DENVER – NM State sophomore outside hitter Tatyana Battle has been named Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 31-Nov. 6. This is her first-ever WAC Player of the Week honor.
The Albuquerque, N.M., native had a career night, posting her seventh double-double of the season in a crucial road win at UT Rio Grande Valley to give the Aggies at least a share of the WAC regular-season title. Battle posted a career-high 28 kills on .333 hitting to go with a career-high 18 digs in a 3-2 victory over the Vaqueros. The sophomore also added three blocks and a service ace in the win. However, it was her six kills in the fifth set that propelled the Aggies to the road victory. Battle entered the week averaging 3.60 points, 3.13 kills, 2.11 digs and 0.26 blocks per set. Last week she nearly doubled her production, averaging 6.20 points, 5.60 kills, 3.60 digs and 0.60 blocks per set.
Other nominees included: CSU Bakersfield’s Kate Dunbar-Lowe averaged 4.00 kills on .500 hitting, 0.50 digs and 0.50 blocks per set as the Roadrunners went 2-0 last week ... Randahl Powers of Grand Canyon finished with 19 kills in a win over Chicago State to snap an 18-match losing skid ... UT Rio Grande Valley’s Alisha Watson averaged 2.33 kills, 1.00 digs and 0.67 blocks per set as the Vaqueros went 0-2 last week ... Sierra Starley of Utah Valley averaged 9.38 assists, 2.38 digs, 1.38 blocks, 1.00 kills and 0.50 service aces per set as the Wolverines went 2-0 on the week.
