CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced today its Scholar Athletes of the Week. Ohio junior Matt Vezza (football) and Ball State junior Sophie Ledbetter (volleyball) earned the male and female honors, respectively, for their performances in the previous week.

The Scholar Athlete of the Week Award is presented to a MAC male and/or female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition. An institution can nominate up to one male and one female student-athlete per week in any of that current season's sports. The winners are selected by a representative of the MAC's Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs).

FEMALE WINNER
Institution: Ball State
Name: Sophie Ledbetter
Sport: Women’s Volleyball
Position: Libero
Year: Junior
GPA: 4.00
Major: Nursing
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):  Ball State junior libero opened league play with a dominating backcourt effort, leading all MAC players with a 5.67 digs-per-set average. She secured a match-best 17 digs in both sweeps of Western Michigan, helping the Cardinals rank first in the league with a 21.17 digs-per-set average for the week. In addition, Ledbetter earned a .963 reception percentage with just one reception error in 27 attempts, while dishing out 11 total assists.

MALE WINNER
Institution: Ohio
Name: Matt Vezza
Sport: Football
Position: Quarterback
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.951
Major: Communication Studies
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):  Junior quarterback Matt Vezza helped lead the Bobcats to a 35-7 victory over Stonehill on Saturday. Vezza led the passing attack, going 14-of-20 for 207 yards and one touchdown, with a long completion of 42 yards. On the ground, Vezza ran six times for 39 yards and two touchdowns, while averaging 6.5 yards per carry.