BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Six Western Washington University student-athletes have been honored with Great Northwest Athletic Conference weekly awards for the week of Sept. 17-23, announced Monday by the conference office.

WWU women’s soccer and cross country each swept awards within their respective sports, while WWU volleyball and WWU men’s golf also claimed honors. The WWU honorees are as follows:

• Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week – Dayana Diaz
• Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week – Natalie Dierickx
• Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week – Rebecca Lehman
• Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week – Ian Fay
• Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week – Kayleigh Harper
• Men’s Golf Athlete of the Week – Cody Roth

Dayana Diaz (Fr., Forward, Granite Falls, WA)

Freshman forward Dayana Diaz (Granite Falls, WA) played a big role in WWU’s two wins last week to earn Offensive Player of the Week accolades as the 15th-ranked Vikings topped No. 7 Colorado School of Mines, 2-1, and blanked Simon Fraser, 1-0. Diaz netted two game-winning goals during the week, scoring on a penalty kick in the 75th minute against Colorado School of Mines for her first career goal to give the Vikings a 2-0 lead and then netting the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute against Simon Fraser for a 1-0 win.

Natalie Dierickx (RS So., Goalkeeper, Kirkland, WA/Inglemoor/Colorado State)

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx (Kirkland, WA/Inglemoor/Colorado State) was honored as Defensive Player of the Week, playing all 180:00 minutes in goal for the Vikings. Dierickx made 9 saves during the week, including 6 against Colorado School of Mines. She made 3 saves to post her second shutout of the year against Simon Fraser and has 18 saves over her last three games.

Dierickx joined senior defender Taylor Hallquist (Vancouver, WA/Columbia River) as Vikings to earn conference defensive honors this season after Hallquist was honored for the week of Sept. 3-9. Diaz is the first Viking to earn a women’s soccer offensive weekly award during the season.

Ian Fay (RS Fr., Duvall, WA/Cedarcrest)

Redshirt freshman Ian Fay (Duvall, WA/Cedarcrest) completed the 8K course at last Saturday’s Ken Garland Classic in a winning time of 26:03.50 (5:14 mile average) to place 1st among 146 racers and lead a perfect finish of 15 team points with the Vikings claiming the top five spots. Fay’s performance follows a 4th-place finish for the redshirt freshman at the CWU Invitational to begin the season last week.

Rebecca Lehman (Fr., Spokane Valley, WA/University)

Freshman Rebecca Lehman (Spokane Valley, WA/University) finished the 5K course at the Ken Garland Classic in 18:15.19 (5:54 mile average) to place 1st of 104 racers. WWU placed all five of its scoring placers among the top seven finishers to earn the team title with 21 points.

Kayleigh Harper (Jr., Middle, Oak Harbor, WA):

For the third time this season, junior middle Kayleigh Harper (Oak Harbor, WA) was named the GNAC Volleyball Player of the Week. In two victories last week vs. the Alaska schools, Harper led the Vikings averaging 3.43 kills per set while hitting an efficient .354. She also averaged 2.14 blocks per set while helping the Vikings extend their current winning streak to 11 consecutive matches. For the season Harper leads the conference averaging 1.58 blocks per set, while also ranking 2^nd in hitting percentage (.348), 4^th in points (4.00/set) and 10^th in kills (3.08/set).

In addition to being her third GNAC Player of the Week Award this season (second offensive), it is the sixth of her career to tie for the most by a WWU player since the GNAC was formed in 2001. Current teammate Abby Phelps, as well as Samantha Hutchinson, Kayla Erickson and Marlayna Geary also have six weekly awards to their name. The conference record is seven by Seattle Pacific’s Alyssa Given (2005-07).

Cody Roth (Sr., Bellingham, WA):

Senior Cody Roth (Bellingham, WA) earned his second career GNAC Golfer of the Week Award after tying for 2^nd place at the Saint Martin’s Invitational played at The Home Course in DuPont, Washington. Roth finished the 54-hole tournament at 5-under-par 211, including a career-low round of 5-under-par 67 in the second round. WWU won the SMU Invitational by a 17-stroke margin finishing at 9-under-par for the tournament.

Roth also earned the award April 2-8, 2018 en route to earning Second Team All-GNAC honors as a junior.