Female Volleyball Players Of The Week And All-Tournament Volleyball Teams Named This Weekend Sept 6
UC Riverside Volleyball Player Shelby LeDuff Named To SJSU/SMC All-Tournament Team
San Jose, CA - UC Riverside volleyball player Shelby LeDuff was named to the San Jose State / Saint Mary's College All-Tournament Team on Sunday after her performance for the Highlanders against San Jose State, #14 UCLA, and Saint Mary's.
For the weekend, she tallied 15 kills, second-most on the team, while averaging 1.67 kills per set. She also added 14 digs.
Other players selected to the SJSU/SMC All-Tournament team include Lauren Van Orden (named tournament MVP), Katie Camp, and Rachael Kidder from UCLA; Gabby Jolly and Kelly Huston from Saint Mary's; and Hanah Blume from San Jose State.
The Highlanders next hit the court at the ASU Sheraton Invitational on Sept. 10-11 in Tempe, AZ.
Big Ten Volleyball Players of the Week
The Big Ten Conference announced the volleyball players of the week on Monday. Below are this week’s honorees:
Player of the Week:
Michelle Bartsch, Illinois
Jr., OH, Maryville, Ill./Collinsville
Bartsch wins her first Big Ten Player of the Week honor after hitting .514 and winning tournament MVP honors to help the Illini to the team title at the Time Warner Cable Invitational in Austin, Texas. The junior was 10-for-19 hitting and chipped in three blocks on Friday against second-ranked Texas, guiding Illinois to a three-set win over the Longhorns. The win ended Texas’ 25-match home court winning streak and was the Longhorns first three-set home loss since 2003. The following day against Florida A&M, Bartsch finished with nine kills and two blocks in a sweep. On the weekend, she averaged 3.8 kills and 1.0 blocks per set for the fifth-ranked Illini.
Last Illinois Player of the Week: Laura DeBruler (Nov. 9, 2009)
Defensive Player of the Week:
Jessica Granquist, Minnesota
Jr., LIB, Blaine, Minn./Centennial
The junior libero wins her first weekly conference honor after helping Minnesota claim the Diet Coke Classic over the weekend. In matches against Baylor, No. 22 Northern Iowa and No. 20 Dayton, Granquist recorded 75 digs, an average of 6.3 per set, and was a perfect 78-for-78 in service receiving attempts. She finished with a career-high 33 digs against Northern Iowa on Saturday, then followed that effort with 28 later in the day in a three-set win against the Flyers. Through two weekends of play, she ranks fourth in the conference with an average of 4.76 digs per set.
Last Minnesota Defensive Player of the Week: Christine Tan (Nov. 30, 2009)
Co-Freshman of the Week:
Jennifer Bonilla, Illinois
LIB, Reseda, Calif./Marymount
Bonilla anchored the Illinois serve-pass game over the weekend at the Time Warner Cable Invitational in Austin, Texas. The freshman libero averaged 5.2 digs per set in Illinois’ three-set wins over No. 2 Texas and Florida A&M in the tournament. On Friday against the Longhorns, Bonilla finished with 18 digs to help the Illini end Texas’ 25-match home court winning streak and hand the Longhorns their first three-set home loss since 2003. She added 13 digs against Florida A&M and was 23-for-23 in service receiving attempts last weekend.
Last Illinois Freshman of the Week: Erin Johnson (Nov. 2, 2009)
Deja McClendon, Penn State
OH, Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual Magnet
McClendon claims the first weekly honor of her career after being named to the Hampton Inn Classic All-Tournament Team and helping Penn State to the team title over the weekend. The freshman averaged 4.1 kills with a .464 hitting percentage, 1.8 digs and 0.7 blocks per set in the Nittany Lions’ three-set victories over Seton Hall, Colgate and VCU. She recorded double-digit kill efforts in each match, including a weekend-high 14 on Friday against Seton Hall. The three wins extend Penn State’s overall winning streak to 108 consecutive.
Last Penn State Freshman of the Week: Darcy Dorton (Nov. 2, 2009)
2010 Players of the Week
Aug. 30 P: Tabi Love, So., MINN
D: Hillary Haen, Sr., ILL
F: Ashley Wittman, MINN
Sept. 6 P: Michelle Bartsch, Jr., ILL
D: Jessica Granquist, Jr., MINN
F: Jennifer Bonilla, ILL
F: Deja McClendon, PSU
Conference USA Volleyball Players of the Week
Sept. 6 Conference USA Volleyball Players of the Week
Tulsa sweeps C-USA Players of the Week honors.
