Ohio Wesleyan University junior Madison Cofer and freshman Natalie Dieball have been named North Coast Athletic Conference Athletes of the Week for the week of Oct. 23, it was announced by the NCAC.
Cofer, a defender on the Ohio Wesleyan women’s soccer team, was named Women’s Soccer Offensive Athlete of the Week; and Dieball, an outside hitter on the Ohio Wesleyan volleyball team, was named Volleyball Offensive Athlete of the Week.
Cofer scored 2 goals, including the game-winner, as Ohio Wesleyan defeated Wooster, 3-2, on Saturday. Cofer scored the equalizer in the 20th minute, heading home the rebound of a free kick, to even the score at 1. In the 67th minute, with the score tied at 2, Cofer headed home a corner kick for the game-winning score.
Cofer also was a starter on a Bishop defense that posted a shutout in a 1-0 win over Kenyon on Tuesday. Ohio Wesleyan went 2-0 on the week to hold on to first place in the NCAC standings.
In an Ohio Wesleyan sweep of Wooster last Wednesday, Dieball delivered a set-ending kill in the first set and contributed 2 more kills during a 4-0 burst that helped the Bishops pull away during third set. Dieball shared the team lead with 9 kills and added 12 digs.
In a Bishop sweep of Denison on Saturday, Dieball had 2 kills during a 4-0 run that ended the first set, then had a kill and consecutive aces during a 4-1 run to open the second set. Dieball recorded team bests of 11 kills and 3 service aces.
In Saturday’s finale, a come-from-behind win over Hanover, Dieball provided 3 kills and an ace down the stretch as Bishops won the fourth set to force a fifth set. Dieball finished with a team-high 18 kills, shared the team lead with 16 digs, and had 4 service aces.
On the week Dieball totaled 38 kills (3.45/set), 8 aces (0.73/set), and 35 digs (3.18/set). On the season, Dieball leads the NCAC in kills (3.01/set) and ranks 11th in aces (0.39/set) and 14th in digs (2.56/set). Ohio Wesleyan is tied for first place in the NCAC standings with a 5-0 record.
WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
The Ohio Wesleyan women’s cross country team finished in a tie for third place and Wittenberg was selected as the favorite to win the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference championship based on pre-championship balloting by league coaches.
The 2023 NCAC cross country championships will be hosted by Denison University on Saturday at Infirmary Mound Park in Granville. The men’s 8,000-meter race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., followed by the women’s 6,000-meter race at 12:15 p.m.
Wittenberg received 7 of the 8 first-place votes to total 63 points, while DePauw received the final first-place vote and finished second with 57 points. Ohio Wesleyan and Oberlin tied for third place with 43 points apiece, followed by Wooster (28), Kenyon (27), Denison (19), and Hiram (9).
MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
The Ohio Wesleyan men’s cross country team was predicted to finish eighth and DePauw was selected as the favorite to win the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference championship based on pre-championship balloting by league coaches.
DePauw, the 2022 runner-up, received 4 first-place votes and 73 total points in the poll. Defending champion Oberlin received 3 first-place votes and finished second with 64 points, Denison collected one first-place vote and finished third with 61 points, followed by Kenyon (53), and Wabash (52). Wittenberg received the final first-place vote and finished sixth in the poll with 42 points, followed by Wooster (26), Ohio Wesleyan (25), and Hiram (9).
OWU Sports Information contributed to this report.
