SLIAC Weekly Release - Sept. 3

This week in the SLIAC is a weekly review of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. It recaps the prior weeks results and highlights upcoming events. You can also find the latest standings, statistics, schedules and awards.

HEADLINES

Blackburn Names Hopping Athletic Director (August 20, 2014)
Mark Hopping has been named Interim Athletic Director for the 2014-15 school year.  Hopping, who has served as Cross Country Coach at Blackburn will remain in that role as well....MORE

Webster Officially Adds Indoor Track and Field (August 26, 2014
Men's and women's indoor track & field will become Webster University Athletics' 15th and 16th teams, as they have been officially sanctioned by the department for the 2014-15 season.  While the Gorlok track teams have participated in indoor events previously, this recognition will allow Webster track & field athletes to qualify for the NCAA III indoor national championships....MORE

Morenz Named New SLIAC Commissioner (August 27, 2014)
The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference welcomes Angie Morenz as the new commissioner of the NCAA Division III athletic conference. Morenz is a familiar face to the SLIAC and becomes just the second full-time commissioner in conference history....MORE

Webster Golf Coach Drops Weight, Regains His Swing (September 2, 2014)
Webster University golf coach Andrew Belsky was recently featured on a local sports brodcast, highlighting his success in losing over 100 pounds. Watch the video now and see his inspiring story.....MORE

SLIAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

The SLIAC Players of the Week are honored for their performances during the week. Click on the sport link below to see the full list of 2014-15 Players of the Week. For this week's Player of the Week release - HERE

Men's Soccer (Offense)- Mason Rowe, MacMurray College
Men's Soccer (Defense)- Trevor Bruner, Spalding University
Women's Soccer (Defense)- Amy Schield, Webster University
Volleyball (Offense)- Tess Rountree, Principia College
Volleyball (Defense)- Jordan Vehlewald, Webster University
Men's Cross Country- Jesse Edwards, Westminster College
Women's Cross Country- Sarah Litwiller, Principia College

Men's Soccer l Women's Soccer l Volleyball l Men's Cross Country l Women's Cross Country

SLIAC STANDINGS

AROUND THE SLIAC

The Beavers men's cross country team fared well in their opening meet of the season, finishing 4th as a team. They were led by freshman Zach Felckel, who placed 7th overall with a time of 22:27.

The Eureka fall sports programs are breaking a pair of new head coaches. Jessica Brown has taken over as the Red Devils volleyball head coach. Brown is a 2012 graduate of Western Michigan where she was a three time All-Conference player and served as an assistant coach after graduation. The Eureka soccer programs will be led by Dwain Barker. Barker joins Eureka after previously serving as head coach at Illinois Central.

The Fontbonne University women's soccer team is the only unbeaten SLIAC team remaining after the opening weekend. The Griffins picked up two wins in Cincinnati, topping St. Joseph University 2-1 and Berea College 5-0. They have their home opener this Saturday when they host Nebraska Wesleyan.

The Greenville men's soccer team picked up a pair of shutout wins in their season opening weekend. The Panthers blanked Earlham 1-0 before shutting down Anderson 4-0. Elliot Thompson and Richie Hershkowitz paced the Panthers with two goals each.

A trio of new head coaches are roaming the sidelines for the Tigers this fall. Stephen Vitale assumed men's soccer head coaching duties after coaching previously at LaGrange Academy. Jeremy Winzer is the new women's soccer coach after spending the previous year coaching at Culver-Stockton College while BJ Wagy, a 2011 graduate of Iowa Wesleyan, returns to take over as volleyball head coach.

Mason Rowe was named the SLIAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week after recording a hat trick in his team's 3-1 win over Northland College. The win also marked the first win for new MacMurray head coach Bill Koeppen.

Sarah Litwiller wasted no time in returning to her form from last year. Litwiller, the 2013 SLIAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Year, opened the 2014 season with a first-place finish. Litwiller finished the 4K race in a time of 15:22, averaging a 6:10 mile pace.

The Spalding men's soccer team is just one of two remaining undefeated teams in the SLIAC. The Golden Eagles topped Muskingum 1-0 in their season opener with Abdullahi Abdullahi netting the game's only goal. In addition defender Trevor Bruner was named the SLIAC Men's Soccer Defender of the Week after leading a defense that held the opposition to just one shot on goal.

The Webster University volleyball team opened their season with a pair of wins; sweeping Hanover College 3-0 and following a 3-2 win over Buena Vista University. It marks the first time the Gorloks opened the year 2-0 since the 2011 season. Gorlok Jordan Vehlewald was named the SLIAC Volleyball Defender of the Week after averaging 17 digs per match in the two wins.

The Westminster cross country teams had strong opening weekends. Jesse Edwards placed first at the Eagle Invitational with a time of 17:12 and earned SLIAC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week honors. On the women's side the Blue Jays took first place at the Invitational with Shannon McCaul leading the way with a first place finish in a time of 21:32.

THIS WEEK'S SLIAC SCHEDULE

To see a complete schedule of this week's SLIAC action click HERE

KEEP UP WITH THE SLIAC ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to keep up with the SLIAC using various social media tools. You can follow us on Twitter (@sliac) HERE or Facebook (St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) HERE

Once again this year Friday's will be Feature Friday's where we will get to know our current SLIAC Student-Athletes through a series of video interviews. Stay tuned as we roll out the videos in the upcoming weeks!