Monday, November 14, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – A pair of solid efforts against regionally-ranked teams that secured a share of the conference volleyball title for Alaska Anchorage leads this week’s list of honorees for GNAC Players of the Week.

Sophomore outside hitter Leah Swiss was selected as the Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week after she finished with 41 kills and a .319 hitting percentage in wins over regionally-ranked Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington. She finished with 27 kills on Thursday against the Crusaders and had kills on three of the final four rallies to secure the four-set win. She returned on Saturday to finish with 14 kills in the win over Central Washington.

Freshman middle blocker Diana Fa’amausili netted the first GNAC weekly honor of her career as she was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week. She finished with 13 blocks to go along with 30 kills in the two matches. She finished with eight blocks against Northwest Nazarene, tying a career-best, and then led the Seawolves with 15 kills in the win over Central Washington.

Central Washington netted two of the conference’s three football awards in the final week of the regular season. Quarterback Justin Lane earned Offensive Player of the Week honors after he completed 28 of 36 passes for a school-record 469 yards and three touchdowns in the Wildcats’ 37-30 win over Humboldt State. He broke the old record of 467 passing yards set by former CWU head coach and current Eastern Washington head coach Beau Baldwin in 1991. Linebacker Sean Elledge was named Defensive Player of the Week after he came alive for 17 tackles, including seven solo tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, a half-sack and a forced fumble in the win.

Humboldt State kicker Cameron Southward was named the Special Teams Player of the Week after he went 2 for 3 on field goals, with a long make of 36 yards, and 3 for 3 on extra-point attempts in the loss at Central Washington.

Saint Martin’s Tyler Copp and Western Washington’s Taylor Peacocke earned the first basketball Player of the Week awards for the 2016-17 season. Copp was named Men’s Basketball Player of the Week after he averaged 23 points and seven rebounds per game and shot 65.2 percent from the field as the Saints opened with wins over Fresno Pacific and Point Loma. Peacocke was named the Women’s Basketball Player of the Week after she scored 50 points and averaged four assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in Vikings’ wins over Humboldt State and Fresno Pacific. She was named the Most Valuable Player of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic, hosted by Seattle Pacific.

This week’s GNAC Player of the Week awards honors seven players from five GNAC member schools. Alaska Anchorage and Central Washington each had two selections.

GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS – WEEK 10
FOOTBALL
Offensive: Justin Lane (Central Washington, QB, 6-2, 211, Sr., Arlington, Wash. – Illinois State Univ.): Lane threw for a Central Washington single-game record of 469 yards to end the season with a 37-30 win over Humboldt State. He completed 28 of 36 passes for the 469 yards with three touchdowns. Lane broke the previous passing record of 467 yards set by Beau Baldwin in 1991. Also Nominated: Kurt Scoby (Azusa Pacific), Nick Duckworth (Western Oregon), Marjani Ellison (Humboldt State).

Defensive: Sean Elledge (Central Washington, LB, 6-0, 221, Jr., Monroe, Wash. – Glacier Peak): Elledge led the Central Washington defensive effort with 17 tackles, including seven solo stops, 3.5 tackles for loss, a half-sack and a forced fumble in the Wildcats’ 37-30 win over Humboldt State. Also Nominated: C.J. Broussard (Azusa Pacific), Bo Highburger (Western Oregon).

Special Teams: Cameron Southward (Humboldt State, K, 6-1, 200 Sr., Auburn, Calif. – American River JC): Southward went 2 for 3 on field goals, connecting on a long attempt of 36 yards, and went 3 for 3 on point-after attempts in the Lumberjacks’ 37-30 loss to Central Washington.

VOLLEYBALL
Offensive: Leah Swiss (Alaska Anchorage, OH, 6-0, So., Anchorage, Alaska – Dimond): Swiss finished with 41 kills and a .319 hitting percentage to lead the Seawolves to two home wins and a share of the GNAC championship. She finished with 27 kills and hit .393 in Thursday’s win over Northwest Nazarene, which included three of the final four kills in the deciding fourth set. Swiss added 14 kills in the four-set win over Central Washington on Saturday. Also Nominated: Lindsey Dorsey (Concordia), Tamara Nipp (Simon Fraser), Angala Jensen (Montana State Billings), Shelby Mauritson (Central Washington), Kayleigh Harper (Western Washington), Amanda Short (Western Oregon), Madi Farrell (Northwest Nazarene).

Defensive: Diana Fa’amausili (Alaska Anchorage, MB/RS, 5-11, Fr., Federal Way, Wash. – Kent-Meridian): Fa’amausili finished with 13 blocks to go along with 30 kills in the Seawolves’ four-set wins over Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday. She had eight of her blocks against the Crusaders and had the team-high with 15 kills against Central Washington. Also Nominated: Kylee Cornelio (Montana State Billings), Joellee Buckner (Western Washington), Christie Colasurdo (Western Oregon), Shayli Siegfreid (Northwest Nazarene).

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Tyler Copp (Saint Martin’s, G, 6-1, Sr., Camas, Wash. – Union): Copp averaged 23 points and seven rebounds per game and shot 65.2 percent from the field to lead the Saints to two opening weekend victories. Copp had a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds while connecting on 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 9 from three-points range in a 73-52 win at Fresno Pacific and then scored 22 points on 8 of 11 from the field in Saturday’s 86-80 overtime win over Point Loma. Copp also finished the weekend 12 of 3 from the free throw line. Also Nominated: Coleman Wooten (Seattle Pacific), Latrell Wilson (Concordia), Marc Matthews (Montana State Billings), Dom Hunter (Central Washington), Jeffrey Parker (Western Washington), Tanner Omlid (Western Oregon), Jayden Bezzant (Northwest Nazarene).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Taylor Peacocke (Western Washington, G, 5-9, Sr., Kenmore, Wash. – Sacramento State Univ.): Peacocke was named the Most Valuable Player of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic after she scored 50 points and averaged four assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in the Vikings’ wins over Humboldt State and Fresno Pacific. She finished with 28 points on 10 of 16 from the floor and 6 of 9 from three-point range in the 91-49 win over the Lumberjacks and finished with 22 points on 6 of 9 from the field and 4 of 6 from the three-point line in a 68-39 win over Fresno State. Also Nominated: Bailey Cartwright (Concordia), Ellen Kett (Simon Fraser), Rylee Kane (Montana State Billings), Taylor Baird (Central Washington), Shelby Snook (Western Oregon), Autumn Williams (Alaska Anchorage), Lexi Tubbs (Northwest Nazarene).