PROVIDENCE, R.I. – UCF’s DeLaina Sarden earned her second consecutive American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week award, with the Knights’ middle blocker joined by Defensive Player of the Week honoree Aleksandra Petronijevic of Memphis as both teams earned their third-consecutive weekly awards.
 
Sarden hit .634 in a pair of road victories this week to help UCF improve to 8-0 in The American. In a battle of the top two teams in the conference standings Friday, Sarden hit .500 with 13 kills and seven blocks in a five-set triumph over Memphis. Sarden followed that on Sunday by hitting .789 with 16 kills and just one error, adding five blocks in a sweep of Cincinnati, who entered the day tied for second in the conference standings. For the weekend, Sarden tallied 3.62 kills/set and 1.50 blocks/set.
 
Petronijevic earns the defensive award for the second time in three weeks, tallying 6.12 digs/set in a 1-1 weekend for the Tigers. The Memphis senior racked up 33 digs in a five-set battle with conference-leading UCF Friday night, following it with 16 in a sweep of USF Sunday afternoon. Petronijevic entered the weekend in the top 10 nationally in digs/set and leads The American at 5.59 digs/set.
 
Offensive Player of the Week
DeLaina Sarden, UCF: .634 hitting pct., 3.62 kills/set, 1.50 blocks/set, Knights improved to 8-0 in conference play
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Aleksandra Petronijevic, Memphis: 6.12 digs/set, 33 digs vs. UCF Friday, Tigers moved to 6-2 in The American
 
Honor Roll
Natalie Keck, Houston: 6.56 digs/set, 36 digs vs. UConn
Kadi Kullerkann, Houston: 5.89 kills/set, had fifth and sixth-consecutive matches of 20 or more kills
Lauren Wright, Memphis: .347 hitting pct., 3.12 kills/set, tallied 1,000^th career kill in win over USF
Avery Acker, SMU: 12.14 assists/set, 4.00 digs/set, 14^th and 15^th double-doubles of season
Sandra Sydlik, Temple: 11.71 assists/set, setter for conference-record team hitting pct. in conference match