Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
HILBERT, Wisconsin – The Midwest Conference (MWC) announced its Performers of the Week award recipients for games played October 26 - November 1, 2026, on Monday.
MWC sports information directors nominate student-athletes for the Performer of the Week honor by sport and vote as a committee to select the winners.
For the fall and winter seasons, Performers of the Week will be recognized every week on Monday (football, soccer) and Tuesday (volleyball, swim and dive) once their seasons have been triggered (three MWC institutions competing) and will conclude the week prior to the sport-specific Conference tournament/championship.
The Performer of the Week award winners are as follows:
Football Offensive Performer of the Week
Silas Braun, Monmouth College
Quarterback Silas Braun had a big day on Saturday in Monmouth's 54-7 win at Illinois College leading eight touchdown drives despite not playing in the fourth quarter. Braun completed 17-of-25 passes for a career-high 382 yards and five touchdowns. He threw for three TD passes in the second quarter and two more in the third to also set a career-high with five TD passes. His yards rank 11th in a single game in MC history and his TD passes are tied for eighth most.
Football Defensive Performer of the Week
Joshua Martin, Cornell College
Martin snatched two more interceptions for 73 return yards on his Senior Day and helped Cornell post its second shutout of the season, 34-0 over Lawrence. Martin is now tied for the national lead with eight interceptions on the season, one shy of the school record.
Football Special Teams Performer of the Week
Zach Tabibian, University of Chicago
Tabibian was perfect in the kicking game for the Maroons as he made all eight of his kicks on the day. The freshman was 7-7 on extra points, and he drilled a career-long 41-yard field goal with plenty of room to spare, scoring 10 total points in the game. In addition, Tabibian tallied four kickoffs on his nine total kickoffs, putting seven of the nine kickoffs into the endzone and the other two inside the five-yard line for an average kickoff distance of 64.1 yards out of the 65 yards possible. The Red Hawks had an average starting field position of their own 23-yard line.
Men’s Soccer Offensive Performer of the Week
Quill Tegenfeldt-Pfohman, Lawrence University
Tegenfeldt-Pfohman put together an impressive week, helping lead Lawrence to a pair of important conference victories. In the Vikings' 3-0 shutout over Beloit, Quill scored twice. He followed that performance with another strong outing in a 4-1 win over Ripon, scoring twice and adding an assist to factor into three of Lawrence's four goals. He finished the week with four goals and one assist.
Men’s Soccer Defensive Performer of the Week
Ignacio Duenas, Luther College
Duenas had a goal and an assist as the Norse went 1-0-1 last week. He tallied an assist in the 2-2 draw against UW-Eau Claire and scored the game-winning goal in the 4-0 road win at Monmouth. He helped the Norse limit Monmouth to just six shots (two on goal).
Women’s Soccer Offensive Performer of the Week
Maggie Balas, Lake Forest College
Balas had a goal and a pair of assists in Saturday's regular season finale, a 4-0 victory over Knox. The junior midfielder set up the first score of the contest in the 19th minute, scored early in the second half to make it a 3-0 game, and added her league-high 12th assist of the season at the 71:28 mark. Balas finished the regular season leading the MWC with 30 points overall and 19 in conference play.
Women’s Soccer Defensive Performer of the Week
Sophia Dietz, Beloit College
Dietz was a wall in net for the Bucs on Saturday, saving all seven shots she faced in a 1-0 win over Illinois College and helping propel Beloit back to the MWC Tournament.