TAYLOR DYDALEWICZ OF TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY, a senior on the women's basketall team, has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week beginning January 18, 2016
The SCAC honors the efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics, and also serve their campus and community.
Dydalewicz, a native of Dripping Springs, Texas and a graduate of Lake Travis High School, is 10th on the TLU Women’s Basketball all-time scoring list. She has scored 1,018 points entering this weekend’s home contests against Colorado College (8 p.m. Friday) and Centenary College (6 p.m. Saturday).
Dydalewicz became the 11th women’s player in TLU basketball history to break 1,000 points when she hit the century mark on Jan. 9 in Memorial Gymnasium.
Dydalewicz and her teammates have been strong community service volunteers for TLU and the Seguin community. The Bulldogs have been consistent volunteers during TLU’s two primary service days – Day of the Dogs and D.A.W.G. Days.
The Bulldogs and Dydalewicz have also volunteered at Eden Cross Apartments, a senior citizen community in Seguin.
“We work with them every year on their National Night Out,” said Dydalewicz. “It’s where all the senior citizens come, and we play Bunco with them. And now we all love to play Bunco.”
“We will go over there on Tuesday nights and play Bunco with them, so it is nice to know that the senior citizens appreciate that we come. For us, we like to go and spend time with them, so that has been a really good experience.”
Dydalewicz will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in accounting with a minor in criminal justice. She will complete in May her master’s in accounting, also from TLU. She will take the Certified Public Accountant Exam, and in September she will start working for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Houston.
A senior forward, Dydalewicz currently holds a grade-point average of 3.69. She is a two-time academic all-conference honoree. She will be a three-time nominee for Academic All-America and Academic All-District honors.
Dydalewicz was the SCAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Year in 2014-15 and a First Team All-SCAC selection that year.
Later in 2014-15, Dydalewicz was named an Honorable Mention All-American, and she was named a preseason All-American for the 2015-16 season.
Dydalewicz has played in 92 career games for the Bulldogs and has made 77 career starts. She was a member of TLU’s 2013-14 SCAC regular-season and conference tournament championship squads, and she was a member of that season’s NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament team.
Dydalewicz and the Bulldogs also claimed a tri-regular season championship in 2014-15.
Samantha Haeick, a sophomore goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team, has been selected the SCAC Character & Community Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the week beginning October 19, 2015.
The SCAC honors the efforts of student-athletes who excel in the field of athletics, and also serve their campus and community.
Haeick has gotten involved with the University of Dallas as she enters her second year with the institution. Despite being in-season with the soccer team, the native of Las Vegas, Nevada, serves as the Vice President of UD Society for Women, is a member of Best Buddies, Dining Services Community, Tribeta Club, and Breast Cancer Awareness Club.
“The Society for Women is a club here at UD where female students mentor high school students and meet with them once a week and just talk to them for an hour about anything they want to talk about,” Haeick explained.
Altogether, Haeick adds about 12-13 hours in a month being part of these organizations, and she also has spent the month of October as the institution promotes National Breast Cancer Awareness. This included the men’s and women’s soccer “Pink Out” matches that were on Oct. 4 against Austin College.
Haeick has always carried a passion for being involved in the community, as she amassed around 400 hours of community service prior to becoming a Lady Crusader. In High School at West Career and Technical Academy, her involvement with organizations included: National Honor Society, Roll Marathon, McDonald House, and Giving Grizzlies Mentorship Club – earned Presidential Service Award.
She also volunteered to help aid the fourth grade teach and PE teacher at Givens Elementary School (Las Vegas, Nev.), and at the Bronstein Hand Center – A shoulder/elbow, wrist and hand specialists clinic. Finally, she was a Haiti Ambassador with Students Rebuild, where she talked with students in Haiti after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
“Growing up I have always wanted to get involved with the community and help others in need, so I joined a lot of clubs and organizations,” Haeick stated. “The University of Dallas offers these clubs and organizations I have a passion for, and it makes me really happy because I like helping others and making others feel good and positive about the stuff going on in their lives.”
Haeick is majoring in biology with a focus on pre-medicine, as she plans on being an orthopedic surgeon.