Nineteen Athletes from eleven different schools have been named the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Athletes of the Week.
Each athlete was nominated by his or her coach. All statistics incurred from August 22nd, through August 27th.
Below is a look at each Athlete of the Week by sport:
Volleyball
Name: Natalee Albert
Grade: Senior
School: Newton Falls High School
Stats: In 3 Matches 41 Kills, 42 Points, 11 Aces, 61 Digs Serve Recieve % of 90% 78/87.
Coaches Quote: “Natalee Albert is a rare student-athlete, that requires very little external motivation to perform with excellence in any undertaking she chooses,” according to coach Mark Baker. “Her dedication to self-improvement is evident in all she does, and her ability to communicate with her teammates, especially the younger population is nothing short of exemplary. Natalee treats others, with a level of respect and dignity that would be commendable for an individual of any age. Natalee continuously provides students and teammates with positive role models and sets an example for others to follow.”
Name: Baelyn Brungard
Grade: Freshman
School: Springfield Local High School
Stats: In two matches, Baelyn had a 93% serving with 5 aces; 8 kills; 18 digs; and 27 assists.
Coaches Quote: “Coming in as a freshman and playing the setter position for the first time ever, she has done a fantastic job,” according to coach Angela Jones. “Her hustle is on all the time and I am looking forward to her hard work and dedication to the sport to pay off even more as our season and her career progresses.”
Name: Carla Ramirez Ortiz
Grade: Junior
School: Campbell Memorial High School
Stats: 75 Assists, 6 Aces, 8 Kills (.200 Hitting Percentage)
Coaches Quote: “Junior, Setter, Carla Ramirez Ortiz had 75 Assists and added 8 kills with a .200 hitting percentage,” according to coach Tyler Allen. “She also added 6 aces.”
Name: Lexi Muck
Grade: Junior
School: Liberty High School
Stats: 6 aces, 25 kills and 14 blocks
Coaches Quote: “Lexi had a great first week of the volleyball season by having 25 kills, 14 blocks, and 6 aces in her first 3 games,” according to coach Kelly Barley. “She not only is helping her team by putting up great numbers, she is also a great leader on the court by providing the spark we need. We are looking forward to seeing what else she does this season!”
Name: Grace Auer
Grade: Junior
School: Crestview High School
Stats: 24 kills, 8 aces,13 digs and 23 assists in our 2-0 start. She only had 1 hitting error for a .534 hitting percentage.
Coaches Quote: “Grace is a complete 6 rotation player,” said coach Alisha Auer. “She leads her team in stats but also with enthusiasm and excitement. She is a fun player to watch.”
Name: Maria Rasile
Grade: Senior
School: McDonald High School
Stats: 44 kills and 36 digs
Coaches Quote: “Maria had three outstanding performances this week, leading our team in both kills and digs,” according to coach Mike Klockner.
Name: Alyvia Hughes
Grade: Junior
School: Western Reserve High School
Stats: 65 Kills, 53 digs, 11 aces, and 7 blocks
Coaches Quote: “Alyvia is an outstanding all around volleyball player that fills up the stat sheet and is a great team player with a competitive spirit,” according to coach Kristine Hughes. “Alyvia was the top player with service aces and kills on our team with the highest kill percent as well.”
Football
Name: Jayden Hakin
Grade: Junior
School: Waterloo High School
Stats: 18 rushes for 170 yards and 3 touchdowns and threw for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Coaches Quote: “Jayden showed great poise and really took control of our offense,” said coach Mike Devies. “He has worked very hard to put himself in a position to be successful. We are excited to see what the future will bring for him.”
Name: Triston Valley
Grade: Senior
School: Mineral Ridge High School
Stats:130 Passing Yards, 138 Rushing Yards, 268 Total yards and 4 TD’s.
