Feb. 12, 2008

PARKVILLE, Mo. - Park University's Jon Meriweather and Ashley Birch have swept the NAIA Division I Independent Region Player of the Week honors for the second time this season.

For both players, this week's award marks the third time each has received the honor during the 2007-08 campaign.

Meriweather also has one NAIA Division I National Player of the Week honor to his credit this season, that coming in a week in which he was not named the Independent honoree.

Meriweather averaged 26 points and 12.3 rebounds per game for the Pirates last week, going for 38 points and 16 boards in the week's finale, an 81-79 loss to Voorhees.

He also had 20 in a losing effort at College of the Ozarks to go with eight rebounds, and against Allen University, he helped the Pirates to an 86-61 victory with 20 points and 13 rebounds. He also had a season-high five blocks against the Yellow Jackets, averaging four on the week with three against C of O and four against Voorhees.

For the week, Meriweather was a 67.4 percent shooter on 29-of-43 from the floor, and at the foul line, he finished 20-of-25, 80 percent. His banner shooting night came against Voorhees when he finished 15-of-18 from the floor and 8-of-11 at the foul line.

For Birch, her third Independent player of the week honor came on the heels of a pair of 20-plus point outings, averaging 20.7 on the week to go with 6.3 rebounds.

She scored 22 in the first game of the week - a loss at College of the Ozarks - finishing the game 11-of-22 from the floor with seven boards and four steals.

In only 12 minutes against Allen, the senior scored 23 and had three rebounds, making her presence felt in the Yellow Jacket backcourt by grabbing seven steals on the afternoon. She was also 9-of-12 from the floor in the 109-45 win, including 4-of-5 from the 3-point line.

In the final game of the Pirates' 2-1 week, Birch had 17 points and nine rebounds to go with six steals in a 65-60 win over Voorhees. She was 5-of-18 from the floor in the win and 6-of-8 at the foul line, finishing the week a 48.1 percent shooter on 25-of-52 from the floor.

She was also 7-of-9 at the line, 77.8 percent, and 5-of-13 from the three.

The Pirate women return to action Thursday at Missouri Baptist University, with tip scheduled for 5 p.m. in St. Louis. The Park men are off until Feb. 23, when both teams travel to Brescia University for a men's-women's doubleheader that gets underway at 1 p.m. in the women's contest and 3 p.m. in the men's.