Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on Sept. 3, 2019 for games played from Aug. 29-Sept. 2. It is the first Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2019-20 season.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Andrew Ford., St. John Fisher, So., Clinton, NY/Clinton
Ford had the top finish for the St. John Fisher College men's cross country team on Friday as Fisher hosted the first annual Terry Rodenbeck Invitational. Ford finished in eighth place overall after completing the 6,000-meter course in 20:36.1. Ford had a mile pace of 5:32 and was just 40 seconds off the winning time.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Kerry Flower, Sage, So., Schenectady, NY/Schalmont
Flower opened the 2019 season exactly where she led off as a rookie to lead the team once again. Competing at the Vassar Invitational on Friday, she had a time of 11:37.1 with a mile rate of 6:13.9 to finish third overall out of 40 runners and lead Sage to a third-place finish in a field of five teams.
FIELD HOCKEY
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jennifer Hilts, Nazareth, Sr., Eaton, NY/Morrisville-Eaton
Hilts helped the Golden Flyers open the 2019 season with a weekend split of non-conference home games. She tallied a career-high eight points, recording her first collegiate hat-trick, while adding two assists last Friday as Nazareth rolled to a 12-0 win over Morrisville. Hilts ranks among the Golden Flyers' all-time scoring leaders with 67 career points, including 26 goals.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Tina O’Donnell, Elmira, Sr., GK, Kutztown, PA/Kutztown
O’Donnell was brilliant in goal, leading Elmira to a 2-1 victory at King's College (PA) in the 2019 season opener on Friday. Although Elmira was outshot 31-5, O'Donnell came up with 16 saves and limited the Monarchs to a single goal. It marks her 15th career game with double-digit saves, after ranking in the top-5 in Division III in saves per game as a junior.
MEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jake VanHouse, Elmira, Fr., Ogdensburg, NY/Ogdensburg Free Academy
VanHouse paced Elmira with a nine-over 79 at the season-opening Pitt-Bradford Invitational at the Pennhills Club over the weekend, which tied for 18th on the leaderboard. His score is the lowest by a freshman in his first-ever collegiate round since Brandon Payne '17 carded a 77 (+6) in his first round of action at the fall portion of the 2013-14 Empire 8 Conference Championships.
MEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Tucker Marvin, Utica, Sr., M, Clifton Park, NY/Shenedehowa
Marvin led the Pioneers to consecutive 3-2 wins over SUNY Poly and SUNY Delhi. On Friday, Marvin scored the game-winning goal that helped Utica repel a comeback attempt in a win over SUNY Poly. He followed that performance by bouncing home the team's second goal in a win over Delhi on Sunday. Marvin totaled three shots and converted both times he hit the frame of the goal.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Caleb Loew, Houghton, Jr., GK, Center Valley, PA/Faith Christian Academy
Loew stopped 11 of 12 shots (.917 save percentage) in a 1-0-1 weekend for the Highlanders. On Friday, he opened the season by making eight saves, including a big stop in the second overtime to preserve a scoreless draw at Grove City College. On Saturday, Loew made three saves, including two in the second half in a 2-1 victory at Geneva College.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Kierra Caissey, Utica, Jr., M, Gardner, MA/Gardner
Caissey had a conference-best two goals over the weekend while guiding Utica to a share of the Brozman Cup title as the Pioneers won twice. In Friday's 4-0 win over Morrisville, Caissey struck Utica's first goal of the night on a penalty kick and totaled five shots in the win. In Saturday's 2-0 win over Keuka, she headed home a goal off a free kick for Utica's second goal, which was a key insurance marker. She landed a pair of shots on goal during that match while playing all 90 minutes.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Allison Wagner, Utica, Sr., GK, Canandaigua, NY/Canadaigua Academy
Wagner enjoyed an historic weekend as the result of two brilliant performances in goal for the Pioneers. While leading her side to a 2-0 start and a share of the Brozman Cup title, Wagner turned away every shot she saw to the tune of eighteen total saves and a pair of clean sheet victories for the weekend. She made five saves to blank Morrisville on Friday in a 4-0 win. In Saturday's 2-0 win, she re-wrote the history books while stopping a stout Keuka offense. Wagner made 13 saves for the shutout on Saturday afternoon. With her third save, Wagner recorded the 427th save of her career to make her Utica's new all-time career leader in saves. She broke a record that stood for over twenty years. Wagner now has 437 for her career.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sadie Dunne, Sage, Sr., Clifton Park, NY/Shenedehowa
Playing at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles against Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Dunne helped Sage to a 9-0 opening day road win. She rolled to 6-0, 6-0 win over Mackenna Jordan singles with the clinching victory in the match and teamed with Abbey Clobridge at first doubles for an 8-1 win.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Amber Smith, Alfred, Sr., OH, Penfield, NY/Webster Schroeder
Smith was named to the 2019 St. Vincent College Bearcat Challenge All-Tournament Team over the weekend, as Alfred went 2-2. She recorded double-doubles in all four matches with at least 16 kills in each contest. Smith opened up the season by setting her season-high in points and kills as she had 28.5 points and 24 kills to go along with 10 digs and three service aces in a win over Allegheny. On Saturday afternoon, Smith finished the weekend strong with 18 kills and 18 digs to go along with three aces in a win against Waynesburg. Overall, Smith hit .291 and totaled 76 kills (4.2/set), 62 digs (3.4/set), seven aces, three solo blocks and two block assists for a total of 87.0 points.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Lauren Gilbert, St. John Fisher, Fr., OH, Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome
Gilbert burst onto the scene in her collegiate debut over the weekend, recording two double-doubles, while adding 45 kills and 42 digs over four matches for the Cardinals at the Pam Briggs Memorial Volleyball Classic at Capital University. She also contributed nine blocks at the net. Gilbert's career began with seven kills and nine digs against Hiram before adding seven more kills and 13 digs against Otterbein. The Ohio native would go on to tally a career-high 16 kills and 10 digs against Defiance along with 15 kills and 10 more digs against Capital.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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