General | 3/18/2024 12:30:30 PM
Below are the Empire 8 Players of the Week, released on March 18, 2024, for games played from March 11 – March 17, 2024. It is the 28th Empire 8 weekly honors release of the 2023-24 season. Sports featured include baseball, softball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s tennis and men’s volleyball.
BASEBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Josh Duval, Utica, Jr., UTIL, Utica, NY/Proctor
Josh Duval hit safely in each of Utica's three games in Florida this past week. The Mohawk Valley Community College transfer went 6-for-8 at the dish with a pair of doubles and three RBI and came across to score six different times. Duval's week was highlighted by a 4-for-4 outing at the plate in the team's win over Saint Joseph (CT) on March 13. Two of his four hits went for extra-bases while he drove in two runs and came around to score three times.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Aiden Talcott, Houghton, So., P, Farmington, NM/Farmington
Talcott tossed six innings of three-hit shutout baseball on Saturday to help his Highlanders earn a doubleheader sweep of Hilbert College. Two of this three strikeouts were looking, as he fired 96 pitches in the win.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Tanner Warren, Utica, INF, Mohawk, NY/Central Valley Academy
Warren made two starts for the Pioneers this week and went 4-for-6 at the plate with three runs batted in and three runs scored. Warren helped lead Utica to a victory over Saint Joseph (CT) on March 13 as he went 2-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored.
SOFTBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Jennifer Rodriguez, Utica, Fr., INF, Sylmar, CA/John F. Kennedy
Rodriguez enjoyed a tremendous start to her Pioneer career as she is currently in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak and has had multiple hits in seven of those games. Last week, she hit .552 (16-for-31) with one home run, three doubles, and five RBI while scoring eight runs including at least one run in seven of eight contests. She had two three-hit games last week in Florida, including a 3-for-4 performance with a double and two RBI in a win over Macalester and homer, double and two RBI effort against College of Wooster.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK – Jordyn Conte, Utica, Gr., P, Newport, NY/West Canada Valley
Conte turned in a stellar 3-0 week in the circle including topping No. 8 Bethel on March 14 with a line of 6.1 fantastic innings allowing just two earned runs on four hits with three walks and one strikeout to collect the win. Over the course of the week, she pitched 15.2 innings allowing just 16 hits and six earned runs, while striking out eight batters.
MEN’S LACROSSE
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Nate Kettle, Russell Sage, So., A, Killbuck, NY/Salamanca
Kettle registered 11 points on seven goals, two of which were the game-winners, and four assists in the 2-0 week for Russell Sage. He started the week by scoring four times and adding an assist to go along with three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers in a 16-14 win over Eastern Connecticut. Kettle recorded six points on three goals and three assists in a 16-3 victory over Saint Joseph’s-Long Island.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Kyle Rosenberger, Nazareth, So., A, Syracuse, NY/Westhill
Rosenberger led Nazareth to a pair of wins last week with seven goals and three assists for 10 points. He began the week with four goals and an assist against Brockport on Wednesday and added three goals and two assists against Ohio Northern. He added three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers to his stats line as Nazareth improved to 5-3 in 2024.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Ben Hammond, St. John Fisher, Sr., G, Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius
Hammond made 10 saves, while helping keep a powerful Ursinus offense to just seven goals in a 7-5 loss on Saturday. He made five saves in the opening quarter as the Cardinals built a 3-1 lead before Ursinus rallied.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Amelia Booth, Alfred, Jr., A, Staatsburg, NY/FDR
Booth recorded 10 points on six goals and four assists to go along with eight draw controls in a pair of games last week. Alfred’s 19-0 shutout win over Hilbert on Wednesday was the first for the program since 2010. In the win, Booth totaled a team-high five points from three goals and two assists. She was additionally credited with four draw controls. Against SUNY Potsdam, Booth scored three goals to go with two assists and added four ground balls, two caused turnovers and four draw controls.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Sophia Scialdone, Nazareth, Jr., A/M, Syracuse, NY/West Genesee
Scialdone recorded four goals and five assists for nine points and picked up 10 ground balls, caused five turnovers and won five draw controls in a 1-1 week for the Golden Flyers. She began the week with four points on two goals and two assists, while adding four draw controls against SUNY Oswego. On Sunday, Scialdone had two goals and three assists in a five-point effort to go along with eight ground balls and five caused turnovers in a 10-7 win over Smith College.
GOALIE OF THE WEEK – Allie Klestinec, Nazareth, So., G, Geneva, NY/Geneva
Klestinec made a career-high 22 saves in the win over Smith College and finished the week with 30 saves in a 1-1 week for the Golden Flyers. She also had 11 ground balls in the two games, including eight on Sunday. Klestinec recorded a remarkable .759 save percentage in Sunday’s win at Smith. She leads the Empire 8 in saves and save percentage. Klestinec earned her second straight E8 weekly accolade.
MEN’S TENNIS
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Mike Roberts, Alfred, Jr., Alfred Station, NY/Alfred-Almond
Roberts led Alfred University to a 9-0 shutout win over SUNY Delhi over this past weekend for their first win of the spring season. From No. 1 doubles, alongside Nick Flemmer, the duo picked up an 8-1 win. Roberts carried his momentum into singles action, winning in 6-0, 6-0 fashion from No. 1 Moises Saintil.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Edwin Sosa, Elmira, Jr., MB, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Excelencia Profesional
In three matches during the week, Sosa slammed 47 kills in total, notching 11 in a loss to No. 17 Nazareth, nine in a win against Houghton, and a career-high 27 in a five-set victory over Buffalo State. He finished the week with a .295 hitting percentage while tallying seven set assists, 17 digs, and one service ace. Sosa also recorded five blocks against Buffalo State while hitting .368 during the match. It is Sosa’s third E8 weekly accolade of the season.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Max Stuver, Nazareth, Jr., S/RS, Webster, NY/McQuaid Jesuit
Stuver led Nazareth to a 3-1 week with 110 assists (9.17 per set) and 34 digs (2.83 per set). He began the week with 27 assists in a three-set win over Elmira on Wednesday. Stuver dished out 31 assists and added seven assists in a three-set win over Geneva to begin play on Saturday and concluded the weekend with 28 assists, 10 digs and three kills in a sweep over Penn State Behrend to complete the week.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Luke Jata, Elmira, Fr., OH, Smithtown, NY/Hauppauge
Jata slammed 23 kills, while hitting .220 to go along with eight digs in a 2-1 week for the Soaring Eagles. Jata had nine kills and six digs in a five-set win over Buffalo State on Saturday and added eight kills, while hitting .400 in a three-set sweep of Houghton later in the day. It is Jata’s third E8 weekly accolade of 2024.
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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