PSAC Athletes of the Week - 9/17 Monday, September 17, 2018 10:30 AM MEN'S GOLF ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Matt Cocorikis IUP (Sr.) Monroe Township, N.J. / Monroe Township Cocorikis earned medalist honors and led the Crimson Hawks to a team title at the Hal Hansen Invitational. Cocorikis finished with a -3 (141), firing a tournament best -4 (68) in the second round Tuesday, his best round as a collegian. It was also Cocorikis' first collegiate tournament victory. The Crimson Hawks finished with a 14-over 590, seven strokes ahead of second place finishers Point Park and West Chester WOMEN'S GOLF CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Meghan O'Mara West Chester (So.) Sayville, N.Y. / Sayville O'Mara had a strong weekend competing in the LeMoyne Invitational finishing in third, which was the top finish of any golfer in the PSAC. O'Mara recorded a two day score of 155 (76-79) finishing just seven strokes back of the Tournament Champion and two strokes back of the runner-up both of whom hailed from Non-PSAC Institutions. This impressive showing propelled West Chester to a Tournament title with a two day score of 634 beating out Franklin Pierce (642) and Gannon (656) en route to this title. West Chester beat out two teams that qualified for the NCAA Regionals a year ago in Franklin Pierce who finished in second with a score of 642 as well as Kutztown. The next Tournament for the Golden Rams will be September 30th and October 1st when the Golden Rams travel to the Kutztown Fall Invitational. WOMEN'S GOLF CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Julia Santo Gannon (Sr.) Hawley, Pa. / Wallenpaupack Santo carded her best score of the season to place third at the Le Moyne Fall Invitational over the weekend. After shooting a first round score of 79 to sit in sixth place, Santo moved up to third place with a round of 76, which was the second-best score of the day. MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Joseph Westrick Gannon (Jr.) PIttsburgh, Pa. / Chartiers Valley HS Westrick finished third at the Allegheny Invitational, covering the four-mile course in 20:48 (5:12/mile pace), just one second behind the second-place finisher. It's the second straight top-three finish to start the season for Westrick, who was only beaten out by a pair of Division III national qualifiers. WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Alicia Belko California (Sr.) Hainesport, N.J. / Rancocas Valley Regional Belko placed third overall on Friday while competing against primarily NCAA Division I programs at the Buffalo Stampede invitational. She recorded a time of 21 minutes, 54.3 seconds over the six-kilometer race at the Audubon Golf Course. Belko finished just over 10 seconds behind the individual winner from Cornell (second place also from Cornel) while averaging a 5:53 mile pace. The event featured over 110 runners from nine schools, including six from the NCAA Division I level and two Canadian institutions. VOLLEYBALL CENTRAL DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Kendall Johnson Shippensburg (Jr. / MB) Chesterfield, Va. / James River Johnson had a dynamic weekend in the middle for the Raiders, who extended their winning streak to 11 straight matches after road sweeps at IUP and Clarion. Johnson hit .406 on 32 attempts and had 10 blocks in the six sets she competed. Against IUP, Johnson went 8-1-15 (.467) with two solo blocks and four block assists. Against Clarion, Johnson went 8-2-17 (.353) with four block assists. VOLLEYBALL NORTHWEST DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Cierah Jackson Edinboro (So. / OH) Berea, Ohio / Padua Franciscan Jackson tied the school record for kills in a match with 30 and broke the Edinboro record for attack attempts by 10 with her 74 against Millersville to open PSAC action. Her 51 kills combined against Millersville and West Chester are the most for an Edinboro player in a single PSAC weekend in program history. VOLLEYBALL SOUTHEAST DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Kailyn Pyle East Stroudsburg (Fr. / MB) Temple, Pa. / Liberty Pyle led ESU with a stellar .425 attack percentage during PSAC victories over Gannon and Mercyhurst over the weekend. She had her best performance of the season thus far against nationally-ranked Gannon, as she totaled 12 kills (.500%) and five blocks to help the Warriors send the then-No. 14 Golden Knights to their first defeat of the season with a 3-0 sweep. Pyle added nine kills (.350%) and six blocks in a four-set win over Mercyhurst, as ESU avenged a pair of five-set defeats to the Lakers over the past two seasons Her dominance at the net played a key role in the Warriors' wins, as they out-blocked Gannon 7-3 and Mercyhurst 15.5-4. Pyle is currently tied for fifth in the PSAC at 0.98 blocks per set, and her .293 attack percentage is ranked second on the team. VOLLEYBALL SOUTHWEST DIVISION ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Viktoria Farian Seton Hill (So. / OH) Richfield, Ohio / Revere Farian led the Griffins to two PSAC wins this weekend. She posted double doubles in each match. Viktoria had a match high 16 kills and 11 digs in the three set win over Bloomsburg. She then added 11 kills and 11 digs in the win over Lock Haven. Viktoria also had 3 blocks and 2 aces against Bloomsburg. FIELD HOCKEY ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Tesa Hoffman Bloomsburg (Jr. / MF) Freeburg, Pa. / Selinsgrove Area Hoffman had a hand in all four goals on Saturday afternoon as she led the fifth-ranked field hockey team to a 4-0 shutout victory at Seton Hill University. Hoffman recorded her