Tyler Henderson
Sept. 6, 2010
IRVING, Texas - After winning the Powerade/Asics Challenge in San Fransisco, a trio of sophomores from The University of Tulsa has swept this week's Conference USA Players of the Week honors. C-USA Preseason Player of the Year Tyler Henderson has been named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week after averaging 7.0 kills per set and hitting .315 for the tournament.
Defensive Player of the Week accolades went to Jessica Adams who tallied 4.89 digs per set and earned All-Tournament Team honors. Jordan Clampitt picks up Setter of the Week laurels after dishing out 13.44 assists per set and leading the team to an overall hitting percentage of .319.
Click Conference Volleyball Players of the Week to read more.
Southland Confence Volleyball Players of the Week
Southland Conference Volleyball Record Book:
http://www.southland.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18400&KEY=&ATCLID=945945
Taylor Hammonds, Danielle Daigle Named Southland Volleyball Players of the Week
Hammonds hit .351 and 2.69 kills per set, Daigle recorded 83 digs in 13 sets
FRISCO, Texas – Central Arkansas sophomore middle blocker Taylor Hammonds and Nicholls junior libero Danielle Daigle were named offensive and defensive players of the week respectively. Hammonds recorded 35 kills in four matches and was named to the all-tournament team at the TCU Invitational while Daigle led the Colonels defensive effort to even their record at 3-3 on the year.
Offensive Volleyball Player of the Week – Taylor Hammonds, Central Arkansas
Hammonds, a native of Tomball, Texas, kicked off her week by leading UCA on offense at Oklahoma on Wednesday. She hit .360 and had 13 kills to go with two solo blocks. Hammonds then moved on to the TCU Molten Invitational, where she was named to the all-tournament team. She hit above .300 in all three matches. Against #21 LSU she had five kills and three total blocks and recorded seven kills and two blocks against Alcorn State. In a four-set win against national-power TCU, Hammonds recorded 10 kills, hit .375 and had four blocks. For the week, Hammonds hit .351 and averaged 2.69 kills and 0.85 blocks per set.
Honorable Mention: Jayme Bazile, Lamar; Carli Kolbe, Sam Houston State; Emily Shearin, UT Arlington; Logen Bourque, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Defensive Player of the Week – Danielle Daigle, Nicholls
Daigle, a native of Napoleonville, La., led Nicholls to a 2-1 record at the Louisiana-Lafayette Tournament. She posted a team-high 83 digs in 13 sets for a 6.38 dig/set average on the week. Daigle recorded 31 digs against Houston Baptist, 29 against Jackson State and another 23 digs against ULL. She currently leads the Southland in digs per set (5.73) and ranks third overall (126).
Honorable Mention: Cristin Curl, Central Arkansas; Alicia Shaffer, UT Arlington; Ashlee Hilburn, Texas State.
TAYLOR HAMMONDS NAMED SOUTHLAND PLAYER OF THE WEEK
FRISCO, Texas - University of Central Arkansas volleyball player Taylor Hammonds was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Hammonds, a sophomore middle blocker from Tomball, Texas, earned the second offensive award in as many weeks for the Sugar Bears, after Jessica Hays won it last week.
Hammonds hit .351 and averaged 2.69 kills and 0.85 blocks per set over four matches. At Oklahoma, she led UCA on offense with 13 kills and a .360 hitting percentage to go with two solo blocks. At the TCU Molten Invitational, Hammonds hit above .300 in all three matches and was named to the all-tournament team. She had five kills and three blocks against #21 LSU and seven kills and two blocks in a sweep over Alcorn State. In a four-set win against national-power TCU, Hammonds recorded 10 kills, hit .375 and had four blocks.
Hammonds and the Sugar Bears will travel to Bowling Green, Ky. for the WKU Tournament on Friday and Saturday.
Nicholls State's Danielle Daigle Named Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week
FRISCO, Texas - Nicholls State University junior libero Danielle Daigle picked up the third player of the week honor of her career as the Napoleonville, La. native was awarded Southland Conference Player of the Week by the league office on Monday afternoon.
The award marks the first weekly award of the season for Daigle, who previously earned Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 12, 2009 and Nov. 10, 2008. It marks the first player of the week award for the Colonels under new head coach TeAna Tramel.
