SSC Athletes of the Week: September 23 - 29

SSC Athletes of the Week: September 23 - 29

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Weekly Honors in Volleyball, Soccer, Cross Country, and Golf

SSC Athletes of the Week | September 23 - 29, 2019

Athletes of the Week are chosen from a pool of nominees for their performances during the week of September 23 - 29, 2019. Athletes are nominated by Sports Information Directors of member institutions.


Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week

11800Marine Kinna / Lynn University  / Jr. / OH / Guethary, France
Kinna is awarded Offensive Player of the Week following her role in Lynn's two come-from-behind victories last week. She opened play with 18 kills, 13 digs, and nine service aces to help the Fighting Knights crawl back from a 2-0 deficit against Nova Southeastern University. She followed with 12 kills, eight digs, and three service aces in a 3-1 victory over Rollins College. On the weekend Kinna hit .228 and averaged 3.75 kills, 2.63 digs, and 1.5 service aces per set. With the play of Kinna, Lynn begins SSC play 4-0 for the first time in program history.
 

Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week

11797Anastasiia Samokhvalova / Barry University / Jr. / MB / Moscow, Russia
Samokhvalova was vital in the Buccaneers' 3-2 win against No. 22 University of Tampa and 3-1 defeat of Saint Leo University. The Russian recorded 11 kills and nine blocks in the five set victory against the Spartans. She then tallied eight kills and seven blocks against the Lions. Samokhvalova averaged 2.11 kills and 1.78 blocks per set while helping Barry's defense keep both opponents under a .200 hitting percentage. The weekly honor is the third of her career.


Volleyball Setter of the Week

11804Bianca Pasca / Barry University / So. / Setter / Baia Mare, Romania
Pasca earns Setter of the Week honors following back-to-back double-doubles in Barry's wins against No. 22 University of Tampa and Saint Leo University. The Romanian dished out a season-high 48 assists, 14 digs, and pair of aces during a 3-2 victory over the Spartans. She followed that performance with 45 assists, 12 digs, and two more aces in a 3-1 defeat of the Lions. Pasca leads the SSC in aces with 21 this season.

 
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week

11802Elias Niesigk / Saint Leo University / Gr. / Forward / Karlstein, Germany
Niesigk spearheaded Saint Leo's perfect week at home against the University of Montevallo and No. 14 Palm Beach Atlantic University with a pair of goals and an assist. On Wednesday against Montevallo, the German tallied SLU's opening goal followed by an assist in the go-ahead goal by Federico Toschi in the 87th minute. Tied in the 36th minute against the Sailfish, Niesigk's strike to the right post earned Saint Leo a national upset and extended the program's perfect home record to three games. Niesigk is the first Lion to win Offensive Player of the Week since September 18, 2017 (Guillaume Campos).

Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week

11803Christian Evans / Saint Leo University / Sr. / GK / Atherton, England
Evans takes Defensive Player of the Week honors after stopping 13 shots across Saint Leo's two wins last week. The Englishman saw 34 shots while facing the University of Montevallo and No. 14 Palm Beach Atlantic University. He also led SLU's defensive efforts against nine corner kicks in 180 minutes of action. Evans work between the pipes lifted the Lions' perfect home record to three games, while also tallying a national upset in the program's conference home opener. Evans is the first Lion to win Defensive Player of the Week since September 18, 2017 (Conor McElhinney).
 
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week

11799Emma Heikkila / Nova Southeastern University / Sr. / Forward / Tornio, Finland
Heikkila rattled off five points this week to lead NSU in a pair of SSC wins. In Wednesday's 4-0 victory over Lynn University, the Finn assisted on the game-opening goal before scoring one of her own to give the Sharks complete control heading into halftime. Three days later, Heikkila provided late-game heroics by notching the golden goal in the 97th minute to beat Florida Southern College. The senior has now scored in five straight matches and ranks sixth all-time in NSU history with 25 career goals. The weekly award is the third of her career.

Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week

11796Paige Napolitano / Nova Southeastern University / Sr. / Defender / Odessa, Florida
Napolitano led NSU defensively in the program's fifth and sixth shutouts this season as the Sharks opened SSC play with wins over Lynn University and Florida Southern College. In Wednesday's victory, Napolitano and the NSU back line held the Fighting Knights without a shot for the first 48:37 of the match. The Odessa, Florida product then followed by playing all 97 minutes in the Sharks' road win at Florida Southern, helping limit the Moccasins to four total shots in the contest. NSU has allowed just one goal in its first seven matches of the season.
 
Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week

11801Mason Jones / Florida Southern College / Jr. / Titusville, Florida
Jones earns his fifth career weekly award following a second Top-15 finish this season. The Titusville, Florida native finished 11th at the Roy Griack Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota with an 8K time of 25:53.3. Jones was instrumental in leading the Moccasins to a fifth-place team finish, just behind nationally-ranked Augustana University, Michigan Tech, the University of Sioux Falls, and Western Washington University. Jones improved his 8k time by 20 seconds from the UF Mountain Dew Invite two weeks ago.

Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week

11652Zoe Jarvis / University of Tampa / Jr. / Tampa, Florida
Jarvis takes Runner of the Week honors for the second time this season following her performance at the Capital Cross Challenge (aka Pre-Nationals) in Sacramento, California. Jarvis finished as the top SSC runner at 28th overall in a race that featured a field of 322 runners, nationally-ranked Division II programs, and Division I programs. The Tampa native finished with a time of 21:21.2 in the 6K, marking a personal best. The weekly award is the fourth of her career.


Men’s Golf of the Week

11743Trystan Perkins / Rollins College / Sr. / Guernsey, Channel Islands
Perkins repeats as Golfer of the Week after a second-place finish at the Jay Jennison Cup hosted by Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. The senior shot rounds of 71, 72, and 71 to finish at a 2-under, 214, two-strokes behind the University of West Florida's Carlos Marrero. As a team, Rollins finished third in the 14 team tournament that included several Top-25 squads.



Women’s Golfer of the Week

11798Seher Atwal / Rollins College / Sr. / Delhi, India
Atwal finished tied for fifth among a field of 80 golfers at the Princeton Invitational last week. Atwal shot rounds of 73 and 71 to finish at even par (144) for the tournament. The product of Delhi, India totaled eight birdies over three rounds, which tied her for third-most at the event. With the play of Atwal, Rollins finished fifth of 13 teams in a field that was all-Division I including seven Ivy League schools.

 

 
Week-by-Week Winners

2019 SSC Volleyball Award Winners (Offense; Defense; Setter)
Sept. 9: Katie McKiel, Tampa; Alexis Yeager, Rollins; Sydney Case, Eckerd
Sept. 16: Melanie Canfield, ERAU; Olivia Roa, ERAU; Alyssa Rudd, ERAU
Sept. 23: Sonja Udovcic, Lynn; Lauren Odom, Lynn; Anna Garrett, Saint Leo
Sept. 30: Marine Kinna, Lynn; Anastasiia Samokhvalova, Barry; Bianca Pasca, Barry

2019 SSC Men's Soccer Award Winners (Offense; Defense)
Sept. 9: Rodrigo Fernandez, Lynn; Thomas Spear, Palm Beach Atlantic
Sept. 16: Claudio Rivadeneira, PBA; Elliott Barker, PBA
Sept. 23: Rojay Smith, Tampa; Gudmundur Sigurbjornsson, ERAU
Sept. 30: Elias Niesigk, Saint Leo; Christian Evans, Saint Leo

2019 SSC Women's Soccer Award Winners (Offense; Defense)
Sept. 9: Adriana Tirado, Saint Leo; Rebecca Anderson, Saint Leo
Sept. 16: Kaythryn O'Brien, Rollins; Hannah Menard, Rollins
Sept. 23: Anniina Sankoh, Lynn; Megan Bromwell, Tampa
Sept. 30: Emma Heikkila, NSU; Paige Napolitano, NSU

2019 SSC Cross Country Award Winners (Men; Women)
Sept. 9: Malte Stockhausen, Florida Tech; Aspen Gordon, Tampa
Sept. 16: Shane Bracken, Saint Leo; Zoe Jarvis, Tampa
Sept. 23: Ryan Szklany, ERAU; Sarah Edens, ERAU
Sept. 30: Mason Jones, FSC; Zoe Jarvis, Tampa

2019-20 SSC Golf Award Winners (Men; Women)
Sept. 16: Chris Fosdick, FSC; Helen Kruezer, Lynn
Sept. 23: Trystan Perkins, Rollins; Loren Perez, FSC
Sept. 30: Trystan Perkins, Rollins, Seher Atwal, Rollins


LINK: SSC Player of the Week Database