Ohio Wesleyan University senior Jaggar Brooker (Powell/Olentangy Liberty), freshman Carson Harmon (Elida), and senior Claire Solberg (Huron) have been named North Coast Athletic Conference Athletes of the Week for the week of Sept. 11, it was announced by the NCAC.
Brooker, a forward on the Ohio Wesleyan men's soccer team, was named Men's Soccer Athlete of the Week; Harmon, a member of the Ohio Wesleyan men's golf team, was named Men's Golf Athlete of the Week; and Solberg, a middle blocker on the Ohio Wesleyan volleyball team, was named Volleyball Athlete of the Week.
Brooker assisted the game-winning goal in the 84th minute of Friday night's 2-1 win over 14th-ranked St. Olaf in the first round of the Fred Myers/adidas® Invitational. The win was the 750th career victory for Ohio Wesleyan head coach Jay Martin, who is the winningest men's soccer coach in NCAA history. In Saturday's second-round game against Hanover, Brooker scored all 3 Ohio Wesleyan goals in a 3-1 win. Brooker scored in the 11th minute, made it 2-0 with a penalty kick in the 35th minute, and added a goal in the opening minute of the second half. The hat trick was Ohio Wesleyan's first since Oct. 19, 2022, when Christopher Guerra chalked up a hat trick at Wittenberg. Brooker shared the Dick Gauthier Award as the tournament's co-Most Valuable Player.
Harmon won medalist honors in leading Ohio Wesleyan to the team title at the Baldwin Wallace Fall Invitational on Sunday. Harmon carded a 4-under score of 68 to finish 2 strokes ahead of the individual runner-up. Ohio Wesleyan won the team title, finishing atop the 10-team field with a 7-over score of 295. The last time Ohio Wesleyan had the individual medalist and won the team title was on Sept. 20, 2022, when John Catanzarite won individual honors and the Bishops hoisted the hardware at the Ken Venturi Invitational.
Solberg opened last week by recording 8 kills with no errors in 10 attempts for an .800 hitting percentage, with the tying for second place on the Bishop single-match list, in a 3-1 win at Capital on Wednesday. Solberg then collected 7 kills, 3 aces, 9 digs, and a team-high 6 blocks in a 3-2 win over Albion on Friday. Against third-ranked Hope on Saturday, Solberg shared the team lead with 5 kills and had a team-high 2 blocks. Ohio Wesleyan closed out the NCAA/MIAA Challenge with a 3-1 win over fourth-ranked Calvin on Saturday, with Solberg contributing 10 kills and 4 blocks. Solberg had a kill and a block during a 12-3 run that helped the Bishops win the second set, then combined on a block in the fourth set as Ohio Wesleyan scored the final 5 points to win the set and the match. At No. 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III rankings, Calvin is believed to be the highest-ranked team ever defeated by Ohio Wesleyan. On the week, Solberg had 30 kills (1.88/set) and a .354 hitting percentage, 5 aces, 19 digs (1.19/set) and 17 blocks (1.06/set).
