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NEW YORK – Marquette University golfer Hunter Eichhorn and volleyball player Hope Werch were announced Tuesday as winners of the 2021-22 BIG EAST Sport Excellence Awards, which recognize academic, athletic and community service in their respective sports.
The Sport Excellence Awards are presented to a student-athlete in each sport sponsored by BIG EAST based on academic credentials, athletic distinctions or accomplishments, and volunteer service to the community. Eligible are student-athletes who have achieved junior academic status and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00. Winners will be selected by the BIG EAST Faculty Athletics Representative Council.
Eichhorn, who also won last year’s Men’s Golf Excellence Award, made his fourth NCAA appearance in Columbus, Ohio in May after being named BIG EAST Men’s Golf Player of the Year for the third time in his career. He is the only player in league history to win Player of the Year three times, hit par-or-better card rounds in 26 of 35 rounds this season, and set a Marquette record with 11-under 61 in the Puerto’s final round Rico Classic on February 15th. His 54-hole 203 (-13) in Puerto Rico was also a personal low. The graduate student was an All-BIG EAST First Team selection for the fourth time this spring. Eichhorn is the only golfer in Marquette history to be nationally recognized on at least four separate occasions.
Werch totaled 3.02 kills per set while leading the BIG EAST with 0.51 serve aces per frame as a graduate student in Fall 2021. The six-rotation hitter sits at the top of the MU career leaderboard for serving aces and is the first Marquette player to achieve 1,000 kills, 1,000 digs and 150 service aces in a career. The graduate student has received an All-BIG EAST honor, a two-time AVCA All-Region honoree, and the 2017 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year for the past three seasons.
Werch is the sixth MU women’s volleyball player to receive this award. Former teammate Allie Barber last received the award in 2019-20, while Kim Todd (2007-08), Nikki Klingsporn (2010-11), Danielle Carlson (2011-12, 2012-13) and Elizabeth Koberstein (2013-14) also received it deserves the honor.
Of the list of 22 honorees, 13 of the winners competed in the NCAAs in their respective sports and 14 were 2021-22 Major Award winners or BIG EAST Championship winners.
While the awards format allows for only one declared winner in each athletic category, selecting the awardees each year proves a challenge for the FAR Council as the nominated candidates represent exceptional student athletes who excel in science, service, and athletics and are excellent representatives of their schools and the conference.
BIG EAST Sports Excellence Award Winners 2021-22:
| Sports | student-athlete | institution | Main | GPA$ |
| baseball | Luke Franzoni | xavier | marketing | 3,900 |
| Men’s Basketball | Collin Gillespie | Villanova | communication | 3,200 |
| Women’s Basketball | Maddy Siegrist | Villanova | communication | 3,260 |
| Men’s Cross Country | Marcelo Roche | providence | environmental biology | 3,980 |
| Women’s Cross Country | Lauren Ginefra | Seton Hall | biology | 3,637 |
| Athletics indoor men | Sean Dolan | Villanova | communication | 3,390 |
| Indoor track and field for women | Sade Meeks | Villanova | accounting | 4,000 |
| Men’s outdoor athletics | Barry Keane | servant | finance | 3.205 |
| Outdoor athletics for women | Alex O’Neill | providence | Marketing and French | 3,350 |
| field hockey | Ciara Weet | george town | Science, Technology and International Affairs | 3,728 |
| men’s golf | hunter squirrel | Marquette | Corporate Communication & Communication Science | 3,200 |
| women golf | Jessie Kweon | Saint John | sports management | 3,900 |
| Men’s Lacrosse | Matt Grillo | providence | finance | 3,590 |
| Women’s Lacrosse | Landy White | UCONN | Allied Health Sciences | 3,646 |
| Men’s Soccer | Dante Polvara | george town | finance | 3,469 |
| women soccer | Morgan Turner | DePaul | political science | 3,961 |
| soft ball | Maranda Gutierrez | DePaul | primary education | 3,988 |
| Men’s Swimming & Diving | Michael Akert | Villanova | Marketing and Business Analysis | 3,550 |
| Swimming & Diving for women | Kelly Montesi | Villanova | Care | 3,340 |
| men’s tennis | Vito Tonejc | DePaul | sports communication | 3,551 |
| women’s tennis | Marija Jovicic | DePaul | computer science | 4,000 |
| volleyball | Hope Wersch | Marquette | communication sciences | 3,547 |
$ – Only undergraduate GPA reported
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