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College of the Canyons

Hayley Bench & Justin Perez Named Jersey Mike’s Student-Athletes of the Week

Promotional graphic featuring portraits of College of the Canyons student-athletes Sofia Miranda and Alejandro Zalamea on a blue background with yellow text, featuring the Jersey Mike?s logo and college's athletic logos.
November 22, 2024

By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons student-athletes Hayley Bench (women's soccer) and Justin Perez (men's basketball) have been named the Jersey Mike's COC Athletic Department's Women's & Men's Student-Athletes of the Week for the period running Nov. 11-16. Bench and Perez are the 12th set of honorees for the fall 2024 semester.   

Hayley Bench / Women's Soccer

Bench closed out her strong sophomore campaign in net with a pair of conference wins to help the Cougars keep their momentum heading into the postseason.

The Valencia High School graduate started the week by helping Canyons to a 2-1 road victory at Antelope Valley College on Nov. 12. Bench recorded four saves across her 90 minutes of action.

Three days later it was Bench logging another win in the Cougars' 3-0 home win over L.A. Valley College to close out the regular season. The victory improved Bench's record to 13-3-2 on the season and extended the team's unbeaten streak to eight games dating back to Oct. 22.

That play helped the Cougars finish second in the Western State Conference (WSC), South Division standings while qualifying COC for the playoffs in a 13th straight season.

Justin Perez / Men's Basketball 

Perez scored a game-high 22 points alongside a team-best seven rebounds in the Cougars' road loss at Chaffey College on Nov. 16

The freshman out of Saugus High School achieved the high mark on an 8-of-14 shooting night that included a pair of three-pointers. Perez' 32 minutes of action also included a perfect 4-of-4 mark at the foul line and a steal on the defensive end. Of his seven rebounds, three were on the offensive end.

Perez is averaging 15.8 points per game while shooting at a rate of 53.6 percent, alongside 5.5 rebounds each night.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.