Athletes of the Week (Week of August 22)

UIC

Alyssa Ehrhardt

Hometown: Algonquin, Ill.

Ehrhardt recorded 53 kills over the weekend including a career-high 27 in the Flames win over Louisiana Tech. Named MYP of the Redhawks Invitational; the senior tallied her first double-double of the season to help UIC sweep the weekend.

April Cronin

Hometown: Glenview, Ill.

Cronin recorded her first multi-goal game of her career leading Valparaiso to a 3-2 victory over Loyola in double overtime. She went on to net the golden goal in the 105th minute to win the match. The senior became the fifth player in Crusader history to record a hat track. During Friday’s match, Cronin assisted in the winning goal versus New Mexico State.

Cleveland State

Jamie Daniels

Hometown: Fairfield, Ohio

Daniels recorded a pair of shutouts for the Vikings leading her team to a 2-0 weekend on the road. She notched a total of 12 saves on the weekend, four at Canisius and eight at Niagara. The junior posted her sixth career shutout on Sunday, she now ranking third in shutouts in Cleveland State history.

Milwaukee

Myanna Ruiz

Hometown: Racine, Wis.

Ruiz was named to the Panther Invitational All-Tournament team, Ruiz lead the team and the tournament in digs. Her defensive efforts aided Milwaukee as they went 3-0 to start the season. The senior recorded 48 digs and 4.36 digs per set which leads the conference after the first weekend.

Belmont

Mertcan Akar

Hometown: Westphalia, Germany

Akar was instrumental to Belmont’s 1-0-1 record this weekend by picking up 12 saves in 178 minutes of play. The freshman keeper was a force in the net as he notched four saves and faced ten shots in the first half against Florida Atlantic. With Akar in goal, the Bruins edged out the Owls in overtime to win 2-1.

Cleveland State

Gabe Pewu

Hometown: Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Scoring two goals in the last 20 minutes of play, Pewu helped propel Cleveland State to a 4-2 win over Robert Morris. The freshman added an assist in the Vikings 3-0 victory over Dayton, who entered the season nationally ranked.