Once again, we've scoured the stat sheets and news wires and found deserving Athlete of the Week candidates from all five local high schools, and now we've officially opened up the voting to let the fans tell us, who should get this week's honor.

We'll keep the ballots open until 5 p.m. Thursday, and we encourage all fans to make sure they vote in this week's poll. 

Here are this week's Patch MVP Athlete of the Week nominees:

• Grace Lombardo, Villa Duchesne girls basketball. After scoring just two points in her first varsity game last Tuesday, this Villa sophomore came back with a vengeance, scoring 19 points and 18 points, in back-to-back close games for the Saints, Friday and Saturday, at the Northwest Cedar Hill Tournament.
• Charles Combs, MICDS ice hockey. The diminutive Rams sophomore had a natural hat trick Friday night, with three straight goals, as MICDS held off rival John Burroughs for a 4-1 victory at the Hardees Ice Plex in Chesterfield Valley.
• Sydney Stipanovich, St. Joseph's girls basketball. The Angels' senior center was flat-out dominating in her first game of the new hoops season, leading SJA to a 67-38 win over Troy (MO). On Sunday, Stipanovich's stats weren't available at press time, but word around the girls basketball grapevine is she had another huge game in an 85-49 Angels win over Jefferson City at the Norm Stewart Classic in Columbia.
• Foye Oloukun, John Burroughs boys basketball. After not practicing at all during the basketball preseason, because he was still playing wide receiver and defensive back for the Bombers state championship football team, this JBS senior went out and averaged 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 3.5 steals in a pair of wins over Metro and Windsor last week.
• Andrew Maddock, Ladue boys basketball. The 6'7" junior forward had a dynamite first week of the season for the Rams out at the Vianney Tournament, averaging 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds as Ladue took second in an event that featured four ranked local teams.