General 1/29/2024 2:30:00 PM United East Athletes of the Week - January 29, 2024 LATHAM, N.Y. - The United East conference has announced its Athletes of the Week for January 29, 2024. This includes Athletes of the Week for both the Skye and Volt Divisions in Men’s and Women’s Basketball as well as Men’s Volleyball. This week’s selections included contests from Monday, January 22 through Sunday, January 28. A total of 10 student-athletes were recognized for their performances. Men’s Basketball Offensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Will Little / So / Bryn Athyn College / Baltimore, Md. / Our Lady of Mount Carmel / Millersville University Little helped lead the first place Lions to their first playoff berth in seven seasons and a perfect 2-0 week. Little averaged 24 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1 assist on an impressive .678/.583 FG/3FG% splits. Little started the week off pouring in a career high 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting (4-6 3 Pt), 4 rebounds, and 1 assist against Rosemont. He closed out the week with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting (3-6 3 Pt), 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in the matchup against Valley Forge and currently sits 13th in the United East averaging 16.1 points per game. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Little. Defensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Jalen Parker / Jr / Bryn Athyn College / Baltimore, Md. / Admiral Farragut / Missouri Southern State University Parker was dominant on both ends, but really shined defensively this week as the junior forward corralled 18 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 2 steals in two games while adding 26 points on the week. Parker logged 17 points on a perfect 8-8 shooting while grabbing 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal in a 81-61 win over Rosemont. The Baltimore product added 9 points, 11 rebounds, another 3 blocks and a steal against Valley Forge on Saturday in a 81-70 win. Parker currently leads the United East in blocks per game and his 1.8 blocks would be good for 45th in all of Division III. This is the third Athlete of the Week honor for Parker, who previously won for the week of December 11, 2023, and November 20, 2023. Offensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Marquis Ferreira / So / Penn State Berks / Lebanon, Pa. / Lebanon HS Marquis Ferreira helped the Nittany Lions go 1-1 this past week while the sophomore guard averaged 24.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 0.5 blocks per game. Ferreira had a career-high 29 points after knocking down four threes and going 7-for-7 at the line in a win over Penn State Abington. Additionally, he also had four boards and a blocked shot in the winning effort. Ferreira followed that up with a season-high five 3-pointers en route to a contest-high 19 points against Penn State Harrisburg. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Ferreira. Defensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Jake Koverman / So / St. Mary’s College of Maryland / Severna Park, Md. / High Point / Frostburg State Jake Koverman recorded his second double-double of the season with 10 points and a team-best 10 rebounds (7 defensive) as the Seahawks posted an 87-78 conference win at Penn College. Koverman shot 5-of-10 from the field and added two steals. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Koverman. Women’s Basketball Offensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Zhymani Smith / Jr / Bryn Athyn College / Hampton, Va. / Menchville / Florida A&M Smith averaged 23 points. 12 rebounds, 9.5 assists, and 5.5 steals while shooting 46.7% from the field on the week while leading the Lions to two conference wins. Additionally, Smith posted the program’s first triple-double and set the single-game assist record this week. Smith started her week with a triple-double against Rosemont, tallying 23 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds, and 6 steals. Smith followed up that performance with another 23 points, 13 boards, 7 assists, and 5 steals against Valley Forge. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Smith, who is 5th in the United East with a 17.9 points per game scoring average, 5th with 3.9 assists per game, and 4th with 3.3 steals per game. Defensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Riley Berry / Sr / Keystone College / Margate, Fl. / Piper HS / Becker University On the week, Berry averaged 11.7 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, and totaled 11 steals in a 3-0 week for Keystone. Berry combined for 10 steals in Keystone's meeting with Clarks Summit and the second matchup against Rosemont. In the first meeting with the Ravens, she grabbed a season high 11 rebounds. Berry was an Honorable Mention All-CSAC selection a season ago. This is her first defensive player of the week award for Berry, who previously won Offensive Player of the Week for the week of January 3, 2023. Offensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Angela Sanders / Sr / Penn State Abington / Philadelphia, Pa. / Mastery Charter North Pickett In a 2-0 week in which the Nittany Lions clinched a postseason berth, Sanders averaged 28.5 points and 15.5 rebounds per game while totaling five steals in each game last week. In the victory against Penn State Berks, Sanders totaled 26 points (11-14 FG) and 12 rebounds. She followed that up with an impressive outing against Lancaster Bible College. Sanders scored a season-high 31 points to go along with a season-best 19 rebounds against the Chargers. It marked her 11th double-double of the season and the 35th of her career. Sanders is currently 3rd in the United East averaging 18.8 points per game and 5th in rebounding with a 10.5 per game average. This is the 4th Player of the Week honor for Sanders, who previously won for the weeks of December 11, 2023, February 13, 2023, and January 11, 2022. Defensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Ali Lister / Jr / Penn State Harrisburg / Allentown, Pa. / Adelphi University / Northwestern Lehigh HS Ali Lister racked up five steals and four blocks in Penn State Harrisburg's win over Penn State Berks on Saturday afternoon. She added 10 rebounds, including six on the defensive end, to go along with 16 points and 10 assists. For the week, she averaged 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.5 steals, and two blocks per game. This is the second Player of the Week honor for Lister, who previously won for the week of November 20, 2023. Men’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week Eusebio Veras / FY / Saint Elizabeth University / Passaic, N.J. / Passaic Charter Veras led all scorers with 22.5 points (14 kills, 3 service aces, 5 solo blocks and 1 block assist) in the week ending Jan. 28, 2024. During the Bryn Athyn match, Veras had 8 kills in 19 swings and no errors for a .421 percentage. He also chipped in 2 aces and a solo block for 11 points. Against Valley Forge, Veras led all scorers with 11.5 points by way of 6 kills in 11 swings and no errors: swinging at a .545 percentage. Defensively, his efforts resulted in 4 solo blocks, a block assist, and a service ace in the cause. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Veras. Defensive Player of the Week Camden Sterner / FY / Wilson College / Spring Grove, Pa. / Spring Grove HS Sterner picked up 33 digs in three matches over the past week. Fourteen of them came in a five-set thriller against Mount Aloysius in the middle of the week. He followed up with 13 in the first match of a tri at Elizabethtown on Saturday. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Sterner. 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