Sophomores Amelia Ballard and Nick Booth were recognized as volleyball specialty player of the week and men’s soccer offensive player by the Atlantic East Conference. Both players gave credit for their individual success to their teammates.
During women’s volleyball only game this week, Ballard, an accounting major and women’s volleyball setter, paired 32 assists and 10 digs for a double-double to lead the team to a 3-0 win at Gwynedd Mercy, while also adding a service ace, an unreturned serve, to her stats.
Ballard was also recognized on senior night for being the fifth player in the program history to record 1000 assists.
Ballard was not expecting to receive accolades for her performance on the team.
“I’m a key player, but it’s not the most glamorous job…So I wasn’t expecting it at all. I just go out and just play to the best of my ability and that’s just that,” Ballard said.
Ballard said her achievement is rewarding but that it doesn’t change anything about how she thinks of herself as a player.
“You just have to keep on working and keep on grinding it out…I just have to keep playing hard and doing what I’ve been doing,” Ballard said.
Ballard stayed modest about her successes on the team. She shared her AEC status with her mom and her sister first and then with her teammates, who she said she is very close to.
“I was really excited to find out that she was recognized for this honorable achievement,” Hannah Dalton, sophomore criminology and political science major and middle hitter, said.
“There are a lot of players overall that all vie for these kind of mentions. As a teammate, and as a friend, I am really proud of her. She is such an integral part of our offense, defense and our team morale, on and off the court. There would be a large hole without her,” Dalton said.
Ballard attributes most of her success as a player to her team.
“Getting that recognition, that award would not have been possible without my teammates,” Ballard said. “Without getting great passes it makes my job very difficult. … I just couldn’t do it without them. It doesn’t work if we aren’t all working together.”
Ballard played in high school volleyball as well. She said at the collegiate level everyone is fully invested in their game.
The Blue and White improved to 12-10 overall and 3-0 in the Atlantic East Conference with their win to Marywood on Oct. 23. Their next AEC conference game is on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Marymount in Arlington, Virginia. It is crucial to the team that they win, as last season’s conference championship game to Marymount resulted in a two point loss.
During the men’s soccer team only match last week to Wesley, Booth, undeclared sophomore and men’s soccer midfielder, started the game with one assist and then scored the game-winning goal bringing the Cavaliers to their 2-1 victory.
Booth remained humble in receiving recognition for his individual accomplishments on the team.
“It felt really good to be honored by the conference obviously, but my teammates helped me get that award. It’s nice with everyone saying stuff about it but, once again I see it more as a team award because without them I would fail to receive it myself,” Booth said.
Prior to the game at Wesley, Booth has been working himself back to being healthy, after an injury.
“Nick has a high ceiling in terms of what he is capable of achieving and we saw a little bit of it in that game. It’s great for him to be honored by the conference and hopefully there is a lot more to come from him, because he is only a sophomore,” Rob Dallas, head coach of the men’s soccer team, said.
Booth said that getting acknowledged for his play won’t change anything about his position on the team. He said his team is the reason for his success.
“I don’t think it changes how I play, because I got the award just playing within myself. I know that if I trust my teammates, with the way that they play, the goals and assists will still come. As long as we are still getting the results, [recognition] doesn’t matter to me.”
Coach Dallas encourages players to concentrate on the playoffs. Nevertheless, he is proud of his team’s individual successes.
“We just have to make sure we focus on the game at hand. I think the whole team enjoys when they can get individual awards along the way. But, at the same time, there is a bigger picture and every single one of [the players] would sacrifice personal award for a championship win,” Dallas said.
The team collectively agrees that individual awards come second to winning the conference.
“It’s much more important for a team goal to win the conference, than individual awards. I think everyone on our team agrees with that,” Booth said.
Booth scored his fourth goal for the season at their last game to Marywood, Oct. 23. The Cavaliers improved their season record to 7-7-1, and 3-1 in AEC play. The Cavaliers’ next AEC conference game is against Gwynedd Mercy, in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Oct. 26.
