Seven Earn Liberty League Weekly Awards

TROY, NY – The Liberty League has announced its weekly award winners and seven Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) student-athletes have been honored in four sports. Among them are Pitcher of the Week, three Performers of the Week and two Double Teams of the Week.

Second year student Lorna Flores Gonzalez earned two women’s tennis honors.

Bryce Burnham (So., Rocklin, CA / Granite Bay) – Men’s Tennis Singles Performer of the Week
In three matches in California over Spring Break, Bryce went 3-0 playing No. 5. He won his first match 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a 5-4 team loss at No. 36 Occidental before submitting. 6-1, 5-7, 10-4 win over Whittier 9-0. Bryce won 6-4, 7-5 in a match against No. 10 Emory – RPI singles beat the Eagles, who won 6-1.

Lorna Flores Gonzalez (So., Sugar Land, TX / iUniversity Prep.) – Women’s Tennis Singles Performer of the Week
In four matches in Orlando over Spring Break last week, Lorna went undefeated playing No. 3. She opened with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Haverford, 7-2, and then won the singles point at No. 6. -3 loss to No. 11 Carnegie Mellon, 6-1, 6-3. Lorna’s third match led to a 6-1, 6-2 win in the team’s 7-2 win over North Carolina Wesleyan, and she posted a 6-0, 6-1 win over Division II foe St. Cloud State. The Engineers won 6-1 and finished their trip to Florida with a 3-1 record.

Lorna Flores Gonzalez (So., Sugar Land, TX / iUniversity Prep.) – Women’s Tennis Doubles Team of the Week
Nikki Ridenour (Fr., Minneapolis, MN / Roseville Area) – Women’s Tennis Doubles Team of the Week
Nikki and Lorna posted a team-best 3-1 doubles record in four matches playing No. 1 in Orlando over Spring Break. They won the first 8-7 (7-3) over the Haverford duo with a 7-2 team victory and then dealt their lone loss, 8-6, to a team from 11th-ranked Carnegie Mellon, a match the Engineers lost. 6-3. The third game went from an 8-3 win to a 7-2 victory over North Carolina Wesleyan and ended with a 6-2 win over Division II St. Cloud State, which the Engineers defeated 6-1 to close out their matchup. Florida trip with a 3-1 record.

Joey Harrigan (Gr., Highland Park, IL / Highland Park) – Golfer of the Week
At the Savannah Invitational, a 54-hole, two-day tournament featuring 18 schools, 14 of which are ranked in the top 30 in Division III, Joey led the Engineers to ninth with a +8.224. finished 18th out of 88 golfers by shooting 71 in the first round, 77 in the second and 76 in the third. He moved up five spots over the final 18 holes to earn a top-20 finish, finished the tournament with nine birdies and was fifth among all competitors in par-4 scoring (+2).

Rylan Wade (So. Pitcher, Encinitas, Calif. / San Dieguito Academy) – Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Rylan threw five no-hit innings to shut out Colby in the second inning of Saturday’s doubleheader, giving the Engineers a 3-0 win in five innings (called due to darkness). He struck out five while facing just two batters over the minimum, giving up just two walks.

Igor Visnevsky (So., Delray Beach, FL / American Heritage) – Men’s Tennis Doubles Team of the Week
Abraham Yohannes (Sr., Albuquerque, NM / Albuquerque Academy) – Men’s Tennis Doubles Team of the Week
Abraham and Igor posted a team-best 3-0 doubles record while playing No. 2 California over Spring Break. They won their first match against No. 36 Occidental’s duo 8-5 in a 5-4 loss and then won 8-2 against Whittier’s duo, which the Engineers defeated 9-0. They finished by capturing a 6-3 win against the 10th-ranked Emory tandem against which RPI lost 6-1.

The following were named to the weekly honor roll:

• Lauren DeLeo, women’s lacrosse
• Matt Lecky, Men’s Athletics
• Morgan Lee, Women’s Athletics
• Luke Murphy, Men’s Lacrosse
• Joey Saia, baseball