ST. LOUIS – Wade Patten of men's cross country and Martina Ligabue of women's volleyball dominated across the first full month of competition to earn September Athletes of the Month. 

Patten, a freshman from Ballwin, Mo., has made his mark on the course immediately. In his first ever collegiate meet, the Prairie Stars Invitational 5K, Patten took home a first-place finish of 88 total runners with a time of 15:53.00. The effort helped Missouri Baptist place second of nine teams, only behind NCAA Division II University of Illinois-Springfield. Patten earned his first Heart of America Athletic Conference Runner of the Week award for this performance. 

The freshman followed up the stellar initial display with a fourth-place finish of 29 runners at the SIUE XC Challenge, ending the 8K with a time of 27:12.2. The team placed second again, this time of three. 

Ligabue, a freshman from Vicenza, Italy, has been a dynamic set-up woman for a very successful women's volleyball team. Across eight matches and 26 sets, the setter compiled 282 assists, an average of 10.85 per set. She added 14 service aces and 69 digs, the second and third most across the month respectively. 

Her month was defined by a career performance against Maryville University, in which Ligabue had a personal-best 65 assists, an astounding 13 per set. The Spartans were able to outlast the Saints in a five-set thriller. Beyond that, the freshman helped her squad to seven conference wins, going 21-1 in those sets. She has earned three Heart Setter of the Week awards, one of which came in the month of September. As if the start to her career as a Spartan was not enough already, her early season excellence earned her NAIA Setter of the Week status as well. 

The Missouri Baptist University Athlete of the Month award recognizes outstanding performances by student-athletes throughout the academic year.