Nov. 11, 2013

Patriot League Weekly Awards - 11.4-11.10

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- The Patriot League announced its weekly awards for Nov. 4-10 in men's soccer, volleyball and swimming and diving.

Patriot League Men's Soccer Weekly Awards

BRINE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CHRIS THORSHEIM, BUCKNELL So., M, Manalapan, N.J.
Bucknell posted a pair of road victories last week, with Thorsheim picking up both game-winners. After giving the Bison a 1-0 win at Hartwick on Tuesday night in their final non-League regular-season game, he netted the golden goal in the first overtime to lift his team to a 1-0 victory at Boston University on Saturday. That win clinched Bucknell a home quarterfinal game on Tuesday in the Patriot League Tournament. The fourth-seeded Bison will host No. 5 American.

BRINE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JOE MEYER, BUCKNELL Sr., D, Sykesville, Md.
Meyer played all 186 minutes of two road shutout victories last week, the latter of which clinched a home playoff game for the Bison in Tuesday's Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals. After center back Connor Willings left Saturday's game at Boston University in the 67th minute because of a red card, Meyer kept the Bison defense organized through the rest of regulation and into overtime before Thorsheim's goal won it. On Tuesday the Bucknell defense yielded just five shots and two on goal to Hartwick, and then weathered the storm on Saturday against the Terrier team making a push for a tournament berth.

BRINE GOALKEEPER OF THE WEEK
GAVIN SNYDER, NAVY Sr., GK, Severna Park, Md.
Snyder stopped three shots to hold Army at bay during regulation and overtime before Joe Greenspan's golden goal in double overtime sent Navy to a 1-0 victory on Friday at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. Snyder improved to 12-0-0 overall and went a perfect 9-0-0 in League play with a 0.32 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage in those games. He finished League competition with six clean sheets and has seven on the season entering this week's tournament.

BRINE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
RYAN TUCK, LOYOLA MARYLAND Fr., D, Stokesley, England
Tuck helped the Greyhounds post a 1-0 overtime victory over Lafayette in the regular season finale on Saturday night. The rookie came up with a huge defensive play in the 72nd minute when he broke up a breakaway attempt to help preserve a scoreless game. In all, the Greyhounds defense allowed Lafayette just two shots on goal and three corners for the game.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
COLIN SEIGFREID, AMERICAN Sr., F, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Scored what stood as the game-winner in the 21st minute of the Eagles' postseason-clinching 2-1 win at Colgate on Saturday. Assisted on the game's first goal to end up with three points.

LUKE MELODY, HOLY CROSS So., D, Mansfield, Conn.
Scored at 64:30 to lift Holy Cross to a 2-1 win at Lehigh on Saturday. The win gave the Crusaders the third seed in this week's Patriot League Tournament.

LARRY NDJOCK, LOYOLA MARYLAND So., F, Berlin, Germany
Finished his season by scoring his League-leading 12th goal in overtime of Saturday's 1-0 win over visiting Lafayette.

JOSEPH GREENSPAN, NAVY Jr., D, Westfield, N.J.
Netted the game-winner in double overtime to send Navy to a 1-0 victory over rival Army at PPL Park in Chester, Pa., on Friday night. On defense, he helped the Mids shut out their sixth League opponent in finishing off a 9-0-0 mark.

Patriot League Volleyball Weekly Awards

MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DIANE SEELY, COLGATE Jr., MB, Menlo Park, Calif.
Seely had a big performance with a career-high 23 kills and a .383 hitting percentage as Colgate clinched a berth in the Patriot League Tournament with Friday's five-set victory over Navy. The junior middle blocker also helped the Raiders' defensive efforts with five blocks in the match, including one solo. On Saturday Seely did all she could for Colgate with a match-high 16 kills and only two errors on 31 tries (.452) with four more block assists in the Raiders' straight-sets loss to Lehigh. Over eight sets for the week, Seely averaged 4.88 kills and 1.13 blocks while striking .410 over 78 attempts with seven errors.

