Berwanger's a hit at Southern Illinois

Southern Illinois junior outside hitter Jennifer Berwanger (Lake Zurich) has been named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference first team.

Berwanger earned her second consecutive first team nod, and becomes one of four Salukis in program history to be named to the first team twice.

She leads the Salukis in kills, aces and points.

Her 3.46 kills per set ranks No. 3 in the league as does her 3.86 points per set.

Her 3.79 digs per set are the most in the Valley from a non-libero while her 1,221 career digs ranks third in Southern Illinois' history.

Berwanger put up 24 double-figure kill matches in 2009 and 10 kill-dig double-doubles in MVC play.

Her 18 kill-dig double-doubles in all matches is the most in the league this season.

She owns 43 career double-doubles.

Berwanger earned one MVC Player of the Week honor and two MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards this season.

She was also named to the all-tournament team in all three of the Salukis' nonconference tournaments this season, earning MVP honors twice.

Men's soccer

Brett McKenzie (Antioch) finished his junior soccer season at Central College in Pella, Iowa, as the team's leading scorer with 10 goals and 3 assists. He was also the third-leading scorer in the Iowa Inter-Collegiate Conference and received second team all-conference honors and was selected as Player of the Week after scoring 4 goals against Coe College.

Football

Jake Gaebler (Mundelein) became Western Kentucky's all-time leader in receptions during a Nov. 7 game against Troy. Through last week, he has 161 catches in his career for 1,815 yards. He's seventh on the school's all-time list of receiving yards.

This season, the senior had 35 catches for 385 yards and 3 touchdowns through 10 games. He leads the team in receptions despite missing two games with a hamstring injury.

• Junior linebacker Nick Magiera (Barrington) of Fordham University was named to the second-team All-Patriot League.

Magiera, a two-year starter at linebacker, led the Rams in tackles this fall, compiling 80 total stops, 44 solo, including 8 for losses and 2 sacks.

He also recorded two pass deflections, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.

Magiera is tied for 11th in the Patriot League in tackles for loss (0.73/game) and is ranked 13th in tackles (6.8 per game). He recorded four games with a double-digit tackle total, including each of the final three contests. His season-high was a career-high 12-tackle game at Lafayette on Oct. 24, which included 2 tackles for loss and he matched that with another 12-tackle game against Bucknell on Nov. 7.

Women's soccer

Carroll University's Kelly Blenner (St. Viator), Cody Callender (Lake Zurich), Liana Foreman (Vernon Hills), Kelley Moran (Stevenson) and Kate Tarquino (Lake Zurich, first team all-conference) all started on a team that won the Midwest Conference for the third straight season. This distinction earned them a spot in the NCAA Division III playoffs each of the last three seasons.

Jamie Blenner (St. Viator) is also on the team but was injured this fall.

Callendar and Tarquino were first-team all-conference selections. Callender was the "Offensive Player of the Year" for the conference and one of the top goal scorers and point-producers (on a per game basis) in the nation.

• In only his third season, Kevin Hutchins (Maine West) coached the Monrovia High School football team to its first appearance in an Indiana state football championship.

Fort Wayne Bishop Luers made a defensive stand at its own goal line with 6:32 left to go and then melted away the remaining clock for a 24-17 victory over Monrovia in the Class 2A state title game.

Before Hutchins took over, Monrovia had seven straight losing seasons and had only won one sectional.

The year before Hutchins began, the team was 0-10.

In his first two seasons, it was 7-5.

This season, the team has was 14-0 going into the state title contest.

It scored over 456 points on offense and gave up only 73 points, allowing only 4.9 points per game.

Women's basketball

Sophomore Ellen Ayoub (Buffalo Grove) has gotten off to a solid start this season.

She finished with 11 points and a season-high 6 rebounds in Loyola's 85-66 win over SIU Edwardsville at the Gentile Center.

Ayoub knocked down all 4 of her free throws and finished 3 of 5 from the floor, highlighted by a long 3-pointer that beat the first-half buzzer and sent the Ramblers into the locker room with a commanding 46-27 lead.

A key part of a very balanced Loyola team, Ayoub is averaging 7.8 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 58 percent from the field through four games.

With the win, Loyola moved to 3-1 on the year, its best start since beginning the 2001-02 season with a 4-1 mark.

Men's basketball

Add a college Hall of Fame to Mike Ansani's resume.

After being inducted into his St. Viator High School's Hall of Fame in 2008, one year later Ansani has entered the Lake Forest College Hall of Fame.

Ansani began at Lake Forest in the fall of 1994 and became one of the most accomplished basketball players in the program's history.

As a sophomore, he led Lake Forest in rebounding and was second in scoring, assists and steals. He earned second-team All-Midwest Conference South Division honors and was named the team's MVP.

As a junior, he ranked first on the team in all four categories and was a first team all-MWC selection.

He also repeated as the Forester's MVP as a junior and senior, making him just the fourth player in school history to earn the award at least three times.

Ansani led the 1997-98 team with 18.6 rebounds and 6.1 rebounds as Lake Forest made its first appearance in the MWC tournament since joining the league in 1974.

• Please e-mail items to jleusch@dailyherald.com