Bucknell University Athletics
Four More Bison Garner PL Weekly Honors
10/6/2003 8:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 6, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Patriot League weekly honors continued to pour in Monday afternoon following important conference wins for the men's and women's soccer teams and the volleyball team.
Bucknell freshman middle blocker Jennie Smith (Roanoke, Va./Patrick Henry) garnered Baden Freshman of the Week honors as the top Patriot League volleyball rookie after the Bison's weekend sweep of Lehigh and Lafayette. In women's soccer, sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Hecht (Pompano Beach, Fla./Douglas) and freshman Jennifer Mrozek (Pittsburg, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) both earned the first Patriot League weekly honors of their career after leading Bucknell to a 1-0 conference victory over Lehigh last week. Hecht earned the BRINE Defensive Player of the Week award, while Mrozek was selected as the BRINE Freshman of the Week for the week ending October 5, 2003. Finally, just one week after being named to the www.collegesoccernews.com National Team of the Week, Bucknell junior Michael Lookingland II (Fallston, Md./Loyola) picked up another honor, being named the BRINE Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week after the men's soccer team's 1-0 overtime win over Colgate.
Hecht had a solid game against the Mountain Hawks, making five saves in the contest for her third shutout of the year. The first-year starter played a large part in preserving the Bison victory, making several of her saves off of point-blank shots by the Lehigh players. For the year, Hecht has played 692:49 in eight games, allowing only nine goals for a 1.17 goals against average. She has registered a .791 save percentage and posted a 3-3-1 record in net.
Mrozek garners the first award of her career after serving as a key component in the Bison defensive unit. The rookie has started every game of her career, helping the Orange and Blue to four shutouts on the year.
Bucknell's women's soccer team is 5-3-1 overall and 1-1-1 in Patriot League action. The squad has nearly a week to prepare for Army on Friday, Oct. 10, in a critical conference game. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
Lookingland earned his award after helping the Bison defense to their fifth shutout of the season in a 1-0 overtime win at Colgate. The co-captain is a mainstay in the Bucknell defense, but has also contributed two assists this year to give him eight helpers in his career.
With the win over Colgate, BU improves to 6-4-0 overall. The victory at Colgate was only the second for a Bucknell team in Hamilton in the 40-year history of the series. The squad is now 2-0-0 in Patriot League play. The Orange and Blue play a mid-week non-conference game at Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Oct. 8, before returning home from a six-game road trip to host Lafayette in a critical conference game on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.
Smith helped lead Bucknell's volleyball team to a weekend sweep of league rivals Lehigh and Lafayette - both by 3-0 margins. She contributed six kills, two aces and three blocks in the win over Lehigh, which avenged a loss to the Mountain Hawks in last year's Patriot League Tournament.
Against Lafayette, Smith logged eight kills and three blocks as the Bison improved to 4-0 in conference play and remained in a first-place tie with American.
Smith is one of only two Patriot League players to average at least a block per game, and she leads the Bison with 53 blocks in 50 games. Smith also ranks third on the team in kills (98) and aces (15). She is hitting .278 in Patriot League play and .177 overall this season.
Bucknell and two-time defending Patriot League champion American square off in a battle for first place this Friday in Washington, D.C. Bucknell is the only team not to have yielded a game in league play.
