ANNVILLE, Pa. (Conference News) – The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) has announced its conference weekly award recipients for the week ending Oct. 9, 2022. A total of 21 student-athletes were recognized for performances from Oct. 3-9, 2022.
 
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
Shane Artis (DeSales / Sr. / Allentown, Pa.) led DeSales to a second-place finish at its home invitational finishing fifth overall with an 8k time of 26:05.90.
 
MAC Women’s Runner of the Week
Amelia Smith (DeSales / Sr. / Glendora, N.J.) led DeSales to a third-place finish at its home invitational with a fourth-place finish individually posting a 6K time of 23:11.90.
 
 
FIELD HOCKEY (#MACfh)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Laurel Gingrich (Albright / Jr., M / Gilford, N.H.) led the Lions to a 2-0 week with five points on two goals and an assist. Against Lycoming, she scored a goal on one shot. Gingrich then scored a goal and added an assist against Stevenson.
 
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Lilly Rejrat (Widener / Fy., G / Nicholson, Pa.) earns her second conference weekly award of the season. Rejrat prevented 4-of-7 shots from going into the cage in a shootout, including the final attempt, to help Widener win a 4-3 shootout victory over Lebanon Valley following a 1-1 tie in their MAC Commonwealth game on Saturday. Rejrat saved the final shot attempt by Lebanon Valley to give the Pride their third victory over Lebanon Valley in program history.
 
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Tyra Wingle (DeSales / Sr., F / Brachnville, N.J.) led DeSales to a 2-0 week with seven points on three goals and an assist. Wingle scored a goal in a 3-2 overtime win against Stevenson before scoring two goals, including the game-winner, and added an assist in a 4-0 win over King’s.
 
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Sarah Peterson (DeSales / Sr., D / Harpursville, N.Y.) was the leader of a defense that allowed just two goals, a shutout and two wins. The defense allowed just 20 total shots on the week and posted a shutout in the win over King's College on Friday.
 
 
FOOTBALL (#MACfb)
MAC Offensive Player of the Week
Ryon Thomas (FDU-Florham / So., QB / Mattapoisett, Mass.) had a career day in a 30-17 victory over Widener on Saturday. Thomas registered a career-high four touchdown passes, 294 passing yards and added 128 rushing yards to his stat line in the victory. Thomas also punted the ball three times (avg. 36.3 yds per punt) and pinned Widener inside the 20-yard line twice.
 
MAC Defensive Player of the Week
Leroy Marshall (Wilkes / So., DB / Cambria Heights, N.Y.) had a career day in a 35-14 win over Alvernia. Marshall finished the game with eight tackles, two interceptions, and a pass breakup. The sophomore had 29 return yards over two interceptions.
 
MAC Special Teams Player of the Week
Jeremy Bours Jr. (Lebanon Valley / Jr., WR-P / Cleona, Pa.) had a strong special teams’ day for the Dutchmen in a 47-12 win at Misericordia. The junior blocked two punts in the second half. His first blocked punt inside the Misericordia 10-yard line was returned by Logan Grauer for a touchdown to give LVC a 33-6 lead. He then blocked a second punt in the fourth quarter to give the Dutchmen possession at the Misericordia 28. He also had a punt return for eight yards in the game. Bours handled the punting duties for the Dutchmen and had three punts for 129 yards with an average of 43 yards. He had a 67-yard punt that was downed at the Misericordia 13. His punt was three yards shy of the school record for the longest punt.
 
 
MEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Edson DeMata Ribeiro (Stevenson / Jr., F / Baldensburg, Md.) scored three goals in a 6-0 win over Albright in MAC Commonwealth action. He scored three goals on just four shots in the victory.
 
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Dalton Fitterling (Lebanon Valley / Jr., G / Womelsdorf, Pa.) made 16 saves while leading the Dutchmen to a pair of ties against conference opponents this week. He started the week with a career-high 10 saves while facing 27 shots in a 2-2 tie against Alvernia to start the week. One of those saves was a huge stop on a penalty kick in the 62nd minute that would have given the Golden Wolves the lead. The junior then made six saves and faced 12 shots in a 1-1 tie against Widener on Saturday.
 
