9/28: Mandy Platt – Volleyball
Senior co-captain Mandy Platt earned MAC Freedom player of the week honors as she led the Eagles to a solid 3-0 week and an eventual national ranking. The Eagles faced two nationally-ranked teams during the week ending on Sept. 28 but calmly handled the new pressures with 3-1 victories against both, extending their then record to 15-0.
On Sept. 24 against then #24 Stevens Tech, Platt dominated her middle hitter position with nine blocks, in addition to an impressive nine kills, nine digs and two aces.
In Eastern’s tri-match on Sept. 27, Platt had 10 kills in a 3-0 victory over Scranton. Later in the day, Platt’s performance lifted the Eagles over then #18 Haverford. Both Stevens Tech and Haverford have since dropped from the national rankings, while Eastern, currently in the 25th position, made it as high as 23rd.
Platt, the team’s lone senior, leads the team with 32 aces and holds the second highest hitting percentage at .362, with 162 kills and 55 blocks. She recently earned her 1,000th career dig and has 170 so far this season.
10/5: Brian Raffle – Men’s Soccer
With three goals in just two games, junior forward Brian Raffle was named the Men’s Soccer MAC Freedom player of the week for Sept. 29-Oct. 5.
In the Eagles 7-0 romp of Centenary College on Sept. 30, Raffle scored twice within a minute at the beginning of the second half, converting on both a free kick and a penalty kick. Only 31 seconds elapsed between the scores, extending Eastern’s lead to a comfortable 4-0.
On Oct. 4, the Eagles found themselves in a much tighter game, down 1-0 to King’s College with time running out. Within the last three minutes, Raffle was able to knock home the equalizer and end the game in a tie.
Raffle is second on the team with five goals and one assist this season, for 11 total points.
10/5: Danielle Danser – Field Hockey
Having started in all of the Eagles games thus far, first-year back Danielle Danser earned MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week honors for the week ending on Oct. 5
On Oct. 2 in a solid 6-1 victory over DeSales, Danser recorded her second defensive save of the year while exhibiting solid play in the back field. A defensive save is when a back clears a shot from the goal, typical to a save for a goalie.
The conference recognition is most likely from the team’s tight 3-2 loss to Rowan, when Danser picked up four defensive saves. These numbers are huge because defensive saves are not very common, and, in such a close game, each one is important because they would otherwise be goals.
With the Rowan game, Danser tripled her season number of defensive saves to a total of six.