General 3/18/2024 3:33:00 PM United East Athletes of the Week - March 18, 2024 LATHAM, N.Y. - The United East conference has announced its Athletes of the Week for March 18, 2024. This includes Athletes of the Week for both the Skye and Volt Divisions in Baseball and Softball as well as Men’s Volleyball, Women’s Lacrosse, and Men’s Lacrosse This week’s selections included contests from Monday, March 11 through Sunday, March 17. A total of 13 student-athletes were recognized for their performances. Men’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week Christian Herr / So / Lancaster Bible College / Eastport, N.Y. / Eastport South Manor Herr racked up 86 total assists for the week as the Chargers went 3-0 this week with two matchups against Valley Forge and a single match against Pratt. In the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader, Herr handed out 36 assists in a win over Pratt. On the week, Herr had three aces, eight kills, and 18 digs on the week. Herr is leading the United East with 8.38 assists per set. Herr was a First Team All-Conference honoree in 2023 and this is the second Player of the Week award, who previously won for the week of March 27, 2023. Defensive Player of the Week Ben Latham / So / Lancaster Bible College / Orange Park, Fl. / Oakleaf HS Latham continues to lead the backline tallying 29 total digs including two games with double-digit digs as the Chargers went 3-0 over the past week. His highest total was 13 digs in the win versus Valley Forge on Saturday morning. Latham sits fourth in the United East at 2.79 digs per game and second with 195 Total Digs. This is the second Player of the Week honor for Latham, who previously won for the week of March 4, 2024. Women’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week Sage Lague / Jr / Wilson College / Fairplay, Md. / Goretti HS Lague led Wilson's offense with a third of its goals in a pair of wins this week. She opened with five goals and an assist in an 18-3 triumph over St. Vincent on Wednesday before scoring seven goals in an 18-2 win against Eastern Mennonite. She was nearly perfect in doing so as she took only 14 shots between both games. Lague is No. 12 nationally and second in the conference with 5.4 goals per game. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Lague, who earned Second Team All-Conference in 2023 to go with a First Team honor in 2022. Defensive Player of the Week Jill Ahlgren / Sr / Wilson College / Mercersburg, Pa. / Mercersburg HS Ahlgren kept the bar level high with two more consistent performances as Wilson went 2-0 on the week. She opened with six ground balls, three caused turnovers, and 14 draw controls in a convincing win against St. Vincent on Wednesday. Ahlgren added six more ground balls and caused five turnovers with nine draw controls in Saturday's victory over Eastern Mennonite. Offensively she remained a force with nine points on six goals and three assists against the Bearcats before she scored three goals and three helpers against the Royals. She remains No. 4 in Division III in both caused turnovers and ground balls per game. This is the ninth Player of the Week honor during Ahlgren’s career, third this season, as well as earning First Team All-Conference in the CSAC for the 2023 season. Men’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week Jonathan Balsamo / Sr / Cairn University / Long Island, N.Y. / Eastport South Manor Balsamo totaled 12 goals in two games as the Highlanders went undefeated on the week. On Tuesday Balsamo paced the offense, scoring seven times, as the Highlanders picked up their first win of the season at Centenary University, 12-5. On Saturday, the senior attacker added five more goals to his resume for the week, surpassing 100 career points, the first player in Cairn Men's Lacrosse history to reach that mark. This is the third Player of the Week nod for Balsamo, who won for the weeks of March 6, 2023 and April 22, 2022 previously and was on the First Team All-Conference in 2023. Defensive Player of the Week Nico Cione / Jr / Cairn University / Yardley, Pa. / Pennsbury HS Cione totaled 34 saves in two games this week, capping off the week with a 12-5 in over Purchase College in which he saved a season-high 23 shots, the most by a United East goalkeeper in a single game this season. Cione leads the United East in saves per game (16.83). This is the fifth Player of the Week honor for Cione, who previously won for the weeks of April 17, 2023, March 20, 2023, March 6, 2023, and April 11, 2022. Cione was a First Team All-Conference honoree in 2023 as well. Softball Player & Pitcher of the Week - Skye Division Jessie Leatherwood / Gr / Notre Dame of Maryland University / Towson, Md. / Towson HS Leatherwood hit .429 in NDMU's first eight games of the season, recording nine hits in 21 at bats including two doubles and a triple, and