RUSSELLVILLE -- Athletes from Henderson State, Harding and Southern Arkansas swept the second week of the Great American Conference football Players of the Week honors, the league office announced.
HSU quarterback Richard Stammetti, of Las Vegas, earned the Offensive Player of the Week honor after his second straight week of passing for over 300 yards. Stammetti piled up 396 yards in a 34-6 win against Southern Nazarene as two receivers reached the century mark and a third had 96. The senior is third in Division II in passing yards with 753 and passing touchdowns with seven.
Others nominated for the offensive award were Ouachita Baptist quarterback Brayden Brazeal, SAU quarterback Hayden Mallory, Arkansas Tech wide receiver Drew Wade, Oklahoma Baptist wide receiver Joshua Cornell, Southwestern Oklahoma State quarterback Tyler Marr, Northwestern Oklahoma State running back Jacob Peyton, and Southeastern Oklahoma State running back C.J. Shavers.
Harding junior cornerback Cory Batie, of Troy, Ala., earned the Defensive Player of the Week recognition after he had two of the six longest interception returns in school history, returning one for a 75-yard pick-six and the other a 77-yard return that put the team in field goal range just before halftime as the Bisons shut out Arkansas-Monticello 24-0. This was Harding's first shutout against the Weevils in the 55 meetings between the schools.
OBU defensive lineman Dameyun McDonald, Arkansas Tech defensive end/linebacker Lavall McNulty, SAU defensive tackle Antonio Washington, SWOSU defensive back Jalen Carr, Oklahoma Baptist defensive back Myles Russell, SEOSU linebacker Conner Swope and NWOSU linebacker Maurice Wright were also nominated for the award.
SAU kicker Austin Wilkerson, of Dallas, earned the special teams honor after converting a 48-yard field goal, the sixth-longest in program history. The kick lifted the Muleriders to a 30-28 win over Oklahoma Baptist, extending their home win streak to a NCAA Division II leading 17. The sophomore also converted on attempts of 19 and 26 prior to the career long make.
OBU punter Jake Ford, Harding punter Cameron Scott, Arkansas Tech kicker Jesus Zizumbo and SEOSU punter Jeremiah Baltrip had nods for the special teams award.
Oklahoma GAC schools
sweep volleyball awards
RUSSELLVILLE -- Southern Nazarene senior setter Kylie Smith earned her second straight weekly volleyball honor from the Great American Conference along with NWOSU's Jennifer Eubanks and SEOSU's Caitlyn Cosby their first awards of the year.
Smith, a Deer Park, Texas, product, repeated as the GAC Setter of the Week after averaging 11.43 assists per set to lead the conference. She picked up 33 assists against UT-Tyler before recording a double-double of 44 assists and 14 digs against Central Oklahoma State. She then tallied 39 and 44 assists on Saturday against Union and Colorado State-Pueblo, respectively.
Arkansas Tech's Brianna Merkel, OBU's Jone Schneider, SAU's Morgan Schuster and Oklahoma Baptist's Rylen Moore were also nominated for the honor.
Eubanks, a senior middle hitter from Copperas Cove, Texas, earned the league's Offensive Player of the Week honor. With a GAC-leading .388 attack percentage, she led the Rangers to four wins in five matches, recording 61 kills. She finished all five games with an attack percentage of at least .300 and added a league-leading 1.33 blocks per set and averaged 3.90 points per set on the week.
Others nominated for the offensive award were SAU right-side hitter Morgan Gross, OBU middle blocker Emily Low, UAM outside hitter/defensive specialist Leslie Polanco, Arkansas Tech outside hitter Anyse Smith, Harding outside hitter Logan Smith, Oklahoma Baptist outside hitter Hayley Daniel and Southern Nazarene outside hitter Bailee Tourang.
A senior libero from Keller, Texas, Cosby became the third player in GAC history to reach 2,000 digs. She tallied 69 digs while averaging 5.31 digs per set in the Southeastern Classic, registering 18 against Cameron and 28 against Union.
OBU libero Lexie Castillow, Harding defensive specialist Katherine Cowart, Arkansas Tech libero Madison Grantham, HSU libero MaKenzie Thoman, Oklahoma Baptist defensive specialist Diana Carranza and NWOSU defensive specialist Sydnee Miller were also considered for the award.
East Central takes pair
of GAC soccer awards
RUSSELLVILLE -- East Central seniors Aubrey Leveling and Kariss Dunson earned the Great American Conference's weekly women's offensive and defensive soccer awards, respectively, and Oklahoma Baptist junior Emily Griffith repeated as the goalkeeper honoree.
Leveling, a midfielder from Fort Worth, earned the league's offensive award after scoring in each of the Tigers' two wins last week. She made the lone goal against in the Tigers' win over Oklahoma Christian in the 34th minute and netted the first of the team's goals in a 4-3 win over Missouri Southern State.
OBU midfielder Ashlyn Heckman and NWOSU midfielder Kaley Whitworth were also nominated for the offensive award.
A senior defender from Bixby, Okla., Dunson tallied five blocks to help secure a pair of wins for the Tigers last week and earn the defensive weekly award. East Central recorded its first shutout since Sept. 29, 2018, with the 1-0 win over Oklahoma Christian, and she helped the team win its first victory over an MIAA opponent since 2011 with the 4-3 win over MSSU.
Griffith again earned the league's Goalkeeper of the Week award, picking up seven saves in the Bison's two games. She had five saves in a 1-1 draw against Midwestern State and had a pair of saves against Texas Women's College. She finished the week with a 0.90 goals-against average for the week and leads the league with a 1.18 GAA.
Oklahoma Baptist defender Hannah Evans and East Central keeper Mollie Nance were nominated for the league's defensive and goalkeeper awards, respectively.
*Rogers State earned all three of the men's soccer awards with senior Jake Simpson earning the offensive honor, junior Jaime Ponce the defensive honor and sophomore Austin Wormell the goalkeeper award.
Simpson, a midfielder from Cambridge, England, scored three goals last week to stretch his scoring streak to four games. He scored the opening goal in the Hillcats' 2-1 win over Oklahoma Christian and contributed to both goals in Saturday's game, setting up the first goal before securing the win in the 85th minute.
Ponce, a defender from Enid, Okla., anchored the back line that allowed just one goal last week. He played the entirety of both matches, helping hold the Eagles to just two shots on goal in the team's first win while the Hillcats defense kept Colorado State-Pueblo scoreless on Saturday.
Wormell, a Tulsa product, gave up just one goal, a penalty kick against Oklahoma Christian. He made five saves in Saturday's win over CSU-Pueblo.
Harding defender Christian Ramos and NEOSU forward Aaron Ugbah were nominated for the offensive award, and OBU defender Kobe Coleman and goalkeeper Matt Day were nominated for the defensive and goalkeeper awards.
Sports on 09/18/2019