WePlayed Sports Players of the Week - Sep. 29

September 29, 2025

Football

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference announced its WePlayed Football Players of the Week for games played during week four of the 2025 season. UVA Wise's Daniel Thomas was named the Offensive Player of the Week and Emory & Henry's Ean Rhea was named the Defensive Player of the Week, while Emory & Henry's Cam Peoples was named the Special Teams Player of the Week.

Thomas, a sophomore from Middlesboro, Ky., ran 32 times for 167 yards and a trio of touchdowns as UVA Wise handed Tusculum a 35-21 defeat on Saturday. Thomas produced this line in three quarters of play and has 160 more total rushing yards on the season than anyone in the South Atlantic Conference. He ranks fourth in the nation with 681 yards on the ground this season.

Rhea, a junior from Glade Springs, Va., led a strong defensive performance from Emory & Henry as they held Anderson to 13 points. Rhea had seven tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in the victory to go with a forced fumble. Rhea now leads the SAC in both sacks (5.5) and tackles for loss (9.5).

Peoples, a senior from Reidsville, N.C., had two punt returns for 82 total yards, including a 72-yard touchdown return in the Wasps 42-13 victory over Anderson. On the season, Peoples now leads the conference with 193 punt return yards. This was the second punt return for a touchdown in the conference this season, both by Emory & Henry.

2025 SAC Football Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week

Sep. 1 – Jordan Jackson, Emory & Henry
Sep. 8 – Khamoni Robinson, Lenoir-Rhyne
Sep. 15 – Preston Brown, Catawba
Sep. 22 – Zane Whitson, Carson-Newman
Sep. 29 – Daniel Thomas, UVA Wise

Defensive Player of the Week

Sep. 1 – Evan Simons, Catawba
Sep. 8 – Mikey Blandin, Newberry
Sep. 15 – Sakarri Morrison, Mars Hill
Sep. 22 – A.J. Burgess, Emory & Henry
Sep. 29 – Ean Rhea, Emory & Henry

Special Teams Player of the Week

Sep. 1 – Caleb Bonesteel, Wingate
Sep. 8 – Burke Nettles, Newberry
Sep. 15 – Elijah Swett, Anderson
Sep. 22 – Rivers Teeter, Wingate
Sep. 29 – Cam Peoples, Emory & Henry

Volleyball

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference announced its WePlayed Sports Volleyball Players of the Week for matches played during week four of the 2025 season. Lenoir-Rhyne's Emmaleigh Allen was named the Offensive Player of the Week while Wingate's Emily Johnson brought home Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Allen, a senior from Wooster, Ohio, led Lenoir-Rhyne to a 2-0 week with sweeps of Catawba and Mars Hill. Allen notched 11 kills in each contest and hit .291 over those two victories. She committed just six errors on 55 swings and added five service aces. Defensively, she added 15 digs and two blocks.

Johnson, a senior from Fort Collins, Colo., piled up eight blocks on the week, as the #21 Bulldogs picked up 2 more SAC sweeps. Johnson had five blocks and four digs in the Coker sweep, adding six kills on eight swings with a .750 hitting percentage and an ace. She had three more blocks in the big sweep at Carson-Newman, adding three digs and tw0 aces to go along with her eight kills as the Bulldogs held the Eagles to a season-low .115 hitting percentage, over 115 points below their season average.

2025 SAC Volleyball Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week

Sep. 8 – Maya Van Heyst, Wingate
Sept. 15 – Emerson Ahsmuhs, Carson-Newman
Sept. 22 – Sydney Morland, Wingate
Sept. 29 – Emmaleigh Allen, Lenoir-Rhyne

Defensive Player of the Week

Sept. 8 – Maddie Hoffman, Wingate
Sept. 15 – Maddie Hoffman, Wingate
Sept. 22 – Hadley Prince, Lenoir-Rhyne
Sept. 29 – Emily Johnson, Wingate

Men's Soccer

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference announced its WePlayed Sports Men's Soccer Players of the Week for matches played during week four of the 2025 season. Emory & Henry's Mila Mzamane was named the Offensive Player of the Week while Lincoln Memorial's Daniel Benedek Miklosi brought home Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Mzamane, a junior from Johannesburg, South Africa, scored two goals and added an assist during the week. He scored a goal and had an assist to help lead Emory & Henry to its first SAC win since joining the conference. Mzamane scored another goal in a 1-1 draw against Mars Hill.

Miklosi, a junior from Budapest, Hungary, played two full 90-minute games this week tallying a total of eight saves on the week, with a season-high seven stops against Coker.

2025 SAC Men's Soccer Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week

Sep. 9 – Guillermo Garcia, Lenoir-Rhyne
Sep. 16 – Mate Kenyeres, Catawba
Sep. 23 – Gian-Carlo Kama, Lincoln Memorial
Sep. 30 – Mila Mzamane, Emory & Henry

Defensive Player of the Week

Sep. 9 – Josh Moore, Mars Hill
Sep. 16 – Franco Antoniolli, Anderson
Sep. 23 – Ismael Caria, Coker
Sep. 30 – Daniel Benedek Miklosi, Lincoln Memorial

Women's Soccer

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference announced its WePlayed Sports Women's Soccer Players of the Week for matches played during week four of the 2025 season. Anderson's Ansley Douty was named the Offensive Player of the Week while Carson-Newman's Annika Fend brought home Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Douty, a sophomore from Mount Pleasant, S.C., assisted the first and scored the second goal in a 2-0 shutout over Tusculum. She led the team with four shots on goal.

