Crossroads League Announces Athletes of the Week | September 22-28
JACKSON, Mich. – The Crossroads League Athletes of the Week were announced on Monday, recognizing the league’s top individual performances from September 22 through 28. Sports Information Directors from the league institutions nominate student-athletes for the awards and vote on each week’s winners.
Volleyball Attacker of the Week
Eva Joldersma, Indiana Wesleyan
Joldersma headlined a pair of Top-25 wins for No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan, logging 25 kills in a five-set clash with No. 21 Marian, before swinging for 15 kills in a sweep of No. 22 Taylor. For the week, the two-time NAIA Player of the Year averaged 5.0 kills per set.
Volleyball Defender of the Week
Liz Schmidt, Grace
Schmidt averaged an eye-popping 9.3 digs per set for Grace in a pair of three-set defeats. The senior had 31 digs against No. 16 Mount Vernon Nazarene, before collecting 25 digs in a loss to Huntington.
Volleyball Setter of the Week
Abbigail Porter, Indiana Wesleyan
Porter averaged 11.9 assists, 2.5 digs, 0.8 blocks and 0.3 service aces per set to help No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan remain perfect in league play with wins over No. 21 Marian and No. 22 Taylor. In the five-set clash with MU, Porter had 55 assists, 15 digs, six blocks and two aces.
Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Nora Pollock, Grace
Pollock repeated as the CL’s top offensive performer, adding three more goals and three more assists in No. 23 Grace’s lopsided wins over Saint Francis and Huntington. The freshman forward’s nine total points helped the Lancers to an 11-1 scoring differential in the two wins.
Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Avery Sluss, Indiana Wesleyan
Sluss and the No. 8 Wildcats did not allow a goal in tilts against No. 13 Spring Arbor and No. 24 Taylor. Sluss protected the IWU goal with nine total saves in her 180 minutes of work, helping Indiana Wesleyan to a 0-0 draw with SAU and a 1-0 win over TU.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Gustavo Nunes, Marian
Nunes scored once in each of No. 15 Marian’s contests last week, posting one goal and one assist in a 3-0 win over Huntington, before scoring MU’s lone goal in a draw with Goshen. The junior forward finished the week with two goals, one assist and five points for the Knights.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Kadin Wolfe, Indiana Wesleyan
Wolfe helped No. 11 Indiana Wesleyan to a 1-1 draw with No. 24 Spring Arbor and a 3-0 win over Taylor by picking up five saves against SAU and two more in the clean sheet against TU. The senior keeper closed the week with seven saves and one goal allowed in his 180 minutes.
Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week
Jaynie Halterman, Taylor
Halterman shattered her own NAIA and Taylor 6k records by finishing fourth overall at the Florida State Seminole Invite. Halterman finished with a blistering time of 20:04.7, finishing just seconds behind runners from LSU and Florida State for the race title.
Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week
Josh Bainbridge, Indiana Wesleyan
Bainbridge took fourth place at the Gans Creek Classic with a time of 24:50.3 to help No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan secure the team title at the NCAA Division I and II event.
Women’s Golfer of the Week
Izzy Aigner, Bethel
Aigner posted scores of 74 and 76 for No. 24 Bethel at the Battle at Blackthorn, tying for first place on the individual leaderboard and helping the Pilots to a program-record score and the team championship.
Men’s Golfer of the Week
Will Schuitema, Taylor
Schuitema set a Taylor record and won the Battle at Blackthorn by four shots with an 11-under par score of 133 over the two-round event. The win was Schuitema’s first career title and led Taylor to the team championship.