Northampton, MA — For the week ending 11/23/2014, Conn College’s Mawa Ballo and Navy’s Reed Whitney have been named the women’s and men’s [hpow].
A [hpow] should have a significant impact on his or her team’s performance during the prior week and demonstrate sportsmanship. Coaches and Sports Information Directors may nominate players.
Mawa Ballo (Connecticut College): On the weekend prior to Thanksgiving, 28th-ranked Conn College faced NESCAC rival and 27th-ranked Tufts. Ballo, a first year student, played #3 against Tufts’ Ann Bellinger. After being down 1-2 in games, Ballo went on to win the match in five games (11-9, 5-11, 7-11, 11-7, and 11-8), which assisted the Camels in defeating the Jumbos, 5-4. Ballo also collected wins against Boston College and Wellesley.
Reed Whitney (Naval Academy): Navy had not beaten Princeton since 1985. The Midshipmen ended the 19-match streak with a win over the Tigers on November 23rd. Sophomore Reed Whitney faced Princeton’s #7, Sam Ezratty. In the fourth game, Whitney, who was up 2-1 in games, had match ball. The ball broke and after play resumed, Ezratty won the game. In the fifth, Whitney captured the match in tiebreakers (8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-13, and 13-11), which clinched the team match for the Midshipmen.
