BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its Athlete of the Week award winners for football, volleyball, and soccer on Monday. Student-athletes from Augsburg, Bethel, Carleton, Gustavus, and St. Olaf claimed the Conference's weekly honors for September 12-18, 2022.
The MIAC Athlete of the Week awards are nominated by the Conference's sports information directors and selected by MIAC staff. Throughout the fall season, team sports (football, soccer and volleyball) Athletes of the Week will be recognized on Monday afternoons, with individual sports (cross country and golf) announced on Tuesday afternoons. The winners of the latest Athlete of the Week awards are listed below, along with details on their outstanding performances.
To view each sport's 2022-23 Athlete of the Week home page, navigate to the 2022-23 Athlete of the Week archive for complete details on each week's selections and winners.
MIAC Football Offensive Player of the Week
Daniel Rennie
Gustavus Adolphus College
Fy. | Quarterback
Cape Coral, Fla. | Oasis
Daniel Rennie tallied the second-most passing yards in program history in the Gusties' 28-25 loss to UW-Stout on Saturday. In just his second collegiate game, Rennie completed 28-of-34 passes for 467 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a rushing touchdown, helping account for 24 of the team's 25 points in the game. His passing performance was the sixth 400-plus-yard game in program history and just the second showing north of 450 yards.
MIAC Football Defensive Player of the Week
Jariel Lopez-Barrera
Augsburg University
Jr. | Linebacker
Minneapolis, Minn. | St. Louis Park
Jariel Lopez-Barrera recovered two fumbles and returned them both for touchdowns in the Auggies' 45-7 victory at Martin Luther on Saturday. He returned a fumble 73 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, then returned another 29 yards for a score in the third quarter. Lopez-Barrera also had two solo tackles in the game.
MIAC Football Special Teams Player of the Week
Kevin Xiong
Carleton College
Jr. | Defensive Line
Lexington, Mass.
Kevin Xiong blocked a punt and recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter of the Knights' victory over UM-Morris on Saturday. The line of scrimmage on the play was the 31-yard line and the deflected ball rolled all the way back to the end zone where Xiong recovered it for the score. It was Carleton's first blocked punt since the 2017 season.
MIAC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week
Hannah Wilhite
Bethel University
Gr. | Setter
Louisville, Ky. | Christian Academy of Louisville
Hannah Wilhite led the Royals to three wins at the Region IX Invitational over the weekend, averaging 10.55 assists per set, 2.00 kills per set, 2.64 digs per set, and 0.45 aces per set. Named the tournament MVP, Wilhite tallied 116 assists while orchestrating the Bethel offense to a 0.256 hitting percentage. In a four-set victory against St. Olaf to close the weekend, Wilhite recorded a season-high 47 assists to go along with 12 digs for her first double-double of the year. She added eight kills and 39 assists against Cornell on Friday and had seven kills, 30 assists, and four service aces in a straight-set win against Wartburg on Saturday.
MIAC Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week
Selena Rodriguez
St. Olaf College
Sr. | Defensive Specialist
St. Paul, Minn. | North
Selena Rodriguez recorded 57 digs (4.75 per set) over the Oles' three matches at the Region IX Invitational last weekend and had at least 15 digs in each match. The senior started the weekend with 19 digs, five assists, and two aces in a five-set win over Wartburg on Friday that snapped the Knights' 10-match winning streak in the series. Rodriguez followed that up with 15 digs in three sets against Cornell and 23 digs in four sets against Bethel on Saturday.
MIAC Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Otis Anderson
Gustavus Adolphus College
Jr. | Defender
Minneapolis, Minn. | Washburn
Otis Anderson scored two goals as the Gusties shut out Carleton, 3-0, on the road last weekend. Seeing time on the offensive side of the field during the game, Anderson scored the game-winning goal early in the first half on a header and then scored a penalty kick goal late in the match. Typically a defender, Anderson also helped keep St. Scholastica off the board earlier in the week as Gustavus outscored its MIAC opponents 6-0 to open conference play.
MIAC Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Drew Collins
Augsburg University
Jr. | Defender
Champlin, Minn. | Champlin Park
Drew Collins helped lead the Auggies to a pair of conference shutouts last week in a 4-0 win against Hamline (9/13) and a 0-0 draw at Macalester (9/17). Collins played all but eight of Augsburg's 180 minutes in the two games and had a game-saving tackle on a scoring attempt against the Scots. Augsburg's shutout streak is now at 359:04 over parts of four games and Collins has played in a team-high 456 minutes for the Auggies this season.
MIAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week
Jayla Ponce
Augsburg University
So. | Forward
Kuna, Idaho
Jayla Ponce scored three goals with an assist in the Auggies' two victories to open MIAC play last week. Ponce scored a penalty kick goal in the 61st minute to give Augsburg the lead in a 2-1 home win over Hamline on 9/14 and went on to score the second and third goals of the game - and assisted on the final tally - in Augsburg's 4-1 win at Macalester on 9/17.
MIAC Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week
Grace Sprangers
St. Olaf College
Sr. | Goalkeeper
Kaukana, Wis. | Appleton North
Grace Sprangers went 1-0-1 with a 0.50 goals-against average in two starts last week for the Oles. The senior allowed just one goal over 180:00 in-net while stopping six of the seven shots she faced. Sprangers also recorded her second-career shutout in a 0-0 tie at Hamline on Saturday.