"It's definitely well deserved from Dani," Tramel said. "She had 83 digs last weekend, and that's the result of putting herself in position to make plays. That's huge for her, because the offense always tries to avoid the libero. Dani was flying around and making plays that had her stand out. I thought she should have made all-tournament team, but it's a great honor and you can attribute it to all of her hard work and her mentality. She's willing to dig anybody, anytime and putting herself in position to make plays and I think she's definitely one of the top liberos in the conference."
Daigle, led Nicholls to a 2-1 record at the 2010 Ragin Cajun Invitational at UL-Lafayette over the weekend, posting a team-high 83 digs in 13 sets for a 6.38 dig/set average.
Daigle recorded 31 digs against Houston Baptist to lead Nicholls to a come-from-behind five-set win over the Huskies on Friday night. She tallied 29 digs in a win over Jackson State to help the Colonels extend their winning streak to three games, and Daigle added another 23 digs in a loss against ULL. Daigle currently leads the Southland in digs per set (5.73) and ranks third overall (126).
Kozon, Almeida and Willey Earn Sunbelt Volleyball Player of the Week Honors
Middle Tennessee’s Izabela Kozon and South Alabama’s Juliana Almeida have been named Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Co-Players of the Week and North Texas’ Sarah Willey has been named the Defensive Player of the Week, as announced by the conference office on Monday.
Juliana Almeida was the offensive leader for South Alabama this past weekend at the Jaguar Classic. En route to earning her second all-tournament honors this season, the senior outside hitter led USA with 65 kills and averaged 4.64 per set. She also recorded 12 assists and dropped in six service aces. Against Alabama A&M on Friday, the San Jose Dos Campos, Brazil native posted a career-best 22 kills and became just the seventh Jaguar to eclipse the 900 kill mark for her career. Against the Bulldogs, Almeida also finished with 16 digs to give her 20th double-double of her career. She followed that performance up with 17 and 15 kill efforts against UNC-Asheville and Alabama State. Almeida also posted a career-best .714 hitting percentage against ASU – the second highest ever by a player in the program’s history. Almeida had 15 kills on 21 attacks, while not committing an attack error against the Hornets.
Izabela Kozon starred this weekend for Middle Tennessee in the star-studded sixth-annual Blue Raider Bash. The senior from Warsaw, Poland, set a season high in kills with 17 against defending Conference USA champion Southern Miss and then topped it later in the day against SEC foe Auburn. Kozon, who earned All-Sun Belt honors last season, served as one of the key components of the MT offense in one of the toughest tournament fields that a Sun Belt team will face this season. She also played a significant role defensively, recording ten or more digs against Southern Miss, Auburn and Duke.
Sarah Willey was unstoppable on the Mean Green back line at the Bulldog Invitational this weekend, hosted by Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. The junior libero notched 78 total digs for an average of 4.88 digs per set. Willey’s efforts vaulted her up the career digs charts at North Texas from tenth to eighth. The Wichita, Kan., native has 822 career digs. Against Northwestern State, Willey notched a team season-best 29 digs. She had at least 15 digs in every other match of the weekend. Her serve receive was also a team asset. Willey committed just three reception errors in 76 attempts, good for an average of .961. She also added three service aces and seven assists in the four-match weekend.
ALEX JUPITER VOTED PAC-10 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - USC’s Alex Jupiter was named Pac-10 Women’s Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 30 - Sept. 5, Commissioner Larry Scott announced today. Jupiter helped the then-No. 10 Women of Troy go 3-0 at the Wahine Classic over the weekend and claim the tournament title.
A 6-3 outside hitter, Alex Jupiter (Paris, France) was named Most Valuable Player of the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic, averaging 4.45 kills per game and 0.91 blocks per game with a .300 hitting percentage and four aces. Included in the three wins in Honolulu, Jupiter tallied 22 kills and 16 digs in the five-set upset of then-No. 4 Hawai’i (23-25, 25-22, 25-17, 18-25, 15-7) in front of a crowd of nearly 8,000 fans. Jupiter also led USC to three-set victories over New Mexico and Michigan State to open the tournament in Hawai’i.
Jupiter earns Pac-10 Player of the Week for the first time in her career, and it is the the 45th for USC all-time.
The Trojans play just one match this week, hosting Virginia on Friday, Sept. 10 at Galen Center.
