This past weekend was a strong one for SIU athletics, with many players across multiple teams earning awards based on their performances.

Here’s all the Salukis who were honored by their conference this week:

Sophomore quarterback Sam Straub – Offensive Player of the Week

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Setting the single-game school passing record is sure to catch some attention. Doing it in a fourth-quarter comeback is even more impressive.

Because of this, the Missouri Valley Football Conference named Straub its Offensive Player of the Week.

He completed 30 of his 51 passes for 450 yards with four touchdowns.

Straub broke the record previously held by his head coach, Nick Hill, when he passed for 436 yards in 2007 against Northern Iowa.

He was the first Saluki to earn Offensive Player of the Week this season, and the third to win any award with senior quarterback Josh Straughan (twice) and freshman safety Jeremy Chinn winning Newcomer of the Week earlier in the season.

Junior guard Kylie Giebelhausen – Women’s basketball Player of the Week and Scholar-Athlete of the Week

SIU women’s basketball picked up a marquee win Sunday against Purdue, the team’s first win against a Power 5 conference opponent in 23 years.

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The Salukis also defeated Murray State on Thursday, and Giebelhausen played a large part of both of these wins.

She averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals across the two games.

Giebelhausen scored a career-high 22 points against Murray State.

She was also named Scholar-Athlete of the week, holding a 3.74 GPA in exercise science.

Freshman forward Lauren Hartman – Women’s basketball Newcomer of the Week

Hartman made her presence felt on the boards across SIU’s two games last week.

She averaged 14 rebounds per game across the two games, adding 4.5 points, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks.

The Tremont native now averages 11.7 rebounds per game, the most in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Junior outside hitter Abby Barrow – Volleyball Scholar-Athlete First Team

Barrow was named a scholar-athlete for the second straight season, holding a 3.89 GPA in exercise science.

She was second on the team in kills with 289 during the regular season.

The Metamora native led the Salukis in kills during 10 matches and has recorded double-digit kills in 15 matches, including a season-high 21 in SIU’s five-set win over Northern Iowa.

Senior hitter/setter Meg Viggars – Volleyball Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention

Viggars was named to the honorable mention team for the first time in her career, carrying a 3.46 GPA in criminology.

The team’s jack-of-all-trades led the Salukis in assists, was second in service aces and fourth in blocks and digs.

She was the only active player with 800 career kills, 2,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs.

Sports editor Sean Carley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @SCarleyDE.

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