September 25, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Coe College tennis player Molly Fiala (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) and Coe College football player Adam Jordison (Van Meter, Iowa/Van Meter) have been named the IIAC Male and Female Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, September 24. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s eight sports in competition during the week.

Women’s Tennis – Molly Fiala, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson
Fiala, a sophomore, won the ITA Midwest Regional Tournament and advanced to the ITA Nationals in Fort Myers, Fla. in two weeks. Following a first round win by default, the Tournament’s #2-seed Fiala, defeated St. Olaf’s Kristina Poplavska (6-4, 6-2), Carthage’s Kristin Mikowski (6-2, 6-3) and Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Nicole Stamm (6-1, 6-0), in the first, second and quarterfinal rounds, respectively. In the semifinals, Fiala defeated #3-seeded Lauren Horn of Gustavus Adolphus (7-5, 6-4) and #4-seeded Amanda Sta Romano of Carthage (6-1, 7-6) in the Championship match. Fiala also posted a pair of victories in a dual win over Augustana (Ill.), winning at #1-singles (6-0, 6-0) and #1-doubles with Hillary Allen (8-3).

Football – Adam Jordison, Coe College, Van Meter, Iowa/Van Meter
Jordison, a senior defensive end, tied an Iowa Conference record with five sacks in Coe’s 41-17 victory over Buena Vista. He also had nine tackles in the game (six solo) and became Coe’s career leader in tackles for loss and sacks. He is the fourth IIAC player to record five sacks in a game, the first since Wartburg’s Matt Stoffel in September 2003.

Women’s Cross Country – Jill Wagaman, Wartburg College, Dysart, Iowa/Union (LaPorte City)
Wagaman, a senior, finished third in the Maroon Division II race at the University of Minnesota’s Roy Griak Invitational. She ran the 6,000-meter course in 23-minutes flat, finishing 24 seconds behind the winner, Genevieve Binsfield of Division II Minot State in the 278 runner field. The finish was her third top-five finish of the season and led Wartburg to a 10th-place team finish in the 29 team field.

Men’s Cross Country – Ben Grant, Loras College, Peosta, Iowa/Western Dubuque
Grant, a junior, finished second at the 450-runner Brissman-Lundeen Invitational hosted by Augustana (Ill.) College. He ran a personal-best time of 25:23 in the 8,000-meter race, bettering his previous career-best set last week by 40-seconds.

Women’s Golf – Megan Cress, Wartburg College, Center Point, Iowa/Center Point-Urbana
Cress, a senior, shot an 81 at the rain-shortened D-III Midwest Classic hosted by Carleton College, to finish second in the 75-golfer Tournament, four strokes behind Medalist Breanne Staples of Gustavus Adolphus. Cress led Wartburg to a second-place team finish (335), one stroke behind defending national runner-up Gustavus Adolphus.

Women’s Soccer – Lilly Steinberg, Luther College, Portland, Ore./LaSalle
Steinberg, a senior goalkeeper, went 1-0-1 with a 0.82 goals against average and an .895 save percentage in two games. She made 10 saves in a 0-0 double-overtime tie with Carleton, Luther’s third straight scoreless tie. In the Iowa Conference opener, she made seven saves in a 3-2 overtime victory over Wartburg including three saves in nine minutes of overtime.

Men’s Soccer – Mark Maguire, Buena Vista University, Sioux City, Iowa/North
Maguire, a junior goalkeeper, made 13 saves in a 0-0 double-overtime tie with preseason Conference favorite Central, to help snap Buena Vista’s six-game losing streak.

Volleyball – Emily Ita, Coe College, Burlington, Iowa/Burlington
Ita, a junior middle hitter, hit .448 and averaged 3.37 kills and 1.05 blocks per game during the week, earning All-Tournament Team honors at the Central Invitational. Coe went 5-0 during the week, improving to 13-2 on the season, the quickest to 13 wins in school history. In a 3-0 Conference win over Buena Vista, Ita hit .529 with nine kills and three blocks. She had 12 kills, four digs and four blocks in the Kohawks’ 3-2 win over Wisconsin-Whitewater, their second win of the season over the defending National Champions. Ita hit .324 with 16 kills, six digs and five blocks in a 3-2 win over the University of Chicago. She finished the week with a .630 hitting percentage, 17 kills and four blocks in a 3-0 win over William Penn, and a .250 hitting percentage, 10 kills, three digs and four blocks in a 3-0 win over Bethany Lutheran.

Other Outstanding Weekly Performers
The IIAC also recognized the following outstanding athletic performances from the past week.

• Central College freshman Angie Berry (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk) finished seventh of 395 runners at the Roy Griak Invitational in a time of 23:42. She was the top Iowa Conference finisher and the only freshman or sophomore in the top-seven.

• Luther College sophomore David McKay (Iowa City, Iowa/City High) was the highest finishing Iowa Conference runner at the University of Minnesota’s Roy Griak Invitational, finishing 21st of 509 runners in a time of 26:40.

• University of Dubuque junior inside linebacker Floyd Pinckney (Miami, Fla./Miami Southridge Senior), made 17 tackles (7 solo), had 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble and an interception in the Spartans’ 23-20 loss at cross-town rival Loras.

• Wartburg College senior running back Dan Hammes (Sigourney, Iowa/Sigourney) surpassed the 2000 career rushing yard mark in the Knights’ 28-17 win over Luther. He rushed for 161 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.

• Loras College sophomore setter Jenny Dziubla (Bartlett, Ill./St. Edward) averaged 10.71 assists per game in five matches during the week and was named to the Clarke Invitational All-Tournament Team. She recorded 30-plus assists in all five matches including 70 in a 3-2 win over St. Scholastica, 51 in a 3-2 win over Dubuque, 38 in a 3-0 win over Minnesota-Morris, 34 in a 3-2 loss to Millikin and 32 in a 3-0 win over Dubuque.

-30-