Freshman outside hitter McKenna Melville played a key roll in extending UCF’s win streak to 17 matches with strong efforts on offense, defense and in serve reception en route to VolleyMob Player of the Week honors.
Melville averaged 6.11 kills and 4.00 digs per set, while hitting .299 and making good on 95.4 percent of serve reception tries (62 of 65). The Eagan, Minnesota, native posted 27 kills and 20 digs while hitting .267 in a five-set win over Houston on Friday. She then downed a career-high 28 kills and 16 digs while hitting .339 in a 3-1 win over SMU on Sunday, notching her conference-best 16th double-double. For her efforts, the rookie also earned American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week nods as UCF moved to 20-3 on the year and 11-0 in AAC play.
Honorable Mention
Rachel Giustino, Murray State – Jr., OH
Averaged 5.00 kills and 5.57 digs per set, while hitting .232; posted 20 kills and 26 digs while hitting .300 in a four-set win over Southeast Missouri; added 15 kills and 13 digs while hitting .163 in a sweep of UT Martin; also added six blocks and two aces on the weekend; Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week
Becca Fernandez, Murray State – So., L
Averaged 7.14 digs per set in wins over Southeast Missouri and UT Martin; pulled up 28 digs in a four-set win over SEMO; added 22 saves and two assists in sweep of UT Martin; made good on 60 of 61 serve reception chances; OVC Defensive Player of the Week
Kaylie Jorgenson, Northern Arizona – Sr., OH
Averaged 3.83 kills, 5.50 digs and 0.83 blocks per set, while hitting .412; notched 10 kills and 19 digs while hitting .375 vs. Sacramento State; added 13 kills and 14 digs while hitting .444 in a sweep of Portland State; Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week
Nya Steele, Charlotte – Fr., S
Averaged 13.17 assists and 3.33 digs per set, while guiding the team to a .315 hitting effort on the weekend in sweeps of FIU and Louisiana Tech; posted 41 assists and nine digs as the team hit .363 vs. FIU; dished out 38 assists and added 11 digs and two blocks, while guiding the team to a .278 hitting effort.
Brooke Nuneviller, Oregon – Fr., L
Averaged 6.43 digs and 1.14 assists per set; notched 18 kills and two assists in a sweep of Arizona State; posted 27 digs, six assists and four aces in win at Arizona; made good on all 29 serve reception tries; Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
Other Notables
Devin Corah, La Salle – Jr., OH
Averaged 5.57 kills per set, while hitting .459; posted 25 kills while hitting .500 in four-set win over Fordham; added 14 kills, three digs and two blocks while hitting .400 in a sweep of Rhode Island; Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week
Kaela Massey, ETSU – Jr., MB
Averaged 4.56 digs, 2.67 kills and 1.00 blocks per set, while hitting .327; racked up nine kills, five blocks and a career-high 24 digs while hitting .208 in a four-set win over Chattanooga; posted 15 kills, 17 digs and four blocks while hitting .419 in a five-set win vs. Samford.
Madison Hill, UT Arlington – Jr.
Averaged 5.13 kills per set, while hitting .529; notched 15 kills on a .722 hitting effort (15-2-18) in a sweep of ULM; added 26 kills, four digs and four blocks, while hitting .460 vin a five-set loss to Louisiana; Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week
Sherridan Atkinson, Purdue – RS Sr., OH
Averaged 4.9 kills and 0.7 blocks per set, while hitting .448 against Rutgers and Penn State; downed 12 kills and added four aces and three blocks, while hitting .323 in a four-set win over Rutgers; notched a career-high 32 kills and added five digs and three blocks, while hitting .518 in the five-set upset win over Penn State, the team’s first road win over the Nittany Lions since 1982; posted her 1000th career kill in the win vs. PSU; Big Ten Player of the Week
2018 Players of the Week
Oct. 23 – Lyndie Haddock-Eppich, BYU
Oct. 16 – Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati
Oct. 9 – Katie Forsythe, Loyola Maryland
Oct. 2 – Samantha Seliger-Swenson, Minnesota
Sept. 25 – Mariena Hayden, UNLV
Sept. 18 – Torrey Van Winden, Cal Poly
Sept. 11 – Kathryn Plummer, Stanford
Sept. 4 – Jordan Thompson, Cincinnati
Aug. 28 – Kaiulana Ahuna, UC Riverside
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