PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of the league’s weekly volleyball honors for the week ending Aug. 27.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Emily Hiebert • Sr. • S • Wichita State
Hiebert led the Shockers to a 3-0 weekend to start off the 2017 season at the LUV Invitational, averaging 10.00 assists per set, 0.67 service aces per set, 3.11 digs per set, and 1.56 blocks per set. Wichita State posted three straight sweep victories over Lipscomb, East Tennessee State, and Belmont, respectively. Hiebert had 32 assists and a career-high eight blocks in the 3-0 win over 2016 NCAA Tournament team Lipscomb, helping her squad to a .367 hitting percentage. She then had a double-double of 32 assists and 14 digs, while adding another five blocks in the three-set win over ETSU. She posted 26 assists, nine digs, and three stuffs in the match against Belmont, as the Shockers captured their third 3-0 win to finish the weekend undefeated.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kennedy Arundel • Jr. • DS/L • UConn
Arundel was named to the St. John’s Invitational All-Tournament team after pacing the Huskies in the back row to a 2-1 weekend, averaging 5.42 digs per set. After dropping a five-set thriller in its season opener, UConn bounced back and won two straight, defeating 2016 NCAA Tournament team New Hampshire 3-1 and the sweeping the host St. John’s. Arundel had 29 digs in the loss against Sacramento State, who posted 20 wins in the 2016 season. She went on to lead UConn in digs with 19 in the four-set win over New Hampshire and 17 in the 3-0 victory over the Red Storm. She had just one reception error over the weekend.
WEEKLY HONOR ROLL
Kia Bright • R-Sr. • OH • UCF
Bright leads the league with 52 kills after the opening weekend. The redshirt senior tallied double-digit kills in all three matches, averaging 3.81 kills per set. She held a .306 hitting percentage with 19 kills in a five-set loss to Duke.
Lael Ceriani • Sr. • OH • ECU
Ceriani leads the league with 4.40 kills per set and ranks second in the conference with 4.85 points per set after guiding ECU to a 2-1 start in 2017. She holds a .355 hitting percentage and was named to the ECU Invitational All-Tournament team, notching double-digit kills in her first three matches.
Alyssa Kronberg • Fr. • L • Memphis
Kronberg averaged a conference-best 5.92 digs per set for Memphis in action at the EIU Panther Invitational. She had just one reception error in her three matches and posted 28 digs against Green Bay, which are the most by a Tiger in a four-set match since the 2014 season.
Lauren Mills • Sr. • OH • SMU
Mills had a career-high 22 kills and added 13 digs for a double-double over five sets against Mississippi State to start off the 2017 season. She capped off the weekend averaging 3.81 kills per set and 3.50 digs per set in SMU’s DoubleTree Invitational.
Emily Thorson • Jr. • OH •Tulsa
Thorson registered 3.25 kills per set and 1.33 digs per set in three matches for the Golden Hurricane over the weekend. She had 19 kills versus North Texas and totaled 14 kills and eight digs in five sets against Montana.