Also Nominated: Whitney Dosty, ARIZ; Tarah Murrey, CAL; Heather Meyers, Oregon; Megan McBride, OSU; Alix Klineman, STAN; Lauren Van Orden, UCLA; Bianca Rowland, WASH; Meagan Ganzer, WSU.
2010 Pac-10 Women’s Volleyball Player of the Week
Aug. 30 - Alix Klineman, Stanford
Sept. 6 - Alex Jupiter, USC
Freshman Deja McClendon Earns Co-Freshman of the Week Honors
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., Sept. 6, 2010 – Freshman outside hitter Deja McClendon (Louisville, Ky.) was named Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week, conference officials announced Monday. It is McClendon’s first career honor. She shares this week’s honor with Illinois libero Jennifer Bonilla.
McClendon helped guide the Nittany Lions to sweeps of Seton Hall, Colgate and VCU this past weekend in the Hampton Inn Classic. In her Rec Hall debut, McClendon started in all three matches and led the team with 37 kills, averaging 4.11 kills per set on .464 hitting for the weekend. She also contributed one ace, 16 digs (1.78 digs per set) and six total blocks (0.67 blocks per set). Against Seton Hall, McClendon led all players with 14 kills and was second on the team with seven digs. On Saturday versus the Raiders, she was the only player with double-digit kills with 10 and tied for second on the team with four blocks. She once again led the team in kills against VCU with 13 and registered a .524 attack percentage. McClendon was named to the Hampton Inn Classic All-Tournament Team for her efforts.
Other Big Ten honorees in addition to McClendon and Bonilla include, Jessica Granquist of Minnesota as Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week and outside hitter Michelle Bartsch of Illinois as the conference Player of the Week.
Penn State (6-0) is back on the road on Sept. 10-11 for the Nike Big Four Volleyball Classic in Gainesville, Fla. hosted by the University of Florida. The Nittany Lions open the tournament against No. 4 Florida on Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. and take on either No. 5 Texas or No. 2 Stanford of Saturday, Sept. 11 at 6:30 p.m.. All matches will be played at Florida’s Stephen C. O’Connell Center.
For more information on the Penn State women’s volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State women’s volleyball 2010 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets and The Outlets at Hershey.
Tulsa Sweeps Conference-USA Volleyball Player of the Week Awards
Henderson, Adams and Clampitt earn Player of the Week Honors
TULSA, Okla. – After sweeping through the Powerade/Asics Challenge in San Francisco last weekend, The University of Tulsa volleyball team earned another sweep Monday, as Tyler Henderson, Jessica Adams and Jordan Clampitt took home the Offensive, Defensive and Setter of the Week awards, respectively, the league office announced.
Henderson, a sophomore from Oklahoma City, Okla., earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors after averaging 7.00 kills per set to lead Tulsa to the tournament championship, beating three west coast teams without dropping a single set. Adams, a sophomore from Oklahoma City, Okla., was also named to the all-tournament team after averaging 4.89 digs per set, and Clampitt, a sophomore from Plano, Texas, averaged 13.44 assists per set to lead TU.
Henderson totaled 63 kills, recording 20 kills in each match, and hit .315 for the tournament. She also tallied eight digs in each match, for an average of 2.67 digs per set. Friday against Washington State, she slammed 20 kills against just two errors, hitting .500, and added two solo blocks and eight digs. In the match against San Francisco Saturday, Henderson blasted 21 kills, had eight digs, a block and a service ace. In Saturday’s match against UC Santa Barbara, she smashed 22 kills and had eight digs with an ace.
Adams totaled 44 digs in the three matches, and added three service aces and three assists as well. Friday against Washington State, she recorded 11 digs, Saturday against San Francisco she tallied 13 digs and a pair of aces, and in the finale against UC Santa Barbara, Adams had 20 digs, three assists and a service ace.
Clampitt totaled 121 assists and 21 digs, and added a pair of service aces and three kills for the Hurricane. Friday against Washington State, she recorded 41 assists, along with a pair of kills, a service ace and a dig. Saturday against San Francisco, she tallied a double-double with 42 assists and 15 digs, plus an ace, and against UC Santa Barbara, Clampitt had 38 assists with five digs and a kill.
