Wednesday, May 11, 2005

MORAVIAN HONORS SENIOR STUDENT-ATHLETES;
BORTZ & ZALESKI NAMED SENIOR ATHLETES OF THE YEAR

BETHLEHEM, PA --- Moravian College honored its 2005 senior student-athletes at its annual Senior Athletics Awards Banquet Wednesday night in the Gateway Conference Center. Softball standout Heather Bortz (Allentown, PA/Parkland HS) was named the Outstanding Senior Female Athlete while basketball player Brandon Zaleski (Hackettstown, NJ/Hackettstown HS) was honored with the Outstanding Senior Male Athlete award. The Blue & Grey Scholar Athlete awards were presented to women’s tennis and track & field competitor Julie Anderson (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) and track & field athlete Scott Silvoy (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic HS). The H.T.D. Gillespie Award for outstanding service to Moravian’s athletics program was presented to George Hollendersky ’59.

Bortz, a shortstop, has helped the Greyhounds to a 34-6 record this season and the team’s eighth straight trip to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament that begins on Friday in Salisbury, Maryland. Bortz was named to Commonwealth All-Conference First Team and the Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year this spring. Bortz, who was the Commonwealth Rookie of the Year in 2002 and the Commonwealth Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, earned a spot on the First Team for the fourth straight year, and she leads Moravian in hitting this spring with a .419 batting average. Bortz has a team high 54 hits, 25 runs, five doubles, five triples and 20 RBIs. Bortz has also added two sacrifice flies, five stolen bases and 12 walks. Bortz, a two-time All-American including the First Team in 2004, has become the first player in school history to reach 200 career hits and has 245 in her career. She also leads the team with 70 assists in the field.

Zaleski, a forward, helped Moravian to a 7-18 record this past winter. He led team with a scoring average of 17.2 points per game, and Zaleski was named to the Commonwealth All-Conference First Team for the third straight year. He was second in rebounding with 7.1 boards, and Zaleski also contributed 44 assists, 30 steals, 20 blocked shots and ten three-pointers. Zaleski completed his career as the all-time leading scorer in Moravian history with 1,891 points. He also completed his career as the all-time leader in field goals made with 703 field goals, second in free throws made with 456, second in games started with 103, fourth in rebounds with 723 and fourth in scoring average at 18.5 points per game. Zaleski was a three-time Commonwealth All-Conference First Team selection, and he was the Commonwealth Rookie of the Year in 2002 & the Commonwealth Player of the Year in 2003.

Anderson helped the women’s tennis team to a 13-3 fall season record and a berth in the conference championship match for the 11th consecutive year. She had a singles mark of 3-0 and a doubles slate of 7-0 last fall. In track & field, Anderson is the school record holder in the hammer throw, and she finished second in the hammer at last weekend’s 2005 Middle Atlantic Conference Outdoor Championships as the Greyhounds won their 13th straight title. Anderson won the MAC Indoor Championship in the 25-pound weight throw in 2003 & 2004, and she has helped the indoor team win ten consecutive MAC title. Anderson is a nine-time member of the Middle Atlantic Conference States Collegiate Athletic Corporation Academic Honor Roll, and she has been named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar Athlete. Anderson, who has received a 2005 Fulbright Scholarship to teach in Germany, next year, has a 3.98 grade point average, and she is majoring in English and German.

Silvoy, a sprinter, was named the Most Valuable Player of the track team this spring. He is part of the school record holding relay teams in the 4x100-meter relay outdoors and the 4x200-meter relay indoors. Silvoy was second in the 100-meter dash at last weekend’s MAC Outdoor Championship and fourth in the 200-meter dash, and he was the Rookie of the Year at the 2002 MAC Indoor Championships. Silvoy has been on the MASCAC Academic Honor Roll six times and a member of the Student-Athlete Mentor program at Moravian. Silvoy has a 3.32 grade point average, and he is majoring in sociology.

Hollendersky has made many contributions to the Moravian Athletic Department since his graduation including hosting the softball team at his home in Ocean Pines, Maryland the last few years while the team travels to Salisbury, Maryland for a tournament. Hollendersky was inducted into the Moravian College Hall of Fame on March 24, 1984, and he was a four-year letterwinner in both football and baseball for Moravian. Hollendersky played for legendary coaches Rocco Calvo, Gus Garcsar and Gil Gillespie at Moravian and was voted the Most Valuable Player of both sports during his senior year. Hollendersky was a First Team NCAA District 2 All-Star catcher for the Greyhounds, and he worked for the United States Secret Service following graduation. Hollendersky, who has helped further the careers many Moravian criminal justice majors over the last 30 years, was part of Secret Service from the Dwight Eisenhower administration through Ronald Regan’s second term as well as serving on the security force for one of Pope John Paul II visits to the United States.