March 23, 2009
A-10 Spring Sports Honor Roll - Mar. 23
Baseball Player of the Week
Dan Rhault - Rhode Island
Senior, SS, 6-2, 190 lbs.
Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln HS
Rhault cracked a pair of homers and knocked in three as Rhode Island edged George Washington on Mar. 22, 4-3...batted .467 (7-for-15) with six RBI, five runs scored and three home runs on the week...also drew seven walks...leads URI in five offensive categories, including on-base percentage (.517) and slugging percentage (.731).
Sean Rockey - George Washington
Junior, 2B, 6-0, 185 lbs.
Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake HS
Rockey collected two hits in each of the Colonials' three contests versus Rhode Island and went 7-for-14 on the week...scored five runs and drove in four...slugged three homers...also drew three walks and was hit-by-pitch four times...leads GW with a .411 batting average.
Pitcher of the Week
Luke Demko - Rhode Island
Senior, RHP, 6-6, 289 lbs.
Gilford, N.H./Gilford HS
Demko tossed 4.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen and registered three saves on the week for the Rams...yielded just one hit and fanned six...threw a pair of hitless innings on Mar. 22 in Rhode Island's 4-3 over George Washington...leads the A-10 with six saves.
Rookie of the Week
Chuck Ghysels - Dayton
Freshman, RHP, 5-11, 200 lbs.
Springboro, Ohio/Springboro HS
Ghysels allowed three earned runs in 14 innings pitched while striking out 14 in a pair of starts to earn the first two victories of his career...allowed two earned runs over seven innings on Mar. 17 in the Flyers' 12-3 victory at Campbell...yielded one earned run on three hits while fanning nine in a seven-inning stint in Dayton's 9-2 win over St. Bonaventure...has limited opposing hitters to a .183 batting average in 26 innings pitched.
Softball Players of the Week
Kristin Nicoletti - Saint Louis
Sophomore, OF, St. Louis, Mo./Oakville HS
Nicoletti led the Billikens with an .833 batting average and an .857 on-base percentage in two wins over St. Bonaventure to open A-10 play...tied the school record with four hits in the opener while also scoring twice and swiping a pair of bases...went 1-for-2 in game two, scored a pair of runs and stole two more bases...her four thefts on the day increased her career total to 50, which ranks fourth on the SLU career chart
Sarah Reeves - Massachusetts
Junior, 1B, Elkton, Md./Caravel Academy
Reeves led UMass offense to a pair of A-10 wins over Dayton on Mar. 22...hit a grand slam and a three-run home run on her way to a 4-for-5 day at the plate in which she drove in nine runs and scored three...in the game one win , Reeves was 2-for-2 with a walk, two RBI, a sacrifice fly, and one run scored...in game two, had a grand slam in her first at bat and a three-run homer in her final at bat as she finished that game 2-for-3 with a walk, seven RBI, and two runs scored.
Softball Pitchers of the Week
Dani Gonzales - Saint Joseph's
Senior, Pitcher, Litchfield Park, Ariz./St. Mary's HS
Gonzales had a strong week, going 4-1 on the mound, while allowing just one earned run over 28.2 innings for a 0.24 ERA...collected 30 strikeouts and allowed just 1 walk...posted 13 strikeouts in two A-10 wins over La Salle on Mar. 20-21.
Emily Jeffery - Charlotte
Junior, Pitcher, Matthews, N.C./Butler HS
Jeffery had a solid week in the circle allowing only one run across her 24 plus innings of work to pick up four wins on the week and record a weekly ERA of 0.29...also only allowed nine hits over the five games where she saw action and struck out 31 batters...had 12 strikeouts in a win over Conference foe George Washington on Mar. 20.
Softball Rookie of the Week
Sara Plourde - Massachusetts
Freshman, Pitcher, Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern HS
Plourde pitched herself into the UMass history books in UMass' doubleheader at Dayton on Mar. 22...pitched a no-hitter against the Flyers in just her second start of her career, striking out nine...after hitting the first batter with a pitch, the freshman retired the next 18 batters in a row...it was the 73rd no-hitter in UMass history and she came within one hit batter of recording just the ninth perfect game in UMass history.
Lacrosse Player of the Week
Helene Tursi - Saint Joseph's
Senior, Attack, Medford, N.J./Shawnee HS
Tursi had seven goals at Villanova on Mar. 19 in an 18-4 victory...the seven-goal showing was three shy of the school game record of 10...added two goals in the loss to Old Dominion on Mar. 21...also picked up two ground balls, three draw controls and caused one turnover in the two games...second on the team in scoring with 18 goals and two points.
Lacrosse Rookie of the Week
Megan Seidman - George Washington
Freshman, Attack, Baltimore, Md./Pikesville HS
Seidman exploded for a career-high five goals in GW's narrow 13-12 overtime loss at Johns Hopkins on Mar. 19...scored five consecutive goals for the Colonials, including the final two goals of regulation with less than 10 minutes to play to force overtime tied at 11...Seidman had netted just three goals in GW's previous eight games.
