General 4/1/2024 3:05:00 PM United East Athletes of the Week - April 1, 2024 LATHAM, N.Y. - The United East conference has announced its Athletes of the Week for April 1, 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 25 through Sunday, March 31. A total of 13 student-athletes were recognized for their performances. Men’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week Tyler Younger / FY / University of Valley Forge / Chesapeake, Va. / Western Branch HS In the win against conference foe Wilson on Tuesday night, Tyler Younger helped Valley Forge gain the victory by tallying a game high 18 kills, many of them coming in crunch time down the stretch. Tyler’s 18 kills came off of an efficient .333 hitting % (18K - 4 E - 42 TA). Younger also had 3 service aces, 15 digs, and 2 blocks, and a game high total of 22.5 points. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Younger, who is currently seventh in the United East averaging 2.13 kills per set. Defensive Player of the Week Clay Confer / So / University of Valley Forge / Mill Hall, Pa. / Confer had 24 digs in the match against Wilson where Valley Forge picked up a big conference win on the road. Confer also had 1 solo block, and 15 kills against Wilson and was consistent in serve receive. Confer is currently sixth in the United East averaging 2.38 Digs per Set and tenth with 23 Total Aces. This is the second Player of the Week honor for Confer, who previously won for the week of February 12, 2024. Women’s Lacrosse Offensive & Defensive Player of the Week Jill Ahlgren / Sr / Wilson College / Mercersburg, Pa. / Mercersburg HS Ahlgren once again was a force all over the field to help the Phoenix win both contests on the week; a 13-5 non-conference victory over King’s and a 19-5 conference-opening win over Notre Dame of Maryland. Offensively, she was solid with 16 points on 11 goals and five assists to lead the team in all categories. Defensively, Ahlgren caused eight turnovers, picked up seven ground balls, and won 11 draw controls. Ahlgren is second in the conference, and No. 36 nationally, with 5.75 points per game while leading the conference with 19 assists. Defensively, Ahlgren remains fourth nationally in caused turnovers per game with an average of 5.13 and is seventh in ground balls with 6.13. This is the tenth Player of the Week honor during Ahlgren’s career, fourth 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 AJ Dotson / So / Penn College / Wilmington, De. / Salesianum HS Dotson posted a season-high stat line of six goals, five assists, 11 points, and six ground balls in the Wildcats' 29-6 victory to begin conference play against Cairn. His 11 points set a program-record for points in a single game, surpassing the previous record of nine set in 2022. Dotson posted a hat-trick with 3:23 to go in the first quarter and added three more goals before being subbed out after the third quarter. This is the first Player of the Week award for Dotson who is currently in the Top 5 in the United East in Goals (4th; 25), Assists (4th; 13), and Total Points (5th; 38). Defensive Player of the Week Jeremy Heath / Jr / St. Mary’s College of Maryland / Chester, Md. / Kent Island HS Jeremy Heath matched his career-best of three caused turnovers to lead the defense in a 13-12 overtime loss to No. 7 Dickinson at the USA Lacrosse National Headquarters. Heath also added a ground ball in the 29-1 conference-opening road win over Rosemont. This is the first Player of the Week award for Heath who is currently sixth in the United East with 14 Total Caused Turnovers. Softball Player of the Week - Skye Division Charlene Torres / Jr / Notre Dame of Maryland University / West Covina, Ca. / Artesia HS Charlene Torres showed off her power this week racking up extra base hits, including her first two home runs in an NDMU jersey. Torres smashed her first home run of the season in NDMU's 4-2 victory over Penn St. Schuylkill, blasting a three-run shot over the left field fence in the first inning of the game. Torres crushed her second home run of the season in NDMU's 16-1 win over the University of Valley Forge, launching another 3-Run Home Run this time over the center field wall. In NDMU's double header with the Patriots, Torres went a combined 4-8 with 8 RBIs, two doubles, a home run and three runs scored. On the week, Torres hit .429 with 11 RBI, 2 2B’s, 2 HR’s, 6 Hits and scored 4 runs over the Gators’ four games this week. This is the first Player of the Week award for Torres. Pitcher of the Week - Skye Division Courtney Cienki / Sr / Keystone College / West Milford, N.J. / West Milford HS Cienki went 2-0 in the circle this week as she helped lead Keystone to a Skye Division sweep over Cedar Crest College on Saturday. Cienki got the start in game one and pitched a complete game shutout as she allowed only one hit and struck out 14 batters. Her fourteen strikeouts is not only a career high, but it tied a program record for most strikeouts in a game. Cienki appeared in relief in game two as she pitched 3.1 innings with five strikeouts to help lead the Giants to a come from behind win against the Falcons. This is the second