ANNVILLE, Pa. (Conference News) – The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) has announced its conference weekly award recipients for the week ending Jan. 22, 2023. A total of 17 student-athletes were recognized for performances from Jan. 16-22, 2023.
MEN'S BASKETBALL (#MAChoops)
MAC Commonwealth Player of the Week
Dominic Dunn (Widener / Gr., F / Haddon Twp, N.J.) earns his second conference weekly award this season. Dunn averaged 21.6 points and eight rebounds in a 2-1 week for the Pride. He started the week with 21 points and four rebounds in a win over Salisbury. Dunn then scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a overtime loss to Albright. He ended his strong week with a 16-point, eight-rebound performance in a win over Messiah.
MAC Freedom Player of the Week
Jalen Watkins (Arcadia / Sr., F / Philadelphia, Pa.) earns his third conference weekly award this season. Watkins tallied 50 points and 27 rebounds on the Knights 2-0 week, earning himself two double-doubles. Watkins had his third 30-point game against Lycoming with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks. He also scored a buzzer beating, game-winning basket to give the Knights the 61-59 conference win. Against Alvernia, Watkins put up 18 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks to lead Arcadia to victory.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (#MAChoops)
MAC Commonwealth Player of the Week
Bradi Zumbrum (York (Pa.) / Sr., F / Hanover, Pa.) earns her second conference weekly award this season. Zumbrum led the Spartans to a pair of MAC Commonwealth wins for the week. Zumbrum began the week with 25 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and a career-high seven steals in the 60-52 road win a Hood on Wednesday night. Zumbrum was 8-for-13 from the floor and 9-for-11 from the field. She followed that with another great performance as she recorded her fifth straight double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds in her 33 minutes of play. Zumbrum was a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the stripe. For the week, Zumbrum averaged 21.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. She shot 76.2% (16-for-21) from the floor while she was 11-for-13 (84.6%) from the free throw line. Zumbrum also had eight steals, three assists and a blocked shot in her 73 minutes of play in the two wins.
MAC Freedom Player of the Week
Alyssa Bondi (Misericordia / Sr., G / East Brunswick, N.J.) averaged 15 points and 4.5 rebounds in a 2-0 week for Misericordia. Bondi scored a season-high 26 points in a win over No. 17 Stevens, including scoring 10 of the teams 13 points in the third quarter to overcome a six-point halftime deficit.
MEN'S ICE HOCKEY (#MAChky)
MAC Offensive Player of the Week
Liam McCanney (Stevenson / So., F / Aldan, Pa.) led the team with three goals, each unassisted and one on the power play. He added two assists while taking 15 shots as the Mustangs went 0-1-1 with Chatham.
MAC Defensive Player of the Week
Fletcher Bolda (Arcadia / Sr., GK / Alpena, Mich.) picked up two wins as Arcadia swept Alvernia, making 97 saves with a .933 save percentage. The senior goaltender made 35 saves in the Knights 5-4 win on Friday night. He started once again on Saturday and made a career-high 62 saves in Arcadia's 4-3 victory.
WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY (#MAChky)
MAC Offensive Player of the Week
Morganne Dee (Arcadia / So., F / Lancaster, N.Y.) had five total points on three goals and two assists in the Knights' weekend sweep of Neumann. On Friday night, the sophomore forward recorded her first career hat trick. She also tallied two assists for a five point night. Across the two games, Dee recorded 10 shots.
MAC Defensive Player of the Week
Julia Beaven (Alvernia / Sr., GK / Seaforth, Ontario) earns her third conference weekly award of the season. Beaven picked up two wins in net for Alvernia in a weekend sweep of Wilkes. Beaven recorded 23 saves in a 3-0 shutout over the Colonels on Friday. She then picked up the 5-1 win on Saturday with 28 saves.
MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD (#MACtf)
MAC Men’s Track Athlete of the Week
Samuel Knowles (Widener / So. / Ephrata, Pa.) ran his first indoor meet of the season and finished with a 49.65 in the 400 meter dash. His time earned him an AARTFC and MAC qualification. His time currently ranks him first in the MAC by almost two seconds.
MAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Alden Littlefield (Widener / Gr. / Millstone, N.J.) competed at Moravian's Indoor Meet on Saturday and bettered his mark in the shot put. His longest mark from Saturday was set at 15.69 meters which earned him an AARTFC and MAC qualification as well as first ranked in the MAC.
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD (#MACtf)
MAC Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Isabelle Pardew, (Stevenson / Gr. / Towson, Md.) who was the lone runner in the 5000, clocked a personal-best time of 18:07.79 at the Cardinal Track & Field Classic. Pardew's time is currently the fastest in the Middle Atlantic Conference and fifth-best in the Mid-Atlantic region.
MAC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Julia Pena (York / Sr. / Highland Mills, N.Y.) earns her third conference weekly award of the season. Pena led the way for the women with a pair of top-five performances in the pole vault and 60m hurdles. Pena placed first in the pole vault among a field of multi-divisional competitors with a height of 3.64m. She also captured third in the 60 hurdles at a pace of 9.21 seconds.
SWIMMING (#MACswim)
MAC Men's Swimmer of the Week
Jonus Gurski (Misericordia / Sr. / Woodbridge, N.J.) set two pool records in a 143-48 win over King’s. Set pool record (52.68) to win the 100 back and added a win in the 100 breaststroke (59.01). Was part of a pool record to win the 400 medley relay (3:33.68). Both times are best in the MAC this week and third-best this season.
MAC Women's Swimmer of the Week
Mikayla Scardino (Arcadia / Fr. / Souderton, Pa.) earns her second conference weekly award this season. Scardino earned 3 individual wins and 2 relay wins contributing to 61 of the Knights' points on their 2-0 week. Against FDU-FLorham, Scardino led off the first place finishing 800-yd medley relay which broke the 2021 Lenox Pool record by almost 10 seconds with a time of 8:23.72. She also anchored the 200-yd medley relay which took first, and won both of her individual events, the 100-yd backstroke (1:02.22) and the 100-yd freestyle (55.87). In Arcadia's comeback to beat Widener University by 2 points, Scardino touched the wall first in the 100-yd freestyle (55.87) and finished second in the 200-yd freestyle (2:02.13 ). Arcadia needed to finish first and second in the 200-yd freestyle relay to comeback to beat Widener and Scardino led off the second place finishing squad to secure the win for the Knights.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL (#MACvb)
MAC Men’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week
Anthony DePalma (Misericordia / Jr. / Wayne, N.J.) was named to all-tournament team at SUNY-Poly Invitational while hitting .294 with 3.9 kills per set in a 1-4 week with double digit kills in all five matches. Had 18 kills in a 3-2 win at Drew. Followed it up with 17, 15, 16, 15 kills in four matches at SUNY-Poly.
MAC Men’s Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week
Elliot De La Torre (Stevenson / Sr. / Lancaster, Pa.) showed his senior leadership in a week where the Mustangs went 2-2 against strong opponents. The senior tallied tallied 14 total blocks, including five block assists against PSU-Behrend and seven against Marian (WI) and averaged 1.0 blocks per set. He also recorded 31 kills and three digs.
WRESTLING (#MACwrestle)
MAC Wrestler of the Week
Kyle Slendorn (Stevens / Sr. / Ramtown, N.J.) earns his second conference weekly award of the season. Slendorn posted four bonus-point victories on his way to winning the 141-pound title at the MAC Championships. Slendorn had three straight pins to begin the tournament and then he captured his third MAC title with a 16-6 major over Alvernia's Avery Leonard in the championship bout.