Akron’s Kim Branam (volleyball) and Bowling
Green’s Jason Strasser (football) were named the MAC
Scholar Athletes of the Week on September 20, 1999. Branam
(Sr., 3.292, speech pathology & audiology, Elyria, Ohio) recorded
her 1,000th career kill at the Baylor Invitational. She played in all
13 games at the tournament, scoring a weekend-high 13 kills in a
four-game win over Rice. She averaged 4.00 kills per game in a
three-game loss to Baylor and had five blocks. She now leads the team
in blocks with 37, an average of 1.03 bpg.
Strasser (Sr., 3.16, finance, Toledo, Ohio) had three field
goals and an extra point to account for 10 of BG’s 16 points in
a loss to Marshall. He has now made all six of his field goal tries
this season and 12 straight, two shy of the MAC record.
Strasser is tied for seventh nationally averaging 2.00 field
goals per game and tied for first in the MAC. He leads all MAC
place-kickers with an average of 8.0 points per game.
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 PERFORMANCES OF MERIT BY MAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
Akron: Gabe Rhoads (men’s soccer, Sr., 3.691,
chemical engineering, Mentor, Ohio) scored the game-winning goal at
55:14 in the Zips’ 4-2 win over Ohio State. Ten minutes before
his goal, he had an assist to finish the game with three points (one
goal, one assist) and tied for the team lead with two shots on goal.
Rhoads started both games over the weekend (vs. Ohio State and
Penn State). He returned to the field this season after taking the
1998 season off to participate in Akron’s School of
Engineering’s co-op program.
Ball State: Megan Hammons (volleyball, So., 3.037,
undecided, West Liberty, Iowa) was named the Most Valuable Player at
the Holiday Inn Express-Nike Challenge, hosted by BSU, after
averaging 5.08 kills per game and hitting .332 in three matches to
lead the Cardinals to the tourney title. In the championship match
against Duke, she blasted seven kills in seven swings in the decisive
fifth game to pace BSU to a 15-10, 7-15, 12-15, 15-12, 15-11 win, the
university’s first victory over the Blue Devils. Hammons,
who hit .438 and collected 14 digs in the match, ended up with 25
kills on the evening to tie the 16th-highest single-match total in
school history, marking the third time this season that she has
totaled at least 20 kills in a match, tying the record set by
Stefanie Decker in 1989. Hammons led BSU past Western
Kentucky with 22 kills and a hitting percentage of .513. She blasted
19 kills against Indiana State in Ball State’s opening match of
the tournament. Hammons averaged 4.69 kills and 2.81 digs per
game on the week.
Bowling Green: Janet Mentrup (women’s soccer, Jr.,
3.40, special education, Cincinnati, Ohio) had a goal and an assist
as the Falcons defeated two-time defending MAC Tournament Champions
Northern Illinois on the road, 3-2. She assisted on the goal that
gave BG a 2-1 lead late in the first half. After NIU tied the match,
Mentrup scored the winning goal early in the second half.
Bowling Green is now 2-0 in MAC play for the first time ever. The
Falcons are 5-2 overall.
Buffalo: Mike Maskcci (football, Jr., 3.08, management,
Syracuse, N.Y.) averaged an impressive 43.6 yards on five punts,
including a long of 50. He has had only 11 yards of return on his
kicks. Linnaea DiNallo (women’s soccer, Jr., 3.39,
graphic design & communication, Clifton Park, N.Y.) anchored the
team’s defense that gave up just one goal in three games. She is
the captain of a defense that has allowed only two goals in seven
games and has helped the Bulls to a 6-0-1 record, the best start in
school history without a loss.
Central Michigan: Andrea Pullen (women’s cross
country, Sr., 3.03, elementary education, Grandville, Mich.) was
CMU’s top finisher at the Kent Pre-MAC Invitational with a time
of 18:28 for ninth place.
Kent: Brian Hallet (football, So., 3.64, industrial
technology, Norton, Ohio) is a left guard on an offensive line that
gave up no sacks and helped Chante Murphy gain over 100 yards.
The 181 rushing yards was the most by a Kent offense since Nov. 1,
1997. The 432 yards of total offense was the most by a Kent offense
since Nov. 8, 1997 when the Golden Flashes had 515 yards against
Akron. Maggie Downey (field hockey, Sr., 3.18, elementary
education, St. Louis, Mo.) scored three goals and added two assists
in wins over Radford and Boston College. She scored her team-leading
seventh goal to lead Kent past No. 18 Boston College, 5-1.
Miami: Brian Potter (football, Jr., 3.43, finance,
San Diego, Calif.) registered five solo tackles, one being a sack for
a loss of seven yards. He also recovered a fumble that set up
Miami’s first touchdown by Travis Prentice. Beth
Young (field hockey, So., 3.844, political science, Toledo, Ohio)
scored her first goal of the year in a 4-0 win over Pacific. She
scored Miami’s only goal against nationally-ranked Wake
Forest.
Ohio: Michelle Hinman (field hockey, Sr., 3.05,
sports industry/coaching, Weedsport, N.Y.) led the Bobcats to a
perfect 3-0 week including a 3-0 upset over No. 16 Kent. She posted
eight saves against Kent and one save against Davidson. Hinman
played all but 2:30 against Davidson and all but 11 minutes against
Appalachian State, leading Ohio to three shut outs, one of which was
shared. Ohio outscored opponents 11-1 over the week.
Toledo: David Marhefka (men’s cross country, Sr.,
3.09, math education, Westlake, Ohio) led Toledo with a sixth-place
finish out of 91 runners at the Mel Brodt Invitational. Ashley
Clark (volleyball, Sr., 3.552, primary education, LaPorte, Ind.)
helped Toledo end a 14-match losing streak with a 3-1 record at
Wright State’s Raider Challenge. Clark hit .419 with 14
kills and one error in 31 attempts. She averaged 10.67 assists and
2.50 digs.