ST. PAUL -- As the 2011 fall season goes on, the competition for the UMAC Player of the Week awards have heated up. The following award winners have emerged from a talented group of nominations to represent their sport and division this week.
FOOTBALL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
WR Wes Schmidgall, Eureka College
In Saturday's game against Greenville, Eureka's Wes Schmidgall set new personal bests in receptions and receiving yards with 18 and 273 and scored all three of his touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the game to help the Red Devils erase a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit.
FOOTBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DB Ben Anderson, Northwestern College
Ben Anderson did it all in Northwestern's 35-26 victory over Martin Luther on Saturday, forcing two fumbles and grabbing an interception to go with 10 tackles, eight of which were solo.
FOOTBALL SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
P Jordan Jefferson, Eureka College
Jordan Jefferson punted seven times for 291 yards with a long punt of 54 yards and one punt inside the 20-yard line in Eureka's game against Greenville. His 41.6 yards per punt average was a season high.
MEN'S SOCCER OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
F Kyle Farrar, College of St. Scholastica
In an 8-0 win over Martin Luther on Saturday, St. Scholastica Kyle Farrar scored four goals while earning player of the week status for the second consecutive week.
MEN'S SOCCER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
GK Tyler Weber, University of Minnesota Morris
Tyler Weber posted his eighth shutout while leading the Cougars to a 2-0 week. Weber logged five total saves, including four against Northwestern as the Cougars knocked off the then-second-place Eagles.
WOMEN'S SOCCER OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MF Kindra Fairburn, Bethany Lutheran College
Kindra Fairburn scored two goals at critical times last week, helping the Vikings go from fifth place to fourth in the UMAC standings, scoring once on Tuesday against Martin Luther and again on Saturday against Northland.
WOMEN'S SOCCER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
D Katie Kestner, University of Minnesota Morris
Minnesota Morris' Katie Kestner backed a defense that allowed just 10 total shots on the weekend. Kestner and the Cougars defense allowed just four shots on goal, while posting their sixth shutout. Against Crown, Morris allowed just one shot, with none on goal.
VOLLEYBALL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
OH Anna Zyvoloski, College of St. Scholastica
Anna Zyvoloski led the Saints attack in a pair of conference sweeps over the weekend. Zyvolsoki recorded her 15th double-double of the season on Saturday. Zyvoloski averaged 5.5 kills per set and a .280 attacking percentage while averaging three digs per set.
VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MB Courtney Jonas, Northwestern College
Courtney Jonas was a wall on the front row last week, recording 17 blocks (1.7 per set) as Northwestern held opponents to a .071 attacking percentage. Jonas also averaged 2.7 kills per set and a .510 personal attacking percentage on offense
VOLLEYBALL SETTER OF THE WEEK
S Krista Stoltz, Northwestern College
Northwestern hit .311 on the week as Krista Stoltz averaged 11.4 assists per set and eclipsed the 1,000 assist mark for the season to help the Eagles improve to 11-0 in UMAC play.