Denison women garner four NCAC weekly honors

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Denison University athletics was recognized by the North Coast Athletic Conference on Monday afternoon as four different Denison female student-athletes were named NCAC Athletes of the Week for their respective sports. Sophia Parpala (Softball), Alex Cash (Women’s Tennis), Liza Farnham (Women’s Lacrosse), and Megan Wong (Women’s Golf) were all honored by the conference for their accomplishments on the field, at the tee box, and on the court over this past weekend for the Big Red.

In the pitching circle, Parpala earned the win for the Big Red in each of their three victories over Ohio Wesleyan this past Friday and Saturday, April 2-3. In game two of Friday’s doubleheader, Parpala helped the Denison bats hold off the Bishops in a 15-13 victory where she allowed three earned runs over four innings of work with six strikeouts. On Saturday in Granville, the Deerfield, Illinois native worked a combined five innings of relief where she tallied four earned runs, one strikeout, and two wins. On the season, Parpala is sporting a record of 4-1 with 12 strikeouts.

On the lacrosse field, Farnham led the offensive charge in Denison’s 22-0 win over Ohio Wesleyan on March 31, and then again in DU’s 19-5 victory at OWU on April 3. In Denison’s 22-0 shutout, Farnham posted three goals and two assists on four shots with a ground ball. In Saturday’s rematch, the Barrington, Rhode Island native tallied a game-high five goals on five shots with another ground ball. Through six contests so far in 2021, Farnham is currently tied for the team lead with 20 goals while also adding seven assists.

On the tennis court, Cash accounted for a quartet of top-flight wins as Denison women’s tennis earned a pair of 9-0 sweeps of Wooster this past Saturday in Granville. In the first match of the day, Cash and Hannah Cianciola, the 19^th-ranked doubles team in the country, teamed up in No. 1 doubles to take down Wooster’s Otilia Oita and Sarah Duran, 8-2. She returned in top-flight singles where she defeated Oita in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. In the day’s second match, Cash and Cianciola continued where they left off in a No. 1 doubles shutout of Duran and Laura Haley, 8-0. The New Albany, Ohio native then secured her second No. 1 singles win of the day, defeating Duran, 6-0, 6-1. Through four matches this season, Cash currently holds an overall singles record of 3-1, while going undefeated in doubles play with Cianciola at 4-0.

On the golf course, Wong continued her impressive senior campaign for the Big Red, winning her fourth and fifth matches of the season against Ohio Wesleyan and Wooster. On Saturday against OWU, Wong grabbed her fourth win of the season, shooting +8, 79 that included a front-nine score of +1, 36. On Sunday at Wooster, the Columbus, Ohio native fired a +3, 75, to win her fifth match overall, improving upon the 83 she shot at Wooster on March 20. Wong’s score of 75 tied her season-low which she first shot at the Denison Golf Club on March 27 vs. Wittenberg. Helping the Big Red start the season at 6-0, Wong has posted a scoring average of 78.8 through six rounds in 2021 and has finished each match in the top-two overall.