Posted: Sep 22, 2014

SLIAC Players of the Week - Sept. 22

This week's SLIAC Players of the Week are Rachael Ainsworth, Lexi Collier, Thomas Crown, Jason Hickson, Shannon McCaul, Kersten McDonough, Baylee Tabler, and Jordan York.

	MEN'S SOCCER (OFFENSIVE) JORDAN YORK, GREENVILLE COLLEGE York, a senior from Smithton, Ill., tallied the only goals of the week for Greenville. York gave the Panthers the lead with a goal in the 30th minute against Millsaps. After the game was tied early in the second half York netted the game winning goal in the 69th minute.
	MEN'S SOCCER (DEFENSIVE) THOMAS CROWN, GREENVILLE COLLEGE Crown, a senior from St. Louis, Mo., kept the Panthers in their game against #17 ranked Wheaton. Crown stopped 10 of 12 shots in the game including a penalty kick. Crown allowed just two goals in 90 minutes with the second goal coming late as Greenville pushed their attack forward in an attempt to score. Crown finished the week with an .833 save percentage.
	WOMEN'S SOCCER (OFFENSIVE) BAYLEE TABLER, SPALDING UNIVERSITY Tabler, a freshman from Bardstown, Ky., netted two goals in a win over Berea. Tabler scored her first goal in the 12th minute of the contest and would add a second goal early in the second half as Spalding picked up their second win of the season.
	WOMEN'S SOCCER (DEFENSIVE) RACHAEL AINSWORTH, WEBSTER UNIVERSITY Ainsworth, a freshman from Salt Lake City, Utah, nearly helped Webster pull off an upset over #1 ranked Washington University-St. Louis. Ainsworth finished the game with 13 saves, the fourth highest total by a Gorlok in program history. In her next outing Ainsworth stopped two shots in a tie against Franklin. On the week she finished with an .833 save percentage and a 1.35 goals against average.
	VOLLEYBALL (OFFENSIVE) KERSTEN McDONOUGH, FONTBONNE UNIVERSITY McDonough, a sophomore from Pacific, Mo., led her team's attack this past week, averaging 5.23 kills per set in three conference matches. McDonough recorded 19 kills and nine digs against MacMurray and followed with 18 kills in a win over Spalding. She closed out the week with a career-high 31 kills against Westminster; becoming just the second SLIAC player to reach the 30 kill mark in a conference match over the last five years. On the week she totaled 68 kills while hitting .282 and adding 16 digs.
	VOLLEYBALL (DEFENSIVE) LEXI COLLIER, WESTMINSTER COLLEGE Collier, a junior from Weston, Mo., helped the Blue Jays remain undefeated in conference play with wins over Iowa Wesleyan and Fontbonne. Collier averaged 5 blocks per match on the week including seven block assists in a win over Fontbonne. She finished the week with two solo blocks and eight block assists, averaging 1.25 blocks per set and totaling six points from blocking alone.
	MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY JASON HICKSON, WEBSTER UNIVERSITY Hickson, a senior from Hillsboro, Mo., placed 6th at this weekend's SIU Carbondale Invitational. Hickson finished the 8K race with a time of 25:59, a pace of 5:14 mile. He finished the meet as the top non-NCAA Division I finisher while his meet time was the fifth-fastest in program history.
	WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY SHANNON McCAUL, WESTMINSTER COLLEGE McCaul, a freshman from Rolla, Mo., finished the 5k Missouri Southern Stampede with a time of 20:07, a mile pace of 6:28. McCaul helped her team finish 16th overall at the meet while she finished 59th individually.

Notable Performances

Alex Boyer, MacMurray College (Volleyball) Boyer recorded seven service aces over back to back matches against Eureka and Blackburn.
Julio DeLeon, Spalding University (Men's Soccer) DeLeon assisted on three of his team's four goals on the week. Two of his assists set up the game winning goals as Spalding went 2-0 on the week.
Nicole Kelly, Blackburn College (Women's Soccer) Kelly picked up two shutouts over non-conference opponents and finished the week with 21 saves in three games.
Tess Rountree, Principia College (Volleyball) Rountree recorded a pair of 30 kill matches last week, giving her six 30 kill outings this year.