General 2/5/2024 2:46:00 PM United East Athletes of the Week - February 5, 2024 LATHAM, N.Y. - The United East conference has announced its Athletes of the Week for February 5, 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 29 through Sunday, February 4. A total of 10 student-athletes were recognized for their performances. Men’s Basketball Offensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Jalen Parker / Jr / Bryn Athyn College / Baltimore, Md. / Admiral Farragut / Missouri Southern State University Parker had a monster week for the Lions averaging 20 points, 10.5 boards, 3 blocks, and 1 steal per game on 60% shooting from the field. Parker opened the week with 17 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocks and a steal against Keystone. The 17 rebounds tied a single-game program record. Parker followed that up with 23 points on 11-19 shooting, with 4 boards, 2 blocks, and a steal on the road in a win at second place Saint Elizabeth. Parker currently leads the United East in Total Blocks (41) and Blocks per Game (1.9) while also sitting 2nd in the United East with a .552 shooting percentage. This is the fourth Athlete of the Week honor for Parker, who previously won for the weeks of January 29, 2024, December 11, 2023, and November 20, 2023. Defensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Will Little / So / Bryn Athyn College / Baltimore, Md. / Our Lady of Mount Carmel / Millersville University Little registered 10 steals and 10 boards on the week as the Lions split their matchups with Keystone and Saint Elizabeth. Little swiped 4 steals against Keystone and backed up his play with 6 more steals against SEU. Little also added 16.5 points per game and 5 rebounds per game as well on the week.. At this point in the season, Little is 14th in the United East averaging 16.2 points per game, and 19th in Steals with 1.4 per game. This is the second straight Player of the Week honor for Little, who previously won for the week of January 29. Offensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Donyae Baylor-Carroll / Sr / Penn State Harrisburg / Harrisburg, Pa. / Milton Hershey Penn State Harrisburg played just one game last week and Donyae Baylor-Carroll continued to lead the way in a road win over Gallaudet. The senior recorded his first double-double of the season when he netted 19 points on 54.5 percent shooting from the floor (6-of-11) and 50 percent shooting from 3-point range (5-for-10) to go along with a career-high 11 assists, with the versatile guard scoring or facilitating 44 of the team’s 66 points on Tuesday night. Defensively, the Harrisburg, Pa. native plucked three more steals to continue to rank third in the nation in steals per game (3.15) and added three defensive rebounds and a block. The Lions won their eighth in a row and maintained their lead in the Volt Division race. This is the fifth Athlete of the Week honor for Baylor-Carroll this season (January 8, 2024, December 11, 2023, November 27, 2023 and November 13, 2023). Defensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Connor Storr / FY / Lancaster Bible College / Galloway, N.J. / The Pilgrim Academy The first-year shined in a 2-0 conference week for the Chargers with wins over St. Mary's (Md.) and Penn College. In a 100-95 win at home over St. Mary’s (Md.), Storr tallied a career high 33 points and 10 rebounds for just his second career double-double while shooting 60-percent (12-20) from the field tallying two steals, two assists, and a block. Against Penn College, Storr was one rebound shy of a double-double (14 points, 9 rebounds) while picking up two steals and two blocks. For the week he averaged 23.5 points per game, 9.5 rebounds, and tallied 4 steals and 3 blocks. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Storr. Women’s Basketball Offensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Makayla Raines / FY / Cairn University / Jonesboro, Ga. / St. Mary’s Academy Freshman guard Makayla Raines was the constant offensive driver for the Highlanders who went 3-0 on the week. On Wednesday, Raines scored 19 against Clarks Summit, nailing three sets of triples and adding a pair of assists. Then on the road Friday at Pratt, Raines scored 17 points with a pair of three-pointers. She capped off the week with 42 points on Saturday at Rosemont with three more three-pointers and six assists. The matchup on Saturday, Raines came one point shy of her own single-game scoring record, which was set last week, after shooting 13-20 from the floor and 13-17 from the free throw line. Raines is one of 15 Division III Women's Basketball players who have scored over 40 points in a single game this season, which she has done twice (42 & 43) and teammate Taylor Hinson has done once (41). This is the first Player of the Week honor for Raines. Defensive Player of the Week - Skye Division Nicole Sachman / Gr. / Cedar Crest College / Niles, Mi. / Lakeland University / Brandywine HS Sachman averaged seven points, 10.5 rebounds, five assists, and five steals in a 2-0 week for the Falcons as Cedar Crest picked up wins over Notre Dame of Maryland and Valley Forge. She tallied four points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and four steals in a 55-52 victory over Notre Dame of Maryland University, handing the Gators' its first conference loss of the season and the first win for Cedar Crest over NDMU since the 2013-14 season. Sachman then turned in 10 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, one block, and six steals in a 73-46 triumph over the University of Valley Forge. Sachman is currently 6th in the United East with 2.9 steals per game, 9th in Rebounds with 9.1 per Game, and 9th in Assists with 3.1 assists per game. This is the second Player of the Week honor for Sachman, who previously won for the week of January 8, 2024. Offensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Alaysha Iwais / Sr / Lancaster Bible College / West Palm Beach, Fl. / Palm Beach Central Iwais led the Chargers to a 2-0 conference week with wins over St. Mary's (Md.) and Penn College while averaging 23.5 points per game and shooting 58% (7-12) from the 3-point line, and 80% (16-20) from the free throw line. With the two wins, the Chargers clinched a spot in the postseason while the matchup with Penn College saw Iwais have a new single game career-high with five three-pointers made.. Additionally, Iwais averaged 6 rebounds per game and two steals per game. Iwais currently has 94 total assists and is close to cracking the 100-assists mark for the second straight season. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Iwais who is currently 6th in the United East with 4.5 assists per game and leads the conference in Free Throw Percentage (.838%) Defensive Player of the Week - Volt Division Cassidy Perry / Sr / Gallaudet University / Frederick, Md. / Maryland School for the Deaf Gallaudet University senior forward Cassidy Perry achieved a career milestone last week as she recorded her 1,000th career rebound as GU went 1-1 for the week. Perry finished the week with 32 points, 25 rebounds, nine blocks, eight assists and four steals. Perry averaged 16.0 points per game and grabbed 12.5 rebounds per game and swatted away 4.5 shots per game. Perry shot 57.1 percent from the field and was 8-for-10 from the free-throw line. Perry finished with a game-high 28 points and added nine boards last Saturday in a home win over Penn St.-Abington. Perry made a game-high four blocks, passed out four assists and made three steals. Perry recorded her 1,000th career rebound with her 14th rebounds last Tuesday at home against Penn St.-Harrisburg. Perry finished with 16 boards, a season-high five blocks, passed out four assists and made one steal. Perry was held to just four points but the rebound record placed her in rare company as only Perry and GU women's basketball Hall of Famer Ronda Jo Miller have scored 1,600 points and grabbed 1,000 rebounds in their career. This is the 16th Player of the Week honor on the basketball court for Perry who was a First Team All-Conference honoree in 2021-22 and 2022-23, in addition to Rookie of the Year and Second Team honors in 2019-20. Men’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week Nathan Whisman / Jr / University of Valley Forge / Fisherville, Va. / Whisman has hit over .600 in 3 of his first 4 games on the season, while helping the Patriots to a 2-1 record for this week. Over the weekend, Whisman tallied 22 kills, 4 aces, and 5 blocks from the middle. On Friday in the win against Bryn Athyn, Whisman hit .650% (13 Kills - 0 Errors - 20 Total Attempts) with 2 aces from the service line. On Sunday in the win vs St. Joseph’s Brooklyn, Whiisman hit .636% (8K - 1E - 11 TA) with 4 blocks, and an ace. Whisman was a Second Team All-Conference member in 2023 and 2022. This is the second Player of the Week honor for Whisman, who previously won for the week of April 4, 2022, Defensive Player of the Week Jordan Kieffer / Sr / University of Valley Forge / Mohnton, Pa. / Homeschool Kieffer had 25 total digs this week from the libero position, picking up 10 digs in each of the Patriots wins as UVF went 2-1 on the week with victories over Bryn Athyn (3-0) and St. Joseph’s Brooklyn (3-0). This is the 3rd Player of the Week honor for Kieffer, who has previously won for the weeks of February 20, 2023 and April 4, 2022. Kieffer was an Honorable Mention honoree in 2023 in addition to a Second Team nod in 2022. 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