For the second time in a month, two DePauw University athletes, senior Sam Miles and sophomore Linsey Button, were awarded North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week.
However, for Miles, a tennis player, and Button, a softball player, the two player’s respective teams had completely different results this past weekend. 
The Tigers’ softball team secured their second straight NCAC regular season title this past weekend, sweeping the College of Wooster in a two-game set on Saturday afternoon. They won the first game 2-1 and finished off the Fighting Scots in the second game, 8-4. 
With the sweep, DePauw moved on to an impressive 13-3 when matching up against NCAC competition. 
Days before Button was named NCAC softball player of the week, Button was also awarded The DePauw’s “Tiger of the Week”. In last week’s sweep against Allegheny College, which put the Tigers in a better position this week, Button went three for five at bat, including a grand slam. 
“I’m honored to be chosen as the NCAC player of the week,” Button said.  “To be noticed out of all the players in our conference is such a great compliment from all of the coaches.”
Button cooled off in the Tigers’ games against Wooster this weekend, managing to get two hits in seven at-bats. Nevertheless, the team’s NCAC championship has taken some pressure off the Tigers unit as a whole. 
“Winning the conference title has definitely relieved some pressure,” Button said. “It allows us to host the conference tournament at home. We know the field better than anyone, and having fans for support makes it more exciting for us. We are working hard every day to get better in every aspect, to be the best team we can become this weekend.”
Timely scoring was the Tigers’ difference maker against Wooster, especially in the first game of the double header. The Tigers scored in the second inning of game one, after junior Jennifer Ridge scored on a Wooster error. 
Ridge noted the power of the team’s offense, and its progress as the season has continued. 
“I don’t know about an overall theme for the season, but I think our offense has really started to become deadly,” Ridge said. “As the season as progressed, our offense has gotten stronger all the way through the line-up. The DePauw softball team is never out of a game because we can hit all the way through the order.” 
While Button and her team celebrated the NCAC title, senior tennis player Sam Miles and the rest of the Tigers team are coping with an NCAC title loss against Kenyon College. 
Despite a doubles sweep, including Miles and senior teammate Ben Kopecky’s 8-6 win over Kenyon’s Sam Geier and Tim Rosensteel, the Tigers weren’t able to overcome Kenyon’s singles sweep. 
The major loss for the Tigers came even before the end of the game, however. Kopecky went down with an ankle sprain in the first round, changing the dynamics the team has built their 15-7 record on.
“Losing to Kenyon was definitely a disappointment,” Miles said. “We were really excited about our chances going into that match, so we felt like we had them right where we wanted after winning all three doubles matches. In the end they were the better team. But I also can’t help but wonder how the match would have turned out if Ben hadn’t sprained his ankle in the first round. It was tough to see him go down and then have to play at less than 100 percent for the rest of the weekend.”
For Miles the highlight was the comeback against Denison University.
“Coming back from being down 1-4 is almost unheard of and to do it in that situation was really special,” Miles said. “We showed a lot of heart in that match and being able to get the final point of the win is something I will always remember.” 
Overall, however, Miles is leaving the Tigers in good spirit.
“I’m really proud to have been a part of this year’s team,” Miles said. “Last year we fell out of the national rankings for the first time in a while, and we were at risk of becoming irrelevant. But this year the team really came together and worked hard to make sure that we earned our national ranking back.”