TROY, N.Y. –  Union College student-athletes closed out the regular season with a combined seven weekly award selections from the Liberty League and six more student-athletes were recognized with honor roll spots as well for the week ending April 26, the conference office announced on Monday afternoon.

Women's Golf Performer of the Week: Iyene Essien
Essien carded the fifth-lowest round in program history with a two-over-par 74 to take individual medalist honors at the Union Spring Invitational on Saturday. Her 74 was good for a four-stroke victory over a trio of Ithaca golfers at 78, carding dual nines of 37 to post her fourth individual victory and seventh top-five finish in eight events so far this season. The sophomore had one birdie and one double bogey in a very steady front nine, then came in with two bogies and one birdie to clinch the win.
 
Men's Lacrosse Defensive Performer of the Week: Nick Lynch
Lynch posted a .722 save percentage with 13 stops and five goals allowed in 50:03 of action in Union's 15-5 win over Clarkson on Saturday that clinched a postseason berth. He made four saves in each of the first two quarters, which allowed the home team to jump out to an 8-1 halftime edge, then added three more saves in the third and two in the fourth before coming out of the game.

Men's Lacrosse Rookie of the Week: Garrett Salit
Salit tied for the game high with four points on two goals and two assists to help Union clinch a postseason berth with a 15-5 win over Clarkson on Saturday. All four of his points came in the first half, playing a role in four of the team's first six goals as the Garnet Chargers jumped out to an 8-1 halftime edge on the way to the victory. His four points gave him 52 on the year, matching Nate Fitch '93 HOF '13 for the most ever by a Union first-year player.

Women's Lacrosse Offensive Performer of the Week: Gillian Joseph
Joseph recorded eight goals and one assist for nine points in two wins last week, which helped Union clinch a top-two seed in the Liberty League Tournament. She started the week with three goals in a 14-12 victory over SUNY Geneseo, scoring all three goals in the second half to lead Union's game-ending 9-1 run that erased a six-goal halftime deficit. She went for five goals and an assist to go with three caused turnovers in Saturday's 14-11 victory over Rochester, scoring three times in the first half to keep her team close and then adding two goals and an assist during a 8-1 run that turned a three-goal deficit into a four-goal lead.

Men's Tennis Singles Performer of the Week: Jesus Sosa
Sosa went a perfect 3-0 at second singles in a busy week for the Garnet Chargers, which saw the team clinch a spot in the Liberty League Tournament. He started the week by providing the deciding point in Union's 4-3 win over RPI on Thursday, which clinched a postseason spot, broke the school record for wins in a season, and earned the team's first win over RPI since 2011. After dropping the first set to Tasmay Shah by a 6-4 score, he replied in kind in the second set by earning the set's only break up 5-4 to even the match. The sophomore broke to go up 3-1 in the third set and held serve in his final three service games to finish off the win, completing his comeback on the third match point of the evening. He kept Union alive on Saturday against Ithaca with a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 comeback win over Ivan Kisic, and then started singles play off with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Charles Schepens of St. Lawrence in Sunday's 6-1 win that secured the fifth seed.

Women's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week: Kennedy Alexis and Chara Meidani
Alexis and Meidani earned a pair of wins at first doubles over the weekend for Union, earning 6-3 victories over Sabrina Cheung and Alys Pop of Ithaca on Saturday and the St. Lawrence tandem of Angelica Aksdal-Jansen and Molly Jespersen on Sunday. The SLU win clinched the doubles point for the Garnet Chargers, giving the home team an early advantage.

Women's Tennis Rookie of the Week: Megan McCusker
McCusker ended the regular season with a pair of fifth-singles wins for Union last week, losing just six combined games in two straight-set matches. She started off the weekend with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Ekaterina Kelly of Ithaca on Saturday, providing the clinching point in a 6-1 win. She followed up with a pair of 6-2 sets over Eleanor McDermed to put Union one point away from a victory in an eventual 4-3 loss to St. Lawrence on Sunday.

Honor Roll Mentions:

Baseball: Nico Lambros
Lambros was a run-producing and run-scoring machine during Union's 3-1 week, which included a series victory over Skidmore to punch a ticket to the Liberty League Crossover Series. Lambros scored four runs in the four games, including two runs scored in a 12-2 victory over the Thoroughbreds on Saturday. He batted .571 (8-14) with half of his hits driving in runs. He drove in three runs to go along with his two runs scored in the finale on Saturday, bringing his RBI total to five for the week. He also stole four bases and had 11 assists to go along with three putouts from his second-base position. Lambros now has a seven-game hitting streak and raised his season batting average 57 points from .291 at the beginning of play this week to .348 by the conclusion of play Saturday evening. 

Softball: Carra Cleaves
Cleaves went 2-0 with one save in three appearances last week, posting a 1.43 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 14.2 innings. She started off the week with a win and a save on Tuesday against Cobleskill, allowing three runs and striking out seven over the first six innings before coming back in to strike out the final two batters to finish off the 9-5 win. She returned to the circle later in the afternoon to pitch a scoreless seventh inning to earn a save in game two's 5-3 victory. She then was masterful on Sunday in a 2-1 victory over #25 Rochester, allowing one unearned run on three hits while striking out eight batters to hand Rochester, which scored 24 runs in the first game of the doubleheader, its first conference loss of the year.

Men's Tennis: Vivaan Gupta and Daniel Saxe
Gupta and Saxe went 3-0 in doubles play last week, helping Union to a 2-1 record and a conference tournament berth. The team started off Union's first victory over RPI since 2011 with a commanding 6-0 win over Sid Srinivasan and Gustave Viennet as the home team took the doubles point. The pair battled past Ivan Kisic and Sam Lopez-Cardenas of Ithaca in a 7-6 (7-1) victory on Saturday morning, then clinched the doubles point on Sunday against St. Lawrence with a 6-4 win over Sebastian Boada and Aidan Baracao.

Men's Outdoor Track & Field: Mason Lang
Lang had three top-12 finishes for Union at the Capital District Classic on Friday. He posted Union's best finish of the day with a season-best 48.98 meters to place second in the javelin throw, and he also paced Union in the shot put (a season-best 13.86 meters) and the hammer throw (43.80 meters) to place fourth and 12th, respectively.  His shot put is third-best in the conference this season while his javelin throw ranks sixth.

Women's Outdoor Track & Field: Ashley Sheldon
Sheldon picked up a win in the high jump at Friday's Capital District Classic, needing just one leap to take first place. After passing through the first seven heights, she cleared 1.53 meters on her first try, and then jumped over the 1.58-meter and 1.63-meter bars on her first attempts as well. Her mark is tied for 35th in Division III this year and tops among Liberty League competitors.