Two top 15 upsets, a strong hitting effort with good defense to boot put this week’s Player of the Week firmly in the national spotlight. Purdue redshirt junior outside hitter Sherridan Atkinson did it all for the Boilermakers (RV) as they knocked off No. 3 Minnesota (3-1) and No. 14 Wisconsin (3-0) on back to back nights. The Long Beach, California, native averaged 4.42 kills, 1.85 digs and 1.29 blocks per set while hitting at a .364 clip. Atkinson registered 17 kills, eight digs and four blocks, while hitting .293 in the four-set victory over No. 3 Minnesota. She then followed that up by posting 14 kills, five blocks and five digs, while hitting .480 in the Boilermakers’ straight-set victory over No. 10 Wisconsin. For her efforts, Atkinson was named Big Ten Player of the Week.
Honorable Mention:
Simone Lee, Penn State – Sr., OH
Averaged 4.33 kills per set on .383 hitting effort, while also adding 4.67 digs and 0.83 blocks per set in wins over Iowa and Maryland; recorded back-to-back double-doubles; posted 16 kills and 15 digs against Iowa with a .429 hitting percentage, three blocks, and two aces; notched 10 kills and 13 digs against Maryland, with two aces, and two blocks, and a .320 hitting percentage; also made good on 97.6 percent of her serve reception chances, while taking in over 50 percent of the team’s reception attempts, only making one error all week in her 41 attempts. Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
Lydia Dimke, Creighton – Sr., S
Averaged 11.75 assists, 4.12 digs, 1.00 kills and 0.38 blocks per set on .389 hitting effort, while leading Creighton to its fourth-straight Big East titlel registered double-doubles in both matches posting 33 assists and 15 digs in a 3-0 sweep of Xavier on Saturday, setting an offense that hit .268 with five players notching seven kills or more; contributed 61 assists, 18 digs and seven kills on .500 hitting on Sunday as Creighton rallied for a 3-2 win at Butler; had 17 assists, five digs, four kills and a block in the pivotal 38-36 second set win. Her 18 digs and seven kills on the day both tied season-highs, and her 61 assists were the second-most of her 2017 campaign. Big East Offensive Player of the Week
Alana Handy, Bethune-Cookman – So., L
Averaged 8.14 digs per set in wins over North Carolina A&T (3-0) and N.C. Central (3-1); notched 24 digs vs. NCAT and a school record 33 digs in sweep of NCCU; Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Specialist of the Week
Other Notables:
Lily Johnson, Missouri State – Sr.,OH
Averaged 5.67 kills on .326 hitting, to go with 3.67 digs per set in a pair of Missouri State sweeps, while also adding three aces and two blocks in helping the Bears to their second consecutive MVC title; posted a double-double with 14 kills and 13 digs, hitting .289 with two blocks and an ace Saturday against Northern Iowa; celebrated her final home match by hitting .360 with 20 kills, nine digs and a pair of aces against Drake on Sunday; Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week
Abbie Lehman, Wichita State – Sr., MB
Averaged 4.00 kills and 2.00 blocks per set, while hitting .457 in wins over East Carolina and Cincinnati; recorded a match-high 12 kills, hit .524 and added three digs and three blocks in the sweep at ECU; notched a match-high 12 kills, hit .400 and put up a match-high nine blocks, a dig and an ace in the sweep at Cincinnati, while becomming just the second Shocker to collect 500 career total blocks; American Offensive Player of the Week
Breann Robinson, San Jose State – Sr., S
11.00 assists, 2.25 digs, 1.12 blocks and 0.88 kills per set in wins over Wyoming and No. 23 Colorado State; tallied 34 assists, 11 digs and six blocks vs. Wyoming; dished out 54 assists and led four players to double-digit kills vs. Colorado State, while also accounting for seven digs, four digs, three blocks and two aces in the upset.
Lindsey Massicotte, Central Connecticut State – Sr., DS
Averaged 7.56 digs per set, while helping CCSU hold its opponents to a .138 hitting percentage; managed a school record 46 digs in a four-set win at Saint Francis, tying for 7th-most all-time in a 4-set match in NCAA history, and most in a match since 2006; also added two assists vs. the Red Flash; helped CCSU to its 5th straight win and a share of the NEC regular season title with 22 digs, 7 assists and an ace in a five-set win at Robert Morris; committed just one receiving error in two matches. Northeast Conference Defensive Player of the Week
Anna Holehouse, Towson – Jr., L
Averaged 7.50 digs per set, 11 assists (1.38 per set) and a .977 reception percentage to lead the Tigers to a pair of wins over James Madison and Delaware; set the school record for digs in a match with 45 in the 3-2 win over James Madison on Monday night; that broke Kelli Scott’s record of 44 set in 1993; added five assists and did not make a reception error in 26 attempts against the Dukes, marking the fourth straight match she did not make a reception error; recorded 15 digs and six assists in the sweep of Delaware on Sunday; against the Blue Hens, she recorded the 1,618 dig of her career and moved into second place on the career digs list at Towson. Holehouse’s 60 digs this week gave her 544 for the season, making her the first player in program history to post 500 or more digs in two seasons as a Tiger. Colonial Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week
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