2 punts, 1 inside the 20 and 1 inside the 5
Coaches Quote: “Tristan Valley continues to lead the Mineral Ridge Offense with exceptional play,” says coach Brian Shaner. “Averaging 144.5 yards rushing & 149.5 passing per game, along with a total of 7 TDs over the past 2
weeks. With this type of early execution, he has the Ridge faithful very excited.,”
Name: Donovan Pawlowski
Grade: Senior
School: Brookfield High School
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Stats: Threw for 175 yards and rushed for 160 yards.
Coaches Quote: “Donovan had a great game as being our leader and also showing plenty of toughness,” says coach Randy Clark.
Name: Aiden Stanke
Grade: Junior
School: Jackson-Milton High School
Stats: 7 catches for 75 yards including his first receiving touchdown of the season. He also recorded 7 tackles on defense in Friday night’s win over Newton Falls
Coaches Quote: No Quote
Cross Country
Name: Lucas Sokol
Grade: Sophomore
School: Jackson-Milton High School
Stats: Current 5K personal record – 18:35
Coaches Quote: “Over the past week Lucas participated in his first, ever, official cross country meet as
a new addition to our cross country team,” states coach Kayla Morrison. Racing at the Billy Goat Invitational, Lucas took a top finisher spot placing 31st at the invitational with a time of 19:30. He demolished this time at his second race of the
season at Badger on Tuesday, running a time 18:35 and taking 4th place overall at the race. Lucas is a
leader on the team and an extremely hardworking and motivated athlete!”
Soccer
Name: Zachary Stinson
Grade: Junior
School: Newton Falls High School
Stats: 1 Goal and 1 Assist
Coaches Quote: “Zach’s throw ins are unmatched and they helped to put us in a position to score to tie up the game,” according to his coach Kassi Gant. “His goal was scored off of a throw in that was tipped by the goalkeeper. His physicality really helped put us in a position to win out matchup with Mathews. “
Name: Preston Lefkowitz
Grade: Senior
School: Champion High School
Stats: 2 Goals and 1 Assist
Coaches Quote: “Preston was instrumental this week for the Champion Boys Soccer team,” according to coach Jaimie Futchko. “After losing the home opener, Preston led his squad in two victories this week over Division 2 schools. Scoring the winning goals in each match and assisting in one.”
Name: Caitlin Cappelli
Grade: Senior
School: Springfield Local High School
Stats: 14 saves against Salem
Coaches Quote: “Caitlin made some incredible saves vs Salem that kept us at least competitive in the game,” according to coach Justin Kosek. “She didn’t record any official saves vs Liberty but she anchored our back line with her instructions and got us moving towards our attack a few times.”
Name: Brock Piatt
Grade: Freshman
School: Jackson-Milton High School
Stats: 2 Goals and 2 Assists
Coaches Quote: “Brock joins us as an experienced player that adds a lot of control to our team,” according to coach Craig Fetkovich. “We are looking forward to him settling into his role on the team. He had a great first week of high school regular season.”
Golf
Name: Aubree Brunton
Grade: Sophomore
School: Mineral Ridge High School
Stats: Aubree didn’t shoot as low as she would have liked, but she shot incredibly well for having an mcl injury. She played through the injury and was a huge reason the Rams won a match against Pymatuning Valley last week.
Coaches Quote: “Aubree has really put a lot of work in over the off season,” said coach Nick Flaviano. “She has improved immensely and is never satisfied. She always is looking to improve and shoot better each match. Aubree is even playing through and injury and doing incredibly well!”
Name: Kayla Haynie
Grade: Junior
School: Champion High School
Stats: Number 2 on the team
Coaches Quote: “Kayla has stayed consistent throughout this season,” according to coach Elisa Morello. “During our match against Labrae on August 28th, Kayla finished the match strong with a 47, defeating her opponent by seven strokes. Our team can always depend on Kayla to be her absolute best on the course. I see Kayla growing tremendously this season as a golfer.”
Name: Billy Sloan
Grade: Senior
School: Jackson-Milton High School
Stats: Averaged a 46 for the week of play.
Coaches Quote: No quote