The votes have been counted, and it is now time to announce True To The Cru’s Players of the Week presented by Montgomery Chiropractic.
Offensive Player of the Week: Aphonso Thomas
Thomas played a key role in UMHB’s offense, handling the bulk of the rushing attack. He tallied 16 carries for 84 yards, with his longest rush going for 28 yards. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry, and has now reached the 500-plus yardage mark for the second straight season, with 508 total rushing yards.
Defensive Player of the Week: Johnny Smith-Rider
Smith-Rider helped anchor UMHB’s defense against the Tigers, and was named to D3football.com’s Team of the Week. The linebacker tallied a team-high 4.0 tackles for loss, totaling eight tackles, four of which were solo. The D3football.com Team of the Week honor was his third of the season.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Anthony Avila
In Saturday’s win over ETBU, Avila recorded UMHB’s only points of the second half, with a 36-yard field goal. It was his sixth field goal of the season, and second-longest of the year. He was also 3-for-3 on extra-point attempts, and the Troy, Texas native averaged 64.4 yards per kick on five kickoffs.
Volleyball Player of the Week: Alyssa Christiansen
The junior defensive specialist/setter tied a program record in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Sul Ross State, with nine service aces. Christiansen tallied nine of the Cru’s 13 aces, and in the second set, she served 11 straight points in a 14-1 run. In that span, the native of League City, Texas, had five aces, as UMHB took a 2-0 lead in the match. She also added four assists and 15 digs in Saturday’s sweep of McMurry, and three aces in Friday’s victory over Hardin-Simmons.
Women’s Soccer Player of the Week: Mackenzie Worthy
Worthy found the back of the net for the third time in four contests on Thursday against Sul Ross State, scoring in the 12th minute. The junior is one of four Crusaders who have started all 11 games this season, leads the team in points (12), and is tied for the team lead in goals (5). She had five shots over the course of UMHB’s two matches.
Men’s Soccer Player of the Week: Nick Villanueva
Villanueva played 163 minutes in UMHB’s victories this past weekend, scoring the decisive goal in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Howard Payne in the 63rd minute of the contest. He tallied three shots against HPU, two of which were on goal, and had one shot on frame against Sul Ross State.