The Golden Hurricane (4-2) returns home for the first time in 2010 this weekend as it plays host to the Radisson Tulsa Airport Invitational at the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Tulsa opens the tournament Friday at 11 a.m. against Arkansas State, and then plays at 7 p.m. against Lamar. Admission to all TU volleyball matches is free.
For all Tulsa volleyball news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane. Become a fan of the Tulsa Golden Hurricane page on Facebook – www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. Follow Tulsa Volleyball on twitter (www.twitter.com/TulsaVolleyball) and facebook (www.facebook.com/TulsaVolleyball).
-TulsaHurricane.com-
Hillary Fountain Named SoCon Offensive Volleyball Player Of The Week
--- Senior setter received recognition for outstand performance last week ---
Sept. 6, 2010
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ---- Samford volleyball’s senior setter Hillary Fountain has been named the Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week for matches played the week of August 30 to September 5. This is the first Player of the Week nod for Fountain and the second for Samford this season.
“Hillary has been great so far this year leading by example by going hard all the time and being alert,” Samford head coach Derek Schroeder said. “She has been the ideal senior example.”
Fountain averaged 8.77 assists per set in the Bulldog Invitational presented by McDonald’s last weekend. She posted her first double-double of the season against Tennessee Tech with 33 assists and 15 kills. Fountain also recorded 33 assists against Syracuse Saturday night. The Holland, Ohio, native helped lead the Bulldogs to a 3-2 record last week with wins over Troy, Northwestern State and Tennessee Tech. She was also named to the Bulldog Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Appalachian State’s Alison Blasingame was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Week. The junior middle blocker from Yorktown, Va., totaled a team-high 25 blocks, including five solo, in four matches the past week. In the midweek victory over East Tennessee State, Blasingame had two solo blocks along with seven block assists. In the weekend tournament, she recorded at least three block assists in every match, helping the Mountaineers defeat Eastern Kentucky and USC Upstate. The SoCon’s Freshman of the Week award went to Sarah McCarthy of Furman. The setter from Villa Park, Ill., leads the Paladins this season with 133 assists. McCarthy led Furman in assists with 15 against Alabama and 19 versus Toledo. In the Paladins victory over UAB, she had a team-high 26 digs. Also nominated for Offensive Player of the Week were Appalachian State’s Kelly Rhein, College of Charleston’s Whitney Russell, The Citadel’s Tatum Jestila, Davidson’s Sarabeth Peele, Elon’s Caroline Lemke, Furman’s Kelly Kirby, Georgia Southern’s Bethany Sanford, Chattanooga’s Courtney Barnes, Western Carolina’s Paloma Alvarez and Wofford’s Catelyn Amende. Nominated for Defensive Player of the Week were College of Charleston’s Elyse Chubb, The Citadel’s Jessica Maxwell, Davidson’s Madison Bendict, Elon’s Ali Deatsch, Furman’s Elle Ross, Samford’s Lauren Hutchinson, Chattanooga’s Paula Passmore, Western Carolina’s Carrie Minogue and Wofford’s Reagan Styles. Nominated for Freshmen of the Week were College of Charleston’s Madelyn McGinnis, The Citadel’s Erin Bucherl, Davidson’s Caroline Brown, Samford’s Taylor Palmer, Chattanooga’s Jennifer Kuroski, Western Carolina’s Kelcie Randazzo and Wofford’s Amanda Liguori.
*** SAMFORD BULLDOGS ***
September 6, 2010
VICTORIA ADELHELM NAMED WEST COAST CONFERENCE CO-VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Dominance at the Net Yields Recognition for Sophomore Middle Blocker
MALIBU, Calif. – After an unstoppable weekend at the net, outside hitter Victoria Adelhelm was named the West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Week. The sophomore shares the honor with Portland’s Kati Kronek.
Adelhelm (Rancho Sante Fe, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS), who helped the Waves to a runner-up finish at the Asics Classic over the weekend, tallied 30 kills on a sizzling .520 (30-4-50) attack percentage. On defense, she was just as dominant, averaging a team-best 1.20 blocks per set.
In the first match of the weekend versus Rice, Adelmelm nailed down 12 put aways on 18 attempts and no errors. She followed that up with six kills and three blocks against Eastern Washington.
In the championship match with Missouri, Adelhelm collected another 12 kills with six total blocks.
Adelhelm currently leads the Waves, as well as the WCC, with a .460 (56-10-100) season clip, while ranking second in kill totals behind AVCA All-American honorable mention Kim Hill (Portland, Ore./Portland Christian).
Her career attack percentage of .355 (252-64-533) currently ranks fifth in the Pepperdine record books.
The Waves commute to Los Angeles, Calif. on Wed., Sept. 8 to face regional rival UCLA. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. (PT)
-Pepperdine-
Utah’s Karolina Bartkowiak Named Mountain West Conference Volleyball Player Of The Week
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Utah opposite hitter Karolina Bartkowiak has earned Mountain West Conference Volleyball Player of the Week, marking the fourth weekly honor of her career.
Bartkowiak, a 6-2 senior from Aurora, Ill., was named Most Valuable Player after leading the Utes to the Northwestern Challenge tournament title in Evanston, Ill., last week. She posted double-figure kills in all three matches, starting with a 10-kill, 11-dig performance in a four-set loss to Morehead State. In a four-set win over Mississippi, she registered 13 kills, six digs, two assists and two blocks, while hitting at a .455 clip. In the championship contest, Bartkowiak had 15 kills, four digs and one block as Utah clinched the tournament title with a five-set win over Northwestern.
For the week, Bartkowiak averaged 2.92 kills, 0.75 digs and 0.31 assists per set, while hitting .292. She also accounted for 3.12 points per set in 13 total sets.
MWC Volleyball Players of the Week:
Aug. 30 Paije Pearson, Jr., OH, San Diego State
Sept. 7 Karolina Bartkowiak, Sr., OPP, Utah
Karolina Bartkowiak Earns Fourth Career MWC Volleyball Player of the Week Honor
Named MVP at Northwestern Challenge.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Utah opposite hitter Karolina Bartkowiak was honored with her first Mountain West Conference Volleyball Player of the Week award this season, the fourth of her career, after being named the Most Valuable Player at the Northwestern Challenge in Evanston, Ill.
Bartkowiak, an Aurora, Ill. native, averaged 2.92 kills, 0.75 digs and 0.31 assists per set, while hitting a .292 percentage on the attack for 3.12 points per set in 13 total sets.
She posted double-figure kills in all three matches, beginning with 10 kills and 11 digs against Morehead State. In a four-set win over Mississippi, she registered 13 kills, six digs and two blocks, while hitting at a .455 clip. In what turned out to be the championship contest against host Northwestern, Bartkowiak had 15 kills, four digs and one block as Utah clinched the tournament title with a five-set win over the Wildcats on their home floor.
Bartkowiak was named the conference’s player of the week three times last season, Aug. 31, Sept. 28 and Oct. 12.
The Utes continues their three-week, nine-match road trip this weekend at Missouri State's Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational. Their first match will be against Oklahoma, Friday at 4:30 p.m. CT.
- UU -
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Senior Lindsay Fletemier was named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday after standout performances at Minnesota’s Diet Coke Classic last weekend.
Fletemier earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team after recording 20 blocks through three matches at the Diet Coke Classic against teams receiving votes in the AVCA Top-25. The 6-foot-6 middle blocker leads the Atlantic 10 in blocks this season with 38 (1.78 per set) and has a streak of a least one block in 54 consecutive matches.
The Garden City, Mich., native registered nine blocks to hold No. 22 Northern Iowa to a .166 hitting percentage in a five-set victory last Friday. In two matches on Saturday, she helped hold Baylor to a .096 hitting percentage in the Flyers’ four-set win with six blocks and nine kills, and tallied 11 kills and five blocks against No. 8 Minnesota.
It is Fletemier’s third Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week Award and first since Oct. 5, 2009.
The conference office also announced Charlotte’s Kara Raker as the Offensive Player of the Week, and Rhode Island’s Britta Baarstad as the Rookie of the Week on Tuesday.
No. 20 Dayton hits the road again this weekend for the Ameritas Players Challenge in Lincoln., Neb., to face a pair of top-10 teams. The Flyers will face No. 7 Nebraska on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, No. 3 Illinois on Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET, and Western Michigan on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Western Michigan Volleyball Players Win Mid American Conference Volleyball Awards
CLEVELAND -- The Mid-American Conference announced today that Western Michigan volleyball won both conference weekly awards. Junior setter Sam Viox (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) was named MAC West Offensive Player of the Week and freshman libero Lena Oliver (Battle Creek, Mich./St. Philip Catholic Central) was named MAC West Defensive Player of the Week. This is the first MAC weekly award for both players.
