Nov. 8, 2010
Center Valley, Pa. -- The Patriot League announced its weekly awards for Nov. 1-7 in men's soccer, volleyball and swimming and diving Monday.
With the fall sports season winding down, the final two fall Patriot League tournaments began to take shape. In men's soccer, Colgate clinched the No. 1 seed and will host the 2010 Patriot League Men's Soccer Tournament Nov. 12-14 at its own Van Doren Field. American volleyball, which remained undefeated in League play, took down Army to clinch the No. 1 seed with one more weekend of regular-season matches set for this weekend.
Steven Miller and Chris Miller led the Colgate men's soccer team over the weekend, helping clinch the regular-season title. Steven Miller was named the Offensive Player of the Week and Chris Miller was named the Goalkeeper of the Week. Bucknell, which won an overtime game over Lehigh to earn the fourth seed in the playoffs, landed weekly honors for Andrew Powell and Mayowa Alli. Powell was named the Defensive Player of the Week and Alli, who scored the overtime game-winner, was named the Rookie of the Week.
American volleyball swept the weekly awards with Magdalena Tekiel being named the Player of the Week and Juliana Crum earning Rookie of the Week honors.
In swimming and diving, Navy won three of four awards. Zach Ingold was named the Male Swimmer of the Week and Olaf Olson was named the Male Diver of the Week. Laura Gorinski was selected as the Female Swimmer of the Week. Colgate diver Kim Pilka was named the Female Diver of the Week.
Patriot League Men's Soccer Weekly Awards
BRINE Offensive Player of the Week
STEVEN MILLER, COLGATE Jr., F, Ivyland, Pa.
Miller tallied the only goal of the game as Colgate defeated American 1-0 Saturday in Hamilton. The victory clinched the regular season title for the Raiders along with the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League tournament, which starts Friday at Van Doren Field. Miller has five goals and 12 points this season, both team bests.
BRINE Defensive Player of the Week
ANDREW POWELL, BUCKNELL Jr., D, Charlton, Mass.
Powell played well defensively over the week but chipped in offensively as well for the tournament-bound Bison. He tallied a goal against Binghamton Tuesday and assisted on CK Kumah's game-tying goal Saturday against Lehigh. Defensively, Bucknell held the Mountain Hawks to seven total shots and Lehigh's lone goal came on a penalty kick. The Bison eventually defeated Lehigh 2-1 in overtime to secure the No. 4 seed in the Patriot League tournament.
BRINE Goalkeeper of the Week
CHRIS MILLER, COLGATE Jr., GK, Dallas, Texas
Miller tallied two saves in Saturday's 1-0 shutout of American to clinch the regular season title and the top seed in the upcoming Patriot League tournament. Miller upped his record to 7-5-4 on the season and has posted eight of the team's 9 clean sheets. He lowered his goals-against average to 0.94, which is second amongst League keepers.
BRINE Rookie of the Week
MAYOWA ALLI, BUCKNELL Fr., D, Lanham, Md.
A freshman defender, Alli gets lauded for his offensive work this week. He tallied the game-winning and tournament-clinching goal for the Bison in their 2-1 victory Saturday at Lehigh. Alli's golden goal came 3:10 into overtime, eliminating Lafayette from playoff contention and assuring the Bison a chance to defend their championship.
Honorable Mentions
SEAN PECKHAM, LAFAYETTE So., M, Warminster, Pa.
Peckham tallied the eventual game-winning goal on a penalty kick in Lafayette's 1-0 win at Navy Saturday to briefly put the Leopards into the No. 4 spot in the Patriot League tournament. Lafayette was eliminated when Bucknell upended Lehigh 2-1 in overtime.
WADE MARTIN, COLGATE So., D, St. Louis, Mo.
Martin spearheaded Colgate's defense that allowed nine total shots and only two on goal in the Raiders' 1-0 win over American Saturday. The win clinched Colgate the top seed and hosting duties for the League tournament.
Patriot League Volleyball Weekly Awards
Player of the Week
MAGDALENA TEKIEL, AMERICAN Sr., OH, Warsaw, Poland
Tekiel averaged 4.5 kills per set and hit .357 as the Eagles defeated Holy Cross Friday and defending champion Army Saturday to clinch the top seed in the Patriot League tournament, which takes place Nov. 20-21. She also averaged 2.25 digs and tallied seven block assists, with six coming against the Crusaders. It's her fifth Player of the Week nod, which ties the League record set by American's Rubena Sukaj in 2007.
Rookie of the Week
JULIANA CRUM, AMERICAN Fr., OH, Hacienda Heights, Calif.
Crum tallied 15 total kills (2.14 kills per set) and hit .229 for the weekend as the Eagles clinched the regular season title and hosting duties for the Patriot League tournament. She hit .455 Friday night in the 3-0 win at Holy Cross and tallied a season-best 15 digs in Saturday's five-set victory at defending champion Army.
Honorable Mentions
MARGAUX JARKA, ARMY Fr., RSH/OH, Rolling Prairie, Ind.
Jarka averaged 2.44 kills per set and hit .268 in Army's 1-1 weekend. She also tallied six total digs and three block assists for the Black Knights.
MEGAN LYNCH, HOLY CROSS So., OH, Mendham, N.J.
Lynch posted her 19th double-double of the year and 26th of her career Saturday in the Crusaders' five-set win over Navy. She now has 421 kills on the year, which is a single-season record at Holy Cross.
CASEY RITT, COLGATE Sr., MB, Kaneohe, Hawaii
Ritt averaged 3.00 kills per set and hit .484 as the Raiders posted back-to-back 3-0 sweeps of Lafayette and Lehigh to clinch a spot in the Patriot League tournament. Ritt tallied 18 kills on 31 attempts with only three errors on the weekend.
FABIOLA CASTRO, ARMY Jr., OH, Salinas, Calif.
Castro averaged 3.50 kills and 3.12 digs per set and hit .296 on the week for the Black Knights. Her 20 kills against American Saturday matched her career best, which previously came last season also against the Eagles.
Patriot League Swimming and Diving Weekly Awards
Male Swimmer of the Week
ZACH INGOLD, NAVY Fr., Hornell, N.Y.
Ingold posted two first-place finishes as the Mids posted victories over League opponents American, Bucknell and Lafayette in a quad meet in Lewisburg Saturday afternoon. He clocked in at 21.11 in the 50-yard freestyle and won the 100 free in 45.95. His time in the 50 free was under a second shy of the NCAA B-cut time, while he was off the standard in the 100 free by 1.58 seconds.
Female Swimmer of the Week
LAURA GORINSKI, NAVY So., Greensburg, Pa.
Gorinski captured the 200 breast at the Bucknell quad meet, winning in 216.88 and barely missing the NCAA B-cut standard by 0.68 seconds to finish nearly seven seconds ahead of second place. Gorinski also took third in the 200 free with a clocking of 1:55.86, 0.24 ticks behind the winner.
Male Diver of the Week
OLAF OLSON, NAVY Sr., Bainbridge, Wash.
Olson extends his streak to four consecutive weekly awards after winning the 3-meter diving event at the Bucknell quad meet with a 393.30 and coming in second to teammate Hayden Jones in the 1-meter. Olson was 29.80 points behind Jones as the two picked up crucial points for Navy as it went 3-0 at the meet against League teams.
Female Diver of the Week
KIM PILKA, COLGATE So., Great Falls, Va.
Pilka swept the 1- and 3-meter diving events Saturday as the Raiders defeated Boston College and collected another win from the 1-meter board Sunday against Boston University. She won both events against the Eagles by over 40 points, while her victory against the Terriers came by a 16.8-point margin. Pilka was also the runner-up in the 3-meter event against Boston University with 274.58 points, just under 5.5 behind the winner.
Honorable Mentions
CAREN GUYETT, COLGATE Sr., Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
Guyett posted four first-place times over the weekend, winning races in the 200 IM and 50, 500 and 1000 free. She helped the Raiders defeat Boston College 209-89 on Saturday with three of her individual wins on the weekend.
LEAH GOLDBERG, LAFAYETTE Sr., Hillsborough, N.J.
Goldberg set career-bests in the 1- and 3-meter diving events at the Bucknell quad meet, including winning the latter event with 233.10 points.
TUCKER GNIEWEK, COLGATE Sr., Mountain Lakes, N.J.
Gniewek won three individual races during the Raiders' 1-1 weekend and improved his time in the 50 free by 0.14 seconds from Saturday to Sunday.
ALYSSA TRAN, ARMY So., Yorba Linda, Calif.
Tran captured wins in the 100 fly, 100 breast and 50 free in Army's meet at Connecticut.
FRANK CUZZOLA, LEHIGH So., Bound Brook, N.J.
Cuzzola won the 50 and 100 freestyle events and finished second in the 200 free as Lehigh defeated Rider by 49 points Saturday.
EMILY WRIGHT, BUCKNELL Fr., Wayland, Mass.
Wright took first in the 50 free at the Bucknell quad meet, finishing 0.9 seconds off the NCAA B-cut standard.