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W&J's Sutton & Mercyhurst's Griepsma Named April 6 Western Division Co-Players of the Week
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Mercyhurst College driver Rachel Griepsma (So., Lindsay, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas) scored nine goals and handed out an assist in a 1-1 week for the Lakers while Alicia Sutton (Sr., Erie, Pa./McDowell) of Washington & Jefferson College netted five hat-tricks in a 4-1 week for the Presidents as the pair share the April 6 Western Division Player of the Week award.
Against Gannon University in the division finale, Griepsma netted four goals and an assist in a 10-4 win as Mercyhurst clinched the No. 3 seed for the upcoming division championship tournament. In addition, she tallied five markers in an 11-7 loss to No. 19-nationally ranked Indiana University.
The 2008 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Western Division Rookie of the Year, she has 41 goals and six assists on the year as Griepsma has raised her career goal total to 121 following an 80-goal freshman season.
At the Midwest Invitational in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Sutton became W&J's all-time leading goal scorer with 15 goals, eight assists and eight steals as she netted five hat-tricks in helping the Presidents knock off Carthage College (5-2 W), Wheaton College (9-8 W), Macalester College (6-3 W) and Colorado College (9-1 W), while falling to Grove City College (10-8 L).
She passed Audrey Taylor ’03
in becoming the all-time leading goal scorer (175), She also has
added 122 assists and is now W&J’s all-time points leader
with 297. Taylor had 174 goals and 97 assists during her
career at Washington & Jefferson.
Overall, she has 43 goals and 29 assists for 72 points in 2009 as Sutton has helped the Presidents to an 8-9 record, including a 2-5 mark in CWPA Western Division play.
Griepsma and Sutton will continue the season on April 18-19 at Indiana University for the Collegiate Water Polo Association Western Division Championship. The No. 3 seed Lakers and No. 6 seed Presidents will meet in the first round at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 18 in hopes of advancing to the division title game. The top two teams from the championship will automatically advance to the Eastern Championship at Harvard University.
