Sometimes you have to do something you have never done before to take your team somewhere they have never been before. That is the case for this week’s Player of the Week, McKyla Brooks of Stony Brook.
The junior middle blocker nearly doubled her season output in kills and blocks per set in the team’s upset wins over top seeded Albany and No. 2 seed Binghamton en route to the America East Tournament Championship and the team’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Brooks averaged 5.00 kills and 2.00 blocks per set in sweeps of top seed UAlbany and Binghamton en route to Most Outstanding Player of the America East Championships honors. The Blasdell, New York native led the fourth seeded Seawolves in both matches and closed out each set of the championship match with a kill or block. She accounted for 16 kills, while hitting .353 and adding five blocks and an ace vs. UAlbany then notched 14 kills, 7 blocks and hit .462 vs. Binghamton in the championship match. For the season, Brooks has averaged just 2.69 kills and 0.83 blocks per set.
Honorable Mention
Carly Skjodt, Michigan – Jr., OH
Averaged 4.71 kills per set at a .321 attack average and added 4.00 digs per set; led Michigan in digs and kills for the week, posting double-doubles and guiding the Wolverines to back-to-back wins over top-25 opponents in No. 11 Michigan State and No. 17 Purdue, the team’s first back-to-back Top 25 wins since 2015; notched 17 kills and 12 digs, while hitting .351 and adding an ace vs. MSU; downed 16 kills at a .295 clip, while adding 16 digs and a block vs. Purdue; Big Ten Player of the Week
Melanie McHenry, Louisville – So., OH
Averaged 5.38 kills, 1.88 digs and 1.00 blocks per set, while hitting at a .327 clip in wins over NC State (3-0) and North Carolina (3-2); Posted 13 kills, seven digs, six blocks and an ace, while hitting .343 against the Wolfpack; downed 30 kills, while hitting .318 and adding eight digs and two blocks vs. UNC;became the first Cardinal to record 30 kills in a match since 2011 (Lola Arslanbekova vs. Illinois 9/17/11); put down five killsin the fifth set to help the Cards finish off UNC, the first win for the Cards over the Tar Heels since joining the league in 2014. ACC Player of the Week
Emily Hiebert, Wichita State – Sr., S
Averaged 12.67 assists, 2,67 digs, 1.50 blocks and 1.17 kills per set, while hitting .375 in a 2-0 weekend which included clinching the American Athletic Conference regular-season title; guided the Shocker offense to a .337 hitting percentage; registered 42 assists, four kills, six digs and two blocks, while hitting .364 in the three-set win at Tulsa; became the Shocker career leader in assists (4,831), finishing with 34 assists, 10 digs, three kills and seven blocks in the three-set win at SMU.
Erica Haslag, Bradley – Jr., OH
Averaged 6.33 kills and 4.17 digs per set in the final two matches of the season for Bradley while boasting a .302 attack percentage; posted a school record for kills in a three-set match under the 25-point set format as she finished with 20 kills and 10 digs in Friday’s sweep of Evansville; hit .314 against Indiana State on Saturday, finishing with 18 kills, 15 digs and one ace; Missouri Valley Player of the Week
Kathryn Plummer, Stanford – So., OH
Averaged 4.88 kills, 0.88 blocks and 0.75 digs per set, while hitting at a .365 clip; Match-high 11 kills, while hitting .500 (11-1-20) and adding three blocks and an ace in a sweep over No. 14 USC on Wednesday to help Stanford clinch its first Pac-12 title outright since 2014; notched career-high 28 kills, while hitting .323 and adding five digs, four blocks and an ace to lead Stanford in a come-from-behind five-set win against No. 18 UCLA on Thursday. Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week
Other Notables
Kaz Brown, Kentucky – Sr., MB
Averaged 4.67 kills per set, hit .659 on 41 swings, committing just one error in the two matches, while adding 1.5 blocks per set; downed 10 kills, while hitting .667 (10-0-15) and adding a team-best four blocks vs. Georgia; recorded a season-best 18 kills, while hitting .654 (18-1-26) and putting up a team-best five stuffs In sweep of Ole Miss; SEC Offensive Player of the Week
Emily Butters, Jr., L, Missouri State
Averaged 7.14 digs per set while helping the MSU defense limit opponents to .096 hitting in two road wins; scooped 23 digs and had seven assists in a sweep of Valparaiso on Friday; set MSU’s single-season digs record during the first set at Loyola, finishing with 27 in the match along with six assists and an ace Saturday as the Bears completed an 18-0 MVC season; Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Week
Sierra Nobley, Boise State – Sr., OH
Averaged 5.33 kills per set to help Boise State close the regular season with wins over San José State (3-0) and Nevada (3-0); tallied 32 kills on a .368 hitting percentage between the two matches; posted 11 kills, one service ace in the sweep of SJSU; notched 21 kills on a .386 attack percentage in Saturday’s victory over Nevada; Added 12 digs and three blocks over the two contests; Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week
Audriana Fitzmorris, Stanford – So.,
Averaged 2.25 blocks and 1.63 kills per set while hitting at a .324 clip; notched 10 blocks vs. USC, helping Stanford hold the Trojans to a season-low .023 clip, while adding six kills and hitting .500 (6-0-12); added eight blocks and seven kills (hitting .227) vs. UCLA; Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week
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