McKeesport, PA. – It was fall championship week in the Penn State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) and two Penn State Greater Allegheny (PSUGA) teams were represented among the best in the conference. Earning the PSUGA Women’s and Men’s Athlete of the Week Awards were volleyball player Sueriah Timsah (Mesquite, TX./West Mesquite HS) and cross country runner Max Shugerman (Turtle Creek, PA./Woodland Hills HS).
The PSUGA Volleyball team made the playoffs for the first time in the last five seasons and went on the road for their quarterfinal match-up against PSU-Beaver. After taking the first set 25-17, PSUGA would fall in the final three sets ending their PSUAC playoff run. They now await the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) bid selection show Thursday at 4:30 to see if their season continues.
Leading the way in the final two PSUAC games of the season was Sueriah Timsah who finished with 21 kills and 31 digs to wrap-up what has been a career-year for the sophomore. Timsah set new career-highs in kills (227), digs (249), and assists (21) while playing in a career-high 98 sets for PSUGA.
Her biggest game during playoff week came in the team’s final regular-season game against Penn State New Kensington. Timsah recorded a team-high 14 kills and finished second with 18 digs in the team’s 3-0 sweep. It was the team’s 11th sweep of the season and sent PSUGA into the playoffs with momentum on their side.
After running four races during the regular season, the PSUGA Cross Country team headed into the PSUAC Championships with three runners ready to make their mark. Shugerman led the way on the men’s side finishing 12th overall with a time of 27:34, coming in just a few ticks slower than PSU-Fayette’s Stephan Lacek.
Shugerman improve in every race he ran in the 2019 Cross Country season. He dropped his 8 Kilometer Race time by nearly three whole minutes and finished in the top-20 in a race for the third time in the team’s five races. Shugerman now prepares for the USCAA Nationals next week. Je will be the first male runner to run in the USCAA Cross Country Championships since Fernando Leira ran in 2017.
Timsah earns her third PSUGA Female Athlete of the Week award while Shugerman wins the award for the second time this season. Both players are expected to be leaders for their teams both now and in the future as PSUGA Athletics Continues to grow.
Timsah and the Volleyball team now get set for the 2019 USCAA National Championships in Virginia Beach, VA. on Thursday November 7th, while Shugerman and Cross Country prepares for their USCAA National run on Friday, November 8th.
