Hawaiis Kim Willoughby has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week. Willoughby becomes the fourth player in WAC history to win the award four times in one season.
The sophomore is the sixth player to earn Player of the Week honors at least three times in one season. The last player to earn the honor four times in one season was San Jose States Joslynn Brown who accomplished the feat in 1999 and 2000. Willoughby has also earned National Player of the Week honors twice this season.
Willoughby, a 6-0 left side hitter from Napoleonville, La. (Assumption HS), led Hawaii to three wins over No. 22 UC Santa Barbara, San Jose State and Fresno State. Willoughby helped the Rainbow Wahine complete an undefeated WAC season, ending the regular season with a13-0 WAC record. Hawaii won its sixth-straight WAC regular season title.
Against UC Santa Barbara, the sophomore set a WAC record for kills in a three-game match with 34. Willoughby also set the record for kills in a match with 43 earlier this season. The 34 kills were the ninth most in a three-game match in NCAA history. Willoughby had double-doubles against UCSB (34 kills and 12 digs) and Fresno State (22 kills and 14 digs). She also added 19 kills against San Jose State. She ended the week with 75 kills and 35 digs, while hitting .301.
Other nominees included: Tanya Jarvis, Louisiana Tech; Shannon Stemler, Nevada; Rebecca Pazo, Rice and Jennifer Abbruzzese, UTEP.