Huskies Take Two Of Final Three Players Of The Week
November 28, 2011 | Volleyball
Nov. 28, 2011
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WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - Just as it did after the first week of the season, the Husky volleyball team has taken two of three Pac-12 weekly awards, this time following the final week of the season. Sophomore Jenna Orlandini was named Defensive Player of the Week, and freshman Krista Vansant earned Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced today.
The awards are based on performances over Nov. 21-27, when the Huskies posted wins both at home and away over Washington State to end conference play. The Huskies won, 3-0, in Seattle last Tuesday, and then came back from an 0-2 hole to win 3-2 in Pullman last Friday, their first comeback from 0-2 down since the 2007 season.
The Defensive Player of the Week award is a first for Orlandini, and the third this season for UW. Bianca Rowland earned the previous two. Orlandini had nine digs and a career-high four aces in the 3-0 win in Seattle. Her passing helped UW run their offense at a .506 clip, the first time UW hit over .500 in a conference match since 2005. In the next match, she racked up 27 digs, while also helping Washington post a .340 hitting percentage.
Vansant was the hottest out of a red hot group of Huskies on Tuesday against WSU, going 14-for-19 with one error to post a career-best .684 hitting percentage. She also had a pair of aces and three digs. She followed up with a career-high 25 kills in 49 attempts in the five-setter at Washington State, hitting .388 for the match. She also added nine digs in the comeback victory. For the week, she averaged 4.88 kps, 1.50 dps and 5.12 pps, while posting a .471 hitting percentage.
This is the third Freshman of the Week honor of the year for Vansant, who won it each of the first two weeks of the season.
The Huskies, who finished tied for fourth in the Pac-12 at 15-7, head to Minneapolis this week to begin the 2011 NCAA Championships. They will face Western Michigan in the first round on Friday, hosted by the University of Minnesota.
2011 Pac-12 Women's Volleyball Player of the WeekOffensive Defensive Freshman Aug. 29 Alaina Bergsma, ORE Bianca Rowland, WASH Krista Vansant, WASH Sept. 5 Rachael Kidder, UCLA Karissa Cook, STAN Krista Vansant, WASH Sept. 12 Rachel Williams, STAN Carly Wopat, STAN Arica Nassar, OSU Sept. 19 Alaina Bergsma, ORE Robin Rostratter, CAL Chloe Mathis, ARIZ Sept. 26 Kendall Bateman, USC Kelly Reeves, UCLA Zoe Nightingale, UCLA Oct. 3 Carly Wopat, STAN Bianca Rowland, WASH Christina Higgins, CAL Oct. 10 Tarah Murrey, CAL Kat Brown, CAL Madi Kingdon, ARIZ Oct. 17 Karissa Cook, STAN Lainey Gera, UCLA Christina Higgins, CAL Oct. 24 Lauren Plum, ORE Shannon Hawari, CAL Lillian Schonewise, CAL Oct. 31 Rachael Kidder, UCLA Lainey Gera, UCLA Arica Nassar, OSU Nov. 7 Lauren Williams, USC Kelly Reeves, UCLA Liz Brenner, ORE Nov. 14 Alex Jupiter, USC Stephanie Preach, ASU Nora Tuioti-Mariner, ASU Nov. 21 Lauren Plum, ORE Haley Jacob, ORE Liz Brenner, ORE Nov. 27 Tarah Murrey, CAL Jenna Orlandini, WASH Krista Vansant, WASH
