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Every week, across several sports, players around the DMV (D.C./Maryland/Virginia) shine in individual performance. Every Monday, I’d like to take a minute to highlight some of those performances, including what I view as the best performance and name that athlete the “DMV Star of the Week.”
This week’s DMV Star of the Week is Washington Mystics Guard Brittney Sykes.
This is the second time in the past month that Sykes has taken home the DMV Star of the Week Award.
In mid-July, Sykes scored a season-high 26 points in a win over Seattle to earn the award. Less than a week later, she topped it with a 29 point performance in a loss to New York.
This past week, however, was likely her most impressive yet.
In Tuesday’s 91-72 loss to Phoenix, Sykes scored a team-high 25 points, adding 5 rebounds and 2 assists. After a 12 point performance in Friday’s loss to Las Vegas, she came back with a dominant performance in what was hopefully a springboard win for the Mystics on Sunday.
In the 83-76 victory over Chicago, the 5’9” guard poured in a season-high 30 points in 35 minutes, adding 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals.
The Mystics have been in a tough slog, winning just five games while losing ten since July 1. However, Sykes has been a bright spot for the team and is a big reason why the team has found the win column over the past month or so.
The DMV saw three teams in action this past week, including the Washington Nationals, Washington Mystics, and Washington Commanders in preseason.
Here are some honorable mention performances for DMV Star of the Week:
The Washington Nationals completed a sweep of the Oakland A’s on Sunday following a six run ninth inning to come back and win 8-7
Washington Nationals Catcher Keirbert Ruiz hit a walk-off homerun on Saturday night to lift the Nats to a 3-2 win over Oakland
Washington Commanders Quarterback Sam Howell went 9/12 passing for 77 yards and a touchdown in Friday night’s 17-15 preseason win over Cleveland
Washington Nationals third baseman Ildemaro Vargas went 2-4 with 4 RBI’s, including a 3-run homerun in Friday’s 8-2 win over Oakland
Here’s what’s coming up this week in DMV Sports:
Washington Commanders (0-0, 1st in NFC East)
8/21 vs. Baltimore (Preseason - Week 2)
Washington Nationals (53-66, 5th in NL East, 23 GB)
8/15 vs. Boston
8/16 vs. Boston
8/17 vs. Boston
8/18 vs. Philadelphia
8/19 vs. Philadelphia
8/20 vs. Philadelphia
D.C. United: (8-6-10, 30 points, 9th in Eastern Conference)
8/20 @ New York Red Bulls
Washington Spirit: (6-6-3, 24 points, 5th in NWSL)
8/19 @ Houston
Washington Mystics: (14-16, 4th in Eastern Conference)
8/18 @ Indiana
8/20 vs. Dallas
*Denotes games I will be covering in-person