CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced today its Scholar Athletes of the Week. Buffalo senior Messiah Burch (football) and Eastern Michigan senior Surabhi Srinivasan (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: Eastern Michigan University
Name: Surabhi Srinivasan
Sport: Volleyball
Position: Goalkeeper
Year: Senior
GPA: 3.84
Major: Mathematics-Secondary Educ
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events): Surabhi Srinivasan recorded 43 digs on the week at a 4.78 digs/set clip. She added 10 assists and one service ace. Srinivasan had a career-high 10 assists against Buffalo, Oct. 9, en route to recording her first career double-double with her 23 digs. She tallied 20 digs at UB, Oct. 10, representing back-to-back matches with 20+ digs, the first time she’s accomplished that feat since Oct. 10 and 16, 2025.

MALE WINNER
Institution: Buffalo
Name: Messiah Burch
Sport: Football
Position: Running Back
Year: Senior
GPA: 3.585
Major: Health and Human Services
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events): Messiah Burch rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown in Buffalo’s road win at Toledo. His 87-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter iced the game for the Bulls. It was Burch’s third straight 100-yard game, becoming the first UB running back to accomplish that feat since 2021.