on the week, Leatherwood drove in six RBIs. She also made history in NDMU's win over Franciscan University, becoming the second player in program history to reach 100 career hits, smashing a triple and then scoring on an error. On the mound, Leatherwood anchored NDMU's pitching staff, going 2-1 in four outings. She earned victories over St. Joseph's (LI) University and Keene St. University. Leatherwood racked up 21 strikeouts in 21 innings of action and finished the week with an ERA of 3.67. Leatherwood was a First Team All-Conference pitcher in 2023, Second Team in 2022 and 2021, as well as Player of the Week for the week of March 27, 2023. Player of the Week - Volt Division Ava Livingston / FY / Penn State Abington / Atco, N.J. / Hammonton HS In a 3-1 week for the Nittany Lions, Livingston went 10-for-13 at the plate with three walks, nine runs and two RBI. In the game one win over Immaculata University, Livingston drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to give the Nittany Lions a 2-1 victory over the Mighty Macs while Livingston went a perfect 4-of-4 in that game. Against Sarah Lawrence College, Livingston went 4-for-5 over the doubleheader with three walks and seven runs scored. Prior to the start of the week, Livingston had a season batting average of .261 and by week's end is now hitting .444. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Livingston who is currently 5th in the United East with 11 runs scored on the season. Pitcher of the Week - Volt Division Gretchen Yanss / Jr / Penn State Abington / Odenton, Md. / Arundel HS In a 3-1 week for the Nittany Lions, Yanss went 2-0 in two starts and three appearances. She started the week tossing her second career perfect game as she silenced the Sarah Lawrence College offense, striking out seven batters in the run-shortened five innings. Yanss followed that up with a complete game performance against Immaculata University where she went a full seven to earn the win a 2-1 game, finishing with a season-high eight strikeouts. In game two against the Mighty Macs, Yanss tossed two innings of relief allowing one unearned run and striking out one. Ath the plate, Yanss went 5-for-8 with four runs and six RBI, including a career-high five RBI in the game one victory against Sarah Lawrence. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Yanss, who was a First Team All-Conference honoree in 2023 and a Second Team member in 2022. Baseball Player of the Week - Skye Division Brady Andre / Sr / Wilson College / Brookeville, Md. / Sherwood HS Andre hit .500 after going 9-for-18 from the plate with eight runs scored and eight RBIs. During the week, Andre extended his hit streak to 12 games going back to last season, only struck out once, and hit three home runs as the Phoenix won the Skye Division-opening series over Rosemont this weekend. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Andre, who is 7th in the United East with a .462 batting average, 7th with an .821 slugging percentage, and 8th with an OPS of 1.297. Pitcher of the Week - Skye Division Sean Brennan / Jr / Keystone College / Hatfield, Pa. / North Penn HS Brennan picked up his second win of the season as he went five innings with 10 strikeouts and allowed just one earned run off four hits in Keystone's 15-2 win over Muhlenberg College on Saturday. This is the first Pitcher of the Week award for Brennan, who currently leads the United East in strikeouts (27), Opponents’ Batting Average (.189), and is fourth with a 2.40 ERA. Player of the Week - Volt Division Dylan Witkowski / So / Lancaster Bible College / Emmaus, Pa. / Northwestern Lehigh HS Witkowski had a monster weekend going 4-8 from the plate including three runs, six RBIs, and racking up six walks. The sophomore also hit the game winning grand slam in the Chargers first United East game to beat Penn College 11-10 in the bottom of the eighth. Witkowski then pitched eight scoreless innings in game three getting the win and striking out five batters. He is hitting .441 with 15 hits and .706 slugging percentage. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Witkowski, who was a First Team All-Conference honoree in 2023 as well as a member of the D3baseball.com Third Team All-Region. Pitcher of the Week - Volt Division Kyle Mahady / Sr / Penn State Harrisburg / Nazareth, Pa. / Nazareth HS / Saint Peter’s University Kyle Mahady turned in the best start of his Penn State Harrisburg career in a 4-0 victory over St. Mary's (Md.) on Saturday. The senior earned his first win of the spring after throwing seven scoreless innings and allowing just two hits and two walks to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Mahady, who is currently in the Top 10 in the United East for ERA (6th; 2.70), Innings Pitched (6th; 20.0) and Batters Strikeout Looking (5th; 8). 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