Monday, March 8, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. – A pair of impressive offensive performances on the diamond for Western Washington’s Rylie Wales and Montana State Billings’ Daniel Cipriano lead a lengthy list of GNAC Player of the Week winners.

Wales was named the Softball Player of the Week after batting .583 with four runs, seven hits, eight RBI, three doubles and a home run as the Vikings went 3-1 in their series at Central Washington. The junior went 2 for 3 in each of Western Washington’s wins. She scored three runs and had a solo home run in Sunday’s 19-2 opening-game win and had a two-run double and a three-run double in the nightcap, a 15-3 win.

Cipriano was named the Baseball Player of the Week after he compiled a .533 batting average, .562 on-base percentage and a 1.333 slugging percentage in four games at UC Colorado Springs. Cipriano became the MSUB all-time leader in home runs during the trip, hitting three including a grand slam in Sunday’s opener. The senior went 3 for 4 in that game while also finishing with two hits in each of the second games of the doubleheaders.

Northwest Nazarene sophomore Sidney Booth was named the Softball Pitcher of the Week after earning two wins in a four-game series with Division III Whitworth. She went the distance in Friday’s opener, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out 10 in the 4-0 win.

Western Oregon senior Logan Hatley earned Baseball Pitcher of the Week honors after he earned the win in Thursday’s 18-2 second game against Saint Martin’s. In four innings, Hatley allowed one unearned run on two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

Northwest Nazarene swept both basketball awards. Sophomore forward Nyalam Thabach was named the Women’s Basketball Player of the Week after she averaged 25 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in a split with Montana State Billings. She finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in Friday’s 80-79 loss before finishing with 26 points and four rebounds in Saturday’s 75-72 victory.

Senior guard Ezekiel Alley earned the final Men’s Basketball Player of the Week award for the season after he averaged 27.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in a road split at Central Washington. Alley led all scorers with 29 points in Friday’s 94-84 loss and then finished with 26 points and seven rebounds in Saturday’s 90-75 victory.

Seattle Pacific made it a clean sweep of track and field awards with a quartet of solid performances at the PLU Opener. Senior Grace Bley was named the Women’s Track Athlete of the Week after she won the 200 meters with a time of 24.81 seconds that ranks second in Division II this season. Senior Scout Cai was named the Women’s Field Athlete of the Week after winning the pole vault with a lifetime best and Division II leading mark of 12 feet, 11.55 inches, which provisionally qualifies her for the NCAA Championships.

A pair of freshmen earned the men’s awards. Jeff Gordon took the Men’s Track Athlete of the Week honor after he won the 200 meters in a time of 22.12 seconds, which ranks No. 6 in Division II this season. Carter McGinnis earned Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors after he won the pole vault with a clearance of 14 feet, 1.25 inches, ranking him No. 10 in Division II.

On the links, Northwest Nazarene junior Taylor Entenman was named the Women’s Golf Player of the Week after she placed 12th at the Pioneer Shootout with a two-day score of 160. She led the Nighthawks to a fifth-place finish in the team’s opening tournament of the 2020-21 season.

The Nighthawks swept the men’s soccer weekly awards after compiling a tie and a victory at Saint Martin’s. Freshman midfielder Lukas Juodkunaitis was named the Men’s Soccer Player of the Week after he scored the game-winning goal and assisted on the insurance goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win. Sophomore goalie Sawyer Price earned Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week honors after improving to 3-1-1 on the season. He allowed one goal in the 1-1 tie on Thursday and made seven saves in the two matches.

Western Oregon junior goalkeeper Kendall Rooney was named the Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week after holding Carroll (Mont.) scoreless for the first 45 minutes of the match in the Wolves’ 2-0 season-opening loss on Sunday in Vancouver, Washington.

Saint Martin’s succeeded in sweeping the volleyball awards after splitting a pair of five-set matches with Seattle Pacific on Tuesday. Sophomore outside hitter Kylie Coon was named the Offensive Player of the Week after she finished with 13 kills in each match with a .187 hitting percentage. She finished with a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs in the five-set win in the opening match.

Sophomore Giselle Benetti was named the Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week after she averaged 3.78 digs per set in the two matches, led by her 23 digs in the nightcap.

GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS – WEEK 9
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Ezekiel Alley (Northwest Nazarene, G, 6-0, Sr., Tucson, Ariz. – Fullerton Coll.): Alley led the Nighthawks to a split in the final week of the regular season at Central Washington, averaging 27.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in two games. Alley led all scorers with 29 points in Friday’s 94-84 loss, making 13 of 20 from the field and 3 of 4 from three-point range to go with two rebounds, two assists and two steals. He finished with 26 points in Saturday’s 90-75 victory with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal. For the week, Alley made 57.5 percent of his shots from the field, 54.5 percent from three-point range and went a perfect 3 for 3 from the free throw line. Also Nominated: Goy Wang (Saint Martin’s).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Nyalam Thabach (Northwest Nazarene, F, 6-2, So., Boise, Idaho – UC Santa Barbara): Thabach averaged 25 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 66.7 percent from the field as the Nighthawks closed the season with a split against Montana State Billings. Thabach finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and four blocks in Friday’s 80-79 loss, connecting on 10 of 17 from the field. She led all scorers with 26 points in Saturday’s 75-72 victory to go with four rebounds. She made 12 of 16 from the field and 2 of 4 from outside. Also Nominated: Taryn Shelley (Montana State Billings), Claire Dingus (Saint Martin’s), Avery Dykstra (Western Washington).

BASEBALL PLAYER
Daniel Cipriano (Montana State Billings, 1B, 6-3, Sr., Agoura Hills, Calif. – Moorpark Coll.): Cipriano led Montana State Billings with a .533 batting average, .562 on-base percentage and a 1.333 slugging percentage in four games at UC Colorado Springs. In the process, Cipriano became MSUB’s career leader in home runs, hitting three over the weekend. After hitting a solo homer in Friday’s opener, Cipriano went 2 for 4 in the second game with a two-RBI double in the first and an RBI single in the second. He went 3 for 4 in Sunday’s opener, which included a grand slam that gave him the MSUB record. He closed the series by going 2 for 3 with a two-run homer in the first. Also Nominated: James Gunther (Saint Martin’s), Jacob Maiben (Western Oregon).

BASEBALL PITCHER
Logan Hatley (Western Oregon, P, 6-6, Sr., Dallas, Ore. – Linn-Benton CC): Hatley picked up the win in Thursday’s 18-2 win over Saint Martin’s. In the seven-inning game, Hatley allowed one unearned run on two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in four innings of work. The effort allowed the Wolves to sweep the doubleheader from the Saints in their opening games of the 2021 season. Also Nominated: Connor Redmond (Montana State Billings), Scott Gunther (Saint Martin’s).

SOFTBALL PLAYER
Rylie Wales (Western Washington, OF, 5-8, Jr., Snohomish, Wash. – Snohomish): Wales led Western Washington to a 3-1 week by batting .583, going 7 for 12 with four runs, seven hits, eight RBI, three doubles and a home run. Wales went 2 for 3 with an RBI single in Saturday’s 6-5 second-game victory. She went 2 for 3 with three runs and a solo home run in Sunday’s 19-2, six-inning win. Booth then went 2 for 3 with a two-RBI double in the third and a three-RBI double in the fifth in the 15-3, five-inning win. Also Nominated: Allie Hughes (Montana State Billings), Ivy Hommel (Northwest Nazarene).

SOFTBALL PITCHER
Sidney Booth (Northwest Nazarene, P, 5-4, So., Puyallup, Wash. – Puyallup): Booth went 2-0 and compiled a 1.31 earned run average in two wins over Whitworth. Booth earned the complete-game shutout in Friday’s 4-0 opener, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out 10. She earned the win in Saturday’s opener in relief, allowing two runs on nine hits with a walk and four strikeouts in three innings for the 9-5 win. In 10.2 innings, Booth allowed two runs on 11 hits with two walks and 14 strikeouts. Also Nominated: Julia Qualteri (Montana State Billings), Anna Kasner (Western Washington).

