NEWTOWN, Pa. (Conference News) – The Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) has announced its conference weekly award recipients for the week ending September 24, 2023. A total of 21 student-athletes were recognized for performances from Sept. 18, 2023 to Sept. 24, 2023.
CROSS COUNTRY (#MACxc)
MAC Men’s Runner of the Week
Louka Fetter (Messiah / So. / Chesapeake, Va.) ran a personal best and one of the fastest times ever at Messiah with a time of 24:38.7 to finish 15th overall in the Lock Haven Invitational Crimson Race. The Crimson Race featured the top eight runners from each team and the race featured many Division I and Division II programs. Fetter kept an even pace throughout the entire race, starting out well back in the field before gradually moving up past other competitors. Fetter's final mile of 4:46 was his fastest, moving him up from 23rd to 15th place.
MAC Women’s Runner of the Week
Lauren Bunke (Lebanon Valley / Gr. / Bethlehem, Pa.) ran a career-best 6,000-meter time of 21:34.3 to lead the Dutchmen at the Lock Haven Invitational on Saturday in rainy conditions. Her time was over a minute faster than her previous best time of 22:49.8. The graduate student finished 14th overall out of 286 runners in the Crimson Race. She was the third Division III runner to cross the line in a field that included Division I and II runners. Bunke led the Dutchmen to a 16th-place finish as a team where they were sixth among Division III. LVC defeated three of the six regionally ranked teams in the field on the course that will host the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships in November.
FIELD HOCKEY (#MACfh)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Nicole Shank (Messiah / Gr., Def. / Palmyra, Pa.) had a great offensive performance in Messiah's 3-2 win over William Smith on Saturday. The fifth year defender led the Falcons offense with the opening goal and the game-winner in the first-half to push the Falcons past the Herons. Shank also was part of the Falcons defense that shut down the Herons offense in the fourth quarter to prevent any shots and hold off any late comeback attempt.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Madeline Moreno (Hood / Fr., Def. / Mansfield, N.J.) had three defensive saves in a win at McDaniel (9/20) 1-0 in overtime. She led a backline that held Ferrum without a shot in a 4-0 win (9/23) that extended the Blazers' win streak to a program best six matches.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Sorrell Long (Lebanon Valley / Sr., M / Doylestown, Pa.) gave the Dutchmen a thrilling 2-1 double overtime victory at Montclair State on Friday evening in the team's only game of the week with a penalty stroke goal in the 72nd minute. The senior captain scored her first goal of the year on her only shot of the game. Her goal ended what had been a defensive battle since the 17th minute as she calmly sent her stroke attempt into the back of the cage just over a minute into the second overtime period.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Lauren Jancsarics (Lebanon Valley / So., GK / Bethlehem, Pa.) made a career-high 10 saves as LVC earned a huge 2-1 double overtime victory at Montclair State on Friday evening. The only goal the sophomore allowed in the game came directly off a save on a rebound shot during a penalty corner early in the second quarter. Jancsarics made one save in the first, three saves in both the second and third periods, one in the fourth, and then two big saves in the first overtime period.
FOOTBALL (#MACfb)
MAC Offensive Player of the Week
Kwanir Edwards (Fairleigh Dickinson / So., RB / Trenton, N.J.) posted a season-high 176 rushing yards on 24 carries during a 14-6 win at Albright. He averaged 7.3 yards per carry and included a 47-yard touchdown run to his total on the day.
MAC Defensive Player of the Week
Lamontae Wilson (Misericordia / So., DB / Chesapeake, Va.) had a school-record three interceptions, including a 45-yard pick six, in a 35-15 win over Alvernia. Had his first interception on the first play from scrimmage and returned it to 28 yards to the five-yard line to set up the team's first touchdown. He returned his second interception 45 yards for a touchdown and a 21-3 lead late in the second quarter. His third interception was in the end zone late in the fourth quarter to clinch the win.
MAC Special Teams Player of the Week
Tim Kissinger (Lebanon Valley / Jr., K / Mechanicsburg, Pa.) had a fantastic day kicking the ball during a rainy and windy 45-7 victory over Eastern on Saturday. The junior was a perfect 6-6 on extra points and kicked a 33-yard field goal on the first drive of the game. Kissinger was equally impressive on kickoffs averaging 46.9 yards on seven kickoff attempts.
MEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Sean Fatiga (Widener / Sr., F / Swedesboro, N.J.) had two big scoring games for the Pride. In a weeknight game at Moravian, Fatiga found the back of the net twice in a 3-1 win. During the Moravian game he took four shots and helped lead the Pride offense to 6-0. A rainy Saturday afternoon game against Misericordia led to the Pride going 7-0 on the season. During the 90 minutes, Fatiga earned a hat trick on his four shots which would be his season high.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Chris Denholm (Albright / Jr., GK / Perry Hall, Md.) helped Albright to a 2-0-1 week recording two clean sheets making 12 total saves. Denholm made 12 saves in Albright's three games. He made seven saves against Immaculata to preserve the 0-0 draw. Denholm recorded back to back clean sheets against Immaculata and Penn State Brandywine for his first two clean sheets of the season.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Larry Agyei (DeSales / Sr., F / Gaithersburg, Md.) helped DeSales post a 4-0 win in its lone game of the week over Keystone College scoring two goals in the win.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Eric Siciliano (King’s / Sr., GK / Matawan, N.J.) posted a 1-1 record on the week with a 2-1 win over Keystone College and a 1-0 loss to a talented Ursinus College that was 3-1 entering the game. In goal, Siciliano posted 12 saves on the week for a .857 save percentage with a career-high six saves in both games.
WOMEN’S SOCCER (#MACsoc)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Alyssa Carman (Widener / Jr., F / Swedesboro, N.J.) broke the Pride season scoring drought with a goal against Cabrini under the lights at Hirschmann Field. A goal in the 11th minute to help the Pride take a 2-0 win. Carman had four shots with two on net. A scoreless game on Saturday led to a late go ahead goal from Carman after having six shots and five on net. With her 81st minute goal against Arcadia, Carman and the Pride had a 1-0 win to end the week 2-0.
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Teresa Gonzalez (York / Jr., GK / Orefield, Pa.) had seven saves during the week and only gave up one goal in two contests.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Jess Williamson (Delaware Valley / Jr., F / Lititz, Pa.) scored four goals and notched four assists for eight points. Seven of the eight tallies came in an 8-1 win over Rosemont College, where she scored four goals, three assists, and recorded six shots.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Aspen Wallin (King’s / Sr., GK / Providence, Utah) has not surrendered a goal in her last two starts for King's College, leading the Monarchs to a 2-0 week with three saves, a 0.00 goals against average, and a 1.000 saves percentage.. The senior posted her second and third clean sheets of the year this past week in a 4-0 win over Morrisville State and a 1-0 victory over
Albright College where she also recorded three saves.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL (#MACvb)
MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week
Rachel Sipling (Alvernia / Sr., OH / Lancaster, Pa.) finished a 2-0 week for Alvernia with 31 kills on 83 attacks and averaged just over five kills a set for the Golden Wolves. She also finished the week with three blocks, five aces, and 22 digs. Her efforts helped lead Alvernia, who is 6-3 on the season, to its sixth straight set win so far this year. In a 3-0 win at Hood on Wednesday, Sipling had 13 kills on 43 attacks with two aces, six digs, and three blocks. She continued to roll on Friday at Goucher with 18 kills on 40 attacks with three aces and 16 digs
MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week
Bridgette Kelly (Eastern / Jr., MH / Coatesville, Pa.) had 12 total blocks in seven sets as the Eagles rolled to three three-set wins on the week. Kelly had four blocks and generally made things very difficult for the Spartan hitters in Eastern's midweek win over MAC Commonwealth foe York. She matched those numbers while playing three sets in a a dominating win over
Haverford. The Fords hit -.099 in the match. Kelly had four more blocks in the first 23 points of Eastern's three-set win over PSU-Berks on Saturday.
MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Week
Taylor McInerney (Lebanon Valley / Sr., OH / Annville, Pa.) led the Dutchmen to a 3-0 week including a big 3-1 conference victory over Arcadia with 63 kills, a .239 hitting percentage, 13 digs, and five total blocks. The senior started off the week with a match-high 17 kills, eight digs, and two total blocks to lead the Dutchmen to a big 3-1 victory over Arcadia in the
program's first-ever MAC Freedom contest. The Dutchmen cruised in the first two sets against the 2022 conference runners-up by scores of 25-12 and 25-13 before Arcadia won set three 25-20 and LVC was down 23-21 in the fourth set before scoring the final four points of the match. McInerney had 26 kills and two blocks with four digs in a 3-1 victory over Lancaster Bible and 20 kills, a dig, and one block in a 3-0 victory over Hood on Saturday.
MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week
Emma Notarfrancesco (DeSales / Sr., L / Mechanicsburg, Pa.) had a terrific week on defense averaging 5.28 digs per set across five matches. She led the Bulldogs to a 4-1 record including a win over King's College in the MAC Freedom opener and a 3-1 record and third place finish in the 8-team Worthington Classic at Gallaudet University over the weekend. She had 20+ digs in three of the five matches and added six service aces in the five matches.