Pitcher of the Week award for Cienki, who previously won for the week of March 28, 2022. The senior pitcher was an Honorable Mention All-CSAC selection a season ago as well as a Second Team All-CSAC honoree in 2022. Player of the Week - Volt Division Grace Lorson / FY / Penn College / Williamsport, Pa. / Jersey Shore Area HS Lorson was a combined 8-for-12 (.667), five runs scored, three RBIs and three stolen bases, helping Penn College begin league play with a 4-0 record against Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State Abington. Against Harrisburg, Lorson went 1-for-2 with a run scored and two stolen bases in game one and was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBIs in game two. On Saturday against Abington, Lorson tallied three hits and scored twice while driving in a run in game one and completed the week 2-for-3 with a run and a stolen base in game two. This is the first Player of the Week award for Lorson. Pitcher of the Week - Volt Division Mackenzie Weaver / Jr / Penn College / Williamsport, Pa. / Montoursville HS Weaver broke a program record and tossed a no-hitter in a 2-0 week while helping Penn College to a 4-0 start in conference play. The Wildcats' junior compiled a season-high 12 strikeouts in a 5-4 win against Penn State Harrisburg on Wednesday including setting the program record of 333 career strikeouts with her final punch out of game one. Weaver earned the victory in the circle after hitting a walk-off three-run triple in the bottom of the seventh. She continued her pitching into Saturday with a 5-0 no-hitter and striking out two against Penn State Abington. It was Weaver's ninth complete game and third shutout of the season and her first no-hitter since tossing a perfect game on April 14, 2023. This is the fourth Pitcher of the Week honor for Weaver, who previously won for the weeks of March 11, 2023, April 17, 2023, and March 13, 2023, in addition to back-to-back United East Pitcher of the Year awards from the 2022 and 2023 season. Baseball Player of the Week - Skye Division Jacob Yager / Jr / Keystone College / Grahamsville, N.Y. / Tri-Valley HS Yager batted .545 (12-of-22) with three doubles, two triples, and one home run with 16 RBI as Keystone went 7-0 on the week. The junior infielder had a slugging percentage of 1.000 and a .565 on base percentage. In the three-game series with Valley Forge, Yager recorded 14 RBI with five extra base hits on the week. Yager is currently 10th in the United East with a .455 batting average, 5th with a .742 Slugging Percentage, 6th with a 1.286 OPS, 7th in RBI with 25, and 8th with 30 Hits. This is the second Player of the Week award for Yager as he last received this honor on March 4, 2024. Pitcher of the Week - Skye Division Justice Ramirez / Sr / Keystone College / North Bergen, N.J. / North Bergen HS In two appearances with one start, Ramirez pitched 6.1 innings and allowed just one hit with no earned runs and five strikeouts. Ramirez got his first and win on the mound against Valley Forge on Friday as he allowed one hit in five innings of work to help lead Keystone to a United East Skye Division sweep over the Patriots. Ramirez held the Patriots hitless through four innings. In addition, the senior right-handed pitcher tossed the last 1.1 innings in the second game of the doubleheader against Cairn on Monday where he forced three fly outs and one groundout. This is the first Pitcher of the Week award for Ramirez. Player of the Week - Volt Division Blake Greenly / Gr / Lancaster Bible College / Morgantown, Pa. / Conestoga Christian Greenly led the Chargers to a 3-0-1 week including a conference sweep over St. Mary's (Md.) this past weekend. Over the week, Greenly went 9-13 with seven runs and eight runs batted in. His four hits in Saturday's 17-7 win over the Seahawks was a season high. He also got his first save in a win on Friday giving up only four hits and one run while striking out a batter. Greenly is no stranger to the leaderboards in the conference sitting second in batting average (.515) while being top ten in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, runs batted in, and hits to name a few. Greenly was a 2024 Preseason All-American from D3Baseball.com after earning All-American status in 2023 as well as First Team All-Conference. This is the fifth Player of the Week nod for Greenly, who previously won for the weeks of March 11, 2024, April 10, 2023, April 4, 2022, and March 7, 2022. Pitcher of the Week - Volt Division Kyle Mahady / Sr / Penn State Harrisburg / Nazareth, Pa. / Nazareth HS / Saint Peter’s University Kyle Mahady improved to 2-0 on the season with a win against Penn State Berks on Friday afternoon. The senior got the start and threw six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and three walks to go along with six strikeouts in the victory. Mahady is currently in the Top 10 in the United East for ERA (2nd; 2.33), Innings Pitched (7th; 27.0) and Batters Strikeout Looking (4th; 12). This is the second Player of the Week nod for Mahady, who previously won for the week of March 18, 2024. 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