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SPORTS INFORMATION—2009
Four SPARTANS NAMED UAA AThLETE OF THE WEEK
CLEVELAND, OH (October 13, 2009) - The Case Western Reserve University fall sports teams had four players named University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week (AOW) for the week of October 5-11. The announcement was made of the UAA 
website.
Sophomore defender Kristina Vaci (Mentor,OH) earned women's soccer defender of the week, senior quarterback Dan Whalen (Willoughby, OH) took the football's offensive player of the week honor, senior linebacker Jeff Brown (North Olmsted, OH) was named football defensive player of the week .and junior kicker Sam Coffey (Middletown, OH) shared football’s special teams honor.
The No. 11-ranked Spartan football team is off to a 5-0 (0-0 UAA) start and has won 26 straight regular season games. The women's soccer team is 7-3-2 overall and 2-0 in the UAA.
Vaci led a Spartans defense that did not allow a goal in two games this week. The Spartans only faced two shots (one on goal) in a 4-0 tie against Hiram College (7-4-2 overall) and faced 14 shots (five on goal) in a 1-0 win against New York University (8-4 overall). The Spartan defense has not allowed a goal in four straight games. It is the longest such streak for Case Western Reserve since 2002. This is Vaci's first UAA AOW award.
Whalen completed 26-of-37 passes for 396 yards and four touchdowns in a 53-32 win over The College of Wooster. Whalen also added a one-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion completion to go along with the four touchdowns passes (12, 94, 9, 34 yards). The Spartans’ punting duties were also handled by Whalen, with two boots for an average of 47.5 yards. Through five games, Whalen has completed 76% of his passes on the season (120-of-159) for 1737 yards and 23 touchdowns. This is Whalen's fourth AOW award this season and 15th of his career.
Brown had a team-high 11 solo tackles the victory over Wooster. He also added a tackle for loss (11 yards), an interception and a pass break-up. Brown had previously been named AOW three times (9/18/07, 9/8/08, 11/3/08).
Coffey converted a 23-yard field goal and went six-of-six on extra points in the Wooster game. He also kicked off seven times for an average of 60.7 yards. This is Coffey's 10th special teams AOW honor.
ABOUT CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY … Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.