Posted: Sep 15, 2014

SLIAC Players of the Week - Sept. 15

Several student-athletes opened up conference play in their sports with impressive outings this week, garnering Player of the Week honors. This week's SLIAC Players of the Week are Drew Cook, Kelsey Kaiser, Rachel Nelson, Andrew Sharp, Savannah Sells, Logan Spencer, Meghan Sykora, and Molly Works.

	MEN'S SOCCER (OFFENSIVE) DREW COOK, WESTMINSTER COLLEGE Cook, a sophomore from St. Louis, Mo., is the Offensive Player of the Week after recording a goal in each of his team's games this past week, the only goals on the week for the Blue Jays. Cook scored his team's lone goal in a loss to Columbia but helped Westminster bounce back by netting the game winner in a 1-0 win over Millikin. Cook's two goals came on just six shots with his game winner against Millikin coming in double overtime.
	MEN'S SOCCER (DEFENSIVE) LOGAN SPENCER, SPALDING UNIVERSITY Spencer, a junior from Henderson, Ky., is the SLIAC Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week after notching a shutout and allowing just two goals on the week. Spencer started the week with a four save shutout performance against Anderson. He added seven saves in a double overtime loss to Wabash and finished the week with an .846 save percentage.
	WOMEN'S SOCCER (OFFENSIVE) MEGHAN SYKORA, BLACKBURN COLLEGE Sykora, a freshman from Arnold, Mo., tallied four goals in three games on the week, helping Blackburn pick up a pair of wins and even their 2014 overall record. Sykora scored the Beavers first goal against MacMurray and then assisted on the game winning goal with just over 10-minutes left in regulation. Sykora then netted a hat trick in her team's 3-0 win over Rockford.
	WOMEN'S SOCCER (DEFENSIVE) KELSEY KAISER, SPALDING UNIVERSITY Kaiser, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., recorded three saves in her team's first victory of the 2014 season. Kaiser stopped three of four shots in picking up the win, finishing the week with a 1.17 goals-against average and a .750 save percentage.
	VOLLEYBALL (OFFENSIVE) SAVANNAH SELLS, GREENVILLE COLLEGE Sells, a sophomore from Highland, Ill., was nearly unstoppable this week in opening up SLIAC play. Sells hit .486 on the week while sparking her team to three wins including a pair of conference victories. Sells started the week with 14 kills against Lincoln Christian in a non-conference match. She followed with a week high 15 kills in her team's 3-2 win over Principia and added seven kills in a sweep of MacMurray. On the week Sells finished with 36 kills and just two errors in 70 attempts.
	VOLLEYBALL (DEFENSIVE) RACHEL NELSON, WEBSTER UNIVERSITY Nelson, a junior from Papillion, Neb., was impressive in her team's lone match this week, a 3-1 win over Illinois Wesleyan. Nelson recorded 11 total blocks in the win, finishing with three solo blocks and eight block assists. She added seven kills and finished the match with a team high 15 points.
	MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY ANDREW SHARP, GREENVILLE COLLEGE Sharp, a freshman from Altamont, Ill., is the SLIAC Men's Cross Country Player of the Week after a personal best time in the ONU Illinois Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships. Sharp finished the 8K race in a time of 26:38, placing 26th overall out of a field of 158 runners, and helping his team to a seventh place finish.
	WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY MOLLY WORKS, GREENVILLE COLLEGE Works, a junior from Lenzberg, Ill., set a personal record this past weekend running in the Olivet Nazarene University Illinois Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships. Works finished the 5K course in a time of 19:43, setting a new personal record and placing 24th overall. She finished with a 6:21 mile pace and helped Greenville finish 6th in the 14 team field.

Other Notables:
Tiffany Hazelwonder, MacMurray College (Women's Soccer) Hazelwonder recorded a hat trick in her team's win over Rockford, snapping a nine game losing streak by MacMurray.

Tayisah Pohtos, Westminster College (Women's Soccer) Pohtos helped her team pick up a pair of wins by recording the game winning goal in each of the Blue Jays games last week.

Tess Rountree, Principia College (Volleyball) Rountree finished the week with a total of 70 kills in her team's two matches this week.

Mike Wells, Webster University (Men's Soccer) Wells recorded Webster's first hat trick since 2012 with a three goal outing in a 4-4 tie against North Central.