DENVER – NM State redshirt senior middle blocker Megan Hart and UT Rio Grande Valley junior libero Samaret Caraballo have been named the Western Athletic Conference Offensive and Defensive Volleyball Players of the Week, respectively, for the week of Oct. 7-13. This is the first WAC Player of the Week honor of the season and the second of her career for Hart and the first-ever honor for Caraballo.
Hart, a Kelowna, B.C., Canada native, averaged 4.5 points and 3.91 kills on a WAC-best .500 hitting to lead the Aggies to a 3-0 mark to remain undefeated in conference play. She tallied 43 kills with only six errors on 74 attempts over the three matches. Hart posted a career-best 19 kills and a .643 hitting percentage when NM State swept Grand Canyon. At California Baptist, she posted 15 kills and a .560 hitting percentage. Hart leads the WAC with a .440 hitting percentage on the season.
Caraballo, a Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native, averaged a WAC-best 5.88 digs per set last week. In a four-set match against Grand Canyon last Thursday, she posted a match-high 22 digs. Caraballo followed it up with a career-high-tying 25 digs in a win over CSU Bakersfield on Saturday. She currently ranks second in the WAC in digs per set (4.51).
Other offensive nominees included: Sydney Marks of California Baptist averaged 2.67 kills and 2.9 points per set last week ... CSU Bakersfield's Brooke Boiseau averaged 3.38 kills on .386 hitting on the week ... Yeni Murillo of Grand Canyon averaged 3.14 kills and 3.6 points on the week ... Kansas City's Alicia Harrington averaged 4.8 points and 4.2 kills on .228 hitting on the week ... Kailee Kurokawa of Seattle U averaged 10.00 assists per set last week ... UT Rio Grande Valley's Sarah Cruz averaged 4.6 points, 4.00 kills and 0.50 service aces per set last week ... Makaila Jarema of Utah Valley averaged 1.60 kills on .406 hitting and 2.2 points per set.
Other defensive nominees included: California Baptist's Nicole Abreu averaged 3.56 digs per set ... Leisa Elisaia of CSU Bakersfield averaged 2.75 digs and 0.50 blocks per set ... Grand Canyon's Melody Horton averaged 2.33 digs and 0.50 blocks per set last week ... Mykal Sadler of Kansas City averaged 1.50 blocks per set ... NM State's Julianna Salanoa averaged 2.00 blocks and 0.82 digs per set ... Tijana Milojevic of Seattle U averaged 3.89 digs per set ... Utah alley's Makaila Jarema averaged 1.20 blocks per set.
