Monday, August 29, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – Western Oregon sophomore Olivia Holdenried came up big in a pair of huge non-conference wins while Seattle Pacific senior Lars Helleren could not be beat as the two goalkeepers lead this week’s GNAC Player of the Week selections.

Holdenried was named the first Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week for 2022 after making 20 saves in two victories over defending conference champions. She opened the season with 14 saves against 34 shots as the Wolves collected a 1-0 shutout at No. 20 Sonoma State. Returning home on Saturday, Holdenried made six saves as the Wolves beat defending RMAC champ Colorado Mesa 3-2.

Helleren earned a pair of shutouts to earn Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week honors as Seattle Pacific finished with 0-0 ties against Chico State on Thursday and Sonoma State on Saturday. Helleren made four saves against 13 shots against the Wildcats and notched a pair of saves against the Seawolves.

Simon Fraser freshman Chelsea Crocq earned the Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week honor thanks to the game-winning goal in her first collegiate match, a 1-0 win over MSU Denver on Friday. Crocq played 79 minutes and scored the game-winner in the 43rd minute off an assist by Kiana Buono.

Northwest Nazarene sophomore Jimmy Koufidakis is the first Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week for 2022 after scoring the opening goal in both matches for the Nighthawks. He connected in the eighth minute of Thursday’s 2-2 tie at Cal Poly Humboldt and then scored in the ninth minute of Saturday’s 2-1 win at Cal State East Bay.

Western Washington senior Chloe Roetcisoender was named the Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week after she averaged 2.62 kills and 1.69 blocks per set with a .446 hitting percentage and was named the MVP of the WWU Volleyball Invitational. Roetcisoender opened with seven kills and seven blocks in a three-set sweep of No. 20 Ferris State on Friday. She posted weekend highs of 16 kills and eight blocks in Saturday’s four-set victory over Regis.

Montana State Billings sophomore Christine Funk averaged 4.79 digs per set in the Yellowjackets’ four wins to earn Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week honors. Funk opened with a 25-dig performance in Friday’s five-set win over MSU Moorhead and then notched 18 digs and two assists in Saturday’s three-set sweep of Chadron State. Funk had double-digit digs in all three matches.

The two Cross Country Athlete of the Week awards go to the winners of the season-opening Blue & Gold Invite on Saturday in Fairbanks. Alaska Anchorage’s Coleman Nash won the men’s 8,000-meter race in 27:27 while Alaska’s Kendall Kramer won the women’s 5,000-meter race in a time of 18:28. It was a repeat victory in the meet for both athletes with Nash and Kramer having won the 2021 edition of the meet.

GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS – WEEK 2
MEN’S SOCCER OFFENSIVE
Jimmy Koufidakis (Northwest Nazarene, F, 6-0, So., Mesa, Ariz. – Red Mountain): Koufidakis scored a goal in each of NNU’s two matches in a 1-0-1 start for the Nighthawks. He opened the season by scoring in the eighth minute of Thursday’s 2-2 tie at Cal Poly Humboldt. Koufidakis opened scoring again in the ninth minute in the Nighthawks’ 2-1 victory at Cal State East Bay. Also Nominated: Alex Grignon (Western Oregon), Ryan Rotter (Western Washington).

MEN’S SOCCER DEFENSIVE
Lars Helleren (Seattle Pacific, GK, 6-2, Sr., Edmonds, Wash. – King’s): Helleren opened the season with two shutouts in a pair of ties. In Thursday’s 0-0 deadlock with Chico State, Helleren finished with four saves against 13 shots taken. On Saturday in the 0-0 tie with Sonoma State, Helleren made two stops as the Seawolves took 11 shots.  Also Nominated: Lorenzo Valentini (Northwest Nazarene), Justyn Sandhu (Simon Fraser), Enrique Gomez (Western Oregon), Mitchell Hutter (Western Washington).

WOMEN’S SOCCER OFFENSIVE
Chelsea Crocq (Simon Fraser, M, 5-6, Fr., Calgary, Alta. – St. Francis): Crocq made the most of her first collegiate match, scoring the game-winner in the 43rd minute in Simon Fraser’s 1-0 win over MSU Denver on Friday. She connected from 11 yards out on the left side of the box off of Kiana Buono’s assist. Also Nominated: Madison Grande (Northwest Nazarene), Jenna Efraimson (Western Oregon).

WOMEN’S SOCCER DEFENSIVE
Olivia Holdenried (Western Oregon, GK, 5-7, So., Windsor, Calif. – Windsor): Holdenrieid finished with 20 saves in two matches as Western Oregon opened the season with a pair of victories. She came up big in the season-opener against No. 20 Sonoma State, making 14 saves against 34 shots in a 1-0 road shutout of the Seawolves. Holdenried followed that up with six saves in the Wolves’ 3-2 home victory over defending RMAC champion Colorado Mesa.  Also Nominated: Sarah Loewen (Simon Fraser), Jadyn Nguyen (Western Washington).

VOLLEYBALL OFFENSIVE
Chloe Roetcisoender (Western Washington, MB, 6-0, Sr., Duvall, Wash. – Cedar Park Christian): Roetcisoender was named the MVP of the WWU Volleyball Invitational after she averaged 2.62 kills and 1.69 blocks per set in four wins for the Vikings, including one nationally-ranked program and two others that received national poll votes. On Friday, Roetcisoender finished with seven kills and seven blocks in a three-set sweep of No. 20 Ferris State and then amassed another seven kills in a three-set sweep of Sonoma State. She opened Saturday with a match-leading 16 kills and eight blocks in a four-set win over Regis before closing the week with four kills and four blocks in a sweep of Cal State LA. Also Nominated: Rilee White (Alaska), Ellen Floyd (Alaska Anchorage), Hannah Hashbarger (Montana State Billings), Olivia Wright (Northwest Nazarene), Brooke Dexter (Simon Fraser), Bailee Hartsook (Western Oregon).

VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE
Christine Funk (Montana State Billings, DS/L, 5-4, So., Choteau, Mont. - Choteau): Funk averaged 4.79 digs per set as Montana State Billings posted a 4-0 start to the season. She opened with a 25-dig performance in Friday’s five-set win over MSU Moorhead before finishing with 10 digs and five assists in a sweep of Mary. On Saturday, Funk finished with 18 digs and two assists in a sweep of Chadron State and ended the weekend with 14 digs in a sweep of South Dakota Mines. Also Nominated: Jessa Long (Alaska), Talia Leauanae (Alaska Anchorage), Emma Daoud-Hebert (Central Washington), Miya Koch (Northwest Nazarene), Kalyn Hartmann (Simon Fraser), Delaney Smith (Western Oregon), Kasey Woodruff (Western Washington).

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Coleman Nash (Alaska Anchorage, So., Littleton, Colo. - Chatfield): For the second year in a row, Nash opened the cross country season by winning the Blue & Gold Invite in Fairbanks. Nash covered the 8,000-meter course in 27:17 to score a 35-second victory over teammate Jesus Avalos. It was the fourth career cross country victory for Nash, who led Alaska Anchorage to an 11-point victory in the dual meet over Alaska.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
Kendall Kramer (Alaska, So., Fairbanks, Alaska – West Valley): Kramer opened the season with the victory at the Blue & Gold Invite on Saturday. She covered the 5,000-meter course in 18:28 to win by 11 seconds over teammate Rosie Fordham. She won the meet for the second season in a row and led the Nanooks to the victory over Alaska Anchorage with 27 points.