DENVER – Louisiana Tech’s Kiva Gresham and Utah State’s Molli Merrill have been named Verizon Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Oct. 4-10
Gresham, a senior forward from Albuquerque, N.M. (Highland HS), recorded her first career hat trick during Louisiana Tech’s 5-4 overtime win over San Jose State on Friday. Gresham scored on three of her four shots on goal during the match. The senior scored two goals in the second half before putting her third goal in the back of net during the fifth minute of overtime to give the Lady Techsters the dramatic win after trailing 4-2 in the 80th minute of play. The win also marked LA Tech’s 13th win of the season, which is a new school record. Over her two matches on the week, Gresham recorded three goals, six points, six shots and one game-winning goal.
Merrill, a junior goalkeeper from Bountiful, Utah (Bountiful HS), led Utah State to shutouts over Idaho (2-0) and Boise State (0-0, 2OT) at home last week. In the Aggies’ tie against Boise State, Merrill played 110 minutes and registered two saves. In the win against then-first place Idaho, Merrill tallied six saves, the most she has recorded in a WAC match this season. The junior has allowed only one goal in five league matches this season and holds a 0.19 goals allowed average in WAC play. Merrill’s seven shutouts this year ties her for third on the Utah State single-season record list.
Other offensive nominees included: Boise State sophomore forward Erica Parks … Fresno State senior forward Nicole Duff … Idaho senior midfielder Mel Canite … New Mexico State freshman midfielder Kate Koziol … San Jose State freshman midfielder Kayla Santacruz … Utah State junior forward Shantel Flanary.
Other defensive nominees included: Boise State junior goalkeeper Liz Ruiz … Fresno State freshman defender Lauren Lindstrom … Idaho junior goalkeeper Liz Boyden … New Mexico State freshman goalkeeper Erin Wosick.