Monday, November 12, 2001

FIVE NAMED MORAVIAN ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

BETHLEHEM, PA --- Senior Heidi Wolfsberger, Moosic, PA/Riverside HS) of the women's cross country team, sophomore Kim Zipf (Wyomissing, PA/Holy Name HS) from the women's volleyball squad, freshman men's soccer player Daniel Samuelsson (Lebanon, NJ/North Hunterdon HS) and football players senior Michael Abbate (South Plainfield, NJ/Bishop Ahr HS) and junior Jarrod Pence (Livingston, NJ/Livingston HS) have been named the Moravian College Student-Athletes of the Week for their performances last week.

Wolfsberger led the Moravian women to their second straight NCAA Division III Mideast Regional title and third in school history with her second consecutive Mideast Regional Individual Championship.  Wolfsberger completed the 5,000-meter course at Lehigh University's Goodman Campus in 17:52.37, 11 second ahead of the second place finisher to lead the field of 235 runners.  Wolfsberger, who has won three straight meets and five of eight this season, is a fourth time All-Region runner, a three-time Middle Atlantic Conference Champion and a four-time All-MAC runner and she will lead the Greyhounds in their ninth straight trip to the NCAA Division III National Championships this Saturday, November 17th at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL.  Moravian is ranked third in the nation for the second straight week after spending six weeks as the top team in the country.

Zipf, an outside hitter, led the Greyhounds in their first-ever appearance in the ECAC South Championships.  Moravian, the top seed in the tournament, defeated fourth seed Rutgers University-Newark, 3-1 behind 17 kills, 20 digs and five service aces from Zipf.  She added 18 kills, 20 digs and four service aces in a 3-1 loss to sixth seed Grove City College in the championship match.  Moravian finished the season with a 25-9 record while Zipf led the squad with445 kills and 428 digs this year.

Samuelsson, a midfielder, scored two of Moravian's three goals as the Greyhounds made their first appearance in the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Region Championships since 1990.  Samuelsson scored the only goal of the match 2:05 into the fourth overtime as the fourth seeded Greyhounds defeated fifth seed Grove City College in the first round.  Samuelsson added an unassisted goal to tie the semifinal match with top seed Johns Hopkins University at 2-2.  Moravian ended up losing the match 3-2 but finished the season with a 13-6-2 record.

Abbate, a wide receiver, caught two passes for 51 yards with one touchdown and ran in another score as the Greyhounds defeated rival Muhlenberg College 17-7.  With Moravian trailing 7-3 in the final minute of the first half, Abbate grabbed a 37-yard touchdown on 3 down & 10 to give Moravian the lead for good.  With 5:47 to play in the third quarter, Abbate capped the scoring with an 11-yard reverse for a touchdown.  With his two catches, Abbate now has 111 receptions (4th all-time) for 1,589 yards (3rd all-time) and 13 touchdowns (3rd all-time).  Abbate helped the Greyhound offense control the game as Moravian had the ball for 39:34 in the contest.  The Moravian football team is 4-5 on the season and will close out the year with a 1:00 p.m. game at FDU-Madison on Saturday, November 17th.

Pence, who was named the Middle Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Week, led the Moravian defense that forced rival Muhlenberg College into seven turnovers in a 17-7 Moravian win.  Pence, a cornerback, led the Greyhounds with seven tackles and had three of Moravian's six interceptions to tie the school record for a single game.  Pence also caused a fumble as the Greyhound defense held Muhlenberg to 186 yards below its season average, allowing just 186 yards in the game.  Pence was named Moravian's MVP of the annual Moravian-Muhlenberg contest as voted on by the media in attendance.