Men's Tennis Performer of the Week
Michael Anders - Charlotte
Sophomore, Pensacola, Fla./Booker T. Washington HS
Anders won both of his No. 2 singles and No. 3 doubles matches in Charlotte's 5-2 win over Gardner-Webb on Mar. 20...took his singles match, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 and bested doubles opponents, 8-5...with the victories, Anders improves to 11-13 in singles and 9-13 in doubles.
Men's Tennis Rookie of the Week
Dimitry Vizhunov - Temple
Freshman, Sochi, Russia/Mod. School N25
Vizhunov picked up a pair of singles victories, besting his fourth-flight opponents from Toledo (6-4, 4-6, 10-7) on Mar. 21, followed by a 6-3, 6-4 win against Duquesne on Mar. 22...added an 8-1 victory from the third-flight against Duquesne...has won five straight singles matches and is 9-1 in last 10 matches.
Women's Tennis Performer of the Week
Valerie Chacon - Rhode Island
Senior, Spring, Texas/Texas Tech HS
Chacon was perfect last week with a 6-for-6 showing in singles and doubles to improve to 9-2 in singles play and 12-6 in doubles on the year...picked up a 6-0, 6-3 win against No. 5 opponent from Long Island on Mar. 18, then beat his fifth-flight Florida Southern opponent, 6-1, 7-6 on Mar. 19...combined scored in all four doubles wins was 23-12.
Women's Tennis Rookies of the Week
Pam Emery - Rhode Island
Freshman, North Providence, R.I./North Providence HS
Emery was a combined 6-2 during the week, with a No. 2 singles victory over Tufts (7-5, 7-6) on Mar. 16 and a No. 4 win over Long Island on Mar. 18 (6-2, 6-1)...notched a 4-0 record from doubles, with wins over Tufts (8-3) and Long Island (8-1), as well as Florida Southern (8-5) on Mar. 19 and Oklahoma Baptist (8-6) on Mar. 20...improved to 14-4 in singles and 14-6 in doubles on the year.
Andrea Rivera - Charlotte
Freshman, Lima, Peru/Abraham Lincoln HS
Rivera swept three doubles matches and went 2-1 in singles play this week, picking up third-flight victories against Appalachian State (6-1, 6-0) on Mar. 18 and East Carolina on Mar. 21 (2-6, 6-3, 6-4)...bested Appalachian State in doubles play from the second-flight, 8-4, followed by a 9-8 victory against East Carolina...added an 8-6 win over East Tennessee State on Mar. 22.
Golf Performer & Rookie of the Week
Brandon Rukin - George Washington
Freshman, Pepper Pike, Ohio/Orange HS
Rukin had the highest finish of his collegiate career, tying for second in the George Washington Invitational on Mar. 20-21...he carded a two-round 146 (74-72), which was just one stroke off the lead...was the top finisher for GW, which placed sixth of the 22 teams in competition.
Men's Outdoor Track & Field Performer of the Week
Darius Law - Charlotte
Sophomore, Raleigh, N.C., Southeast Raleigh HS
Law turned in another school record-setting performance in the 400m dash after he crossed the line with a time 46.58 at the 49er Classic on March 21...eclipsed the former standard of 46.75 seconds before turning in a victory in the 400m dash finals...also qualified for NCAA Regionals in the 200m dash after clocking a time of 21.21.
Men's Outdoor Track & Field Rookie of the Week
Sam Jordan - Charlotte
Freshman, Wilmington, N.C./Laney HS
Jordan hit a NCAA Regional qualification in the 100m dash with his third-place finish in the event in a time of 10.77 at the 49er Classic on Mar. 21...also turned in a solid 200m dash time with a 21.73 performance...added a second-place finish as a member of Charlotte's 4x100m relay, which timed a 41.64.
Women's Outdoor Track & Field Performers of the Week
Amanda Cole - Temple
Senior, New Castle, Del./Charter School of Wilmington
Cole placed first in the hammer throw at the Wake Forest Invitational on Mar. 21...her toss of 186-7 bettered her school-record and was good enough for ECAC and NCAA Regional qualifying marks.
Lamarra Currie - Charlotte
Senior, Apex, N.C./Apex HS
Currie turned in a phenomenal time of 11.29 in the 100m dash prelims, then clocked a NCAA Regional qualifying time in the finals of 11.60 seconds at the 49er Classic on Mar. 21...she also competed on the 4x100m relay squad that victorious with a time of 45.88.
Women's Outdoor Field & Field Rookies of the Week
Caitlin Van Dodewaard - Charlotte
Freshman, Renfrew, Ontario Canada/Renfrew Collegiate Institute
Van Dodewaard was victorious in the shot put with a 42-3 ¼ throw and was the top collegiate finishers in the discus with an NCAA-qualifying toss of 144-1 at the 49er Classic on Mar. 21...also the ninth place finisher in the hammer throw, with a mark of 126-4.
Ananda Fraser - Rhode Island
Junior, Diego Martin, Trinidad/Chesire Academy (Conn.)
Fraser won the triple jump and set the school-record with a leap of 40-11 at the Miami Hurricane Invitational on Mar. 21, which was her first outdoor track & field event in her career...with the jump, Fraser qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships, exceeding the qualifying standard by a half-foot.
