(Editor's note: University of Montana athletics press release)
Montana goalkeeper Camellia Xu was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday, making it six times the redshirt freshman has been recognized this season.
The previous single-season high for Big Sky Player of the Week honors was four.
Sacramento State’s Katie McCoy was a four-time Offensive Player of the Week in 2007, Eastern Washington’s Tiera Como a four-time Defensive Player of the Week in 2005.
Xu was in goal for Montana’s 2-1 home wins last weekend over Weber State and Idaho State.
She made six saves in Friday’s victory over the then first-place Wildcats. In Sunday’s win over the Bengals, she made eight saves, her most since Sept. 24 and her second-highest total of the season.
The two wins upped Xu’s record to 11-4-1, the most victories for a freshman in program history, surpassing Claire Howard’s 10 in 2017.
Xu leads the Big Sky Conference in shutouts (9), goals-against average (0.67) and save percentage (.869). In the national statistics, she is tied for fourth in shutouts, tied for 10th in save percentage and 28th in goals against average.
She is one clean sheet from matching the program record for shutouts in a season, held by Howard (2018) and Kristen Hoon (2012).
Montana ended the regular season on a four-match winning streak to finish 11-5-1, the most wins for the program since 2014.
The Grizzlies went 7-1-1 in league, their only loss coming by a 1-0 result at Northern Colorado. The Bears won the regular-season title with an 8-1-0 record.
Montana will take the No. 2 seed into next week’s six-team Big Sky Conference Championship in Greeley, Colo.
The Grizzlies will face either No. 3 Northern Arizona or No. 6 Sacramento State in a semifinal match at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 5.
