West Virginia State's Kyle Alexander has been named the Mountain East Conference's defensive player of the week, the league announced Monday. Fairmont State's Fabian Guerra was tabbed the offensive player of the week and Shepherd's Ruan Venter earned special teams honors.
Alexander, a freshman from Chester, Virginia, had two interceptions, the first of which he returned 46 yards for a touchdown, to help the Yellow Jackets pick up a 37-24 win over Urbana. His second interception came late in the fourth quarter, picking off a pass in the end zone to prevent the Blue Knights from getting within a single possession and securing the victory for State.
Guerra, a senior from Miami, had 11 catches for 175 yards and three scores as Fairmont defeated Concord to move to 2-0 on the year. He moved into third all-time for receptions (171) and fourth for receiving yards (2,164) for the Falcons.
Venter, a sophomore from Morgantown, punted four times for an average of 47 yards with a long of 64 as the Rams scored a 38-22 win over Charleston.
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UC SOCCER: The University of Charleston's Will Roberts and Rachel Neff were named the men's and women's MEC soccer offensive players of the week, respectively, the organization announced Monday.
Roberts, a junior from Wales, opened the week with a goal and assist in a win over No. 12 Urbana, then tallied a hat trick as the Golden Eagles downed West Virginia Wesleyan.
Neff, a freshman from Ohio, finished with seven points in a 2-0-1 week for UC. She had a goal and an assist in the GOlden Eagles' win over Urbana, and followed that up with a two-goal performance as UC defeated West Liberty.
Wheeling Jesuit's Shaan Stuart earned the men's defensive player of the week award, while Concord's Emily Simpkins earned the women's.
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AREA GOLF: Huntington's Tim Mount carded four birdies and a bogey-free round on his way to a 3-under par, 69 to claim low round of the day honors and win the Senior division as the West Virginia Golf Association's Senior Series continued Monday at Lakeview Resort in Morgantown.
Ron Witt of Masontown won the Silver division with a 77, while Hurricane's Bob White took the Gold division with a 76.
The Senior Series continues Thursday at the Pines Country Club in Morgantown.
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HERD VOLLEYBALL: Marshall volleyball's Jac'cara Walker was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Week as the Herd dominated with four consecutive sweeps this past week.
The Florida native recorded 10 kills, six digs, two blocks and hit .292 as Marshall beat Bowling Green. Walker went on to earn Most Valuable Player honors in the Toledo Invitational, finishing the event with 46 kills, 22 digs, seven blocks and five aces in four matches.
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WVU WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Former West Virginia University women's basketball standout and WNBA rookie Bria Holmes signed an overseas professional contract with Bnot Maccabi Ramat Gan of the Israeli Basketball Premier League (IBPL), while 2015 WVU alum Crystal Leary agreed to terms with the Wolfenbuettel Wolfpack of the German Women's Basketball Bundesliga 2 (2BL).
Holmes, who finished third at WVU in scoring with 2,001 career points, became the Mountaineers' highest WNBA Draft Pick when she was selected 11th overall by the Atlanta Dream. In 30 games and eight starts, Holmes is averaging 6.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Leary, a 2015 WVU graduate, signed her second professional contract with the Wolfenbuettel Wolfpack of the German Women's Basketball Bundesliga 2.
Leary spent the 2015-16 season with Forssan Alku in the Finnish Women's Basketball League. As a rookie, she helped FOA reach the Finnish League semifinals after placing fifth in the regular-season, averaging 9.3 points per game and ranked eighth in the league with 10.9 rebounds per game.
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PREP SOCCER: Nitro's Seth Jordan netted the equalizer in the 52nd minute to help the Wildcats tie host Charleston Catholic 1-1 Monday night in boys high school soccer.
The Irish (3-3-3) struck first when Kendy Peyton found Jared Cunningham for a score in the 32nd minute to put Catholic up 1-0.
Christian Legg made one save in goal for the Wildcats (6-0-2), while Ethan Malinoski picked up 13 saves for the Irish.