USU soccer: Norris named Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week

Utah State soccer senior Natalie Norris was named America First Credit Union Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week.

This is the first time Norris has earned the honor this season and the second-straight week a soccer player has been honored. Sophomore forward Jade Tarver earned the award last week.

Norris (Sandy, Utah) was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2012 Western Athletic Conference Tournament as she helped Utah State win its second-straight WAC Tournament title. Norris was the anchor of an Aggie defense that allowed only one goal in two matches, which was a penalty kick. She also scored a goal on a penalty kick in the Aggies’ win against Seattle. USU defeated Seattle (2-1) in the semifinals and 19th-ranked Denver (1-0) in the finals to earn its second-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Utah State (13-2-6) will now head to Provo, Utah, to take on in-state rival BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The time and date have not yet been determined. The Cougars earned a No. 1 regional seed in the 64-team tournament. On Sept. 20, BYU defeated Utah State, 1-0, battle in Logan, which was USU’s last loss.

FOOTBALL – Senior defensive back Will Davis (Spokane, Wash.) had five tackles (4-solo), one pass breakup and one quarterback hurry in helping Utah State to a 38-7 home win against Texas State last weekend. Davis also recorded his third interception in as many weeks in the Bobcats end zone on their first drive of the game. Davis helped hold the Bobcats to a season-low 158 yards of total offense, which are the fewest allowed by USU since the 2008 season.

VOLLEYBALL – Senior outside hitter Josselyn White (Smithfield, Utah) helped Utah State win a share of its first-ever regular season WAC title with road wins at Denver (3-2) and New Mexico State (3-1) last weekend. Against DU, White had 11 kills to go along with nine digs and two blocks. Versus NMSU, she had 13 kills and five blocks and hit .297 (13-2-37) in the match. For the weekend, White hit .198 (24-8-81) and averaged 2.67 kills, 1.44 digs and 0.80 blocks per set.

2012-13 Utah State Student-Athlete of the Week Winners

Aug. 27 - Josselyn White, Volleyball

Sept. 3 - Chuckie Keeton, Football

Sept. 10 - Chuckie Keeton, Football

Sept. 17 - Tanner Higham, Golf

Sept. 24 - Kerwynn Williams, Football

Oct. 1 - Josselyn White, Volleyball

Oct. 8 - Jennifer Flynn, Soccer

Oct. 15 - Kyler Fackrell, Football

Oct. 22 - Chuckie Keeton, Football

Oct. 29 - Jade Tarver, Soccer

Nov. 5 - Natalie Norris, Soccer

Doug Hoffman is the assistant athletic director for Utah State University Athletic Media Relations.