Fend, a senior from Herxheim, Germany, racked up three assists for the week. She assisted on both C-N's goals in a win at Newberry. Fend entered the year with zero career assists and now has five through eight games.

2025 SAC Women's Soccer Players of the Week

Offensive Player of the Week

Sep. 9 – Bree Ehmer, Catawba
Sep. 16 – Molly Bukiewicz, Carson-Newman
Sep. 23 – Lucia Hidalgo, Lenoir-Rhyne
Sep. 30 – Ansley Douty, Anderson

Defensive Player of the Week

Sep. 9 – Madison Gutierrez, Newberry
Sep. 16 – Berna Kabakci, Carson-Newman
Sep. 23 – Jenni Dähne, Catawba
Sep. 30 – Annika Fend, Carson-Newman

Cross Country

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference announced its WePlayed Sports Cross Country Runners of the Week for meets competed in during the week of Sept. 22–28. Anderson's Spain Vaughan was named the Men's Runner of the Week, while Anderson's Kennedy Roush earned Women's Runner of the Week honors.

Men's Runner of the Week – Spain Vaughan, Anderson
Vaughan, a redshirt senior from Greer, S.C., paced the Trojans with a 28th-place finish out of 220 runners at the Lucian Rosa Invitational in Kenosha, Wis. He clocked a time of 25:13:84 to lead Anderson to an eighth-place team finish in one of the biggest Division II meets of the regular season. His performance also marked the second consecutive week he has claimed SAC Men's Runner of the Week honors.

Women's Runner of the Week – Kennedy Roush, Anderson
Roush, a sophomore from Greer, S.C., led the Trojans with a 21:45.74 6k, placing 15th out of 207 competitors at the Lucian Rosa Invitational. Her strong performance set the tone for Anderson, which also saw personal-best efforts from several teammates, and helped secure a 17th-place team finish against a nationally ranked field.

2025 SAC Cross Country Runners of the Week

Women

Sept. 9 – Hannah Caudill, Catawba
Sept. 15 – Ziola Sicilia, Lenoir-Rhyne
Sept. 23 – Madi Clay, Catawba
Sept. 30 – Kennedy Roush, Anderson

Men

Sept. 9 – Tyler Shumate, Newberry
Sept. 15 – Nathan Buckeridge, Tusculum
Sept. 23 – Spain Vaughan, Anderson
Sept. 30 – Spain Vaughan, Anderson

Field Hockey

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference announced its WePlayed Sports Field Hockey Players of the Week for games played during the week of September 22–28, 2025. Belmont Abbey's Sarah Schumacher was named the Offensive Player of the Week, while Newberry's Ayanda Mangenah was tabbed Defensive Player of the Week.

Offensive Player of the Week – Sarah Schumacher, Belmont Abbey
Schumacher, a junior defender from Cologne, Germany, powered the Crusaders' attack with back-to-back two-goal games in wins over Coker and Barton. She leads Belmont Abbey with five goals this season, surpassing her combined total from her first two collegiate years. Schumacher's offensive surge has helped fuel a four-game winning streak and a 4-1 record in SAC play.

Defensive Player of the Week – Ayanda Mangenah, Newberry
Mangenah, a sophomore goalkeeper, was a defensive anchor in the Wolves' 2-1 overtime win over No. 8 Lander. Playing the full 69:20 minutes, she tallied three saves and held one of the nation's top-ranked offenses to a single goal, finishing with a .750 save percentage. Her steady presence in goal gave Newberry the chance to secure the win with an overtime game-winner.

2025 SAC Field Hockey Players of the Week

Offensive

Sept. 9 – Amparo Figueroa, Converse
Sept. 15 – Parker Keeler, Newberry
Sept. 23 – Wibien Dahmen, Newberry
Sept. 30 – Sarah Schumacher, Belmont Abbey

Defensive

Sept. 9 – Svenja Brandt, Wingate
Sept. 15 – Payton Keeler, Newberry
Sept. 23 – Ayanda Mangenah, Newberry
Sept. 30 – Ayanda Mangenah, Newberry

Golf

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference announced its Golfers of the Week for tournaments played during the week of September 16–30. Tusculum's Harrison Price was named the Men's Golfer of the Week, while Wingate's Amely Bochaton was named the Women's Golfer of the Week.

Women's Golfer of the Week
Amely Bochaton, Wingate
(So., Evian Les Bains, France)

Wingate sophomore Amely Bochaton posted a runner-up finish at the Eckerd Invitational, firing rounds of 70, 72, and 68 for a 210 (-6) total. Her steady play helped lead the Bulldogs to the team title by 11 strokes, marking their second consecutive tournament victory. Bochaton finished second out of 69 golfers in the field and recorded a 70.0 stroke average for the week, with all three rounds at or under par.

Men's Golfer of the Week
Harrison Price, Tusculum
(So., Winchester, England)

Tusculum sophomore Harrison Price captured his first collegiate medalist honor with a record-setting performance at the King Invitational. Price shot rounds of 65 and 68 to finish at 133 (-7), tying the second-lowest 36-hole score in program history. His opening-round 65 also matched the second-lowest round ever recorded by a Pioneer. Price's play lifted Tusculum to its fourth consecutive King Invitational team championship, where the Pioneers set a new school record with a 36-hole team score of 546 (-14).

2025 SAC Golfers of the Week
Women's
Sept. 17 – Amely Bochaton, Wingate
Oct. 1 – Amely Bochaton, Wingate

Men's
Sept. 17 – Morgan Cain, Lincoln Memorial
Oct. 1 – Harrison Price, Tusculum