Vote for the NAU Athlete of the Week
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Beginning this week, fans will get to choose who they feel is most deserving of being named the NAU Athlete of the Week. Four athletes will be nominated by the NAU Media Relations office, and fans will be given the opportunity to vote for the Athlete of the Week via the poll question on the nauathletics.com home page. Voting for the week's nominees will be open until the next poll opens on Monday, but the winner will be selected based on the totals on Thursday morning at 10 a.m.
Last week, the NAU swimming and diving team dropped their dual at New Mexico State, 161-138. The women's basketball team split their games, first falling at San Jose State, 74-64, before returning home to defeat Cal State Fullerton, 64-54, while the men's basketball team lost to BYU, 87-52, and at Arizona, 53-39.
For the week of December 5, the following four athletes are your nominees for NAU Athlete of the Week.
Diving:
Kristy Ardavanis – Jr. – Gilbert, Ariz.
Ardavanis swept the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions for the fourth time in five dual meets she has competed in this season. She scored 277.88 on the 3-meter competition to win by more than 29 points and also scored 268.28 on 1-meter to win by 12 points. She has already qualified for NCAA Zones in both 1-meter and 3-meter and has won nine of 10 events she has competed in during duals this season.
Swimming:
Fi Connell – Jr. – Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia
Connell won the 100 back and 200 back (both in team season-best times), placed second in the 200 IM (team season-best time), and swam the lead leg on the 200 medley relay team that finished second. She took the 100 back by nearly two seconds with a team season-best time of 56.72 seconds and won the 200 back by more than two seconds with a team-season best time of 2:03.81. Connell also finished second in the 200 IM with a team season-best time of 2:09.21, just .6 seconds behind first.
Women's Basketball:
Aubrey Davis – Jr. - Center – Murrieta, Calif.
Davis averaged 11.0 points and 12.0 rebounds while shooting 47% in two games this week. She also totaled four blocks, two steals, and six assists for the week, grabbing 11 offensive rebounds. Against Cal State Fullerton on Sunday, she recorded her first-career double-double with career highs of 12 points and 18 rebounds while adding four blocks and two steals to lead NAU to a 64-54 win. The 18 rebounds tied for the ninth-highest game total in program history and was the most rebounds in game for NAU since 2007. On Thursday at San Jose State, Davis recorded 10 points and six rebounds as well as a career-high four assists. In two games and 54 minutes this week, she also recorded only three total turnovers. For the season Davis is averaging 7.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, shooting 54% for the field, and has totaled 13 blocks and seven steals with only 11 turnovers in 9 games.
Men's Basketball:
Colin Gruber – Fr. – Guard – Aptos, Calif.
Gruber averaged 13.0 points while shooting 53% in two games this week. He also shot 55% from three-point range, while also totaling two rebounds, two assists and committing just three turnovers in 46 minutes. On Wednesday against BYU in Prescott in the Lumberjack Classic, Gruber recorded a team-high 13 points to go along with two rebounds. He followed up his 13 point performance with another on Saturday in Tucson against Arizona, leading the team in scoring for the second straight game. Ten of Gruber's 13 points came in the second half, including a pair of triples during an early UA run to begin the half. Gruber has now scored in double-digits in his last three games and is averaging 9.0 points per game this season, second on the team. He is shooting 42% from the field this season and 34% on three-point field goals, and has not missed a free throw thus far through 8 games.