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Joey Francis (Lycoming / Sr., D / Camp Hill, Pa.) scored a pair of game-winning goals to help Warriors take over first-place alone in the MAC Freedom. Francis scored in the 55th minute in a scrum off corner kick to counter Wilkes, which had tied the game three minutes prior, as Lycoming posted a 2-1 win. He added a goal in the 39th minute to put Warriors up 2-0 against Arcadia on a header off a corner kick in an eventual 2-1 win.
 
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Andrew Daubenspeck (Misericordia / Sr., G / Schwenksville, Pa.) was impressive in a week where several conference goalkeepers had clean sheets. Daubenspeck finished the week with nine saves in a pair of shutouts in a 1-0-1 week. The senior made six saves, including a save on a penalty kick, in a 0-0 draw with Swarthmore. He then made three saves in a 1-0 win over DeSales.
 
 
WOMEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Ava Swartz (Hood / So., F / Laurel, Md.) scored back-to-back goals in a span of two minutes to defeat Eastern, 2-1, in conference play. The goals came in the 77^th and 79^th minutes of play after the Blazers trailed from the start of the second half.
 
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Jacqueline Keogh (York / Sr., G / Toms River, N.J.) earns her second conference weekly award of the season. Keogh had a perfect week for the Spartans as she did not allow a goal in two games. On Tuesday, Keogh shutout Albright on the road as she made two saves in 90 minutes of work. In Sunday's match at Penn State Berks, Keogh played 69:52 of scoreless soccer as she registered five saves against the Lions. For the week, Keogh played 159:52 of scoreless soccer for the Spartans.
 
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Rachel Rouse (Stevens / Gr., M / Greensboro, N.C.) tallied seven points on two goals and three assists to lead the Ducks to a 2-0 week in conference play. Rouse recorded two assists in a win over FDU-Florham. The midfielder then scored two goals and added an assist in a win over Wilkes.
 
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Tara Bender (King’s / Gr., G / Lincoln University, Pa.) made five saves while facing 10 shots to earn a 6-0 shutout win over Delaware Valley.
 
 
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL (#MACvb)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Megan Barthol (Widener / Jr., S / San Antonio, Texas) handed out 115 assists, including the 1,000th assist of her career, while helping Widener go 2-1 against Messiah, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and Stockton. Barthol became the ninth player in program history to dish out 1,000 or more assists in a career after tallying 36 assists in Widener’s four-set win over Messiah. Barthol helped the Pride beat Messiah for the first time since 2008 and improve to 3-2 in MAC Commonwealth play. Then, Barthol capped the week by handing out a career-high 51 assists in the Pride’s four-set win against Merchant Marine. Barthol also had a match-high 28 assists against Stockton.
 
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Kayla Vaeth (Stevenson / Sr., L / Westminster, Md.) repeats as conference defensive player of the week for her fourth of the season. Vaeth added 64 digs this week to average 4.27 digs per set and added a .976 serve receptions average, committing only two errors on 85 attempts. The senior had a week-high 28 digs in a five-set win over Lebanon Valley.
 
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Nicole Fitzpatrick (Wilkes / Jr., MH / New Hampton, N.Y.) had a career-high 25 kills against Lycoming as she helped Wilkes go 2-2 in the week. She earned 56 kills during the week. She earned 14 kills in Wilkes victory over The College of New York. She then earned eight and nine kills against Cabrini and Marywood, respectively. She also added 43 digs as well during the week.
 
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Bailey Axelrad (Stevens / So., L / New Orleans, La.) totaled 95 digs across four matches (5.59 per set) for the Ducks and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Juniata Invitational. Her 35 digs in a five-set win over Messiah were the most by a Duck since 2016. Axelrad also served up three aces and handed out four assists. The sophomore also had 26-, 21- and 13-dig performances.