MEN’S TRACK
Jeff Gordon (Seattle Pacific, Fr., Stafford, Va. – Brooke Point): Gordon opened his collegiate career by winning the 200 meters at the PLU Opener, clocking a time of 22.12 seconds. The time ranks No. 6 in Division II in the young season. Gordon also ran the anchor leg on the Falcons’ 4x400-meter relay, which placed second. Also Nominated: Jack Farrell (Saint Martin’s).

MEN’S FIELD
Carter McGinnis (Seattle Pacific, Fr., Wenatchee, Wash. – Wenatchee): McGinnis opened his Seattle Pacific career by winning the pole vault at the PLU Opener, clearing 14 feet, 1.25 inches. He won the event by over six inches and currently has the No. 10 mark in Division II this season. Also Nominated: Josh Schulz (Saint Martin’s).

WOMEN’S TRACK
Grace Bley (Seattle Pacific, Sr., Puyallup, Wash. - Puyallup): Bley ran the second-fastest time in Division II this season to win the 200 meters at the PLU Opener. Having not run competitively since 2019, Bley finished with a time of 24.81 seconds. Also Nominated: Makiya Worthy (Saint Martin’s).

WOMEN’S FIELD
Scout Cai (Seattle Pacific, Sr., Colfax, Wash. – Colfax): Cai opened the 2021 season by notching a lifetime best in the pole vault at the PLU Opener. She won the event by clearing 12 feet, 11.5 inches, bettering her previous lifetime best by 1.5 inches. The mark leads Division II, is a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA Championships and improves her No. 2 mark on GNAC All-Time List. Also Nominated: Johanna Zilla (Saint Martin’s).

WOMEN’S GOLF
Taylor Entenman (Northwest Nazarene, Jr., La Center, Wash. – La Center): Entenman was the top GNAC golfer at the Pioneer Shootout, placing 12th with a two-round score of 160. She shot a low 18-hole round of 78 on the opening day and led the Nighthawks to a fifth-place finish in their first tournament of the 2020-21 season.

MEN’S SOCCER OFFENSIVE
Lukas Juodkunaitis (Northwest Nazarene, M, 6-1, Fr., Vilnius, Lithuania – Vilniaus Seurages Gimnazija): Juodkunaitis tallied nine shots, three on goal, in the Nighthawks’ two matches at Saint Martin’s on Thursday and Saturday. He scored the game-winning goal on Saturday unassisted in the 30th minute and then added an assist on Lorenzo Valentini’s insurance strike in the 71st minute.

MEN’S SOCCER DEFENSIVE
Sawyer Price (Northwest Nazarene, GK, 6-2, So., Olympia, Wash. – Olympia): Price played all 200 minutes in goal for the Nighthawks on the road trip to Saint Martin’s. He allowed one goal in Thursday’s 1-1 tie, making four saves. Price then earned the shutout in Saturday’s 2-0 victory, making three saves to improve to 3-1-1 on the season.

WOMEN’S SOCCER DEFENSIVE
Kendall Rooney (Western Oregon, GK, 5-10, Jr., Happy Valley, Ore. – Humboldt State Univ.): Rooney held Carroll (Mont.) scoreless in the first 45 minutes of an eventual 2-0 loss to the Saints on Sunday in Vancouver, Washington. It was Rooney’s first action in a Western Oregon uniform after transferring from Humboldt State.

VOLLEYBALL OFFENSIVE
Kylie Coon (Saint Martin’s, OH, 5-8, So., Beaumont, Calif. – Beaumont): Coon averaged 2.60 kills and 1.90 digs per set and compiled a .187 hitting percentage as Saint Martin’s opened the season by splitting a pair of five-set matches with Seattle Pacific on Tuesday. Coon had 13 kills in each match and registered a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs in the opener. Coon also had two aces in the opener and a block in each match. Also Nominated: Lindsey Lambert (Seattle Pacific).

VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE
Giselle Benetti (Saint Martin’s, OH, 5-10, So., Newberg, Ore. – Newberg): Benetti paced the Saints defensively in the split of a pair of five-set matches with Seattle Pacific on Tuesday, averaging 3.78 digs per set. Benetti notched 11 digs to go along with an ace in the opener before adding 23 digs and an ace in the nightcap.