MOLTEN ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
EMILY POPP, HOLY CROSS Fr., L, Clarkston, Mich.
Popp led the Crusaders' defensive efforts in matches over the weekend against Loyola Maryland and American at home. She eclipsed the double-digit plateau in digs for the 21st and 22nd times this season with a 26-dig effort in Friday's four-set loss to the Greyhounds and 12 more in Saturday's 3-0 defeat against American. Popp's 38 digs over seven sets gave her an average of 5.43 for the week. Her 4.58 digs-per-set average is fourth in the League and tops in single-season annals at Holy Cross.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
JULIE CRUM, AMERICAN Sr., OH, Hacienda Heights, Calif.
Averaged 3.17 kills and 3.00 digs per set while hitting .280 as the Eagles rolled two 3-0 victories at Army and Holy Cross. Had six kills, 12 digs and three aces in Saturday's win that clinched American a Patriot League Tournament berth.

KRISTEN TITLEY, BUCKNELL Sr., OH, Coral Gables, Fla.
Hit .345 during the Bison's 1-1 weekend, with a strong showing of 20 kills and four digs in Saturday's four-set win over Lafayette. Averaged 4.00 kills per set in the two matches.

ANA VRHEL, LEHIGH So., MB, Berwyn, Ill.
Averaged 2.33 kills and 1.17 blocks per set while hitting .357 during a 2-0 weekend. Logged six kills, two digs and four blocks while hitting .308 in the Mountain Hawks' straight-sets win at Colgate on Saturday.

JAC BULLOCK, LOYOLA MARYLAND Sr., MB, Aubrey, Texas
Hit .289 and averaged 3.44 kills as the Greyhounds posted their first weekend sweep in Patriot League play with a four-set win at Holy Cross and a 3-2 victory at Army. She struck 23 kills in the victory over the Crusaders.

Patriot League Swimming and Diving Weekly Awards

MALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
MIKE NICHOLSON, BUCKNELL Sr., Chappaqua, N.Y.
Nicholson clocked season-best times in every individual event as Bucknell rolled to a 3-0 showing at Saturday's quad meet in Lewisburg, Pa. The Bison defeated Navy for the first time in 11 meetings, and added victories over American and Lafayette. Nicholson won the 200 fly in 1:49.23, took the 200 IM in 1:53.54 and touched first in the 200 breast in 2:04.66. His efforts helped the Bison become the first League team to hand the Mids a loss since 1990-91.

FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK
ELLEN BRADFORD, NAVY So., Knoxville, Tenn.
Bradford was the lone Navy swimmer to capture two events on the day as the Mids went 2-1 at a quad meet at Bucknell on Saturday. She swept the breast races, clocking a 1:06.43 to win the 100-yard event and 2:22.35 to take gold in the 200. Bradford added a third-place showing in the 200 IM in 2:09.97, and was part of Navy's victorious 200 medley relay (1:48.72).

MALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
BEN FREEDMAN, NAVY Sr., Kennewick, Wash.
Freedman swept both boards for the first time this season during Saturday's quad meet with a distinct Patriot League flavor at Bucknell. The senior scored 334.80 points to win the three-meter competition, and added a first-place showing with 314.30 points from the one-meter board. Both scores eclipsed the NCAA Zone qualifying plateaus.

FEMALE DIVER OF THE WEEK
KATIE HETHERINGTON, BUCKNELL Jr., Houston, Texas
Hetherington posted season-best showings in sweeping the boards in Bucknell's sweep of Saturday's quad meet in Lewisburg, Pa. Her highest score came in the three-meter competition with 274.75 points, and she won off the one-meter board with 255.15 points. The Bison picked up victories over League foes American, Lafayette and Navy.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
KELLY PONTECORVO, BUCKNELL Sr., New Providence, N.J.
Helped Bucknell hand Navy its first loss to a League team since 2005-06 and pick up two more wins over League rivals American and Lafayette after winning the 500 (5:04.68) and 1,000 free (10:20.71) races at Saturday's quad in Lewisburg, Pa.

RUSLAN KOPUNEK, LOYOLA MARYLAND Jr., Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Went 2-for-2 in individual outings, taking the 50 free in 21.35 and the 100 free in 47.39 in the Greyhounds' 121-79 win over Howard.

TOM DUVALL, NAVY So., Durham, N.H.
Lone Mid to win two events at Saturday's quad meet, taking the 200 free in 1:42.24 and 500 free in 4:36.29. Added a third-place swim in the 100 free (46.56).