CLEVELAND, OH -- Akron's Zac Derr (football) and Miami's Courtney Seyferth
(field hockey) were named the MAC Scholar Athletes of the Week on
October 25, 1999.
Derr (Jr., 3.91, emergency management, Pittsburgh, Pa.) had a career
best with not one, but two 45-yard field goals in the Zips' 35-29
come-from-behind win against Navy at the Naval Academy. Derr was
two-for-two in field goals and finished the game with seven points. He
is now three-for-three this season from 40-to-49 yards out. His
previous best was a 44-yard field goal during the 1998 season.
Seyferth (Sr., 3.37, health appraisal & sport organization) accounted
for all three of Miami's goals last weekend, including the game-winner
against No. 19 Ohio. She took only two shots against Ohio, both of
which were goals. Seyferth scored just one goal in a 4-1 loss to Kent
on Friday. The win over Ohio marked Miami's first win in three tries
against ranked-opponents this year. She moved into the team lead for
point totals with 19 and her two goals in one game was a career high.
The honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has
a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well
during that week's competition. The winners are selected by one of the
conference's faculty athletic representatives.
Other Nominees:
Ball State: Megan Hammons (volleyball, So., 3.04, undecided, West
Liberty, Ind.) averaged 4.71 kills per game and hit .343 while totaling
3.43 digs per game last week to lead Ball State to victories over
Buffalo and Northern Illinois. Hammons, an outside attacker, managed 11
kills in the Buffalo match to help the Cardinals extend their streak of
consecutive games won at home to a school-record 16. She followed that
performance by blasting 22 kills, hitting .415 and recording 19 digs in
a four-game victory over NIU on Saturday. It marked the seventh time
this season that she totaled 20-or-more kills in a match, breaking the
previous BSU sophomore record of three set in 1989.
Bowling Green: Melissa Lewis (volleyball, Sr., 3.12, human movement
science, Mansfield, Ohio) led BGSU to a 3-0 record last week, with all
three wins coming on the road. The victories over Oakland, Akron and
Kent extended BG's current win streak to eight matches. That is the
team's longest win streak in seven years. Lewis averaged 4.67 kills and
3.17 digs per game, while hitting .321 for the week. She scored 26
kills at Akron and 15 versus both Oakland and Kent, leading the team in
all three matches. Lewis has led BG in kills in 19 of this season's 22
matches. She also leads the squad in hitting with an average of .295
(.308 in MAC matches) and is averaging 4.60 kills per game.
Buffalo: Kevin Pitra (men's soccer, So., 3.38, sociology/criminal law,
Solon, Ohio) led the team to a win over Eastern Michigan scoring the
game-winning goal with just under two minutes remaining for a 3-2 win.
It was the first goal of his career.
Central Michigan: Jennifer Mitchell (volleyball, Jr., 3.31, business,
Lake Odessa, Mich.) posted a double-double in both matches last
weekend. She had 11 blocks on the week, including three solos. She
also posted her 500th career dig during the weekend making her a 500-500
player for career kills and digs.
Kent: Maggie Downey (field hockey, Sr., 3.18, elementary education, St.
Louis, Mo.) moved to second on Kent's all-time career points list with
her second assist in a 4-1 win over Miami on Oct. 22. She had a goal
and two assists in a 3-1 victory over Louisville on Oct. 23. Downey
leads the team in points (48) and goals (16), which ranks second in the
conference.
Ohio: Mike Fox (football, So., 3.26, math education, Cincinnati, Ohio)
had five tackles from his defensive line position in Ohio's win over
Bowling Green. He recorded one sack for eight yards, his first sack of
the season. Fox was also responsible for a quarterback hurry, while
forcing and recovering a fumble, one of five Falcon turnovers forced by
the Bobcat defense. Fox is Ohio's leading tackler on the defensive line
with 32 stops. The Ohio defense held BGSU to just 123 rushing yards.
Lori Schmidt (women's soccer, 3.98, broadcast journalism, Pickerington,
Ohio) posted four saves in two matches, while allowing three goals. She
helped the Bobcats to a 2-1 win over Ball State, while falling to Miami
in overtime, 2-1. Schmidt recorded her fourth and fifth starts of the
season, filling in for the injured Vanessa Dennis. She has an .846 save
percentage (22 saves to just four goals allowed) on the season with an
.81 goals allowed average.
Toledo: Jorge Morales (men's tennis, Sr., 3.06, chemical engineering,
Caracas, Venezuela) won the flight A singles and doubles titles at the
Rocket Indoor Tournament over the weekend. He defeated players from
Xavier, EMU, BGSU and Ohio State for the win in singles. In doubles,
Morales teamed with Hector Arroyo for wins over Xavier, EMU and NIU.
Amanda Brown (women's soccer, Sr., 3.64, exercise science, Cypress,
Calif.) scored the game-winning goal in Toledo's 3-2 win at
Wisconsin-Green Bay on Sunday.
Western Michigan: Tim Lester (football, Sr., 3.41, math education,
Wheaton, Ill.) completed 26 of 41 passes for 296 yards and four
touchdowns, accounting for all 28 of WMU's points. He became the MAC's
all-time leader in total offense and the 14th player in NCAA Division I
history to reach 10,000 passing yards. He currently leads the nation in
touchdown passes with 27 and moved into the top-10 nationally with
80-career touchdown passes.
Previous Winners Female
Week 1 (Sept. 7) Ashlie Case, Akron (volleyball)
Week 2 (Sept. 13) Jennifer Mitchell, CMU (volleyball)
Kerri Schoultz, BSU (field hockey)
Week 3 (Sept. 20) Kim Branam, Akron (volleyball)
Week 4 (Sept. 27) Jocelyn Teall, BSU (field hockey)
Week 5 (Oct. 5) Alissia Thompson, MIA (volleyball)
Week 6 (Oct. 11) Sally Northcroft, BSU (field hockey)
Week 7 (Oct. 19) Heather Fueger, Ohio (women's golf)
Week 8 (Oct. 25) Courtney Seyferth, Miami (field hockey)
Previous Winners Male
Week 1 (Sept. 7) Chad Pennington, Marshall (football)
Week 2 (Sept. 13) Blake McDowell, EMU (cross country)
Week 3 (Sept. 20) Jason Strasser, BGSU (football)
Week 4 (Sept. 27) Tim Lester, WMU (football)
Week 5 (Oct. 5) Tim Rice, Toledo (men's golf)
Week 6 (Oct. 11) Ty Fowler, BGSU (men's soccer)
Week 7 (Oct. 19) Scott Niles, WMU (football)
Week 8 (Oct. 25) Zac Derr, Akron (football)