Nov. 6, 2002

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina University Department of Athletics has announced that Sara Komosinski (volleyball) and Pat Cilento (football) have been named the Male and Female Arby's/Catamount Student-Athletes of the Month for October.

Komosinski, a junior middle blocker from Muskegon, Mich., started in all 40 games and 11 matches for October, in which WCU went 7-4 overall and 6-4 in the league. During that stretch she recorded 174 kills, averaging 4.32 per game, to surpass 1,000 career kills as a junior (she now has 1,045). She needs just 303 kills to break into WCU's top five list for career kills.

Komosinski posted 52 blocks for the month to average 1.3 per game. Added to her previous total, she now has 323 career blocks, which already puts her in third on Western's top five list for the category. Komosinski had a .395 hitting percentage for the month and has a .333 average for the year, which would place her fourth on WCU's single-season top five list if the season were to end today. She also recorded 106 digs to average 2.65 per game for the month to help the Cats who, as of October 27, are ranked sixth in the country in digs per game at 19.3 per game (for the month of October, they averaged 20.52 digs per game).

Cilento (Brookville, Md./Montgomery JC/Sherwood HS) completed 68.3 percent of his passes in October, facing perhaps the toughest three-game stretch in NCAA I-AA football with games versus nationally-ranked Furman, Georgia Southern and Wofford. He additionally led the Cats to a Homecoming victory versus Chattanooga, throwing for 244 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. The previous week, at Wofford, Cilento established career highs with 30 completions, 37 attempts and 295 yards. For the four-game span, he was 69 of 101 with five touchdowns, against only one interception, and 865 yards. All of last season, Cilento only completed 39 passes for 475 yards.

For the season, Cilento has completed 121 of 192 passes for 1,526 yards. He ranks 23rd nationally in pass efficiency (137.65). His play has additionally led the Cats to the top spot in the SoCon and ranks 17th nationally in passing offense (256.3).

The WCU volleyball team will play its final two home matches of the season this week in the Ramsey Center. First, Western will host Wofford on Thursday at 7:00 pm, followed by a home match with Furman on Sunday at 2:00 pm. The Catamount football team is off this week, but will close the 2002 season at home next Saturday (Nov. 16) versus Appalachian State. The game will start at 3:30 pm and be televised on Fox Sports Net South.