SUNYAC Athletes of the Week - October 6, 2025
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - SUNYAC selects its fall Athletes of the Week in week six of 2025 competition. The conference honors 13 student-athletes from six different member institutions for their performances during the week of September 29-October 5.
Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week – Oliver Melara-Perez, New Paltz
Melara-Perez led the men's team with a sixth place finish in a time of 26:08.4 in the 8k at the 51st Annual Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University.
Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week – Melissa Innocent, Cortland
Innocent finished in 36th place out of 422 runners in the White Division of the Lehigh University Paul Short Run on Friday. She covered the 6,000-meter course in 22 minutes, 0.4 seconds and helped Cortland finish in 28th place out of 45 teams.
Field Hockey Offensive Athlete of the Week – Miranda Britton, New Paltz
Britton was the offensive catalyst in a breakout week for the Hawks. After her team went down 1-0 to Union, Britton stemmed the come-back, scoring her first of two goals in the fourth quarter, including the game-tying and game-winning goal to help her team cement a 2-1 victory. She totaled six shots and four on goal for a .667 shot-on-goal percentage. Her momentum continued into Saturday where Britton led the offense with two more goals in a 3-1 win, including the opening goal to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes, along with an insurance goal in the fourth quarter. She led all players in shots, totaling 11 with eight on goal for a .727 shot-on-goal percentage. On the week, Britton led her team with eight points, 17 shots, 12 shots on goal with one game winner.
Field Hockey Defensive Athlete of the Week - Meghan Gunning, New Paltz
Gunning was a crucial part in helping the Hawks to two wins on the week, yielding both opponents to just eight total shots on goal combined. In a 2-1 win over Union, Gunning helped hold the Garnet Chargers to four shots, was good in the press and added an assist in the game tying goal. In a 3-1 win over Oneonta Saturday, Gunning helped the Hawks defense limit the Red Dragons to just four shots on goal, while assisting on the go-ahead and game-winning goals with the latter stemming off an intercepted pass from her team's press that led to the score.
Men's Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week – Diego Rivera, Buffalo State
Rivera has been selected the SUNYAC Men's Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week every week of the 2025 season so far - six weeks. He continued his historic season helping the Bengals improve to 3-0 in conference play. Rivera netted both goals in Buffalo State's 2-0 win over Morrisville before adding another goal and an assist in the team's 2-0 win over Canton. On the year, Rivera now has 22 goals and 52 points and sits just two goals, and three points shy of matching the program record for most goals and points in a single season.
Men's Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week – Jordan Ott, Cortland
Ott earns his fourth SUNYAC Men's Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week honors this season. He continued his stellar season for the nationally ninth-ranked Red Dragons by making 16 combined saves in two shutouts last week. The senior capped off the week by setting Cortland's career record for shutouts with his 25th shutout, making 10 saves and stopping a penalty shot in a 2-0 win at Plattsburgh on Saturday afternoon. That performance followed a six-save shutout against Oneonta on Wednesday evening.
Women's Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week – Bronwyn Madden, Fredonia
Madden led Fredonia to a 2-0 week by scoring three goals in a pair of games. In a 2-1 win over Nazareth, Madden scored 30 seconds into the game as the Devils eventually prevailed. In a battle versus last year's SUNYAC Champion New Paltz, Madden scored twice in the first seven minutes of play to stake the Devils to a 2-0 lead. They would come out on top with a 3-2 victory. Madden leads the SUNYAC with seven goals this season.
Women's Soccer Defensive Athlete of the Week – Casey Fetzner, Fredonia
Freshman Fetzner picked up a couple of wins for Fredonia State this past week. In a 2-1 win over Nazareth, Fetzner stopped five shots and gave up one score. In a 3-2 SUNYAC win over the defending champion New Paltz Hawks, she made 14 saves and gave up two goals. For the week, she made 19 saves and gave up three goals for a 1.50 GAA in 18- minutes of play.
Women's Tennis Singles Athlete of the Week – Taylor Plue, Oneonta
Plue finished the week 1-0 in conference singles play as Oneonta went 1-0 overall with a 6-1 SUNYAC victory over Fredonia. Plue went up against Allison Bartoszek on the No. 3 singles court where she bageled Bartoszek in the first set then she continued to overpower her in the second set for a 6-0, 6-1 win.
Women's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week – Lisa Schulz and Christina Massoni, Cortland
Schulz and Massoni won both of their matches at first doubles during the week. They earned a 6-2 win in a home match versus Houghton on Tuesday and a 6-1 win at Oswego on Wednesday. They are 7-3 in doubles play this season, including a 3-1 mark in SUNYAC action.
Women's Volleyball Offensive Athlete of the Week - Liya Girma, Plattsburgh
Girma averaged 4.33 kills per set and recorded a .241 attack percentage as Plattsburgh swept Potsdam in their home SUNYAC Opener. In the Cardinals' lone game of the week against Potsdam, she totaled 13 kills, four service aces, and two block assists for 18 points (6.0 points per set). Defensively, she added 10 digs for a double-double as well as 14 receptions and two block assists.
Women's Volleyball Defensive Athlete of the Week - Alyssa Rich, Cortland
Rich averaged 4.6 digs per set (32 total) in a 2-0 weekend for the Red Dragons. She posted 14 digs in a four-set win over visiting Buffalo State on Friday, and on Saturday she finished with 18 digs and two aces in a three-set victory over Fredonia.