Viox was named Most Valuable Player of the 2010 IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational as Western Michigan won four matches, all sweeps, last week. Viox averaged 11.92 assists, 2.17 digs, 0.50 kills, 0.50 blocks and 0.33 aces per set for the Broncos. With Viox directing the offense, WMU hit .287 as a team with 14.42 kills per set. She spread the ball evenly with three players each accounting for 37 kills, one player with 30 and another with 21 kills. Viox put three of those players in position to hit .308 or higher during the week. She started the week with 34 assists, 12 digs and two kills against 2009 Summit League Tournament champion IPFW. She moved to Indianapolis and tallied 41 assists and three aces against IUPUI and then added 38 assists and eight digs in the win over Wright State. Viox clinched MVP honors against DePaul of the Big East with 30 assists, five digs, three blocks and two kills, while WMU hit a season-high .359 as a team.
Oliver guided the Western Michigan defense during four wins, all sweeps, last week, including the IUPUI Hampton Inn Invitational championship. Oliver led Western Michigan with 6.17 digs per set as the Broncos held all four opponents to a combined .064 attack percentage and only 8.83 kills per set. She began the week with 18 digs in the Broncos' home-opening victory over 2009 Summit League Tournament champion IPFW. She started the Hampton Inn Invitational with 13 digs against tournament host IUPUI and then tallied match highs of 22 digs vs. Wright State and 21 vs. DePaul to clinch all-tournament team honors. Oliver also led the team with seven service aces and picked up her second kill of the season from the libero position.
The Broncos (6-1) head to Lincoln, Neb., this weekend for the Ameritas Players Challenge against No. 3 Illinois, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 20 Dayton.
NIKKI FOWLER TAKES HOME PAIR OF WEEKLY HONORS: SEC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, Lady Vol Athlete of the Week
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Fresh off of her second Most Valuable Player performance in as many weeks, University of Tennessee senior Nikki Fowler has been named the Southeastern Conference Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week for a record-breaking eighth time in her career. She was also unanimously voted as the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week for the second week in a row.
With this week’s SEC accolades, Fowler breaks a tie with three-time player of the year Aury Cruz of Florida who tallied seven weekly honors from 2000-03. Making Fowler’s accomplishment even more impressive is that she has accumulated all of her awards in the last three years alone, winning it three times in 2008 and four times last year.
Dating back to last season, Fowler has now claimed four of the last six offensive player of the week awards handed out by the SEC. Since its emergence on the volleyball scene in 2004, Tennessee players have won more weekly accolades for their offensive performances than student-athletes from any other school with a grand total of 19. That is three more than Florida players have claimed during that span and nine more than both Georgia and LSU.
This past weekend, Fowler was named the MVP of the Houston Invitational after leading the 14th-ranked Lady Vols to sweeps of Big 12-foe Oklahoma, then-No. 13 Florida State and Houston in her first return to her home state while wearing the Orange and White.
The Dallas, Texas, native paced Tennessee with 39 kills for the weekend, while hitting .348 and averaging 4.33 kills, 2.78 digs and 0.56 blocks per set. She was also one of the team’s top passers with a .977 reception percentage, having tallied just one reception error in 44 attempts.
Fowler opened the weekend with an astounding 21 kills in a three-set victory over Oklahoma, hitting at a .400 clip in that match with just three errors in 45 swings. The 21 kills mark the most by an SEC player in a three-set match this season. She also had nine digs, two blocks and a pair of assists against the Sooners.
On Saturday morning, Fowler led the Lady Vols to a sweep of then-No. 13 Florida State with nine kills, seven digs and a pair of blocks. She then helped UT complete its second consecutive perfect weekend with a nine-kill, nine-dig performance against Houston later that night.
With her fourth dig versus the Seminoles, Fowler became just the fourth player in Tennessee volleyball history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs during her career at Rocky Top. She joins Sonja Thomas (1991-94), Kristy Dobson (1988-91) and Stephanie Ehlers (1985-88) in the exclusive club.
For the season, Fowler is averaging 4.11 kills per set and hitting at a blistering .329 pace, while scooping up 3.06 digs per frame and averaging a Tennessee-best 4.72 points per set.
