CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced today its Scholar Athletes of the Week. Bowling Green redshirt senior Zach Howell (men's basketball) and Buffalo junior Sarah Hartel (women's tennis) 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: Buffalo
Name: Sarah Hartel
Sport: Tennis
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.626
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events): Sarah Hartel turned in a stellar performance as she defeated Furman's Lillie Murphy 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 at the ITA Conference Masters Championships. It was a historic performance for Hartel as she becomes the first Bull and the only player from the Mid-American Conference to win a singles match in the main draw of the national event. Hartel ends the fall season with an impressive 9-1 singles record, including 6-1 in tournament play.

MALE WINNER
Institution: Bowling Green
Name: Zach Howell
Sport: Basketball
Position: Guard/Forward
Year: R-Senior
GPA: 4.00
Major: Business
Week’s Achievements: Zach Howell led all players with 28 points in last Monday's season-opening win at Georgia State, the Falcons’ lone game of the week. The redshirt senior went 10-for-14 from the field and 6-for-10 from three-point range. On the glass, Howell recorded eight rebounds.