Sidelines

On top of the MAC

Three of UB's finest earned status as Mid-American Conference athletes of the week in their respective sports.

Mickey Moran, a 165-pound sophomore grappler from Pittsburgh, Penn., was recognized by the conference for the first time in his career last week. Moran was named the MAC Wrestler of the Week for following his impressive performance in UB's sweep of Gardner-Webb, Bloomsburg, and Findlay on Nov. 19. Moran contributed 16 points to the Bulls' total, including clutch points in his match against Bloomsburg's Jason Crawford, pulling UB out of a 12-11 deficit.

Following his teammate's accolades, senior 197-pound All-American Kyle Cerminara was named MAC Wrestler of the Week for the current week. The Lewiston native wrestled his way to the title in his weight class at the Mat Town Tournament, beating two nationally ranked wrestlers en route to securing the Harris Lipez Most Outstanding Wrestler Award. This week's acknowledgment is the third weekly honor from the conference for Cerminara.

Yassin Idbihi is also familiar with recognition from the MAC after being named to four previous lists by the conference. This week, Idbihi's efforts over Thanksgiving break earned him top honors as MAC East Player of the Week for the first time in his career. Idbihi averaged 19.6 points and 7.3 boards in UB's last three games. The junior leads the team in rebounding with 6.6 per game and his 14.2 average ranks him second on the team in scoring.

Hitting the books

Three Bulls won honors from the MAC for their athletic feats but three athletes have also been recognized by the conference for their academic accomplishments.

Representing their respective cross country teams, senior Jen Jezorski and junior Andy Leonard landed on the All-MAC teams, voted on by athletic representatives of MAC affiliated schools. Jezorski is a speech and hearing sciences major boasting a 3.64 GPA. Jezorski finished in the top 10 in three different races, becoming UB's top female runner. Leonard has studied his way to a 3.43 GPA as a mechanical engineering major and ran his way to three top-15 finishes this season.

Katie Weekley ended her career as a volleyball player at UB on a high note and will graduate as a psychology major this year. The Dayton, Ohio native is a member of UB's honors program with an impressive GPA of 3.83. Weekley averaged 1.4 blocks a game, good for the best on the team and third in the MAC.

All eyes on Folli

Baseball season is months away, but last week, sophomore shortstop Mike Folli already started receiving hype from the College Baseball Foundation's watch list.

Folli had a standout campaign as a freshman, being named to the All-MAC second team and Collegiate Baseball's Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American list. Folli also held a spot on the Great Lake Summer League's All-Star game.

Currently, the list has 120 players on it but will be cut down to 12 semi-finalists in May. The final three athletes that reign supreme after the cuts will be invited to a nationally-televised banquet in Texas following the NCAA Super Regionals.