ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Empire 8 announced its weekly awards on Monday afternoon with four Ithaca student-athletes recognized by the conference office for the second consecutive week.
IC field hockey swept the weekly awards with
Michaela Donohue scoring Offensive Player of the Week and
Katie Lass taking home Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Amanda Cerruti was named Player of the Week for volleyball, while
Sean Phillips also took home an honor after leading the Bombers to a men's cross country conference title.
Phillips turned in another outstanding performance in what has been a standout season for the senior runner. He improved two places from last season's third-place finish to be crowned as the individual champion in Saturday's Empire 8 Conference Championships. Phillips torched the field with a time of 25:45.9 on the 8K course, which was nearly 13 seconds faster than the runner-up, McQuade Milligan, from St. John Fisher College. Monday's announcement marked the fourth time this fall that Phillips has taken home the weekly honor on the men's side.
Cerruti had a big weekend in helping IC go 2-1 at the Skidmore Invitational. The West Islip, N.Y., native kicked off the two-day event with eight kills on .375 hitting, adding two solo blocks and three block assists in the Bombers five-set heart-breaker against New Paltz. She opened her fantastic performance on Saturday with an excellent match against Potsdam. She posted a match-best 11 kills on .474 hitting, while she also picked up a pair of block assists in the three-set victory. The second-year middle added 11 more kills to pace IC for the match against Geneseo, also chipping in two solo blocks and two block assists in the four-set triumph over the Knights. Cerruti was named to the All-Tournament Team at the conclusion of the competition.
Donohue had a monster week in leading the Bombers to shutout victories to conclude the season. She scored both goals in a 2-0 shutout of Brockport on Tuesday evening. She added two goals and an assist in the 6-0 blanking of Elmira in the season finale on Saturday. The junior forward finished out the regular season on a scorching hot run with a four-game scoring streak in which she has amassed six goals and two assists.
Lass posted an excellent conclusion to her final season with the Bombers, posting a pair of 70-minute shutouts over Brockport and Elmira. The reigning Empire 8 Player of the Year denied eight Golden Eagle shots, as IC marked two goals after halftime to take the victory. The senior keeper added one save in the 6-0 win at Elmira on Saturday. Lass finishes her Ithaca career with 476 saves, ranking fourth on the program's all-time list.
Phillips continues his season in two weeks when the Bombers head to Glassboro, N.J., for the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships on Saturday, November 12. Cerruti is back in action this coming Saturday, as Ithaca Volleyball heads to Stevens for the Empire 8 Tournament on Saturday, November 5, and Sunday, November 6. Ithaca field hockey concludes the year with an 8-7 record and a 5-3 mark in Empire 8 play, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Empire 8 Tournament.
