Claire Palya named OVC Defensive Player of the Week
Following a strong weekend on the pitch, the Tennessee Tech soccer team took home some hardware as Golden Eagle red-shirt junior Claire Palya was recognized as the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week Tuesday afternoon.
By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Athletics Media Relations
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Following a strong weekend on the pitch, the Tennessee Tech soccer team took home some hardware as Golden Eagle red-shirt junior Claire Palya was recognized as the Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week Tuesday afternoon.
Palya's honor is her first career weekly accolade as well as Tech's first weekly award of the season.
The Knoxville native played a pivotal role in helping guide the Golden Eagles to a pair of shutout wins behind a 2-0 home nod over Southern Indiana on Oct. 16 and a 1-0 victory at SEMO on Sunday. Palya did not leave the pitch at any point in the pair of clean-sheet triumphs, tallying 180 minutes of action.
Palya helped anchor a Tech defense that yielded only eight combined shots in the two tilts, highlighted by a season-low two attempts against them in Sunday's 1-0 triumph over Southeast Missouri. The Redhawks did not attempt a shot on-goal, a first for the Golden Eagle defense this year.
The weekend's crucial conference victories propelled Tech to a first-place tie with Little Rock with only one match remaining in the regular year. The Golden Eagles will host Eastern Illinois in a Sunday, Oct. 26 afternoon get-together at Tech Soccer Field. Kickoff with the Panthers is set for 1 p.m. CT and admission is free of charge.
