Sunshine State Conference

SSC Athletes of the Week | March 29 - April 4, 2021

Athletes of the Week are chosen from a pool of nominees for their performances during the week of March 29 - April 4, 2021. Athletes are nominated by Athletic Communication Directors of member institutions.

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Baseball Player of the Week

Parker Smith / Rollins College / Outfield / Fr. / Orlando, Florida
Smith powered the Tars to a series win over Saint Leo by posting a .444/.545/1.444 slash line. The Orlando product went 4-for-9 at the plate with three home runs, four runs scored, five runs batted in, and two walks. Smith reached base safely twice in all three games. His top-game of the series came in Rollins' only loss, where he went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI. Defensively, the outfielder had four putouts in four chances.

Baseball Pitcher of the Week

Austin Long / Rollins College / Jr. / Bedford, Indiana
Long is awarded Pitcher of the Week honors following a complete-game effort in the series opener against Saint Leo. The Bedford, Indiana native tossed a 9-inning complete game, allowing two runs on six singles. Long walked one and struck out two in the 4-2 Tars' victory.
 

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Softball Player of the Week

Meredith Milam / Palm Beach Atlantic University / Shortstop / Jr. / Miramar Beach, Florida
Milam paced the Sailfish offense in a three-game series against Barry last week to earn Player of the Week honors. The Miramar Beach, Florida native, tallied five hits, including a home run and double, in nine at-bats for a .556 batting average. Milam drove in four runs and scored three times for PBA in the series. Her top performance came in PBA's game one win, where she went 2-for-2 with a double, two runs scored, a run batted in, and a sacrifice fly. The shortstop record four putouts and three assists in seven chances.

Softball Pitcher of the Week

Ali Shenefield / Rollins College / So. / Brooksville, Florida
Shenefield tossed a complete-game one-hit shutout against No. 23 Saint Leo last week to earn Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season. The Brooksville, Florida product struck out five batters while issuing one walk and hitting a pair of batters in seven innings. The Tars won the contests 3-0 as Shenfield retired the final 12 batters she faced. The weekly award is the third of her career.
 

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Men's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week

Ben French / University of Tampa / Sr. / Attack / Toronto, Ontario
French tallied 12 points across two conference wins to garner Offensive Player of the Week honors. In a 22-7 win at No. 15 Florida Southern, French found the back of the net a game-high five times. He added an assist, three ground balls, and a caused turnover in the victory. The Toronto native then scored a game-high six goals in a 16-7 win against Florida Tech. French fired off 27 shots for the week, 16 on goal, for a .583 shot on goal percentage.

Men's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week

Blake Ulmer / University of Tampa / So. / Goal / Naples, Florida
Ulmer is selected Defensive Player of the Week for his effort in Tampa's victories over No. 15 Florida Southern and Florida Tech last week. The Naples, Florida product tallied eight saves and allowed six goals while facing 25 shots in UT's 22-7 win against FSC in Lakeland. Ulmer followed up with 11 saves and four goals allowed while facing 31 shots in a 16-7 victory against FT. For the week, Ulmer posted a 5.00 goals-against average, and a .655 save percentage in 105 minutes of play.

Men's Lacrosse Specialist of the Week

Ross Dickerson / University of Tampa / Sr. / FO / Berlin, Maryland
Dickerson earns his 13th career weekly award, third straight, following a 33-for-43 faceoff record across two SSC games. The Berlin, Maryland product began the week 18-for-23 at the X in Tampa's 22-7 win at No. 15 Florida Southern. He followed up with a 15-for-20 faceoff performance in a 16-7 win against Florida Tech. Dickerson also provided the Spartans with 23 ground balls and an assist last week. The senior is now for second all-time among Tampa's weekly award winners. He is tied for first among men's lacrosse athletes.
 

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Women's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week

Hailey Daleo / Florida Southern College / So. / Attack / Westhampton Beach, New York
Daleo tallied 10 points across two conference wins to garner Offensive Player of the Week honors. In a 13-9 win at No. 8 Tampa, Daleo found the back of the net a game-high five times, including the game-winner. The Westhampton Beach, New York native then scored a game-high four goals in a 20-5 win against Palm Beach Atlantic. She added an assist to bring her weekly point total to 10. Daleo fired off 17 shots for the week, 12 on goal, for a .706 shot on goal percentage.

Women's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Week

Brittany Iamele / Florida Southern College / Jr. / Goal / Sound Beach, New York
Iamele is tabbed Defensive Player of the Week following her performance in FSC's wins over No. 8 Tampa and Palm Beach Atlantic. The Sound Beach, New York product faced 20 shots at Tampa and made 11 saves while allowing three goals. Against PBA, Iamele allowed two goals and made two saves while facing seven shots. For the week, Iamele posted a 5.00 goals-against average, and a .722 save percentage in 60 minutes of play.
 

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Women's Golfer of the Week

Sophia Dieter / Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University / So. / Jupiter, Florida
Dieter was the top finisher for both the Eagles and the entire field at Monday's ERAU Oceanside Country Club Women's Collegiate Invitational last week. The Jupiter, Florida native shot a 149 (73-76) for the event, which was just one stroke outside the program's Top-10 for 36-hole tournaments. Dieter helped lead the Eagles to a 66-shot victory over second-place Eckerd in ERAU's final regular-season tournament of the 2021 season.
 

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Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week

Alexander Parker / Saint Leo University / Sr. / Ross-on-Wye, United Kingdom
Parker went 2-0 on the week, remaining perfect in both singles and doubles action. His work spearheaded Saint Leo's 6-1 win over Embry-Riddle. Against the Eagles, Parker and Christopher Traut stayed undefeated after claiming a 6-4 first flight victory. The senior Englishman went on to capture a 6-1, 6-4 fourth flight win.

Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week

Deniz Khazan / Barry University / Jr. / Netanya, Israel
Khazan earns the Athlete of the Week nod following her play in Barry's victories over No. 3 Lynn and No. 8 Saint Leo. Against Lynn, the Israeli and partner Madeline Bosnjak posted a 6-2 #1 doubles win. She went on to win at #1 singles, 6-0, 6-0. Against Saint Leo after defeating #1 doubles with Bosnjak, 6-3, Khazan won 6-0, 6-1 at #1 singles.
 

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Boat of the Week

Varsity 8 / Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
ERAU’s Varsity Eight boat finished first at the Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships on Saturday, leading the Embry-Riddle women’s rowing team to its first-ever FIRA state title. The boat, which featured Megan Byrne, Shelby Ernst, Irina Djurovic, Sofia Lorenzini, Gwendolyn Powell, Bethany Thompson, Alexandra Popielarz, Elise Dezotell, and Kendra Sander, won the race in 7:50.29, finishing ahead of SSC foes Barry and Rollins.
 

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Week-by-Week Winners: In Active Sports

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