ALFRED, NY – Following the Saxons' first ever Empire 8 Championship victory, Casey Grange (Ithaca, NY/Ithaca) and Cara Bratthauar (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg Area) were named the Player and Rookie of the Week.
 
Grange was pivotal in helping the Saxons go 3-0 on the week to win the program's first ever Empire 8 Women's Volleyball Championship. She was named the Empire 8 Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player for her efforts. She totaled 16.0 points in the championship match against #3 Keuka College, all from kills, including the match-clinching, fourth-set kill. Grange hit .308 in the match with only four errors on 39 attacks. She helped the Saxons defeat the three teams that defeated AU in the regular season, first with a 3-0 win over #4 Nazareth College, then with a 3-1 win over #1 St. John Fisher University. She totaled 31.0 points from 30 kills and two block assists while chipping in nine digs.
 
Bratthauar totaled 23.5 points on the. She had two, important career-highs in the Empire 8 Finals against #3 Keuka College. She broke double-digit scoring for the first time this season, totaling 10.5 points from 10 kills and a block assist while adding two digs. Bratthauar had positive attack percentages in all three matches, hitting a weekly-high of .300 in a 3-0 shutout of #4 Nazareth University. She then hit .214 in a four-set win at #1 St. John Fisher University and then .240 in the four-set win at Keuka. Bratthauar broke a career-high in block assists in a match, totaling three against Fisher and five on the week.
 
Grange was also named a Saxon of the Week along with men's swimming & diving's Emmanuel Drappatz (Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel Area) who also earned Empire 8 Men's Swimming & Diving Co-Athlete of the Week.