University of Indianapolis senior running back Klay Fiechter, Kentucky Wesleyan College junior return specialist Jeff Ward, and William Jewell College sophomore linebacker Jimmy DeStefano have been named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Players of the Week, it was announced by the league office Monday.  Fiechter was named Offensive Player of the Week, DeStefano was picked as Defensive Player of the Week, while Ward was selected as Special Teams Player of the Week.

Ward garners the second Special Teams Player of the Week award of his career, having also been honored on Oct. 15, 2012.  The Jasper, Ala., native racked up 326 all-purpose yards in last Saturday’s 39-20 loss to Lindsey Wilson, with 183 of those coming in the return game.  Ward set a GLVC record with 168 kickoff return yards, breaking the previous conference best of 163, which was set in the season opener by Truman State’s Tremaine Millender.  Ward’s seven kickoff returns also tied a conference record with Indianapolis’ John Bass (at Ashland, Aug. 30, 2012) and William Jewell’s Thomas Cook (at Indianapolis, Oct. 27, 2012).  His weekly earnings also vaulted him from third to first all-time in career kickoff-return yards (645) in GLVC history.  In addition, Ward had one return punt for 15 yards and also caught a school-record 14 receptions for 142 yards and one touchdown on offense.