MSU-N athletes honored by the Frontier Conference

Make it three weeks in a row for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team. The Skylights yet again had a player named Frontier Conference Player of the Week.

But Northern senior Abby Nicholas wasn’t alone. For the first time this fall, MSU-N also had a football award winner.

Nicholas, a senior, earned the Frontier award for the second time this season. Nicholas is a 6-0 right side hitter from Sandy, Utah. Northern opened Frontier Conference play with a 3-1 win over the coaches’ preseason pick Carroll College. The match was also a rematch of last year’s conference tournament championship.

In the win, Nicholas recorded a double-double of 16 kills and 14 digs in addition she had 5.5 blocks and one ace. Nicholas currently leads the Frontier in kills and hitting percentage.

Also nominated was Anna Dewald of Rocky Mountain College, Treneisha Doyle of Lewis-Clark State, Breanne Kelley of Montana-Western, Rebecca Sweeney of Carroll College and Mayra Ramirez of Westminster College.

Meanwhile, MSU-N kicker Jordan Rueschoff was named Frontier Conference Special Teams Player of the Week. Rueschoff is a 6-2, 185-pound junior kicker from Gillette, Wyo., who transferred to Northern this season.

In Northern’s 45-27 home conference win over Eastern Oregon, Rueschoff was 6-for-6 in extra points and kicked a 27-yard field goal.

Southern Oregon’s Melvin Mason earned the Offensive Player of the Week. Mason is a 5-10, 205-pound freshman running back from Valencia, Calif. In SOU’s 63-56 overtime loss to Sacramento State, Mason rushed for 236 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. He also caught five passes for 51 yards. Mason was also named the NAIA Offensive Player of the Week. Also nominated was Orin Johnson of MSU-N, Dustin Rinker from Carroll College and Sam Rutherford from Montana-Western.

Carroll College’s Bryan Graupmann was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Week. Graupmann is a 6 -3, 232-pound junior defensive end, from Great Falls. In Carroll’s 21-7 home win over Montana Tech, Graupmann had five solo tackles, one tackle for loss and one quarterback sack. Also nominated was Trevor Baum of MSU-Northern and A.J. Wilson of Montana-Western.