Men's Tennis | 4/13/2026 1:15:00 PM
PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Seven St. John Fisher University student-athletes have earned weekly honors from the Empire 8 Conference.
Justin Christensen (Freshman, Baseball) – Empire 8 Pitcher of the Week
Christensen allowed just three hits and struck out 13 batters, the most by a Fisher pitcher since RJ Kuruts' 16 punchouts in 2021, while pitching six innings in an 8-1 victory over Utica on Saturday. He earned credit for his fourth victory of the season.
Tyler Manning (Senior, Men's Lacrosse) – Empire 8 Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Manning 17 saves and posted a .586 save percentage over No. 11 St. John Fisher's wins over SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Poly last week. He made 11 saves in a 12-10 win over Geneseo on Wednesday and six while allowing just two goals against Poly on Saturday.
Through 13 games this season, Manning has made 124 saves and posted a .574 save percentage. He's earned Empire 8 weekly honors twice.
Ellie Leisen (Junior, Women's Lacrosse) – Empire 8 Offensive Player of the Week
Over two games last week – a 13-10 win over SUNY Geneseo and a 25-2 win over SUNY Poly – Leisen amassed a tremendous 15 total points on nine goals and six assists. She had five goals and two assists for seven points against Geneseo on Wednesday and four goals and four assists for a career-high eight points against Poly on Saturday. Leisen reached 100 points for her career with the pair of offensive outbursts.
Leisen, who's now been named E8 Offensive Player of the Week twice this season, leads the Cardinals in goals (29), assists (18) and total points (47) through 12 games.
Maddie Lowney (Senior, Women's Lacrosse) – Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Week
Lowney caused seven turnovers, controlled seven draws, recovered six ground balls and scored a goal as No. 25 St. John Fisher earned wins over SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Poly last week. The two-time E8 Defensive Player of the Year made history in Fisher's 13-10 win over Geneseo on Wednesday, causing four turnovers to reach 136 for her career, passing St. John Fisher Athletics Hall of Famer inductee Laurie Quackenbush for the program and E8 record. Lowney also scored and recorded four ground ball recoveries in that contest. On Saturday, in a 25-2 win over Poly, Lowney caused three more turnovers to go with five draw controls and a pair of ground balls. Lowney is up to 36 caused turnovers on the year and needs to record just nine more to break the program single-season record (44) she set last season.
Tyler Hernandez (Junior, Men's Tennis) – Empire 8 Player of the Week
Hernandez won all three of his matches in first singles last week to improve to 7-3 on the season and move his winning streak to five. He beat Pierre Ntonga of Nazareth, 6-0, 6-0, Ricardo Alvarez of Alfred, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 and Rune Camps of Houghton, 6-3, 7-5, while the Cardinals won all three dual matches. Fisher has won six consecutive duals, the second-longest winning streak in program history.
Tyler Hernandez and Will Chubb (Senior) – Empire Doubles Team of the Week
Chubb and Hernandez improved to 7-2 overall (5-0 E8) in first doubles with three victories last week. The Cardinals beat Nazareth and Houghton 7-0 and Alfred 5-2 to extend their winning streak to six duals. The pair defeated Pierre Ntonga and Noah Britton of Nazareth, 6-3, Alfred's Ricardo Alvarez and Anlun Zwerver, 6-2 and ended the week with a 6-1 win over Rune Camps and Eben Schilke of Houghton. It is the duo's second E8 weekly accolade of 2026.
Brandon Kaplan (Senior, Men's Track & Field) – Empire 8 Field Athlete of the Week
Kaplan placed sixth in the hammer throw with a season-best mark of 59.26 meters, the eighth-best toss in Division III this season, in the Bucknell Bison Outdoor Classic on Saturday.
