After seeing a trio of Roanoke College athletes earn Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors one week ago, the Maroons would see four athletes honored this week by the league. The ODAC release their ODAC Player of the Week awards for the week of February 8-14 and Roanoke swept the men's and women's awards for both basketball and swimming. Roanoke basketball players Renee Alquiza and Kasey Draper along with swimmers Connor Kinkema and Maria Vinson were honored by the league.
Alquiza, a junior from Cornelius, N.C., put together a strong outing in helping the Maroons improve to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in ODAC play. Alquiza set a new career-high with 23 points in Roanoke's 61-52 triumph over Washington and Lee. She went 7-of-12 from the field including 2-of-3 from three-point territory and canned 7-of-8 shots from the charity stripe. She added in nine rebounds, two blocked shots, and a steal. For the season, Alquiza is averaging 14.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest. She is second in the ODAC in blocked shots (8), third in field goal shooting (.533), and fourth in field goals made (32-60), three-point shooting (.444), and free throw percentage (.875).
Draper, a sophomore from Roanoke, Va., lit up the scoreboard with 55 total points over two games to help Roanoke to a pair of wins to improve the Maroons' season records to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play. Draper opened with 24 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field in an 80-59 triumph over Randolph. He added six rebounds, four assists, and three steals to his line. Draper then turned up the production and efficiency in a 78-68 victory over Washington and Lee. He set career-high for scoring for a second straight game with 31 points on 9-of-13 from the field and 12-of-14 from the foul line. He chipped in five rebounds, a block, and a steal as Roanoke rattled off their fifth consecutive win. For the season, Draper leads the ODAC in total points (116), field goals made (42-of-86) and free throws made (25-of-35). He is fourth in scoring average (19.3) and pulls down 7.3 boards per game.
Kinkema, a junior from Collinsville, Va., picks up his second straight weekly award after helping Roanoke to a 174-20 win over Emory & Henry. Kinkema bettered his own ODAC best time (2:02.06) in the 200-yard IM by winning the event in 2:01.08. He also stopped the watches first in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:00.68. He already owns the league's best mark in that event at 0:59.90. Kinkema helped his Roanoke teammates win the 400-yard medley relay in 3:37.90
Vinson, a junior from Richmond, Va., went top-five in a pair of ODAC events and helped the Maroons to a relay victory in Roanoke's 152-37 dual meet win over Emory & Henry. Vinson took over the top spot in the ODAC in the 200-yard IM with a winning time of 2:16.25. She also won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:04.43, which ranks fifth in the conference this season. Vinson helped her teammates stop the watches first in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:47.44, which is the second-fastest time behind the Maroons' previous-best mark (3:46.63).
Capsules courtesy of the ODAC
