Muhlenberg basketball players Susan Marchiano and Mark Lesko have been named to the Lehigh Valley Small College Basketball Team of the Month for the first month of the 2001-02 season.

Both were honored at the first Lehigh Valley College Basketball Media Organization luncheon of the season. The Team of the Month consists of one player from each of the seven schools in the Organization.

Marchiano is the leading scorer and rebounder for the undefeated Mule women’s team, averaging 14.8 points and 8.1 boards. She also leads the Centennial Conference with a field-goal percentage of .643. Marchiano has scored in double figures in six games and was named MVP of the Scotty Wood Tournament.

Lesko leads the 4-3 Muhlenberg men’s team in scoring (17.3 ppg), rebounding (7.4 rpg), blocked shots (14), steals (18), field-goal percentage (.681) and free-throw percentage (.862) and ranks in the top six in the Centennial Conference in all those categories. He has scored in double figures in all seven games this year and in 30 straight dating back to last season.

The Muhlenberg women’s basketball team moved up to No. 25 in this week’s d3hoops.com national Division III poll.

The Mules, who are off to their best start ever with an 8-0 record, were ranked 34th last week and moved up after winning road games against Susquehanna and Bryn Mawr by an average of 42.5 points. The ranking is the highest for the program since the 1995-96 season, when the team was rated as high as 17th en route to a school-record 19 wins.

Muhlenberg will remain undefeated at least until Jan. 3, when it resumes its season with a home game against No. 11 Scranton. Four days later, the Mules host No. 30 DeSales, and they also have 21st-ranked Johns Hopkins and seventh-ranked King’s on the schedule.