BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its Athlete of the Week award winners for football, volleyball, and hockey on Monday. Student-athletes from Gustavus, Hamline, St. Catherine, Saint Mary's, and St. Olaf claimed the Conference's weekly honors.
The MIAC Athlete of the Week awards are nominated by the Conference's sports information directors and selected by MIAC staff. Transitioning from the fall to winter seasons, team sports (football, basketball, and hockey) Athletes of the Week will be recognized on Monday afternoons, with individual sports (swimming & diving and indoor track & field) 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 2023-24 Athlete of the Week home page, navigate to the 2023-24 Athlete of the Week archive for complete details on each week's selections and winners.
MIAC Football Offensive Player of the Week
Jake Breitbach
Gustavus Adolphus College
Sr. | Wide Receiver
Golden Valley, Minn. | Armstrong
Jake Breitbach accounted for three of the Gusties' five touchdowns in the team's division-clinching win over Carleton on 11/4, going for 227 yards on 12 receptions. Breitbach has surpassed 200 receiving yards four times this year and set the single-season program record for receptions (104) and receiving yards (1,518) with one game left to play.
MIAC Football Defensive Player of the Week
Elijah Gingras
Hamline University
Fy. | Linebacker
Hudson, Wis. | Somerset
Elijah Gingras led the Pipers with eight tackles - including two for loss - one sack, two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble in the team's 33-26 victory over St. Scholastica on 11/4. Seven of Gingras' tackles were solo stops, marking a new collegiate high for the first-year linebacker.
MIAC Football Special Teams Player of the Week
Andrew Abegglen
Gustavus Adolphus College
Sr. | Kicker
Mound, Minn. | Mound-Westonka
Andrew Abegglen went 5-for-5 on PAT tries to go along with a 26-yard field goal for a perfect kicking day for the Gusties in a 38-20 win over Carleton on 11/4 to secure a berth in the MIAC Football Championship game. Abegglen also had seven kickoffs for an average of 60.4 yards with one touchback.
MIAC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week
Maggie Rosen
St. Catherine University
Sr. | Outside Hitter
Clear Lake, Wis.
Maggie Rosen led the Wildcats to a five-set victory over nationally-ranked Northwestern-St. Paul on 11/4, tallying a career-best 22 kills while hitting 0.378 and collecting three blocks in the road win. She added five more kills in a loss to Gustavus on 11/3.
MIAC Volleyball Specialty Player of the Week
Selena Rodriguez
St. Olaf College
Sr. | Libero
St. Paul, Minn. | North
Selena Rodriguez totaled 51 digs (6.38 per set), 14 assists (1.75 per set), and three aces (0.38 per set) as the Oles defeated Saint Benedict on 11/3 and nationally-ranked UW-Stevens Point on 11/4. The fifth-year senior had 23 digs, five assists, and two aces in the sweep of the Bennies to help the Oles lock up the No. 3 seed in the MIAC Playoffs. The next day, Rodriguez tallied 28 digs, nine assists, and one ace in a five-set win over the nationally-ranked Pointers.
MIAC Men's Hockey Offensive Player of the Week
Nate Stone
Gustavus Adolphus College
So. | Forward
Edina, Minn.
Nate Stone scored two goals and added an assist as the Gusties upset nationally-ranked UW-Stevens Point on 11/3. Stone started a five-goal third period for Gustavus, scoring at the 6:33 mark. He then assisted on a short-handed goal and sealed the victory with an empty-netter in the final minute. Stone scored on two of his four shots and had a +3 rating.
MIAC Men's Hockey Defensive Player of the Week
Maximillian Haselbacher
Hamline University
Sr. | Goaltender
Vienna, Austria
Maximillian Haselbacher totaled 51 saves with two goals allowed in a 1-1 weekend for the Pipers. Haselbacher had 30 saves in a shutout win over Saint Mary's on 11/4. He also posted 20 saves in a 2-0 loss to the Cardinals on 11/3.
MIAC Women's Hockey Offensive Player of the Week
Solvei Berg-Messerole
St. Olaf College
So. | Forward
Minneapolis, Minn. | Highland Park
Solvei Berg-Messerole had two multi-point games during the Oles' road sweep of Northland over the weekend, tallying three goals and two assists in a pair of victories. After picking up a goal and two assists in a 5-1 victory on 11/3, the sophomore scored twice, including the game-winner 45 seconds into the third period to break a 1-1 tie, in the Oles' 3-1 win on 11/4. She also won 19-of-28 (67.9 percent) of her faceoffs in the two games.
MIAC Women's Hockey Defensive Player of the Week
Celeste Rimstad
Saint Mary's University
So. | Goaltender
Richfield, Minn. | Holy Angels
Celeste Rimstad totaled 71 saves in two games against top 10-ranked opponents last weekend. Rimstad stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 2-1 win over nationally-ranked UW-Eau Claire on 11/3 before stopping a career-high 42 shots in a loss to nationally-ranked UW-River Falls the following evening.