Villanova defender Meredith Palmer earned BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week for the second straight week, the conference announced Sept. 7.

Sophomore forward Avrie Nelsen earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll the same day. The two awards give Villanova six conference weekly honors this season, with at least one Wildcat recognized in three of the four weeks the league has handed them out.

Palmer, a Waxhaw, North Carolina, native, played all 90 minutes in the Wildcats' 1-0 win over Penn on Sept. 4. It was her third full 90-minute match of the year. The shutout was Villanova's fifth straight to open the season and its fourth consecutive victory.

Villanova leads the BIG EAST in shutouts, is tied for fourth nationally with five and was one of only five teams in the country that had not allowed a goal as of Sept. 3, according to the athletics department. Penn managed zero shots on goal and just seven total shots against the Wildcats in the Sept. 4 match. Villanova put six shots on target and 14 total.

Palmer earned her first Defensive Player of the Week nod after the week ending Aug. 30. That stretch included a 2-0 win at Columbia, where she played all 90 minutes, and an 11-0 rout of Iona. She scored in the 63rd minute of the Iona game, heading in a corner kick from Abby Graul.

Nelsen, a Dix Hills, New York, native who Villanova athletics lists as the 2025 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, scored the lone goal against Penn in the 77th minute, assisted by Isabelle Chukwu. Over her last three games, Nelsen has tallied a team-high five goals and leads Villanova with 11 points on the season. She has logged at least one point in four straight matches.

The week prior, Nelsen earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week and a TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week selection after scoring four goals across the Columbia and Iona wins. That included a hat trick against Iona with goals at the 1:43, 16:56 and 77:25 marks.

Head coach Samar Azem's squad was picked fifth in the BIG EAST preseason coaches' poll. The Wildcats are 5-0.

Villanova hosts Bucknell on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 4 p.m. at Higgins Soccer Complex. The match will air on ESPN+.