October 16, 2006

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Central College tennis player Kristin Kovar (Clarinda, Iowa/Clarinda) and Wartburg College soccer player Harrison Kibombo-Lugujjo (Kampala, Uganda/RCNUWC (Norway)) have been named the IIAC Female and Male Athletes of the Week for the period ending Sunday, October 15. The Conference also announced the Performers of the Week for each of the Conference’s seven sports in competition during the week.

Women’s Tennis – Kristin Kovar, Central College, Clarinda, Iowa/Clarinda
Kovar, a senior, became the first Central player to win the Iowa Conference #1 singles title and also placed second at #1 doubles at the IIAC Individual Tournament. The singles title is her second, having won #2 singles in 2004 and she also garnered her fourth All-Conference finish in singles and second in doubles. She defeated #7-seed Emily Heying of Wartburg (6-1, 6-1) and #6-seed Jen Phelan of Loras (6-0, 6-0) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Kovar, the #2-seed, defeated top-seeded Pavla Brachova of Cornell in the Championship match (6-3, 3-6, 11-9). In doubles, #2-seeded Kovar and partner Jennifer Knobbe, defeated #7-seed Wartburg (8-0) and #3-seed Luther (8-5) before falling in the Championship match to top-seeded Brachova/Emily Loewen (8-4).

Men’s Soccer – Harrison Kibombo-Lugujjo, Wartburg College, Kampala, Uganda/RCNUWC (Norway)
Kibombo-Lugujjo, a senior forward, scored six goals and had an assist in three games during the week to reach the 20-goal mark for the second consecutive season. He began the week with a goal in the Knights’ 4-0 victory over Buena Vista. Wartburg extended its win streak to nine with back-to-back 5-0 victories over Dubuque and Millikin with Kibombo-Lugujjo scoring the game winning goal in both contests. He scored two goals against Dubuque and had three goals and an assist against Millikin.

Women’s Cross Country – Janet Dobyns, Luther College, Iowa City, Iowa/West
Dobyns, a sophomore, finished ninth of 435 runners at the Tori Neubauer Invitational hosted by Wisconsin-LaCrosse with a 6K time of 22:12.

Men’s Cross Country – Andy Hodge, Wartburg College, Marion, Iowa/Marion
Hodge, a junior, posted an 8,000-meter time of 25:25 at the Jim Drews Invitational hosted by Wisconsin-LaCrosse to finish 32nd in the 451 runner meet that included participants from all three NCAA divisions.

Football – Michael Sly, Buena Vista University, Grimes, Iowa/Dallas Center-Grimes
Sly, a junior strong safety, had a team-high 13 tackles and two interceptions in Buena Vista’s 30-27 overtime victory over Luther. He also had one tackle for loss.

Women’s Soccer – Andi Hudgens, Wartburg College, Batavia, Ill./Batavia
Hudgens, a junior midfielder, scored four goals and had two assists for 10 points in two games during the week. She scored a goal and had two assists in Wartburg’s 9-0 victory over Buena Vista, and recorded her first career hat trick with three goals, including the game winner, in a 7-2 win over Dubuque.

Volleyball – Jena Goedken, University of Dubuque, Lamont, Iowa/Starmount
Goedken, a junior middle hitter, hit .465 and averaged 6.27 kills, 1.67 blocks and 1.20 digs per game in four matches. She had 14 kills and hit .194 in a Conference loss to Central then went on to hit over .500 in three straight matches at the Wellesley Invitational. She hit .538 with 26 kills, 11 blocks and six digs in a 3-1 win over Wellesley. In a 3-2 win over Nazareth, Goedken hit .542 with 38 kills, five blocks and eight digs; and hit .560 with 16 kills, seven blocks and four digs in a 3-0 win over Bridgewater State.

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

• Coe College junior setter Kristy Upah (Toledo, Iowa/South Tama) averaged 12.29 assists and 3.24 digs per game in four wins during the week. She had 43 or more assists and 10 or more digs in matches against Simpson (43 assists, 16 digs), Clarke (52 assists, 13 digs), Augsburg (52 assists, 16 digs) and Cornell (62 assists, 10 digs).

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