General 9/2/2024 2:30:00 PM United East Athletes of the Week - September 2, 2024 LATHAM, N.Y. - The United East conference has announced its Athletes of the Week for September 2, 2024. Today will include Athletes of the Week for Field Hockey, Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, and Women’s Volleyball. This week’s selections included contests from Friday, August 30 through Sunday, September 1. A total of 8 student-athletes were recognized for their performances. Field Hockey Offensive Player of the Week Paige Ney / Jr / Wilson College / Biglerville, Pa. / Biglerville HS Ney scored both goals in Wilson's 2-1 win at Washington & Jefferson in the season opener on Friday. The first goal came midway through the first quarter and she was able to stuff it inside the left post after a scrum just in front of the cage. After the contest went to extra time thanks to a second quarter score from W&J, Ney delivered the heroics on a feed from Kate Seymour late in the first overtime period to take the 2-1 victory. This is the fourth Athlete of the Week for Ney who previously won the award on October 17, 2023, September 12, 2023, and September 12, 2022. Ney is a two-time All-Conference award winner with a First Team nod in 2023 as well as a Second Team honor for the 2022 season. Defensive Player of the Week Macenzie Mulholland / So / Penn State Harrisburg / Carlisle, Pa. / Carlisle Area HS / Shippensburg University Maceznie Mulholland was massive in net in helping lead Penn State Harrisburg to its first win in program history - a 1-0 shutout victory at Lycoming in the program's first-ever game on Saturday afternoon. The sophomore made five saves on the day, including turning away a Lyco penalty stroke late in the third quarter to keep the match scoreless. This is the first Player of the Week award for Mulholland. Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week Tai Bhalla / So / Penn State Harrisburg / Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / Meridian HS In his first two games in a Penn State Harrisburg uniform, Tai Bhalla was essential to securing a pair of victories totaling three points in those two contests. With less than five minutes to play in the team's opener at St. Joseph's (L.I.), Bhalla made a pretty cross into the box for teammate Addis Tefese to head home the game winner and break a scoreless tie in a 1-0 win on Saturday afternoon. He followed it up by netting the game-winning marker in a 6-0 rout of Mary Baldwin the next evening. This is the first Player of the Week award for Bhalla. Defensive Player of the Week Alex Afata / Sr / Penn State Harrisburg / Manchester, Pa. / Northeastern HS Alex Afata was key in helping Penn State Harrisburg secure a pair of shutout victories on opening weekend. The senior anchored a back line that allowed just two shots on goal across a pair of wins over St. Joseph's (L.I.) and Mary Baldwin. After helping limit St. Joseph's to just one shot on frame in a 1-0 victory on Saturday, the outside back also got into the scoring act in a 6-0 win over Mary Baldwin the next day when he netted his first goal of the young season in the game's 52nd minute. This is the first Player of the Week award for Afata, who earned a spot on the Volt Division All-Conference Second Team in 2023. Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week Isabella Eufemia / So / Lancaster Bible College / Rosedale, Md. /. Rosedale Christian Academy The former United East Rookie of the Year started the new season scoring three goals and tallying an assist in a 4-4 tie with Houghton on Friday, August 30. This was Eufemia's first career hat trick after scoring nine goals in her first year with the Chargers. Eufemia made the move from the midfield position up to forward due to teammates graduating, and she made the most of it sending four shots on goal for the 2024 debut. This is the first Player of the Week award for Eufemia, who was named Volt Division Rookie of the Year and Volt Division First Team All-Conference in 2023. Defensive Player of the Week Brooke Hall / FY / St. Mary’s College of Maryland / Warrington, Pa. / Central Bucks South Brooke Hall was named the Seahawk Classic MVP after helping St. Mary's College win its own tournament and start the 2024 campaign with a 2-0 mark for the first time in 13 years. Hall was part of a defensive unit that limited Greensboro to one goal on five shots in SMCM's 4-1 season-opening victory. She then netted the game-winning goal (her first career goal) in the Seahawks' 1-0 triumph over Rutgers-Camden. This is the first Player of the Week award for Hall. Women’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week Hannah DeGregory / Jr / Penn State Harrisburg / Fairfax, Va. / W.T. Woodson HS Hannah DeGregory stuffed the stat sheet and led Penn State Harrisburg to a 3-0 start thanks to a trio of 3-1 road victories over McDaniel, Notre Dame (Md.), and Hood. Across the three matches, the junior tallied 43.0 total points and 36 kills with a .294 hitting percentage, 32 assists, 28 digs, five service aces, and four total blocks. She averaged a dozen kills, 10.67 assists, 9.3 digs, 1.67 aces, and 1.33 blocks per match. This is the first Athlete of the Week award for DeGregory, who earned a Volt Division Second Team All-Conference award in 2023. Defensive Player of the Week Ellise Everett / Jr / Cedar Crest College / Orlando, Fl. / Lake Nona HS Everett helped Cedar Crest start 2-0 with an impressive all-around performance against Marywood and Delaware Valley. In the sweep of the Pacers, she had a team-high 10 kills to go along with one service ace, three total blocks, and one dig, while hitting .643. Everett followed that performance with 18 kills, one assist, two service aces, three digs, and 11 total blocks (6 solo, 5 assists.) This is the third Player of the Week award for Everett, who previously won for the week of September 4, 2023, and October 24, 2022. Everett earned a Skye Division First Team All-Conference award in 2023 and was named the 2022 CSAC Rookie of the Year and Second Team All-Conference in 2022. 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