Monday, December 10 2001

41 GREYHOUNDS NAMED TO 2001 FALL MIDDLE ATLANTIC CONFERENCE FALL ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

ANNVILLE, PA --- The Moravian College fall athletic teams had 41 members named to the 2001 Middle Atlantic Conference Fall-All-Academic Team with at least one member from each of Moravian's eight fall sports and led by nine honorees from the women's cross country team.

To be eligible for the MAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must be a starter or significant reserve, a sophomore, junior or senior and maintain a 3.2 grade-point average.

In addition to the nine selections from the women's cross country team, the football team had eight honorees while the women's soccer team had seven athletes honored.  The women's tennis team and the women's volleyball team each had five athletes selected while the men's soccer and field hockey teams each had three honorees.  There was one student-athlete selected from the men's cross country squad.

Among the nine women's cross country selections were two of the team's three All-Americans.  Senior Heidi Wolfsberger (Moosic, PA/Riverside HS) was second in the 2001 NCAA Division III National Championships, her third All-American finish in cross country, while senior Emily Shertzer (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin HS) finished 27th at nationals.  The duo led Moravian to a third place showing in the National Championship race, the squad's second straight NCAA Division III Mideast Regional title and the team's ninth consecutive MAC Championship.  Also earning spots on the MAC All-Academic Team were senior Jennifer Boberg (Lansford, PA/Panther Valley HS), senior All-Region and All-MAC runner Erin Boyle (Philadelphia, PA/Nazareth Academy HS), sophomore Jennifer Brief (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson HS), senior Tiffany Catalino (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS), sophomore Angie Morgan (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS), senior Amanda Samok (Palmerton, PA/Palmerton Area HS) and junior All-Region and All-MAC runner Jen Wagner (Riegelsville, PA/Wilson HS).

Senior wide receiver Michael Abbate (South Plainfield, NJ/Bishop Ahr HS) led the contingent of football named to the Fall All-Academic Team.  Abbate caught 39 passes for 543 yards and five touchdowns and he added 20 carries for 134 yards and four more scores.  The Greyhounds posted a 5-5 record this season after winning their final two games of the year.  Joining Abbate on the All-Academic Team were junior defensive tackle Tom Blackledge (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge HS), who had 45 tackles, junior nose guard Brian Cascioli (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh HS0, who added nine tackles, junior fullback Eric Gustafson (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood HS), who had 288 yards and two scores on 61 carries, senior defensive tackle John Kwiatkowski (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS), who contributed 41 tackles, junior wide receiver Chris McGinnis (Brick, NJ/Brick HS), junior defensive back Eric Paul (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic HS), who had nine stops and senior safety Mike Wukitsch (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic HS), who had 28 tackles.

Four-time Commonwealth Conference All-Star Stevie Ochse (Bethlehem, PA/ Saucon Valley HS) and two-time Commonwealth All-Star Justina Bria (Warminster, PA/William Tennent HS) led the women's soccer team to an 11-7 record and a second straight Commonwealth Conference playoff appearance.  Ochse led the Greyhounds this season with ten goals and two assists for 22 points while Bria added four goals and four assists for 12 points.  Joining the duo on the MAC All-Academic Team were sophomore defender Rachel Davy (Oaklyn, NJ/Haddon Township HS), who scored one goal, junior sweeper Allison Kranchalk (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro HS), sophomore defender Lauren Roller (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East HS), sophomore defender Nicole Sabaliauskas (Butler, NJ/Butler HS) and sophomore goalie Kelly Wakeman (Easton, PA/home schooled), who had two wins and eight saves in 265 minutes of work.

The Moravian women's tennis team won its second straight MAC title this season and its fifth title in the past six years while posting the program's second undefeated season (16-0) in the last four years.  Junior Jen Genevese (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall HS), who was named to the All-Academic Team, led the Greyhounds with a 13-0 singles record and Genevese, a MAC Commonwealth All-Star, won the 2001 MAC Doubles Championship with partner Corinne Kleinsmith.  The other four members of the women's tennis team to earn MAC Fall All-Academic accolades were sophomore Lauren Castagna (Mt. Bethel, PA/Bangor HS), who was 5-1 in singles action, senior Katie Copf (Allentown, PA/Salisbury HS), who had an 11-4 singles mark, sophomore Petia Damianova (Haskovo, Bulgaria/ISM HS) and junior Karen Larsen (Commack, NY/ Commack HS).

Sophomore setter Amy Lawrence (Gettysburg, PA/Delone Catholic HS) led the Moravian women's volleyball team to a 25-9 record this season, a sixth straight trip to the Commonwealth Conference title match and the squad's first-ever appearance in the Eastern College Athletic Conference South Championships, which Moravian hosted as the top seed.  Lawrence, who had an average of 10.53 assists per game to go along with 366 digs, 94 kills and 66 service aces, was named to the Commonwealth Conference All-Star First Team and the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Mid-Atlantic Region squad in addition to the MAC All-Academic Team.  Also earning a spot on the fall All-Academic Team were sophomore outside hitter Mary Kate Cordisco (Bethlehem, PA/Notre Dame HS), who had 125 kills this fall, sophomore defensive specialist Andrea Frankenfield (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus HS), who added 203 digs and 49 service aces, sophomore right side hitter Sara Hollenbacher (Reading, PA/Reading Central Catholic HS), who had 242 kills and 53 blocks, and senior defensive specialist Krystol Kessack (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom HS), who led Moravian with 84 service aces and added 341 digs.

Senior midfielder Evan Weller (Sinking Spring, PA/Wilson West Lawn HS) led the men's soccer team to its best season since 1995 this fall, helping the squad post a 13-6-2 overall record, earn its second straight Commonwealth Conference playoff appearance and reach the semifinals of the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Championships.  Weller, who scored six goals and five assists this season for 17 points, was joined on the MAC All-Academic Team by fellow seniors defender Doug Becker (Fleetwood, PA/Fleetwood HS) and midfielder Scott Heydt (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown HS), who added three goals and three assists for nine points.

Senior forward Elissa Gerstel (Warminster, PA/William Tennent HS) was named to the Commonwealth Conference All-Star First Team and led the field hockey squad to a 5-10 record this season including the program's first two conference victories in over three years.  Gerstel was joined on the All-Academic Team by sophomore midfielder Rachel Crocker (Bethlehem, PA/Northampton HS) and senior midfielder Andrea Rafferty (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley HS).

Rounding out the Moravian 2001 MAC Fall All-Academic honorees is junior Justin Arnold (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge HS) from the men's cross country team.  Arnold helped the Greyhounds to a seventh place finish at the 2001 MAC Championships and a 16th place showing at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional.