CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced today its Scholar Athletes of the Week. Buffalo senior Eva Blatz (women's soccer) and Massachusetts junior Edward Phillipson (football) 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).

MALE WINNER
Institution: Massachusetts
Name: Edward Phillipson
Sport: Football
Position: Punter
Year: Junior
GPA: 3.81
Major: Building & Construction Technology
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events): Phillipson averaged 57.3 yards per punt on three punts to help seal UMass’ 37-21 win at Big Ten foe Rutgers on September 3.  Not called on to punt until the he 1:28 mark of the third quarter as the Minutemen rattled off 30 straight points, Phillipson had a long 67 yards, placed two inside the 20 and had no touchbacks. His punt with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter was downed at the one-yard line.  
 
FEMALE WINNER
Institution: Buffalo
Name: Eva Blatz
Sport: Soccer
Position: Defender/Midfielder
Year: Senior
GPA: 3.923
Major: Biomedical Science
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events): Senior Eva Blatz continues to make an impact on both ends of the field for Buffalo as she scored the game-winning goal on an absolute strike from midfield in the 67th minute to lead the Bulls to a 2-1 win over Canisius on Wednesday. The highlight-reel goal landed at #6 on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of the night. Blatz has already matched her career-high in goals (2) while continuing to be a presence in UB's defensive midfield.