TicketSmarter WAC Volleyball Player of the Week Announced
DENVER – Grand Canyon senior outside hitter Yeny Murillo and Tarleton junior defensive specialist Ana Costas have been named the Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Volleyball Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Feb. 1 through Feb. 9.
Murillo, an Andalucia, Colombia native, earned her second straight player of the week award behind a pair of dominating performances as the Lopes swept Dixie State in both of their matches last week. Murillo averaged 6.17 kills per set while hitting at a .356 clip against the Trailblazers. She also broke the program's Division I-era record for kills in a three-set match twice, posting a record 18 kills on Monday then resetting the record with 19 kills on Tuesday. On the season, Murillo ranks fourth in the nation and first in the WAC with 5.40 during the Lopes' six-match span.
Costas, a Gurabo, Puerto Rico native, posted four straight matches with 20 or more digs as she helped the Texans put together a three-match win streak. On Saturday against UT Arlington, Costas averaged 6.67 digs per set in a straight sweep of the Mavericks. She then collected 26 digs in a five-set thriller with Seattle U as Tarleton earned their first WAC win in program history. Costas' best performance of the week came in a three-set sweep of Seattle U, in which she averaged 9.00 digs per set to leave her with a 5.39 digs per set average for the week.
Other offensive nominees included: California Baptist's Cali Hoye averaged 4.13 kills per set over the last four matches to go along with three double-doubles and five aces in that span… Dixie State's Meagan Treanor led the Trailblazers past UT Rio Grande Valley as she averaged 16.5 kills, 25 assists, 8.5 digs and 3.5 blocks during the two-match series… NM State's Shaney Lipscomb finished the week averaging 2.17 kills on .333 hitting as the Aggies put together two three-set wins over UTRGV… Seattle U's Ezgi Ozkan came away from Redhawks' four matches averaging 9.40 assists per set to rank her second among WAC leaders in assists per set… Tarleton's Lauren Kersey finished with 27 total kills in the Texans' back-to-back wins over Seattle U while also posting a season-high .409 hitting percentage in a sweep over UT Arlington… UT Rio Grande Valley's Veronika Jandova posted a team-high tying 2.42 kills per set on .258 hitting to average 2.9 points per set during the Vaqueros four matches… Utah Valley's Kazna Tarawhiti Tanuvasa recorded 18 kills on .389 hitting against No. 14 BYU as the Wolverines handed the Cougars its first lost set of the year.
Other defensive nominees included: California Baptist's Paige Johnstone averaged 4.56 digs per set on top of tallying 24 digs to average 6.00 digs per set in a four-set win over Tarleton last Tuesday… Dixie State's Kate Hardy managed a 1.40 block per set average as she recorded 13 block assists and one solo block during the Trailblazers' four-match stretch… Grand Canyon's K.J. Adams continues to lead the league in digs per set (6.31) as she averaged 6.17 digs per set in a pair of three-set victories of Dixie State… Seattle U's Tijana Milojevic extended her double-digit dig streak to 27 matches as she averaged 4.73 digs per set during the Redhawks' two series… and UT Rio Grande Valley's Samaret Caraballo averaged 3.67 digs per set, including finishing with 17 digs in just three sets against Dixie State on Feb. 2… Utah Valley's Kendra Nock was dominant at the net, finishing with a five-match total of 28 blocks to average over five blocks per match.