The staff here at college blog will periodically post alumni updates to keep the masses up to date on the exploits of former Empire athletes. Here’s Round 1:
Football
* Utah junior defensive end Koa Misi (Montgomery, SRJC) ranks second on the No. 20 Utes (3-0) with 16 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Misi had 1.5 sacks in Utah’s 25-23 season-opening win at Michigan. Fellow defensive end Paul Kruger tied a school record with four sacks in Utah’s 58-10 win against Utah State on Saturday.
“We’ve got two great defensive ends and I said at the beginning of the year we need 20 sacks combined for the year and we’re on pace to exceed that,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham told the Deseret News. “They’re not only great pass-rushers, they’re exceptional against the run.”
* Northwestern redshirt freshman left tackle Al Netter (Cardinal Newman) is starting for the Wildcats (3-0), who have opened with wins against Syracuse, Duke and Southern Illinois and are receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. Northwestern is averaging 4.8 yards per rushing attempt and had 269 rushing yards in a season-opening 30-10 win against Syracuse.
“What I am most proud of was the play of our offensive line,” NU coach Pat Fitzgerald told the Chicago Sun-Times after the win against Syracuse. “We had three new starters in (Burkett, Kennedy and Netter) and if you include Desmond Taylor, we had four.”
* UNLV junior defensive tackle Martin Tevaseu (Anderson Valley, SRJC) has started the first three games for the Rebels (2-1) in place of injured starter Jacob Hales. The 6-foot-3, 320-pound Tevaseu has lost 100 pounds since he played at Santa Rosa Junior College last year and has earned a full scholarship. He is expected to share time with Hales when UNLV hosts Iowa State on Saturday.
* Mitchell Rowan (Racho Cotate) and Andrew Ross (Petaluma) are playing at Division III Williamette University in Salem. Ore. Rowan, a freshman placekicker and punter, has made 1 of 3 field goals, both misses coming from between 40-49 yards, and is averaging 41.0 yards on nine punts. Ross, a junior linebacker, ranks third on the team in tackles (13). Williamette (2-0) host Southern Oregon on Saturday. Junior cornerback James Perez (Petaluma) and sophomore defensive tackle Chris Reil (Casa Grande) also play for the Bearcats.
Soccer
* Cal Poly redshirt freshman Patrick Sigler (Cardinal Newman) scored a pair of goals Sunday in the Mustangs’ 3-2 upset win against No. 24 New Mexico State at the Nike Invitational in Albuquerque. Sigler, who scored both goals on headers, was one of 10 players named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com College Team of the Week.
Volleyball
* Alabama sophomore setter Lauren Martin (Analy) ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference with 9.73 assists per set. The Crimson Tide (7-2), off to its best start in three years, visits Kentucky and Tennessee this weekend.
* Laura Mooney (Petaluma), a freshman middle hitter, ranks second in blocks (39) and third in kills (66) at Division III Rochester Institute of Technology. RIT (7-6) has won six of its past seven matches.
