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UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY'S MITROVIC NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UT Rio Grande Valley junior right side hitter Bojana Mitrovic has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 19-25. This is her first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and the second of her career.
The Novi Sad, Serbia, native led the Vaqueros to a pair of WAC victories last week after averaging 5.62 points, 5.12 kills on .306 hitting, 2.88 digs and 1.00 blocks per set. After missing UTRGV's first match of the week with a sore shoulder, Mitrovic posted a double-double of 17 kills and a season-high 16 digs to go with along four blocks in a four-set win over Utah Valley last Thursday. She followed it up with a season-high 24 kills with zero attack errors on 54 attempts for a career-high .444 hitting percentage in a win over Seattle U on Saturday. She also added seven digs and four blocks. At 11-5, UTRGV is off to its best start since the NCAA started sponsoring women's championships in 1981 and is 2-0 in conference play for the first time in program history.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Marina Sanches finished with 13 kills on .579 hitting and four blocks in a sweep of Grand Canyon ... Kelsey Taylor of Chicago State averaged 4.50 assists, 3.17 digs and 0.67 service aces per set in two matches last week ... Grand Canyon's Natalie Tardy finished with 10 kills in a loss at CSUB ... Madison Mosier of UMKC finished with eight kills on .348 hitting and three blocks ... NM State's Tatyana Battle averaged 3.20 kills and 2.00 digs in a pair of wins last week ... Sierra Starley of Utah Valley averaged 10.00 assists, 2.56 digs, 0.89 kills and 0.56 blocks per set in two matches last week.
WAC STAT LEADERS
NM State currently leads the WAC in opponent hitting percentage (.159), assists (12.93) and kills (13.95), while UMKC is tops in hitting percentage (.263). Utah Valley leads the league in blocks (3.06), Seattle U is tops in service aces (1.42) and UT Rio Grande Valley leads the WAC in digs (17.25).
Individually, UMKC's Emma Hagedorn leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.423), while Seattle U's Matea Mamic is tops in kills (3.84). UMKC's Kaylyn Brandt leads the league in assists (10.87), while Seattle U's Kaja Marinkovic is tops in service aces (0.37). Utah Valley's Madison Dennison leads the WAC in blocks (1.53), UT Rio Grande Valley's Fatoumata Dacosta is tops in digs (5.28) and teammate Ragni Steen Knudsen leads the league in points (4.37).
In WAC matches only, CSU Bakersfield leads the league in hitting percentage (.253), assists (14.67), kills (15.33) and service aces (3.33), while NM State is tops in opponent hitting percentage (.113). Meanwhile, Utah Valley leads the league in blocks (3.50) and UT Rio Grande Valley is tops in digs (19.75).
Individually in WAC matches, UTRGV's Bojana Mitrovic leads the WAC in kills (5.12) and points (5.62), while teammate Fatoumata Dacosta is tops in digs (7.38). CSU Bakersfield's Marina Sanches is tops in hitting percentage (.579) and teammate Fabiana Andrade leads the league in service aces (1.33). Meanwhile, Brandt is tops in assists (10.33), while three players - Dennison, teammate Brighton Taylor and UMKC's Mykal Sadler - are tied for the lead in blocks (1.67).
UTRGV'S SILVA ON PACE TO SET SEASON BLOCKING AVERAGE
UT Rio Grande Valley freshman middle blocker Barbara Silva is currently averaging 1.20 blocks per set, the best single-season average in program history. Sophomore teammate Alexandra Ecker is close behind in third place with 1.11 blocks per set.
NM STATE EXTENDS WAC WIN STREAK TO 16 MATCHES
With a pair of five-set wins last week, NM State extended its WAC winning streak to 16 matches. The Aggies went 14-0 in WAC play last season, their first-ever unbeaten conference record since joining the WAC in 2005. NM State's last WAC loss came on Nov. 15, 2014, a 3-1 loss at UMKC.
UTRGV'S DACOSTA ON PACE TO ENTER RECORD BOOK FOR DIGS
UT Rio Grande Valley senior libero Fatoumata Dacosta currently ranks seventh nationally and leads the WAC with 322 digs this season. She has posted double-digit digs in all but one match, has 20 or more digs in eight of 16 matches and had a career-high 32 digs against Utah Valley on Sept. 22. With a minimum of 15 matches remaining this season, at her current pace she would finish the season with 623 digs, good for second all-time in program history and fifth in the WAC record books.
UTAH VALLEY UTAH VALLEY POSTS 20 BLOCKS AGAINST CSUN
In a Sept. 17 five-set battle against CSUN, Utah Valley recorded 20 total blocks against the Matadors, the second highest output in program history and one shy of the record of 21. Junior middle blocker Madison Dennison led Utah Valley at the net against CSUN, putting up a career-high 12 blocks in the contest.
UTRGV'S WATSON APPROACHING 1,000 CAREER KILLS
UT Rio Grande Valley senior right side hitter Alisha Watson currently has 875 career kills, good for 10th place all-time in program history and looks to become just the seventh player in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills. Watson also ranks fourth all-time in career service aces (109) and 10th in block assists (136).