News/Headlines

By Tom Saxe

The Pacific Coast Athletic Conference has selected San Diego City College soccer player Patrice Lawrence and Southwestern volleyball player Elizabeth Gonzalez as Women’s Athletes of the Week for the week that ended on Sunday.

Lawrence, a freshman forward from Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville and a transfer from San Diego State who missed part of the season with a concussion, got the Knights on the scoreboard early in two victories last week, 3-2 over Palomar and 2-0 over Imperial Valley. “She’s a very aggressive player and creates a lot of momentum for our attack,” City College coach Andi Milburn said. “She can play anywhere, which is evidenced by our use of her in a variety of positions.”

Gonzalez, a 6-foot sophomore middle blocker from Chula Vista’s Mater Dei High School, had 30 kills (with only 3 errors) on 57 attempts, 3 blocks and 21 digs as the Jaguars lost to Imperial Valley 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-13) and defeated San Diego City College 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 25-19). In the City game, Gonzalez put down 18 kills with only one hitting error. Gonzales majors in engineering and has a 3.85 GPA.

Honorable mention went to San Diego Mesa basketball player Whitney Shirley, Grossmont volleyball player Courtney Shyk, Mesa volleyball player Bri Bissell and City College volleyball player Imani Griffin.

Shirley, a 5-foot-7 freshman guard/forward from Santa Clara High School in Oxnard and a transfer from Santa Barbara City College, led the Olympians to the finals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament at Mesa. She averaged 16.0 points per game as the Olympians defeated COD 65-64 and Santa Monica 57-49 before losing to Cerritos 65-33.

Shyk, a freshman middle hitter from Valley View High School in Hemet, was a huge factor in Grossmont’s first-place 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 245-16, 25-23) win over San Diego Mesa with six kills on 13 atempts, a kill percentage of .462 and nine of the Griffins’ 24 blocks. She had four kills on six attempts, hitting .667 for the night in a 3-0 (25-16, 25-8, 25-13) victory over East County rival Cuyamaca.

Bissell, a freshman outside hitter from Valhalla High School, totaled 10 kills, one block and one ace vs. Grossmont. She had 16 kills, a .536 hitting percentage, four digs and a block in the Olympians’ 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 15-18) victory over Palomar.

Griffin, a freshman middle blocker from Oceanside High School, had 19 kills and three locks in City’s 3-2 (20-25, 25-22,  21-25, 25-21, 15-12) loss to Palomar and here more vs. Southwestern.