Sophomore Jackson Sweeney of Marian University men’s lacrosse and junior Kendall Pliner of Marian Univerity softball have been named the Sabres of the Month for April.

Sweeney (Hastings, Minn.) closed out an historic second season with the Sabre men’s lacrosse to program to earn Sabre of the Month honors.  He would set single-season records in 2024 with 202 saves and 15.54 saves per game.  In the month of April, Sweeney made 142 saves over eight game with a .524 save percentage.  He had an especially strong finish to the season making 71 saves over the final three games of the season with a .628 save percentage.  Sweeney opened that stretch setting a NACC single-game record with 33 saves against Edgewood while posting a .611 save percentage.  He also scored a goal in the game against the Eagles.  The next game, he led Marian to a win at CUC where he stopped 11 shots with a .733 save percentage.  He would then close out the season against MSOE making 27 saves with a .614 save percentage.  Sweeney is already the all-time leader for wins and saves in program history after just two seasons.

Pliner, K. (Mayville, Wis.) continued to be an important bat in the middle of the Sabre lineup earning herself Sabre of the Month recognition.  She went 21-for-60 (.350) at the plate and led the team with 12 runs driven in.  Pliner hit one double to go with two home runs to give her a .467 slugging percentage during April.  Pliner had eight multi-hit games during April including a pair of three-hit games.  She was especially dominant at the plate in a doubleheader with Rockford where she went 5-for-7 (.714) with two runs scored and six runs driven.  She would drive in three runs in each victory over the Regents.  Then in the opening game against Lakeland, Pliner was 2-for-3 with two runs driven in with one of her knocks being a double.  Pliner enters the final stretch of the season the team leader in runs batted in with 24.

Marian softball takes on Wisconsin Lutheran tomorrow, Friday, May 3, for a 3 p.m. doubleheader in NACC action.