SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman women’s soccer player Nieva Gaither has been named the Southern Conference Student-Athlete of the Week for all competition from Sept. 21-27. The selection is made by the conference office.
 
Gaither tallied a goal and two assists this past weekend to guide the Paladins to victories at ETSU and Western Carolina as Furman jumped into an early lead in the SoCon standings. In the win over the Bucs on Friday, Gaither assisted on Valentina Mosquera's match-winning score in the second half to help the Paladins to a 2-1 triumph. On Sunday, the junior midfielder assisted on Hannah Farr's go-ahead goal and added a penalty kick in the opening moments of the second half to assist the Paladins to their fourth consecutive win with a 2-0 victory over the Catamounts. Gaither, the reigning SoCon Player of the Year, is tied for second in the SoCon with five goals and leads the league with seven assists through 11 matches this season.
 
Gaither was also named the SoCon Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.
 
The Lilburn, Georgia, native maintains a 3.81 grade point average and is majoring in Asian studies.
 
Furman (7-4-0, 2-0-0 SoCon) returns to action on Thursday, Sept. 29, traveling to Spartanburg, South Carolina, for a conference match against Wofford (6-4-1, 1-1-0) at 7 p.m. ET.
 
Also nominated for Student-Athlete of the Week: Caroline Sykes (ETSU volleyball), Sylvia Keck (Chattanooga women’s soccer), Sedona Dancu (VMI women’s soccer), Abbie Wise (Western Carolina women’s soccer) and Landon Parker (Wofford football).

SoCon Student-Athletes of the Week
Sept. 7       Abigail Robertson, Sr., Furman women’s cross country
Sept. 14     Chandler Martin, R-Fr., LB, ETSU football
Sept. 21     Collin Ironside, R-So., QB, VMI football
Sept. 28     Nieva Gaither, Jr., MF, Furman women’s soccer