March 3, 2008

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell's Valentina Rozas (Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) continued to pile up the weekly awards on Monday when she was named the CWPA Southern Division Player of the Week and the Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week after helping the Bison to their first-ever ECAC Championship title this past weekend at Kinney Natatorium. She has now copped honors from the CWPA three times in four weeks, while it was her second Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week citation this year.

Rozas totaled 11 goals, three assists, five steals and drew eight ejections in three games this past weekend. She earned MVP honors at the ECAC Championship as she tallied the game-tying and game-winning goals in the 8-7 come-from-behind title game win over Marist. Rozas evened the score with her third goal of the contest with 2:37 left and then netted the winning goal with 1:13 remaining. The team's leading scorer with 39 goals this season, Rozas totaled a team-high four against the Red Foxes.

In the 17-11 semifinal victory over Wagner, Rozas had another outstanding game as she equaled her career highs with six goals and seven points. She also drew a career high-tying five ejections. The six goals were just one shy of the program record, set by Meg Blitzer in 2004.

After posting one of the best freshman campaigns in program history last year, Rozas is having an even better sophomore season. She is second on the team with 53 points and has drawn 32 ejections, which is also second on the squad. Her 28 steals top all Bison and are just eight shy of her 2007 total. Rozas' 39 goals are 10 more than anyone else on the team and are just 10 from her first-year total of 49.

Rozas has helped Bucknell to a 13-2 record and a national ranking of No. 19 this year. The Bison have won seven consecutive games, putting them just two shy of the program record.

Rozas and her teammates will be idle this coming weekend and will return to action next week with a Spring Break trip to California.