General | 10/7/2024 12:57:30 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on October 7, 2024, for games played from September 30-October 6. It is the sixth Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2024-25 season. Sports featured include men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s tennis, and women’s volleyball.
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Charlie Wilson, SUNY Geneseo, Sr., East Aurora, NY/East Aurora
Wilson placed second overall out of 373 runners at the Paul Short Invitational Men’s Collegiate White Race, hosted by Lehigh University on Saturday. He recorded a time of 24:37.5 over the 8,000-meter course, averaging a 5:06.6-mile time for the event. Wilson finished nine seconds shy of the race winner, Chasen Hunt of Lynchburg and led Geneseo to the team title with 75 points in a very competitive field of 41 institutions competing.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
RUNNER OF THE WEEK – Penelope Greene, SUNY Geneseo, Jr., Avon, NY/Avon
Greene placed fourth overall out of 387 runners at the Paul Short Invitational Women’s Collegiate White Race, hosted by Lehigh University on Saturday. Greene broke 21 minutes, completing the 6,000-meter course in a time of 20:52.9, racing against several of the top Division III teams and student-athletes. She finished 10 seconds off the winning time and recorded a mile rate of 5:36. It is Greene’s second E8 weekly honor of the 2024 season.
FIELD HOCKEY
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Alyssa Pisano, Utica, Gr., M, Hopewell Junction, NY/Arlington
Pisano scored four goals, while helping lead Utica to a pair of wins. After scoring Utica’s first goal in a 2-1 win over Keystone on Wednesday, Pisano was one of two Pioneers to score a hat-trick in an 8-0 win over Keuka on Saturday. She scored two first half goals to give Utica a 3-0 lead and completed the hat-trick just 22 seconds into the fourth quarter.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ella Buchanan, SUNY Brockport, Sr., GK, Barneveld, NY/Holland Patent
In two shutout wins on the week for Brockport, Buchanan totaled five saves across 180 minutes of action against Keuka and Russell Sage, posting a 2-0 record on the week. She picked up her third and fourth shutouts of the season and garnered her second E8 weekly accolade of the 2024 season.
FOOTBALL
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Brett Fuller, Utica, Jr., QB, Port Jervis, NY/Port Jervis
Fuller went 12-of-16 for 265 yards and five passing touchdowns against Hartwick on Saturday in just one half of play, as Utica rolled to a 65-7 win in the league opener. Fuller's outing was one for the Pioneer record books, with the highly composed performance ranking highly in many Utica single-game statistical categories. Fuller averaged 22.1 yards per completion and 16.6 yards per attempt while connecting with almost all his deep targets, completing five passes of over 25 yards on the day, including touchdown throws of 65-, 51-, 28-, 13- and 30 yards.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Mike Talbert, Jr, SUNY Brockport, Sr., LB, Wyandanch, NY/St. Anthony’s
Talbert Jr. created problems for the St. John Fisher offense all afternoon in Brockport's 35-0 win in Courage Bowl XIX Saturday. The Golden Eagles kept the Cardinals to just 188 yards of total offense, including only 17 yards rushing for the game. Talbert was in the backfield making plays consistently with 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Not only did he have seven total tackles, but Talbert, Jr. also had an interception (18-yard return) which setup a score for the offense.
CO-SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Mike Baloga, SUNY Cortland, Sr., K/P, New Windsor, NY/Cornwall
Baloga made both of his field goal attempts, from 36 and 32 yards, and all five of his point-after-attempt kicks in No. 2 Cortland's 41-0 win over visiting Morrisville Saturday. His 36-yarder early in the second quarter made the score 10-0 and he hit his 32-yarder in the fourth quarter. Baloga also averaged 61.4 yards on eight kickoffs with two touchbacks, and his lone punt of the day covered 47 yards.
CO-SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Gabriel Zawolo, Utica, So., WR/KR, Rochester, NY/McQuaid Jesuit
Zawolo returner amassed 111 yards on five total returns, averaging 22.2 yards per return for Utica during Saturday's dominant win over Hartwick. Zawolo did most of his damage in the contest when returning punts, as he gained 87 of those yards via four punt returns. The Pioneer wideout also capped off a 56-point first half with a 56-yard house call, fielding a Hartwick punt and returning it down the right sideline for the touchdown.
MEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – RJ Juodaitis, St. John Fisher, Sr., Endwell, NY/Union-Endicott
Juodaitis shot a two-round score of 147 to pace all golfers during the Fall portion of the 2024-25 Empire 8 Men's Golf Championship, held at Lakeshore Yacht & Country Club from Cicero, NY on Oct. 6-7. He began the tournament by shooting the lone round under part, a 1-under 71 on Sunday and followed that up with a with a score of 78 on Monday. He will enter the final two rounds in the spring with a two-shot advantage. It is Juodaitis' second E8 weekly honor of the season.
WOMEN’S GOLF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sarah Burgess, St. John Fisher, So., Syracuse, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt
Burgess shot a two-round score of 171 at the Hamilton College Invitational from Rome Country Club on Oct. 5-6. She began the weekend with a score of 86 on Saturday and shot an 85 on Sunday in a very competitive field. It is her third E8 weekly honor of the season.
MEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jake Daly, Hartwick, Jr., M, Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker
Daly was sensational in the 4-1 road victory over Keuka on Saturday, helping the Hawks notch their first conference victory. Daly supplied the Hawks with plenty of offensive firepower, picking up three assists and scoring one goal. He assisted on Hartwick’s first two goals before adding a marker of his own on a penalty kick in the 38th minute. He added his third assist of the day in the 74th minute to complete the scoring.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Maximilian Bertmann, Russell Sage, Fr., GK, South Burlington, VT/South Burlington
Bertmann totaled seven saves across a pair of Russell Sage College victories. He made three saves in a win over SUNY Cobleskill and added four stops in a 2-1 road win at E8 foe St. John Fisher University. It is Bertmann’s third E8 weekly accolade of the season.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Riley Grimm, St. John Fisher, Sr., F, Schenectady, NY/Guilderland
Grimm scored three goals this week as the Cardinals pushed their winning streak to four with wins over Empire 8 foes Alfred University and Russell Sage College. She scored St. John Fisher’s second goal in the 2-0 win over Alfred Wednesday and tallied twice, including the eventual game-winning marker in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Russell Sage. Grimm now leads the Cardinals and is tied for second in the Empire 8 with six goals.
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Emily McCane, SUNY Brockport, So., GK, Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili
McCane played all 90 minutes in net to lead the Golden Eagles to a 4-0 win over SUNY Poly on Saturday afternoon. She is part of a stout Brockport defensive unit that has now allowed a goal in 10 games this season, as the Golden Eagles, who are 9-0-1 overall and 5-0-0 in E8 play, have out-scored opponents, 32-0.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Tirzah Spivey, Russell Sage, Jr., Clifton Park, NY/Schenectady
Spivey went 3-0 in singles action for the Gators, who clinched an Empire 8 postseason berth over the weekend. She earned a hard-fought, three-set win over former E8 Player of the Year Phoebe Olson on Friday. Spivey rolled to a 6-3, 6-3 win over Nazareth’s Kenna Ellis on Saturday. Spivey is now 10-0 on the season, while playing at second singles.
DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK – Ryann Ashby, Hartwick, Sr., Malta, NY/Ballston Spa
DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK – GIanna Leggieri, Hartwick, So., Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake
Ashby and Leggieri helped Hartwick clinch at least a share of the E8 regular season title and right to host the E8 semifinals and championship match after recording two more dominant wins at second doubles for the Hawks. On Friday, Ashby and Leggieri defeated Marian Aguirre and Olivia Monaco of Russell Sage, 8-4 en route to a 7-1 team win. On Saturday, they defeated their Houghton opponents 8-3. Ashby and Leggieri are currently 5-1 on the year and 4-0 in Empire 8 play.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Tessa Grover, Nazareth, Sr., S/RS, Penfield, NY/Penfield
Grover played a big role in two wins this week over SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Brockport to open conference play 2-0. In two matches, Grover hit .338 with 3.63 kills, 4.0 points, 4.5 assists and 2.5 digs per set. Against Geneseo on Friday, Grover was two digs short of a triple double, tallying 18 kills, 15 assists, and eight digs, while hitting .417. On Saturday, she earned her triple double with 11 kills, 21 assists, and 12 digs in a four-set win over Brockport. It is her second straight E8 weekly accolade.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Braelyn Hornick, Hartwick, Sr., S, Candor, NY/Candor
Hornick continued to orchestrate Hartwick's high-powered offense as the Hawks picked up three Empire 8 victories to stay unbeaten on the season. She notched 99 kills in just eight sets (12.4 assists per set) to go along with 19 digs. Hornick began the week with 40 assists, three aces, three block assists, and 11 digs on Wednesday night in the three-set win over Russell Sage. In just two sets of action on Friday vs SUNY Poly, Hornick collected 26 assists. She finished her afternoon on Saturday with three kills, 33 assists, and seven digs in a three-set win over Utica. It is Hornick’s second E8 weekly accolade of 2024.
CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Lilly Bentley, Houghton, Fr., MB/RS, Weston Mills, NY/Portville
Leading Houghton to a pair of victories to open conference play, Bentley slammed 25 kills, while hitting a combined .396 during the week. She began the weekend by scoring a dozen kills against Keuka with just one error, hitting .407 in the win, while adding 13 kills versus Elmira, while hitting .385. Bentley has 136 kills with only 29 errors on over 300 attempts to lead the league with a .341 hitting percentage. It is Bentley’s second consecutive E8 weekly accolade.
CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Abigail Omelan, Alfred, Fr., OH, Tomball, TX/Tomball Memorial
Omelan broke the Alfred University school record for hitting percentage in a three-set match as she hit a .750 in a win at Elmira College Friday, totaling nine kills on 12 attacks with no errors. She finished the Empire 8 weekend second on the team in each match in scoring, totaling 10.5 points at Elmira and 12.5 points in a four-set home win over Keuka College. In total, Omelan had 23.0 points on 21 kills with one ace and two block assists. She added 10 digs and two assists while hitting .545 on the weekend on 33 attacks with only three errors.
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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