Marlborough, Mass.- The NEWMAC has announced its Athlete of the Week honorees for the week ending 3/15/26, presented by SKYBOKX 109 Bar & Grill in Natick, Massachusetts. The full list of honorees can be found below.
 
Baseball
 
Pitcher of the Week- Jacob Wiberg (Sr., P/OF), WPI  
 
Senior Jacob Wiberg (Exeter, N.H.) turned in a dominant week on the mound, posting a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA across two starts as the Engineers finished their season-opening Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a perfect 8-0. The junior right-hander pitched 10.0 scoreless innings, allowing just seven hits, striking out 11, and holding opponents to a .200 batting average. Wiberg opened the week with a strong outing against Rivier, striking out seven over five scoreless innings in a 12-2 victory. He followed that performance with another five shutout frames against Otterbein, scattering three hits and striking out four as WPI secured a 3-2 win.
 
Athlete of the Week- Liam Keblin (Sr., 2B), WPI
 
Senior Liam Keblin (Newton, Mass.) batted .583 (7-for-12) with two doubles, a home run, and eight RBI across four games during WPI’s undefeated week. The infielder posted a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage while not striking out in 15 plate appearances. Keblin opened the week with a four-RBI performance against Rivier and followed with a 3-for-3 effort, including a home run and three RBI, in a win over Immaculata.
 
Men’s Lacrosse
 
Offensive Player of the Week – Camden Matthews (Jr., A), Babson College
 
Junior Camden Matthews (Westford, Mass.) recorded a pair of hat tricks and paced a balanced attack with eight goals and two assists for 10 points as the team defeated a pair of nationally-ranked foes and won its conference opener in the span of five days. He scored twice in Wednesday’s 15-11 victory at No. 17/14 Amherst, produced a season-high five points and three goals and two assists in Saturday’s 19-8 rout of Wheaton, and contributed three more goals as the Beavers rallied from a four-goal deficit to beat No. 18/16 Middlebury 14-9 on Sunday. 
 
Defensive Player of the Week – Andrew Almquist (So., GK), Babson College
 
Sophomore Andrew Almquist (Wakefield, Mass.) was terrific between the pipes, totaling 37 saves while posting a 9.33 goals against average and a .569 save percentage to go along with nine ground balls and three caused turnovers as No. 8/6 Babson defeated a pair of nationally-ranked foes and won its conference opener in the span of five days. The sophomore goalkeeper stopped 12 shots, picked up four ground balls, and had one caused turnover in Wednesday’s 15-11 victory at No. 17/14 Amherst, and followed it up with 14 saves, four ground balls, and a season-high two caused turnovers in Saturday’s 19-8 triumph at Wheaton. Almquist capped the week with 11 saves as the Beavers rallied to beat No. 18/16 Middlebury 14-9 on Sunday. 
 
Face Off Specialist of the Week – Beau Burns (Gr. FOM), Babson College  
 
Graduate student Beau Burns (Washington, D.C.) won 77.6 percent of his face-offs (52-of-67) and scooped up 40 ground balls as No. 8/6 Babson defeated a pair of nationally-ranked foes and won its conference opener in the span of five days. He won 23-of-28 face-offs and collected a career-high 18 ground balls in Wednesday’s 15-11 win at No. 17/14 Amherst and followed it up by winning 12-of-13 while picking up nine ground balls in Saturday’s 19-8 rout of Wheaton. Burns capped the week by going 17-of-26 on face-offs to go along with 13 ground balls as the Beavers rallied to beat No. 18/16 Middlebury, 14-9. 
 
Women’s Lacrosse
 
Offensive Player of the Week – Kyra Hawk (Jr., A), Smith College  
 
Junior Kyra Hawk (San Jose, Calif.) scored totaled 12 goals and added an assist in a 2-1 week for the Smith College lacrosse team. She tied her career-high with seven goals in Smith's 20-7 victory over Mount Holyoke before adding four in a 14-13 victory against Westfield State. She chipped in one as Smith battled No. 8 Amherst. Hawk leads the NEWMAC with 29 goals so far this season.
 
Defensive Player of the Week – Rowan Walsh (Sr., D), U.S. Coast Guard Academy
 
Senior Rowan Walsh (Hampstead, Md.) helped lead Coast Guard to an upset victory over No. 19 Babson. The defender totaled three caused turnovers and two ground balls, playing a key role in disrupting Babson’s offensive rhythm and helping secure the win, their first over a ranked team in program history.
 
