SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Chattanooga’s Gracey Kruse has been named the Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week for all competition from May 5-11. The selection is made by the conference office. 
 
Kruse batted a team-high .556, getting five hits in her nine plate appearances, to help lead the Mocs to a postseason-clinching series win over Samford last weekend. Kruse posted three doubles, scored once and had an .889 slugging percentage. She went 2-for-3 with two doubles in game one of the series before following it up with another 2-for-3 performance with a double in game two. Kruse is tied for the second-most doubles (12) in the conference this season. 
 
The junior from Rossville, Georgia, holds a 3.83 grade point average and is majoring in criminal justice. 
 
Chattanooga, the No. 3 seed for the 2021 SoCon Softball Championship, will play No. 2 seed Western Carolina on Thursday, May 13, at 3 p.m. in Greensboro, North Carolina. 
 
Also nominated for SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week: Tommy Green (Mercer baseball) and Nolen Hester (Wofford baseball).

SoCon Student-Athletes of the Week
Jan. 6             Ross Cummings, Mercer, Men’s Basketball 
Jan. 13           Will Formato, App State, Wrestling
Jan. 20           Michael McAleavey, The Citadel, Wrestling
Jan. 27           Abbey Cornelius, Chattanooga, Women’s Basketball
Feb. 3             Amy Kohan, UAB, Rifle 
Feb. 10          Andrea Aceveda, Furman, Volleyball
Feb. 16          Sam Blumer, The Citadel, Men’s Indoor Track and Field
Feb. 24          Abbey Cornelius, Chattanooga, Women’s Basketball
March 3         Drew Nicholson, Chattanooga, Wrestling
March 10       Hamp Sisson, Furman, Football
March 17       Lindsey Stallworth, ETSU Women’s Cross Country
March 24       Nicole Buehrle, Chattanooga Women’s Track and Field
March 31       Tyler Keltner, ETSU Football
April 6            Lauren Lightfritz, Mercer Women’s Golf
April 14           Emma Kuntz, Furman Women’s Outdoor Track and Field
April 21           Archie Davies, ETSU Men’s Golf
April 28           Drew Singerman, Furman Men’s Tennis
May 5              Megan Dunn, Wofford Women’s Outdoor Track and Field
May 12            Gracey Kruse, Chattanooga Softball