Cleveland State's Gordon, Loyola's Solava named Softball Player, Pitcher of the Week

Feb. 26, 2009

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INDIANAPOLIS --- Cleveland State University junior Lia Gordon has been named the Horizon League Softball Player of the Week, while Loyola University Chicago junior Amy Solava has earned Pitcher-of-the-Week accolades for the opening weeks of the 2009 regular season, the League office announced Thursday (Feb. 26).

Player of the Week
Lia Gordon, Cleveland State
Jr. * 1B/DP
Leavittsburg, Ohio/LaBrae


Through the season's first nine games, Gordon leads the Vikings (4-5) in home runs (3), slugging percentage (.792), on-base percentage (.576), runs scored (8) and walks and ranks second in batting average (.417, 10-for-24) and runs-batted-in (9). She was named to the all-tournament team at New Mexico State University's tournament Feb. 6-8 and then hit .364 with five walks Feb. 13-15 at the University of Georgia tournament, where Cleveland State went 3-1.

Pitcher of the Week
Amy Solava, Loyola
Jr. * RHP
New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central


Solava went 2-1 with an 0.96 earned-run average in 18.2 innings last weekend at the Islander Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas. She also drove in a pair of runs at the plate as the Ramblers went 3-2 in their first action of the season. Against the University of Pittsburgh, Solava tossed a complete-game one-hitter with four strikeouts and also had one run-batted-in. She then picked up the win versus the University of Dayton by throwing five innings of relief in an 8-2 victory. Solava also was named this week's women's U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Week.

Comprised of 10 public and private institutions of higher learning, the Horizon League is an NCAA Division I athletics conference that sponsors 19 intercollegiate championships and is headquartered in Indianapolis. The League and its member institutions aspire to teach young people, through athletic competition, the value of learning, service to others and personal responsibility.


Horizon League teams have enjoyed national success in a variety of sports in recent years, most notably in men's basketball, in which its teams have advanced to the Regional semi-finals of the NCAA Championship three times in the past six seasons.