General | 9/29/2025 1:00:00 PM
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Six St. John Fisher University student-athletes have earned weekly honors from the Empire 8 Conference.
Timothy Vanderbrink (Junior, Football) – Defensive Player of the Week x2
Vanderbrink, who has made at least 12 tackles in each of Fisher's last three games, made a career-high 14 stops in a 21-7 victory over Alfred on Saturday, including 10 solo stops and one for a loss of yards. The junior safety also forced a fumble, which sophomore cornerback Trent Hill recovered, in the first quarter. Fisher went ahead 7-0 six plays later on a 26-yard touchdown run by Camden Chance and Dominik Greco's ensuing extra-point kick.
Vanderbrink and Morrisville's Dillon English lead the Empire 8 with 45 tackles apiece through four games. Vanderbink has the most solo tackles (30) in the conference.
Vanderbrink has now earned E8 weekly honors twice this season. He's the first Fisher player to earn weekly honors from the conference multiple times in a season since running back Peyton Nolan did so in 2023.
Ryann Dauksza (Senior, Women's Soccer) – Empire 8 Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Dauksza helped lead a Fisher defense that didn't allow a goal in a pair of games last week. The Cardinals played Utica to a scoreless draw on the road on Wednesday before thrashing SUNY Poly 9-0 at home on Saturday.
Dauksza had two assists as Fisher racked up its nine goals – tied for the team's most in a game since at least 1999 – against Poly. It was her first collegiate multi-assist game.
This marks Dauksza's first E8 weekly honor of the season. The senior defender last earned E8 Defensive Player of the Week honors on 9/30/2024.
Eliana Kelly and Lilly Renzi (Seniors, Women's Tennis) – Empire 8 Doubles Team of the Week
Kelly and Renzi went 2-0 in doubles last week with a 7-5 win over Alina Zabihailo and Elizabeth Madsen (Alfred) and a 6-0 win over Cami Lamora and Annabella Putnam (Russell Sage). The Cardinals pushed their Empire 8 winning streak to four dual matches with a 4-3 home win over Alfred and a 7-0 road win over Sage.
Lydia Fraser (Sophomore, Women's Volleyball) – Empire 8 Co-Player of the Week
Fraser played in just seven sets but posted gaudy numbers, slamming 31 kills while hitting .442 to go with 23 digs, 11 aces and two total blocks. St. John Fisher pushed its winning streak to 15 matches – the longest stretch of wins in program history during the rally scoring era (01-present) – with sweeps over Mount St. Vincent, SUNY New Paltz and Kean.
Against UMSV on Friday, Fraser played in just one set but accounted for a team-high 10 points. In addition to her six aces, she slammed four kills while hitting .571.
Fraser, in Fisher's win over New Paltz on Saturday, pounded 11 kills while hitting .346. Against Kean later in the day, she had a season-high 16 kills and logged a .452 hitting percentage. She added 15 digs as part of her second double-double of the season.
This marks the first time that Fraser has been named Empire 8 Player of the Week. She earned E8 Rookie of the Week honors five times last season.
Kalyna Dannenberg (Freshman, Women's Volleyball) – Empire 8 Rookie of the Week x3
Dannenberg slammed 29 kills and accounted for 30.5 points in just seven sets played in Fisher's three sweeps over the weekend.
The three-time Empire 8 Rookie of the Week had 11 kills and hit .308 against New Paltz and recorded 15 more kills in a three-set win against Kean. Dannenberg also amassed 10 kills against Kean for her fourth double-double of the season.
Dannenberg has been named E8 Rookie of the Week three times out of five weeks this season.
