Courtney Wallace went a combined 5-for-8, crushing three home runs and scoring six runs in becoming Pine Manor's all-time hits leader and tallying her 200th career hit last Tuesday night at Emmanuel. In Game 1, a 10-3 blowout victory for the Gators, Wallace broke Meghan Goss' Pine Manor all-time hits record with her 198th career hit with her sixth home run of the season.

In the night cap, Wallace recorded her 200th career hit on an opposite-field ground rule double to left. She ended the night and capped her storied career with a new Pine Manor record of 201 hits.

Over the weekend, Wallace was named All-Great Northeast Athletic Conference First Team catcher for a record fourth consecutive year. For the season, Wallace hit .a team-high 461, also leading the team with 25 runs, 41 hits, 12 doubles eight home runs and 29 RBI's.

Nelson's breakout week went hand in hand with the Gators resurgence, as the freshman picked up wins in all four Gators victories. She amassed 27.0 innings and allowed only nine runs over five appearances, including four complete games, going the distance twice in Friday's 9-3 and 10-2 sweep of Suffolk. For the week, Nelson held hitters to a .224 average.

One of only five Gators to play in all 31 games, Nelson appeared on the mound in 27 contests, including 17 complete games.

In Game 1, the sophomore Saco, ME native homered in her second at-bat and scored twice. She went 3-for-4 with two home runs in the late game, scoring twice and driving in two in a career day at the plate.  

For the season, Nielsen is now tied with senior Courtney Wallace atop the team lead in home runs with five. With only 40 at-bats on the season, Nielsen has now homered an astonishing once every eight at-bats.

Wallace enjoyed a red-hot week, both with the stick and in the field in which she homered in three of four games, including both games of a double header at Mount Ida.

The senior catcher hit .538 for the week and clubbed her way to a whopping 1.461 slugging percentage. In addition to her seventh-inning home run in a tie game at Simmons, Wallace secured the final outs of the sixth and seventh innings on collisions at home plate in Game 2 against the Sharks.

A First Team All-GNAC catcher in all of her first three seasons, Wallace's Gators are in action Tuesday afternoon, playing host to Emerson College.

Deegan tied for the team lead with three goals in Saturday's 10-8 win at St. Joseph (CT). The sophomore, who entered the week ranked eighth in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference at 5.20 shots per game, also scored both Gators goals in the team's 20-2 setback Thursday night at Emerson. For the season, she leads Pine Manor with 14 goals. 

Saturday's victory was not only the Gators first win of the season, but it was the first GNAC victory since the team joined the conference four seasons ago. Deegan's Gators are in action again Tuesday night at Simmons at 7 p.m.

Manley's seven points came on six goals, both career highs. The sophomore helped anchor a late first half comeback that saw the Gators go from down 9-2 to down only 9-8 at halftime, as she scored twice in the final 6:00 of the half.

She found the back of the net twice within 10 seconds in the second half, helping the Gators rally from trailing 16-10 to 16-13 as the team fell just short.

Manley's Gators are in action Tuesday at 4:30 at Lasell, Thursday at 6:00 at Emerson and Saturday at St. Joseph (CT) at noon.

Kennedy capped a mini three-game streak with a 3-for-3 day at the plate, which included an RBI and three runs scored, against Northwestern College of Minnesota. Two games later, the junior centerfielder/catcher collected her first four-hit game as a Gator, going 4-for-5 with a double and three runs scored.

A transfer from Dean College and native of Franklin, MA, Kennedy is also a member of the Gators soccer team. Pine Manor softball returns to action on Tuesday, March 23 with a single game at UMass-Boston at 2:30 p.m. and plays its home opener Wednesday, March 24 with a doubleheader against Lasell at 3 p.m.

Wright (Baltimore, MD/Seton Keough) sank the game-winning buzzer beater and secured the GNAC rebounding title with her monstrous 26-point, 22-rebound, four-block effort in Saturday's 75-73 win. Her tip-in as time expired sealed the Gators first road win of the season as the forward broke a three-way tie atop the league rebounding charts. In addition to her 22 boards, Wright also set career highs with 14 free throws in 17 attempts. 

Nelson (Rockport, MA/Rockport) exploded for career- and game-highs of 28 points on 7-13 shooting from three-point range, playing all 40 minutes Saturday. The forward also pulled down seven rebounds while shooting 7-8 at the charity stripe. Her seventh three-pointer tied the game at 68, capping a late ten-point comeback in the final minutes.

