ST. PAUL -- Several notable performances earned UMAC Player of the Week awards on Tuesday. Multiple categories featured nominees that could win their respective award on any given week, making Week 4's awards even more special. Please join us in congratulating the following UMAC Players of the Week:
FOOTBALL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
QB Sam Durley, Eureka College
Sam Durley set Eureka records with 29 completions, 478 passing yards and eight touchdowns in the Red Devils' win over Presentation on Saturday. His 77-yard touchdown completion to Wes Schmidgall in the fourth quarter was the longest completion of his career and his eight touchdown throws was one shy of tying the NCAA record.
FOOTBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
LB Sean Graskey, College of St. Scholastica
Despite being unable to record 12 tackles for the third consecutive game, St. Scholastica's Sean Graskey still led the Saints defense with nine tackles, including 2.5 for a loss and also had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and two pass breakups in Saturday's 44-19 victory over Minnesota-Morris. Graskey also led a defense that held Morris running back Todd Gramenz to just 15 yards on 11 carries after Gramenz had been averaging 111 yards per game in his first three games.
FOOTBALL SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
P Justin Bosman, College of St. Scholastica
St. Scholastica's Justin Bosman set a program record in Saturday's victory over Minnesota-Morris, averaging 49.0 yards per punt on four attempts. Bosman had one punt downed inside the 20-yard line for his seventh punt downed inside the 20 this season. He also had a 54-yard punt on the day, which is the fourth-longest in program history.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE WEEK
David Blumer, Bethany Lutheran College
The Vikings' David Blumer ran his best time of the season at the University of Minnesota's Roy Griak Invitational at 27:13. Blumer's performance showed that he is within striking distance of the school record of 26:59.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Linda Keller, University of Minnesota Morris
Linda Keller placed second at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday, running a 22:16.92. Keller finished just 10 seconds behind the leader, but dropped over 20 seconds from her time at the University of Minnesota's Les Bolstad Golf Course last season. Keller has placed in the top-five in the last two Griak Invites.
MEN'S GOLFER OF THE WEEK
Derek Dionne, University of Minnesota Morris
Derek Dionne went under 80 twice last week with a 79 at the Cougar Invite at Pomme de Terre Golf Course, and a 74 at the Bethany Lutheran Invite in Waseca to take runner-up honors. He was the only Cougars player under 80 each day, and has shot in the 70s in five of his seven rounds this season.
MEN'S SOCCER OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
FW Jon Schultz, Crown College
Jon Schultz led Crown's six-goal comeback against Martin Luther on Thursday with a second half hat trick and an assist for a seven point game. He added to his weekend record with a goal and an assist in Saturday's win against Bethany Lutheran on Saturday. 11 of Schultz's 18 shots were on goal.
MEN'S SOCCER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
GK Sam Reed, College of St. Scholastica
En route to recording his school record-breaking 31st career shutout, St. Scholastica's Sam Reed earned five saves last week, including a nice double save and eventually allowing the Saints to beat Minnesota Morris 1-0 on Friday.
WOMEN'S SOCCER OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
FW Leah Parker, University of Minnesota Morris
Leah Parker notched Minnesota Morris' first hat trick of the season against Northland on Sunday. Parker scored on a pair of textbook headers, while also adding a finish to a nice cross. She scored her three goals on just seven shots.
WOMEN'S SOCCER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
GK Tara Hanson, Northwestern College
Northwestern's Tara Hanson held up her side of the field against Bethany Lutheran and Martin Luther last week, allowing just one goal between the two games while the Eagles picked up two victories.
VOLLEYBALL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
OH Cari Miller, Northwestern College
Freshman Cari Miller continued to evolve at the outside hitter position for Northwestern last week, taking over matches at times as the Eagles swept their three opponents. Miller hit .418 on the week to go with 3.89 kills per set, committing just seven attacking errors while averaging 1.0 blocks per set.
VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MB Courtney Jonas, Northwestern College
As someone who only plays in the front row, Northwestern's Courtney Jonas came up big on the block last week, earning 14 blocks in nine sets to average 1.56 per set. Jonas also averaged 1.89 kills per set and a .231 attacking percentage as the Eagles went 3-0 on the week.
VOLLEYBALL SETTER OF THE WEEK
S Krista Stoltz, Northwestern College
Northwestern's Krista Stoltz was her usual self last week, setting the table for Northwestern to hit over .300 in all three of its matches while averaging 11.8 assists per set. Stoltz also took some of the offensive and defensive load herself with 1.11 kills, 1.44 digs and 0.56 blocks per set.