Also nominated for Lady Vol Athlete of the Week were freshman cross-country runner Amber Zimmerman and junior soccer player Chelsea Hatcher. In her first collegiate meet, Zimmerman led Tennessee at the Belmont-Vanderbilt Opener, running a time of 15:25.47 over 4,000 meters to card a 35th-place finish out of 120 runners. Hatcher, meanwhile, scored her team-best second goal of the season during the second half of UT’s loss at No. 1 North Carolina on Saturday.
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Charlotte’s Kara Raker Named Atlantic 10 Conference Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week
RAKER, FLETEMIER, BAARSTAD EARN A-10 VOLLEYBALL WEEKLY AWARDS
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Charlotte’s Kara Raker and Dayton’s Lindsay Fletemier were named the Atlantic 10 Conference Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, as announced by the league office on Tuesday. Rhode Island’s Britta Baarstad was also honored as the A-10’s Rookie of the Week.
Raker, a senior middle hitter, broke Charlotte’s school record with a .765 attack percentage by putting down 13 kills in 17 attempts with no errors in the 49ers’ 3-1 victory over Army on Sept. 4. Charlotte swept its three matches at the Patriot Invitational over the weekend, where Raker was named the Tournament’s Best Hitter. She finished the weekend with 29 kills and a .520 hitting percentage, as well as a team-best 16 blocks. She currently leads Charlotte on the season with a .419 attack percentage, while ranking second on the squad with 49 kills in six matches. She is also second on the team with 21 blocks.
Fletemier, a senior middle blocker, was named to the Diet Coke Classic All-Tournament Team after her stellar weekend with the Flyers, posting 38 kills (3.17/set) and 48 digs (4.0/set) against a trio of teams receiving votes in the National Top 25 Poll. The Garden City, Mich., native also recorded two double-doubles during the event, including a career-high 22 kills and 14 digs to defeat No. 22 Northern Iowa, 3-2 on Sept. 3 along with 11 kills and a career-high 20 digs in UD’s, 3-1, victory over 2009 NCAA Tournament participant Baylor.
Baarstad, a freshman outside hitter, helped lead Rhode Island to a 2-1 record this past weekend at the Yale Invitational. In the tournament opener against Quinnipiac, Baarstad hit .438 and had nine kills in the Rams 3-0 win over the Bobcats. In URI’s second match versus Stony Brook, the Illinois native once again tallied nine kills as the Rams downed the Seawolves 3-1. In the tournament finale against host Yale, Baarstad was at her best as she totaled a career-high 16 kills. For the week she collected 34 kills and posted a hitting percentage of .312.
www.atlantic10.org
About the A-10
The Atlantic 10 Conference was formed in 1976 and celebrates its 35th anniversary as a Division I Conference in 2010-11. Currently comprised of 14 member institutions and sponsoring 21 championship sports, the mission and goal of the Atlantic 10 is to preserve, protect, and enhance the academic and athletic pursuits of the membership. The conference is committed to integrity, educational excellence and providing quality equitable championship experiences for more than 6,000 student-athletes, coaches, and support staff. The member institutions of the Atlantic 10 are the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, The George Washington University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph's University, Saint Louis University, Temple University, and Xavier University.
Jade Craycraft Earns Second Straight Weekly Honor
Liberty freshman setter Jade Craycraft was named the Big South Freshman of the Week for the second straight week, after helping the Lady Flames to a 2-1 record at the UVA Holiday Inn Jefferson Cup in Charlottesville, Va.
Craycraft becomes the first Liberty player to garner the award for two consecutive weeks since Nicki Scripko took the honor four straight times in 2007. Additionally, she is the second player in Big South history, and the first since 2003, to win the award for the first two weeks of her collegiate career.
Craycraft dished out 115 assists to average 10.45 assists per set, and was named to the all-tournament team along with senior outside hitter Karyl Bacon. It was the second consecutive all-tournament berth to start the Buckeye State native's career.
She got her weekend started with 47 assists, six digs and three blocks as Liberty downed George Washington, 3-1 in match one on Sept. 3. She followed that effort with 32 assists and three blocks against the homestanding Virginia Cavaliers in match two. She closed out the tournament with 36 assists and seven digs in a 3-1 win over North Florida.
Craycraft is currently ranked second among Big South players in both assists (averaging 10.17 per match) and service aces (11).
The Lady Flames (4-2) are back in action this weekend, competing in the Elon Phoenix Classic in Elon, N.C. Liberty's first match is Friday at 11:30 a.m., when the Lady Flames face off against Stetson.
