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CHICAGO STATE'S DELA CRUZ NAMED WAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Chicago State junior outside hitter Lauryn Dela Cruz has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 21-27. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of her career.
The Provo, Utah native posted double-doubles in all three matches last weekend, averaging a remarkable 6.50 digs to go along with 4.65 points, 4.10 kills and 0.40 service aces per set over three matches at the Leatherneck Invitational. In the first match of the tournament, a sweep of Manhattan, Dela Cruz posted 12 kills, 10 digs and two service aces. She followed it up with career highs of 18 kills, a program record 40 digs and two blocks in a four-set loss to Evansville. Dela Cruz closed out the week with 10 kills and 15 digs in a tight loss to host Western Illinois. She currently leads the WAC in digs per set, is tied for the lead in kills per set, ranks second in points per set and is eighth in service aces per set.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield's Briannah Mariner averaged 2.44 kills on .265 hitting ... Claire Kovensky of Grand Canyon posted a pair of double-doubles and averaged 4.00 kills and 3.36 digs per set as the Lopes went 3-0 last week ... Kansas City's Alicia Harrington was named to the Culver Governors Challenge All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.89 kills and 4.56 digs per set last week ... Ariadnne Sierra of NM State averaged 6.36 digs per set last week ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Ragni Steen Knudsen was named to the all-tournament team at the BYU Nike Invitational after averaging 3.60 kills and 0.70 blocks per set over three matches ... Madison Dennison of Utah Valley averaged 2.67 kills and 1.58 blocks per set last week.
WAC HAS SEVEN PLAYERS NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS
The WAC had seven of its players named to all-tournament teams last weekend, led by NM State with two honorees in Jordan Abalos and Kassandra Tohm, who earned honors at the Golden Dome Invitational. Seattle U also had two honorees at the Cal Molten Classic in Victoria Demmene and Katarina Glavinic. CSU Bakersfield's Emily Lopes was named to the Arkansas Classic All-Tournament Team, while Kansas City's
Alicia Harrington earned all-tournament honors at the Culver Governors Challenge. Rounding out the WAC honorees was UT Rio Grande Valley's Ragni Steen Knudsen, who was named to the BYU Nike Invitational All-Tournament Team.
UTRGV UNABLE TO RETURN HOME DUE TO HARVEY
UT Rio Grande Valley was unable to return to Texas following the BYU Invitational due to Hurricane Harvey. The team is currently renting a house through Air BnB and practicing at BYU's facility before leaving for Oregon, where it will play in a tournament this Thursday-Saturday. Conference member Utah Valley is buying UTRGV's lunch on Tuesday.
KANSAS CITY HEAD COACH POSEY EARNS 100TH CAREER VICTORY
Kansas City Head Coach Christi Posey recorded her 100th career victory with a sweep of Marshall on Aug. 26. In her seventh year at the helm, Posey has a 100-77 (.565) career record. She is 36-22 (.621) in WAC play.
UTRGV POSTS SECOND-MOST BLOCKS VS. SAINT LOUIS
In a four-set win over Saint Louis, UTRGV recorded 38 block assists, the second-highest single-match total in NCAA Division I program history. The team also finished with 39 total blocks, also the second-highest total. Freshman Veronika Jandova came up with a match-high nine blocks, juniors Alexandra Ecker and Dubravka Vukoja posted eight blocks each, senior Bojana Mitrovic finished with seven blocks and junior Ragni Steen Knudsen had a career-high six blocks.
WAC STAT LEADERS
Grand Canyon currently leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.249), opponent hitting percentage (.116) and service aces (2.18), while NM State is tops in assists (14.27), kills (14.82) and digs (19.73). Kansas City leads the league in blocks (2.78).
Individually, Chicago State's Carmen Carvajal and Lauryn Dela Cruz are tied for the lead in kills (4.10), while Dela Cruz is also tops in digs (6.50), while teammate Lacee Adams leads the league in assists (12.20). Seattle U's Katarina Glavinic leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.500), while Grand Canyon's Tressa Schuler is tops in service aces (0.86). Utah Valley's Madison Dennison leads the WAC in blocks (1.58) and Kansas City's Alicia Harrington leads the conference in points (4.67).