BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – No. 3/1 Vanderbilt soccer had a pair of honorees on the Southeastern Conference’s weekly awards list Monday afternoon, with Melania Fullerton winning SEC Offensive Player of the Week and Lena Tusche winning Freshman of the Week.
It’s the first individual honor for either player, fresh off a week where the Commodores posted 11 goals in two games to wrap up nonconference play at 7-0. Sydney Watts earned SEC Offensive Player of the Week last Monday, making it three SEC honors in two weeks for the preseason favorites out of the conference.
Fullerton opened the scoring on Thursday night against Tennessee Tech, finding the back of the net after two minutes for the first of seven Vanderbilt goals. She was even more effective against Xavier, opening the scoring again in the first half before adding two assists in the second. The senior from Dallas, Texas, has three goals and three assists heading into SEC play.
Tusche’s three-assist performance on Thursday evening was the joint-most by a freshman and the second-most in program history. The Montville, New Jersey, native added an assist for Fullerton’s opener on Sunday, giving her six assists which leads the conference and is tied for fourth nationally.
The Dores are opening conference play at Georgia on Thursday night at 6 p.m. on SEC Network.