss led the 200-yard medley relay team to a win with a time of 1:57.69. She also won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:12.26) and the 200-yard IM (2:25.83).