COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Fort Lewis College women’s soccer player Hayley Hollenga was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Athlete of the Month for September, RMAC Assistant Commissioner Sarah Meier announced today.

“Hayley’s been a pillar to the success at Fort Lewis over the past four years,” said fifth-year FLC head coach Damian Clarke. “This year is no exception. The way that she’s played during the first month has gotten us off to a quite respectable start.”

Fort Lewis, ranked No. 9 in the latest NCAA Division II rankings, has jumped out to 9-0-2 start — by far the best start in school history — and a 6-0-1 record in league games, good for first place in the RMAC.

Hollenga, a 5-foot-7 senior forward from Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, totaled five goals and four assists (14 total points) in eight games as the Skyhawks went undefeated during the month (9-0-1) and climbed to the top of the RMAC standings.

Hollenga, who missed two games in September due to injury, scored the game-winning goal against St. Cloud State in a 4-0 win on Sept. 2. She scored at least two points in five of the eight games she played in, and 18 of her 35 shot attempts were on target. She was previously named RMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 6.

The Skyhawks’ career leader in goals (38), assists (26), and total points (102), she was recognized on FLC’s All-Century Team last month as one of the top 100 players, coaches, and administrators in the school’s 100-year history.

Hollenga is a member of three FLC women’s soccer teams (2007, 2009, 2010) and three FLC women’s basketball teams (2008, 2009, 2010) to qualify for the NCAA Division II playoffs. In 2010 alone, she was a member of FLC’s women’s basketball team that finished as national runners-up. Eight months later, she led the Skyhawk women’s soccer squad to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

The RMAC Men’s Athlete of the Month for September was awarded to Nebraska-Kearney quarterback Jake Spitzlberger, who guided the Lopers to a No. 4 national ranking and engineered one of the nation’s most potent offenses.

The league’s 14 sports information directors nominate student-athletes from their institution each month, which are then selected by the RMAC office.