Oct. 3, 2011

RUSTON, La. - Sophomore Caitlin Updyke (Broomfield, Colo.) was named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 26 - Oct. 2 after her performance against New Mexico State Sunday afternoon. This is the second time this season and third time in her career that she has been named WAC player of the Week. Updyke's first Defensive Player of the Week award this season was on Aug. 22 after the first weekend of games.

Against the Aggies, Updyke stopped four shots in her eighth shutout of the season, which broke her own school record for most shutouts in a season. The win was Updyke's seventh of the season and 21st of her career. She also lowered her goals against average to 0.37 and increased her save percentage to 0.900.

"Caitlin had to stand tall under a physical barrage of high balls and physical contact and she never wilted," said head coach Kevin Sherry. "It is important to recognize the fact that this award is shared with the whole defense because they gave Caitlin such great protection and she, like the rest of the team, did not crumble under the most difficult of physical conditions."

Hawaii's Brittani Lum was named Verizon WAC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring two goals, both of them game-winners, as the Rainbow Wahine started conference play 2-0 for the first time since 2007 that included a 2-1 double overtime victory over defending WAC champion Utah State.

LA Tech returns to action Friday when the team travels to Nevada with kickoff set for 9 p.m. Central time.

For all the latest and most current information on Lady Techster soccer, visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com and follow sports information contact Phillip Pongratz on twitter at www.twitter.com/LATechPPongratz.