Pac-12 Announces Volleyball Players of the Week
SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 Conference office announced today the Pac-12 Volleyball Players of the Week for the week of Nov. 9-15. COLORADO’s Alexis Austin was voted the Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week, WASHINGTON’s Cassie Strickland was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Week for the third-straight week and WASHINGTON STATE's McKenna Woodford was selected Freshman of the Week for the second time this season.
PAC-12 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: ALEXIS AUSTIN, COLORADO (SR, OH, Houston, Texas)
For the first time in her career, Alexis Austin earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week accolades. She averaged 4.62 kills on .408 hitting, 1.25 digs and 5.00 points per set in the Buffs' upset sweep over the Arizona schools. In the match against then-No. 21 Arizona State, Austin recorded 22 kills and a .385 hitting percentage in the five-set win. She also pitched in six digs and a block. The senior then tallied 15 kills on .438 hitting against then-No. 19 Arizona while also recording four digs and three total blocks. The Buffs have beaten six ranked opponents this year. This is the third weekly honor of the season for Colorado and the seventh all-time.
Also Nominated: Taylor Agost, ORE; Mary-Kate Marshall, OSU; Merete Lutz, STAN; Jordan Anderson, UCLA; Samantha Bricio, USC; Lianna Sybeldon, WASH.
PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: CASSIE STRICKLAND, WASH (SR, L, Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Cassie Strickland earned defensive weekly accolades for the third-straight week. She averaged 4.57 digs and 0.86 assists per set in Washington's sweep of then-No. 6 Stanford and California. Strickland recorded 20 digs, one assist and one service in the Huskies' 3-1 victory over the Cardinal. Against the Golden Bears, Strickland tallied 12 digs and five assists in the 3-0 win. The senior had just one reception error in 44 attempts, helping the Husky offense, which ranks second in the country with a .316 hitting percentage, hit .371 for the weekend. Six of the 12 weekly defensive honors have gone to the Huskies this season. It is Strickland's fifth-career accolade and Washington leads the league with 17 all-time defensive honors.
Also Nominated: Cierra Simpson, COLO; Martenne Bettendorf, ORE; Kayla Ellis, OSU; Taylor Formico, UCLA; Alicia Ogoms, USC; Casey Schoenlein, WSU.
PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: MCKENNA WOODFORD, WSU (FR, OH, Chandler, Ariz.)
McKenna Woodford was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the second time this season, the first coming on Sept. 21. Over two matches against California and then-No. 6 Stanford, Woodford averaged 4.14 kills on .311 hitting, 1.57 digs, 0.71 blocks and 4.86 points per set. In the 3-0 win over the Golden Bears, she tallied 14 kills on .520 hitting while also adding three assists, two service aces, five digs and two total blocks. Against the Cardinal, Woodford recorded 15 kills, six digs and two total blocks in a 3-1 defeat. The Cougars have six all-time freshman of the week honorees.
Also Nominated: Abbie D'Agosta, COLO; Lindsey Vander Weide, ORE; Lanesha Reagan, OSU; Zana Muno, UCLA; Baylee Johnson, USC.
Weekly awards have been selected every week of the season since the Conference began sponsoring women’s volleyball in 1986. The Pac-12 has announced an offensive, defensive and freshman weekly honoree since 2011. Freshman of the week honors are not included in the all-time totals for each institution.
2015 PAC-12 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK