Nov. 12, 2012

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — The Patriot League announced its weekly awards for Nov. 5-11 in volleyball and swimming and diving.

The field of four is set for the Patriot League Volleyball Tournament, which takes place Saturday and Sunday at Colgate. The Raiders welcome defending champion American, Army and Lehigh to Hamilton, N.Y. Colgate is hosting the field for the first time since 1996, while the Eagles are the League’s hottest team entering the playoff. Lehigh was the last team in thanks to Friday’s win over Holy Cross.

The swimming and diving schedule returned to some semblance of normalcy nearly two weeks after Hurricane Sandy came ashore. Colgate was one of the League’s busiest teams last week with meets on Friday and Saturday, while Bucknell swept fellow League competitor Lafayette. Army earned a split with Buffalo and captured a pair of weekly awards.

Patriot League Volleyball Weekly Awards

MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
KRISTYNA LINDOVSKA, AMERICAN So., RSH, Ostrava, Czech Republic
Lindovska led American in kills in back-to-back matches and hit an incredible .510 for the week as American wrapped the No. 2 seed in this weekend’s Patriot League Tournament with wins over Colgate and Bucknell. Against the first-place Raiders Friday, Lindovska had 15 kills on 27 swings with one error (.519) with three digs and a team-high seven block assists in the four-set victory. She added nine kills on 16 attempts with one miscue (.500) with three more digs and three aces a sweep of Bucknell in the regular season finale. Lindovska averaged 3.43 kills per set and hit .510 for the week.

MOLTEN ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
ALEX KARIKA, NAVY Fr., S, Cranberry Township, Pa.
The setting duties for Navy are in good hands in the next few seasons after Karika picked up another Rookie of the Week nod. She tallied 96 dishes over nine sets to average 10.67 as the Mids finished the regular season with a split at home against Bucknell and Colgate. The rookie out of Cranberry Township, Pa. also logged 10 digs across the two matches with five total blocks. She had 56 assists in Friday’s five-set win over the Bison and added 40 more in Saturday’s four-set lost to the Raiders. Karika also pitched in seven kills and hit .357 over the weekend.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
ARIANA MANKUS, ARMY Sr., OH, Lisle, Ill.
Mankus averaged 4.62 kills and 2.88 digs per set while hitting .289 as Army finished the regular season with 3-1 victories over Lafayette and Lehigh over the weekend.

MEGAN LYNCH, HOLY CROSS Sr., OH, Mendham, N.J.
Lynch scored 27 kills over the weekend to give her a school-record 1,486 for her career. That tally also places her in the Patriot League’s all-time top 10.

RACHEL CHARLES, LEHIGH Jr., L, Farmington Hills, Mich.
Charles recorded 52 digs in six sets to average 8.67 per frame as Lehigh split with Holy Cross and Army in the final regular season weekend.

ANA VRHEL, LEHIGH Fr., MB, Berwyn, Ill.
Vrhel hit .205 and averaged 2.33 kills and 2.16 blocks per set over the weekend.

ERIN FORTNER, NAVY Jr., RSH, Villa Hills, Ky.
Fortner was everywhere for Navy, averaging 4.33 kills and 1.78 digs per set while hitting .266 as the  Mids won in five Friday over Bucknell and fell in four Saturday to Colgate. She accounted for nearly 46 percent of her team’s kills against the Raiders.

Patriot League Swimming and Diving Weekly Awards

MALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
AYMAN ANDREWS, ARMY Sr., Sussex, N.J.
Andrews posted two first place finishes as the Black Knights posted a XXX-XXX victory over Buffalo Saturday at West Point. The senior from Sussex, N.J. hit the wall first in the 100 fly in 49.02 and took first in the 200 fly with a time of 1:51.16. His third swim of the meet was part of the Black Knights’ 400-yard medley relay that finished second.

FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
COURTNEY PATTERSON, LEHIGH Fr., Cherry Hill, N.J.
Patterson led Lehigh in four different events, including picking up the victory for the Mountain Hawks in the 200 free on the second day of the Big Al Open hosted by Princeton. It was her best event of the weekend, where she finished with a 1:51.92. She added a pair of top-three individual finishes, taking runner-up in the 1,650 free (17:34.38) and third in the 200 IM (2:06.46). Patterson also swam the leadoff leg of Lehigh’s 800 free relay on Saturday.

MALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
CHRIS NGUYEN, ARMY Sr., Cheshire, Conn.
Nguyen dominated the boards in Army’s weekend victory over Buffalo. The senior scored 355.95 points from the three-meter board to take first by more than 65 points and eclipse the NCAA standard by over 30. Nguyen was also victorious in the one-meter competition with a winning score of 314.32, surpassing the NCAA standard again and clearing the field by over 30 points.

FEMALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
KIM PILKA, COLGATE Sr., Great Falls, Va.
Pilka grabs her second straight Female Diver of the Week nod after capturing three first-place finishes and one runner-up showing in four outings over the weekend. She scored 259.55 points to take first from the one-meter while adding a second-place effort with 262.90 points in Friday’s dual meet against Buffalo. On day two of the Raiders’ busy weekend, Pilka swept the two boards as Colgate posted two wins over Niagara and Siena. She scored 267.68 points from the one-meter board, and added a winning score of 267.38 in the three-meter competition.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
NAT BEALE, ARMY Fr., Baltimore, Md.
Beale swept the 100 and 200 back events in 58.62 and 2:07.69, respectively, while taking second in the 200 IM (2:09.42) to pace Army in its loss to Buffalo.

KATIE HETHERINGTON, BUCKNELL So., Houston, Texas
Hetherington swept the boards in Bucknell’s win over League rival Lafayette Saturday, scoring 248.25 points from the one-meter and 234.23 in the three-meter competition.

MIKE NICHOLSON, BUCKNELL Jr., Chappaqua, N.Y.
Nicholson accounted for three individual wins in the Bison’s 186-112 win over Lafayette. He won the 1,000 free, 100 breast and 200 back races.

EMMA SANTORO, COLGATE Sr., Fall River, Mass.
Santoro took first in the 400 IM (4:29.82) and 200 breast (2:21.87) against Buffalo and in the 200 free (1:55.88) in the tri-meet against Niagara and Siena over the weekend.

DEMETRI KAREDIS, LEHIGH Jr., Orefield, Pa.
Karedis defended his title in the 50 free at the Big Al Open at Princeton, winning in 20.94.