University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Stewart Named Defensive Player Of The Week
09.13.2011 | Women's Volleyball
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) -- Liberty's Lillie Happel has been named the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Player of the Week in volleyball, while Radford's Emma Deininger was tabbed the Freshman of the Week. UNC Asheville's Alex Stewart picked up Defensive Player of the Week honors for matches played Sept. 5-11, the League announced today.
Stewart, a libero from Hendersonville, N.C., posted 63 digs and averaged 6.3 digs per set to help her Bulldogs to a 3-1 record over the weekend. She got the weekend going with 18 digs against East Tennessee State and followed with 13 digs in the win over Tennessee Tech on Sept. 9. She closed her weekend out strong as she recorded 32 digs in Asheville's 3-1 win over Chattanooga on Sept. 10.
Happel, a sophomore from Ellicott City, Md., put down 37 kills, hit .289 and averaged 4.11 kills per set to lead her Lady Flames to a 3-0 record and the title at their home tournament over the weekend. The outside hitter got her week started with 16 kills on .387 hitting, to go along with three aces, five digs and a block as Liberty downed Rider, 3-0, on Sept. 9. She followed that performance with 14 kills, a .345 attack percentage and three aces, as well as seven digs and four blocks in the 3-0 sweep of St. Francis. The next day against Cal State Bakersfield, Happel finished with seven kills, two aces, four digs and one block. For her efforts, Happel garnered Tournament MVP honors.
Deininger, a middle blocker from Wallingford, Pa., was named to the Miami/Best Western Invitational All-Tournament team after another solid weekend. The rookie middle blocker posted 21 kills with just three errors for a .419 attack percentage in three contests. She also led Radford defensively with 12 total blocks and accounted for 28 points. She opened the weekend with six kills and zero errors (.545) to go along with one solo block in a victory over Alabama A&M. She registered eight block assists with four kills at Miami and concluded the tournament hitting .529 with team-best 11 kills (two errors) and three total blocks against Florida Gulf Coast.
Also nominated for volleyball Player of the Week for Week 3: Jordan Reeves (Coastal Carolina), Meghan Laffin (Coastal Carolina), Courtney Johnk (High Point), Presley Mabrey (Presbyterian College), Emma Deininger (Radford), Cindi Miller (UNC Asheville) and Stephanie Palmer (Winthrop).
Also nominated for volleyball Freshman of the Week for Week 3: Brooke Kelley (Campbell), Sydney Tracy (Charleston Southern), Katie Martin (Coastal Carolina), Heather Feldman (Gardner-Webb), Ansley Gebben (Liberty) and Kelly Berryman (Presbyterian College).
Also nominated for volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for Week 3: Evan Moffitt (Gardner-Webb), Kendle Rollins (Liberty) and Rachel Brummitt (Radford).
