Sonnier, Thomas among GAC award nominees
ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State linebacker Cameron Sonnier and Ouachita Baptist running back Shun’cee Thomas were nominated this week for awards presented by the Great American Conference.
Sonnier notched a season-high 16 tackles for the Reddies (5-4) in a 34-14 loss to Southern Arkansas (8-1) on Saturday in the Murphy USA Classic in El Dorado. It was not just a season high for Sonnier, but it was the most for a Henderson player this season.
Thomas had 142 rushing yards and a touchdown as the Tigers
(9-0) rolled to a 35-10 road victory against Arkansas-Monticello
(4-5).
This is only the third week of the season in which neither Henderson nor Ouachita has garnered an individual player award from the GAC. The two teams have led the conference in award recipients throughout the season.
Henderson leads the league with six total individual player awards. The Reddies have won three special teams awards, the most of any team in the conference in one category.
Ouachita is one of three teams, along with Southern Arkansas and Southwestern Oklahoma State (3-6), to win awards on offense. The Tigers are tied with the Reddies and the Muleriders with two apiece on defense.
Southeastern Oklahoma State (5-4) is tied with Ouachita and Southern Arkansas with four awards. Third-place Harding (7-2) has only garnered two awards this season.
Southern Nazarene nearly swept the awards for Week 9 after a 37-34 double-overtime victory against Northwestern Oklahoma State (3-6). The win ended the Crimson Storm’s six-game losing streak.
Harding senior offensive guard Keith Pledger shared Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors with Southern Nazarene sophomore quarterback Gage Porter. The other nominees were Northwestern receiver Horatio Smith, Oklahoma Baptist quarterback Preston Haire, Southern Arkansas receiver Karonce Higgins and Southwestern quarterback Casey Freeman.
The Defensive Player of the Week was Southern Nazarene junior defensive back Doryan Harris. Also nominated were Arkansas Tech linebacker C.J. Johnson, Northwestern linebacker Kyler Ferguson and Southern Arkansas defensive back Lorenzo Watkins.
Senior kicker Carlos Anguiano won Special Teams Player of the Week after hitting the 26-yard field goal that gave the Crimson Storm the victory on Saturday. The other nominees were Arkansas Tech punter Carson Ayers, Northwestern punter Blake Humble, Oklahoma Baptist punter Hayden Ashley and Southern Arkansas kicker Austin Wilkerson.
Henderson will be at home on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Monticello, while the Ouachita will host Southern Arkansas at 1 p.m. The Reddies will be the home team on Nov. 10 when they meet the Tigers for the Battle of the Ravine.
Monday’s announcements from the GAC were made even more rare as both Henderson and Ouachita were left out of the GAC awards for Week 10 of the volleyball season. Teams have their final matches of the regular season this week before convening in Hot Springs Nov. 8-10 for the conference tournament at Bank OZK Arena.
The Offensive Player of the Week was Arkansas Tech outside hitter Hunter Eshnauer. Henderson and Ouachita outsider hitters Courtney Bolf and Katie Camp were also nominated.
Bolf had 18 kills and 17 digs as the Reddies (24-5, 11-3) swept the Battle of the Ravine season series for the first time since
2010. Camp tallied 26 combined kills for the Tigers (20-8, 9-5) in the five-set loss to Henderson and a three-set victory against Monticello (6-24, 3-11).
Also nominated were Harding middle blocker Zoe Hardin, Northwestern outside hitter Brooklynn Hesson, Southern Arkansas right side Morgan Gross, Southern Nazarene outside hitter Bailee Turang and Southwestern outside hitter Emily Holm.
The Defensive Player of the Week was Harding senior defensive specialist Taylor Lake. Ouachita middle blocker Adrianna Nolly and Henderson libero Kenzie Thoman were also nominated, along with Arkansas Tech middle Greer Rogers and Southern Nazarene libero Logan Matthews.
Nolly notched five blocks versus Henderson and three more against Monticello. Thomas set a career high with 21 digs against Ouachita and matched that total in a five-set loss at Harding
(20-7, 13-1).
The Setter of the Week was Northwestern sophomore Kaitlyn Robinson. Among the nominees were Arkansas Tech’s Emily Acker, Harding’s Rachel Heussner, Southern Arkansas’ Caitlin Murdock and Southern Nazarene’s Kylie Smith.
Henderson setter Abby Blackburn garnered a nomination with 73 total assists across the victory against Ouachita, the loss to Harding and a three-set victory on Saturday against Lane College (4-24, 2-15 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). Ouachita’s Stormi Leonard became the first player in school and GAC history with 4,500 assists and 1,000 digs.
The Reddies sit in third place in the standings heading into today’s road match against Monticello and Thursday’s season finale at home against Southern Arkansas (8-19, 2-12). The Tigers are in fifth place before today’s home match with Southern Arkansas and senior night on Thursday against fourth-place Arkansas Tech (17-9, 10-4).