Men’s Tennis
 
Singles Player of the Week – Filippo Nocchi (Jr.), Emerson College
 
Junior Filippo Nocchi (Pontedera, Italy) won all three matches for the Lions at No. 1 singles in a 3-0 week to close out spring break. Was a double-winner in both of Emerson's two wins over Albion and the University of Northwestern on Monday. Dropped just a single game on his way to a 6-1, 6-0 straight sets win at No. 1 singles over Albion's Carter Kendall in the morning. Nocchi followed up a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles by battling past UNW junior Carson Haack 6-4, 7-5 at No. 1 singles as Emerson rallied by winning five of the six singles matches to clinch the victory. Nocchi closed out the week as a double-winner again in Thursday's win over Transylvania, leading a sweep of the six singles matches by winning the first set in a tiebreaker at No. 1 singles against Chris Kaufman before taking the second 6-0.
 
Doubles Team of the Week – Filippo Nocchi (Jr.) & Connor Leung (So.), Emerson College  
 
Filippo Nocchi (Pontedera, Italy) and Connor Leung (Mercer Island, Wash.) posted a 3-0 record at No. 1 doubles for the Lions in a 3-0 week to close out their spring break trip. Opened the week with a pair of wins over Albion and Univ. of Northwestern on Monday, starting by edging the Albion duo of Josh and Jacob Doyle 7-5 at No. 1 doubles to help earn the first point for Emerson. The duo earned Emerson's lone doubles win in Tuesday night's 5-2 win over UNW with a 6-2 decision at No. 1. Nocchi and Leung clinched the doubles point for Emerson in its spring break finale win over Transylvania on Thursday and led a sweep of the three doubles matches with their 6-4 win at No. 1. The duo were both double-winners in all three wins for the Lions, sweeping their nine matches at No. 1 doubles, No. 1 singles and No. 2 singles.
 
Women’s Tennis
 
Singles Player of the Week – Matia Cristiani (Sr.), Babson College
 
Senior Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) recorded the 100th singles victory of her career to become the program’s all-time leader in No. 9 Babson’s 4-2 loss to No. 2 Wash U. on Sunday. The top-ranked player in Division III, Cristiani recorded a 7-6, 6-3 victory over eighth-ranked Eliana Hanna to improve to 20-0 on the season. 
 
Doubles Team of the Week – Matia Cristiani (Sr.) & Sandra Sikharulidze (Fy.), Babson College
 
Senior Matia Cristiani (San Salvador, El Salvador) and Sandra Sikharulidze (Kyiv, Ukraine) continued their success by claiming a battle of top-10 doubles pairings on Sunday. Babson’s number one duo defeated seventh-ranked Eleanor Archer and Caitlin Bui of Wash U, 6-2, in the ninth-ranked Beavers’ 4-2 loss to the second-ranked Bears. 
 
Softball
 
Pitcher of the Week- Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Sr., P), Wheaton College   
 
Senior Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) was brilliant in three starting appearances from the circle for Wheaton, allowing just one run over 20 innings pitched for a minuscule 0.35 earned run average, while holding opponents to a paltry .183 (13-71) hitting mark, including no extra base hits. The right-hander hurled a pair of shutouts, struck out 12 batters, and walked just two in three complete-game victories to go 3-0. Blankenheim-Brown began the week by surrendering just one run on five hits and no walks, while striking out four in an 8-1 win over Washington & Jefferson College on March 10. She came back the next day to hurl a 1-0 gem over Pennsylvania State University Brandywine, scattering seven hits over eight full innings, while striking out six and walking no one in a shutout. She capped the week with her second shutout in as many days, spinning a one-hitter over five innings of an 8-0 and fanned two batters to go with a pair of walks against Gordon College on March 12.

Athlete of the Week- Mack Murnane (Jr., SS), U.S. Coast Guard Academy
 
Junior Mack Murnane (Castle Hayne, N.C.) put together a tremendous week at the plate during her team’s spring break trip, batting .588 (10-for-17) with eight RBI, seven runs scored, five doubles, and a home run. She led the offense with multiple extra-base hits while consistently producing across the lineup, helping drive scoring in several games. Her 10 hits and six extra-base hits highlighted a productive week at the plate. She also had 14 assists at shortstop.

About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with eight Associate Members: Brandeis University (Women's Lacrosse, 2026-2027), New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 20 sports.