Monday, October 29, 2001

FIVE NAMED MORAVIAN STUDENT-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

BETHLEHEM, PA --- Senior Heidi Wolfsberger (Moosic, PA/Riverside HS) from the women's cross country team, sophomores Kim Zipf (Wyomissing, PA/Holy Name HS) and Amy Lawrence (Gettysburg, PA/Delone Catholic HS) of the women's volleyball squad, senior Michael Abbate (South Plainfield, NJ/Bishop Ahr HS) from the football team and sophomore Mike Grillo (Dennington, NJ/Pennington School) of the men's soccer team have been named the Moravian College Student-Athletes of the Week for their performances last week.

Wolfsberger won her third straight Middle Atlantic Conference Individual Championship and she led the Greyhounds to their ninth consecutive MAC Team Crown in the 2001 MAC Championships last weekend hosted by Messiah College.  Wolfsberger completed the 5,000-meter course in 18:31.30, over 23 seconds ahead of teammate Emily Shertzer.  Wolfsberger is the first female runner in MAC history to win the MAC title three straight years as the Greyhounds have had the individual champion the last nine years.  Moravian has been ranked as the #1 team in Division III for the last six weeks and Wolfsberger has won four of seven races this season.  The Greyhounds will take this week off as the team prepares to defend its NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championship at Lehigh University on November 10th.

Zipf, an outside hitter, led the Greyhounds to a 4-1 record last week including a 3-1 mark and a third place finish at the Elizabethtown College Halloween Classic and a Commonwealth Conference victory over Messiah College.  Zipf, who averaged 4.7 kills and 5.35 digs per game with a .364 hitting percentage last week, was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Elizabethtown Halloween Classic, her third All-Tournament Team honor of the season.  Zipf had over 20 kills in two matches with a season high 29 kills in a 3-1 victory over Haverford College.  She had over 20 digs in four of five matches with 30 in the 3-2 win at Messiah.

Lawrence, a setter, was also named to the All-Tournament Team at the Elizabethtown Halloween Classic.  She averaged11.3 assists and 4.27 digs per game last week and she added eight service aces and 19 kills.  It was the fourth All-Tournament selection of the season for Lawrence.  Moravian is 22-7 on the season, which marks the sixth straight season the Greyhounds have posted a 20-win season.  The Greyhounds will host Susquehanna University in a Commonwealth Conference semifinal on Wednesday, October 31st at 7:00 p.m.

Abbate, a wide receiver, grabbed six receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown  in the Greyhound's 30-21 loss to Albright College.  This was the second game this season that Abbate has had over 100 yards receiving and he became the fifth player in school history to surpass 100 career receptions with his first catch of the game.  Abbate currently has 105 catches (4th all-time) for 1,473 yards (5th all-time) and 11 touchdowns (5th all-time).  He added  two rushes for eight yards and four punt returns for 16 yards in the game.  Moravian is 3-4 on the season and will host Susquehanna University in its final home game of the season on Saturday, November 3rd at 1:00 p.m.

Grillo, a midfielder, led the Greyhounds to a 2-0 record last week with a goal and two assists in a 6-1 victory at the University of Scranton and the only goal of the match in a 1-0 victory over Widener University that clinched the third seed for Moravian in the upcoming Commonwealth Conference playoffs.  Grillo has seven goals and four assists this season while helping the Greyhounds to their first winning season and playoff berth since 1995.  Moravian is 12-4-2 this fall and travels to Elizabethtown College for a Commonwealth Conference Semifinal on Wednesday, October 31st at 7:00 p.m.