Oct. 1, 2013
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - WKU senior goalkeeper Nora Abolins was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week while freshman forward Iris Dunn was tabbed the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday following their performances in two league wins last weekend.
Abolins posted a pair of shutouts in between the posts to open league action, keeping both ULM and Louisiana-Lafayette out of the net. The clean sheets were Abolins' third and fourth of her senior campaign as she now boasts 28 career shutouts on her resume, dating back to her time spent at Detroit-Mercy. Abolins has not surrendered a goal in over 288 minutes and leads the conference with a 0.70 goals against average.
This is Abolins' second Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week award this season, making her the first player in WKU history to garner two defensive player of the week awards in a single season.
Dunn earned Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career after netting a pair of goals against both the Lady Warhawks and Ragin' Cajuns. She sealed WKU's win over ULM with a diving header goal in the 57th minute on Friday and scored less than five minutes into Sunday's win over Louisiana-Lafayette to decide the contest. Dunn has emerged as the Lady Toppers' No.1 scoring threat as a rookie, scoring three goals in her past four games.
The Lady Toppers have now won four Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week awards this season, equaling the 2012 season's four honorees as the most single-season league accolades in program history. Abolins (9/3, 10/1) and Dunn (10/1) join sophomore defender Chandler Clark (9/24) as Lady Toppers to be awarded this season.
In total, five WKU student-athletes across three fall sports have been named conference players of the week. Senior football players Antonio Andrews and Xavius Boyd garnered Sun Belt Conference Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards on Monday while senior volleyball player Melanie Stutsman was tabbed the Sun Belt Conference Setter of the Week yesterday.
