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 Oct. 5-11. WASHINGTON’s Lianna Sybeldon was voted the Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week, her teammate Melanie Wade was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this year and STANFORD’s Hayley Hodson was selected Freshman of the Week for the second-straight week and the third time this season.
PAC-12 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: LIANNA SYBELDON, WASHINGTON (SR, MB, Folsom, Calif.)
Lianna Sybeldon led the offense for the Huskies in a sweep of the Arizona schools last weekend, en route to leading the country in individual hitting percentage on the year. Sybeldon tallied a career-high 19 kills on a .731 hitting percentage and added five total blocks in a 3-1 win against the then-No. 14 Arizona Wildcats. It’s the most kills for a Husky hitting over .700 in a match since 2001. The efficiency continued for Sybeldon in the 3-0 victory over then-No. 5 Arizona State. She had seven kills on a .417 hitting percentage and had one block. This is her second weekly honor of the season as she was previously named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 14. Sybeldon now has four career weekly accolades. It is the 53rd all-time weekly honor for Washington.
Also Nominated: Kalei Mau, ARIZ; Alexis Austin, COLO; Lindsey Vander Weide, ORE; Mary-Kate Marshall, OSU; Hayley Hodson, STAN; Jordan Anderson, UCLA; Brittany Abercrombie, USC; McKenna Woodford, WSU.
PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: MELANIE WADE, WASHINGTON (SR, MB, Palo Alto, Calif.)
Melanie Wade piled up the blocks last weekend for the Huskies. In the 3-1 victory against then-No. 14 Arizona, Wade had six total blocks, added three digs and recorded five kills as well. Against then-No. 5 Arizona State, Wade posted a career-high 10 total blocks in the 3-0 win for Washington. She complimented her defensive performance with eight kills on a .438 hitting percentage. Wade averages 1.64 blocks per set on the year, which is the second-best mark in the Conference and No. 4 in the country. She also earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week accolades on Sept. 21 of this season. It is the third weekly honor of Wade’s career and the 54th all-time for the Huskies.
Also Nominated: Penina Snuka, ARIZ; Cierra Simpson, COLO; Kory Cheshire, OSU; Madi Bugg, STAN; Claire Felix, UCLA; Alicia Ogoms, USC; Casey Schoenlein, WSU.
PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: HAYLEY HODSON, STANFORD (FR, OH, Newport Beach, Calif.)
Hayley Hodson recorded her sixth double-double of the season last weekend in the 3-0 win over Oregon State. She registered 16 kills on a .652 hitting percentage and also recorded 15 digs, a career-high mark. In the 3-1 victory against the then-No. 25 Oregon Ducks, she led all players with a career-high 22 kills to go with seven digs and a career-best six blocks. It is the second-straight Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor for Hodson and the third time this year she has been honored. Stanford is now tied with USC at 12 all-time freshman of the week honors since the award’s inception in 2011.
Also Nominated: Tyler Spriggs, ARIZ; Naghede Abu, COLO; Lindsey Vander Weide, ORE; Kayla Ellis, OSU; Baylee Johnson, USC; Destiny Julye, WASH; Ella Lajos, WSU.
Weekly awards have been selected every week of the season since the Conference began sponsoring women’s volleyball in 1986. It is the third year the Pac-12 has announced an offensive, defensive and rookie honoree. 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