Wright's double-double, her sixth in her last eight games, catapulted her to second place in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference in rebounding. The 5-8 forward currently averages 10.25 rebounds, which is second behind Lasell's Kim Archibald, who averages 10.27 per game.

When the duo met on Tuesday in Newton, Archibald coralled 13 rebounds in 31 minutes.Wright, meanwhile pulled down her 16 in 36 minutes.

Wright and the Gators close out their season on Saturday at St. Joseph's (CT) at 1 p.m.

The freshman has been equally as active around campus as she has been athletically. An Allentown, PA native, Roberts is a member of the Book Club and Yearbook staff. The Dean's List student also works part-time in the Annenburg Library and has volunteered as a host for student recruiting visits.

“Margaret Roberts is a stellar athlete who excels on the field, but she is very successful in the classroom with a 3.92 GPA," said soccer coach Cory Kinsella. "I am proud to have recruited such a well-rounded, focused student-athlete."

In only six games in goal for Kinsella's Gators, she led the team with 8.5 saves per game and tied for the team lead with one shutout and two wins.

Santos (left), a sophomore from Providence, RI, was honored with Rodriguez, Nielsen and Wallace on Saturday at halftime of the Gators basketball game. A defender and midfielder, Santos was a vocal, on-field leader for the 2009 Gators. Santos and 2008 All-GNAC selection Kasey Jeronimo mark the first back-to-back selections for Gators soccer since 2001.

Rodriguez finished eighth in the GNAC in goals per game, eighth in shots per game and ninth in points per game. A Bronx, NY native, Rodriguez led the Gators in goals for a second straight season as the team improved to 4-8, winning its first games in fours seasons in coach Jess Blair's first season at the helm.

For years one of the most prolific sluggers in the conference, Wallace (right) earned All-GNAC First Team honors after finishing fouth in the league with 53 hits in only 40 games. The catcher finished fourth in the league in triples (four) and fifth in total bases (86), also leading her team in runs, with 31.

Kayla Nielsen finished in the top four of the Gators in batting average (.313), home runs (three), hits (40), slugging percentage (.445) and total bases (57). One of four players to start all 41 games in 2009, the Saco, ME native was an invaluable utility player for a Gators team that finished second in GNAC wins, with 19.

Wright averaged 12.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 1.3 blocks over three league games on the week. She posted consecutive double-doubles with 15 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocks on Wednesday at Johnson & Wales.  On Saturday against Albertus Magnus, the 5-8 forward totaled 14 points, 12 boards, three steals and a block.

For the season, Wright leads the Gators in scoring (12 points per game), rebounding (9.3 rebounds per game),  steals (25) and blocks (eight).

In a 59-52 loss to Wheelock on January 14, Nelson tied a career high with 11 points and set a personal best with six rebounds. The 5-foot-8 forward hit three three-pointers, also a team and personal season best, which kept the Gators in the game well into the second half. She logged a team-high 37 minutes before fouling out in the final minute.

Prior to the Wheelock game, Nelson connected on a pair of three-point field goals in a loss to Suffolk University in Pine Manor's Great Northeast Athletic Conference home opener. She scored six points on the night, adding a pair of steals.

Most recently, on Monday, January 18, Nelson poured in 10 points, hitting on a pair of three-point field goals, against Simmons College. Also a pitcher on the Pine Manor softball team, Nelson leads the Gators with 15 three-point field goals on the season.

While standing out on the volleyball court, the senior celebrated an outstanding fall semester away from the court. As an intern at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in Brighton, MA, Vozzolo assisted in pre-production and research for "High School Quiz Show," a game show in which students from Eastern Massachusetts put their wits to the test.

A Bellmore, NY native, Vozzolo produced a video entitled "Power to Peace" for the Boys & Girls Club. The video asked school children their thoughts on peace, and was shown in front of over 300 people on National Peace Day at the Boys & Girls Club in Dorchester, MA.

A libero on the volleyball court and center fielder on the diamond, Vozzolo is also active throughout campus as a third-year resident assistant.

Wright (Baltimore, MD/Seton Keough) averaged 10.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.7 assists over three games on the week. The sophomore grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds at Wentworth Institute of Technology on Wednesday and scored a team-best 21 points at Gordon on Saturday.

The 5-foot-8 forward was named PMC Student-Athlete of the Week last week after being named to the All-Tournament Team at the UMass-Boston Tip-Off Classic. Wright totaled game-highs of 19 points and 15 rebounds in the consolation game of the Classic.

The sophomore turned in two outstanding performances on the week. At Bay Path College on November 15, Wright (Baltimore, MD/Seton Keough) came off the bench for 10 points, six rebounds, one block and one steal, all in 10 minutes of play.

On Friday, November 21 against Southern Vermont at the Tip-Off Classic, Wright netted 19 points, 15 rebounds and three steals, all game-highs, in earning All-Tournament Team honors.

Wright's Gators return to the hardwood on Wednesday, December 2 at Wentworth Institute of Technology at 7 p.m.

After being named All-Great Northeast Athletic Conference Third Team, Christina Santos is our PMC Student-Athlete of the Week.

Santos (Pawtucket, RI/St. Raphael Academy) earned her acclaim as an aggressive, speedy back, protecting a pair of freshman goalkeepers. She tallied her first career point with an assist in the Gators 4-0 win at Massachusetts Maritime Academy on September 21.

The anchor of the Gators defense, the vocal back led a youthful Gators club that allowed two or fewer goals in seven contests, with the Green and White going 3-3-1 in those matches. Santos is the second Gator to garner All-GNAC honors in the last two season, with fellow sophomore Kasey Jeronimo named all-conference in 2008. 

The second-year hitter led Pine Manor with four digs in the team's loss to the host Wildcats, tying for the team lead with a season-high three set assists. Against St. Joseph's (ME), Gross totaled a match-high eight digs to go along with a solo block, a block assist and three more set assists.

A Coral Springs, FL native, Gross finishes the season among the Gators leaders in almost every category. The sophomore led the team in kills (141) and kills per set (2.01) and ranked second in digs (105), serve aces (23) and total blocks (30).

In silencing Mitchell, Roberts (Allentown, PA/Louis E. Dieruff) tallied eight saves. In the Gators 2-0 loss to Mount Ida on Tuesday, she stopped a career-high 11 shots.

The freshman enters the week as the team leader in goals against average (2.20) and saves percentage, stopping 80 percent shots. 

Grenier's first goal of the day put the Gators on the board in the first five minutes. The Mariners responded to take the lead with two straight goals, but Grenier (Swansea, MA/Joseph Case) did the same, scoring two more times and giving the lead back to the Gators, 3-2, in the 60th mnute. Pine Manor went on to a 4-3 win. 

Her third goal completed the sophomore's second hat trick of the season and third for her career. With eight goals on the season, Grenier is, as of Tuesday, tied for eighth in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. The forward also ranks fourth in the league in shots per game (4.67), seventh in shots (56) and is tied for seventh in goals per game (0.67).

Keep up with Alicia and her Gators teammates on and off the field by reading Alicia's Student-Athlete blog with new entries every week.

Volleyball freshman Alie Johnston is this week's Student-Athlete of the Week after her strong play in a pair of non-conference matches last week.

With the Gators trailing 9-2, Johnston led a fervent comeback in Game 2 of Thursday's match versus Eastern Nazarine. Back-to-back kills from the 5-foot-9 hitter-setter pulled the Gators to within a point, 24-23, with Pine Manor ultimately taking the set, 29-27.

Johnston led the Gators against Eastern Nazarine with 10 assists, seven kills a pair of digs and a block.

On Tuesday night at Becker, Johnston led the team with seven assists and two blocks, also adding four kills, two digs and a service ace.

For the season, Johnston leads the team with 24 blocks, 69 assists and a .268 attack percentage, ranking second in kills (75), aces (14) and digs (70).  

"Courtney displayed focus and determination throughout the entire race," cross country coach Bill Stargard said.

"On a rain-soaked day, Courtney ran a very strong race," he added. "Her distinguished performance makes her worthy of earing PMC Student-Athlete of the Week."

Wallace, also a three-time All-Great Northeast Athletic Conference Softball First-Team honoree, earned GNAC Cross Country All-Sportsmanship designation last season.

Cross country returns to action on Saturday at St. Joseph's (ME) at 10 a.m.

A sophomore, Deegan got the Gators on the board with an unassisted goal at 27:52. With Pine Manor later in front 3-0, the 5-9 midfielder gave the Gators an insurance goal with a header off an Alicia Grenier corner kick.

Her two-goal effort tied her with Grenier for the team lead in goals. Entering Tuesday, the sophomore duo was tied for fourth in the GNAC in goals.

Colleen Tencza

Tencza (South Meriden, CT/Platt) allowed a goal 8:34 into the Gators 1-1 tie against Newbury, but held the Nighthawks scoreless over the remaining 101: 26. The freshman keeper made five saves on the day, the second straight game in which she held the opposition to a single score.