first collegiate hat trick and added an assist in the win. Hoffman assisted on the Huskies' first goal of the game and then scored the next three goals, completing the hat trick with 1:50 left in regulation, as Bloomsburg improved to 3-0 on the young season. Entering the season, Hoffman had scored just two goals in 38 games over the course of her first two campaigns. With her offensive outburst over the weekend, the junior now has four goals and three assists for 11 points in just three contests this year. She leads the PSAC in points per game (3.67), is tied for the league lead in assists (3), and is tied for second in goals (4). MEN'S SOCCER CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Reginald Holt Lock Haven (So. / F/MF) Pittsburgh, Pa. / Penn Hills Holt led LHU to a 2-0 start in PSAC play thanks to wins over rival Bloomsburg and Pitt-Johnstown. Over the two-game span, Holt netted a team-high three goals (6 pts.). In 4-0 win over Bloom he scored once and Holt netted two goals in the 6-0 home victory over UPJ Saturday. MEN'S SOCCER CO-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Sam Thornton Gannon (So. / F) Rotherham, England / Wickersley School and Sports College Thornton led the offensive charge for Gannon in a 2-1 week. The sophomore accumulated 17 shots while scoring four goals, including two each against Pitt-Johnstown (9/12/18) and Bloomsburg (9/15/18). He went 1-for-1 on penalty kick attempts. It marked the first two wins for Gannon. WOMEN'S SOCCER ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Emma Yoder Slippery Rock (Fr. / GK) Ada, MIch. / Forest Hills Central Yoder helped Slippery Rock earn two wins last week in goal. The freshman recorded her first career shutout victory in a 1-0 win at Clarion making eight saves on 11 shots faced. She then earned her second career shutout victory in her second start tallying eight saves on 14 chances in a 1-0 win at Walsh. In just two games in her young career, Yoder has a 2-0 record, a 1.000 save percentage and a 0.00 goals against average. All of Slippery Rock’s wins this season have been shutout victories. FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Eric Nickel Kutztown (R-So. / QB) Bridgewater, N.J. / Bridgewater-Raritan In his first career start, Kutztown University redshirt-sophomore quarterback Eric Nickel led the KU offense to the tune of nearly 400 yards and six touchdowns in a comeback 48-33 road victory at Gannon University. Nickel completed 28-of-40 passes for 394 yards, had five passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. He is the ninth player in school history to throw for five touchdowns in a game. Nickel completed passes to an astounding 12 receivers, as Kutztown posted a season-high 579 yards of offense. ? FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Tyler Morrissey West Chester (R-Sr. / LB) Springfield, Pa. / Springfield-DELCO Morrissey led West Chester with nine tackles (seven solo) and 2.5 for loss. The reigning PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Year registered 1.5 sacks for 13 yards as WCU claimed a 59-14 win over Seton Hill. FOOTBALL EASTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Dean Krcic Kutztown (R-So. / P/K) Saylorsburg, Pa. / Pleasant Valley Krcic finished Saturday with six punts for a total of 278 yards and an average of 46.3. Krcic booted a touchback and three beyond 50 to tie his career-long of 62. KU came from behind and scored 26 unanswered points in the fourth to earn a 48-33 road victory at Gannon. FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION OFFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Nelson Brown California (Jr. / RB) Salisbury, Md. / Wicomico Brown set a career high with three rushing touchdowns (3, 18, 43) and finished with a season-high 132 rushing yards on Saturday, as Cal U earned a 57-14 win at Shippensburg in a meeting of 2017 NCAA Playoff teams. He recorded his first 100-yard game of the year and the eighth of his career, as he was an All-SAC honoree at Lenoir-Rhyne in each of the past two seasons. Brown is the first payer with three rushing touchdowns in a game since Week 4 of the 2015 campaign. The Maryland native scampered 43 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to mark the longest rush by a Cal U player since Week 5 of 2016. Brown helped Cal U take a 34-0 lead at halftime and finish with 518 yards of total offense, both the most since the 2016 season. FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION DEFENSIVE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Chad Kuhn Slippery Rock (So. / DE) Vandergrift, Pa. / Kiski Area Kuhn tied the SRU program record for sacks in a single game with 4.5 sacks in a dominating defensive performance in a 57-10 win at Millersville. He also forced one fumble in the game and finished with six total stops. Kuhn's 4.5 sacks tied NCAA all-time career sack record holder Marcus Martin for the SRU record for single-game sacks. His 4.5 sacks teamed with Trey Blandford's 3.5 sacks to lead SRU to a school record 10 total sacks in the win FOOTBALL WESTERN DIVISION SPECIAL TEAMS ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Jake Chapla Slippery Rock (Jr. / K/P) Pittsburgh, Pa. / Plum Chapla was perfect on the day in a 57-10 win at Millersville, booting a 50-yard field goal, a 33-yard field goal and going 7-for-7 on PAT kicks. His 13 points scored are the most by any kicker in the PSAC in a single-game this season and his 50-yard field goal is 8 yards longer than any other successful FG in the PSAC this season. Entering this weekend's of games, 50 yards was the longest made FG in Division II this season