FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONNECTICUT DUO NAMED NESCAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

LEWISTON, Maine - Two Bates College athletes, volleyball middle hitter Amanda Colby of Willimantic, Conn., and field hockey goalkeeper Peggy Ficks of Washington, Conn., have earned New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Week honors this week.

Colby, a senior, was named to the All-Tournament team at the MIT Invitational Sept. 25. In 15 games, Colby registered 65 kills (4.33 kills per game) and made 16 errors in 131 attempts for a .374 hitting percentage. Colby also averaged one block a game, with three solo blocks and 12 block assists. For the season, Colby leads the NESCAC with 3.67 kills per game (158 kills in 43 games).

Bates (10-3) was ranked third in New England by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) entering the tournament. The Bobcats defeated Eastern Connecticut and Western Connecticut state universities, as well as eighth-ranked Tufts University and No. 2 Springfield College, each by scores of 3-0, en route to reaching the finals of the tournament, where they lost to top-ranked and undefeated Wellesley College. Before the finals loss, Bates had won 10 matches in a row without dropping a single game.

Ficks, who shared player-of-the-week honors with A.J. Smith of Wesleyan University, was outstanding in goal as the Bobcats defeated two traditionally strong teams, Trinity College and Keene State College. Against Trinity, Ficks made seven saves, including a penalty stroke midway through the first half that kept the game scoreless. The Bobcats scored twice in the final five minutes of the first half and once in the second half to defeat Trinity, 3-0. It was just Bates' second win in 12 meetings with the Bantams, who reached the NCAA Division III championship semifinals last season. Against Keene State, Ficks made 10 saves to record her second shutout in a row and the 10th of her career. Bates' 2-0 victory was the first time that Keene State, 5-1 entering the contest, had been shut out in 1999. For the season, Ficks, a junior, has a 1.50 goals-against average, sixth best in the NESCAC.

Colby is a 1996 graduate of Windham High School. She is the daughter of Gilbert and Sonia Colby, 74 Pigeon Rd., Willimantic, Conn.

Ficks is a 1997 graduate of The Taft School. She is the daughter of Robert and Ann Ficks, 80 Greenhill Rd., Washington, Conn.