Three Spartans Receive NIIC Player of the Week

AURORA, Ill. November 10, 2005 - For the second time this fall sports season, Aurora University had three student-athletes named Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference (NIIC) Player of the Week. AU women’s soccer forward Laura Wagley (Sycamore, IL./Sycamore HS), women’s volleyball outside hitter Sarah Campbell (Lake Villa, IL./Grayslake HS) and women’s cross country runner Jenn Garlinsky (Sugar Grove, IL./Kaneland HS) were named NIIC weekly award recipients.

Women’s soccer sophomore forward Laura Wagley had a week to remember in leading the Spartan women to the 2005 NIIC women’s soccer championship, AU’s seventh in the 11th and final season of the NIIC. Wagley, in the two game tournament, tallied six goals including four in the NIIC championship game against Concordia University. AU won the contest 6-1 with Wagley tallying three (hat-trick) in the first-half alone, tying an AU school record for goals in a half. For the week, she averaged three goals per game and, on the season she has nine goals (second on the team) with three assists, two game winning goals and 21 points. Wagley and the AU women’s soccer team will represent the Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference in the 2005 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championships. The Spartans received a Pool B berth, one of four in the country, and will travel to the University of Chicago on Saturday, November 12, 2005, to take on the host Maroons. Game time has been set for 11:00 a.m. AU finished the regular season with a 15-6-1 overall record. The NCAA bid is the Spartans third selection to the NCAA Championships since the 2001 season.

Spartan women’s volleyball junior outside hitter Sarah Campbell sparked the second- seeded Spartans to the NIIC tournament championship, averaging 4.7 kills and 5.6 digs per game. In the Spartans’ 3-0 victory over top-seeded Benedictine University in the NIIC Tournament Championship game, Campbell had a .214 kill percentage, knocking down 13 kills to go along with 22 digs. On the season, in which AU finished with a 19-17 overall record and 5-2 in the NIIC, Campbell averaged 3.39 kills and 4.99 digs per game with a .179 kill percentage.

Women’s cross country senior runner Jenn Garlinsky earned her NIIC award by not only winning the NIIC individual meet title but also leading the Spartans to their first women’s cross country NIIC championship in school history. Garlinsky won the 6k race in a time of 25:38.

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