The Aurora University Spartan softball team had junior pitcher Anna Snyder (Grayslake, IL/Grayslake H.S.) named the Northern Athletics Conference Softball Pitching Student-Athlete of the Week for the third time this season. Snyder was 6-0 on the week in which AU clinched their third straight NAC Softball Championship and sixth consecutive Conference Championship (three others coming in the former Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference). She won all four games over conference leaders Lakeland College and Marian University, and in 43.0 innings pitched, she allowed eight earned runs and struck out 61 batters. The Spartans went 7-1 for the week, improving to 30-5 on the season. On the season, Snyder is 22-2 with a 1.08 earned run average, 236 strikeouts in 150-2/3 innings pitched and opponents are hitting just .168 against (only 88 hits allowed). The Spartan softball team (31-5 overall; 22-2 NAC) is in action next on Friday, May 1, 2009, when they travel to Alverno College in the 2009 Northern Athletics Conference Tournament. The Spartans are the top seed in the tournament, their opponent and game time is still to be determined. -END-