SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Southern Conference named the volleyball players of the week for the matches played the week of November 1-7. College of Charleston's Cole Dawley was named Offensive Player of the Week, while Samford's Alexis Bauer was selected as Defensive Player of the Week. The Freshman of the Week honors went to Sarah McCarthy of Furman. The players of the week are voted on by the league office.
Dawley, a senior from Charleston, S.C., helped lead the Cougars to a 3-0 record on the week, including a 3-1 win over division foe Georgia Southern. Against the Eagles, the setter played her best with 46 assists, four kills, six digs and one block. It was the first loss at home suffered by Georgia Southern all season. In the match, Dawley had a hitting percentage of .398. Also against the Eagles, Dawley passed the 3,500 mark for career assists and now has 3,535. College of Charleston also defeated The Citadel, where Dawley had 34 assists in the sweep, and Davidson, where she averaged 12.3 assists per set.
Bauer, a Floyds Knobs, Ind., native, posted back-to-back 20 dig matches during the week. The sophomore libero helped lead the Bulldogs to a 1-1 week, as they clinched a spot in the Southern Conference volleyball tournament. Bauer leads the team in digs with 399 on the year, already surpassing her total of 396 from a year ago with one more regular season game and the conference tournament still to play. She is 18 digs away from second place on the Samford list of digs in a single season.
The SoCon's Freshman of the Week award went to Furman's Sarah McCarthy. The Villa Park, Ill., native helped the Paladins to a 2-0 record on the week with wins over Wofford and UNCG. The setter had 24 assists and 7 digs in Furman's 3-1 win over the Terriers. McCarthy posted a double-double with a team-high 21 assists and 13 digs in the Paladins sweep over UNCG. McCarthy is currently second for Furman with 433 assists on the season. McCarthy was also named Freshman of the Week in the second week of the season.
Also nominated for Offensive Player of the Week were Appalachian State's Alison Blasingame, The Citadel's Jessica Maas, Davidson's Hayley Lawson, Elon's Caroline Lemke, Furman's Caroline Adams, Georgia Southern's Kate Van Dyke, UNCG's Ariel Newman, Samford's Casey Garvey, Chattanooga's Courtney Barnes and Western Carolina's Amanda Chaparro.
Nominated for Defensive Player of the Week were Appalachian State's Caroline Sedon, College of Charleston's Paige Johnson, The Citadel's Rachael Farrell, Davidson's Jennifer Chamblee, Elon's Megan McMahon, Furman's Natalie Braun, Chattanooga's Paula Passmore and Western Carolina's Morgan Cochran.
Nominated for Freshman of the Week were College of Charleston's Madelyn McGinnis, The Citadel's Erin Bucherl, UNCG's Kellie Orewiler, Samford's Katie Murphy, Chattanooga's Andrea Johnson and Western Carolina's Kelcie Randazzo.
2010 Volleyball Offensive Players of the Week
Week 1 - Whitney Russell, College of Charleston
Week 2 - Hillary Fountain, Samford
Week 3 - Courtney Barnes, Chattanooga
Week 4 - Kelly Kirby, Furman
Week 5 - Parker Small, Georgia Southern
Week 6 - Sarabeth Peele, Davidson
Week 7 - Sarabeth Peele, Davidson
Week 8 - Parker Small, Georgia Southern
Week 9 - Kate Van Dyke, Georgia Southern
Week 10 - Elizabeth Neisler, Samford
Week 11 - Cole Dawley, College of Charleston
2010 Volleyball Defensive Players of the Week
Week 1 - Kayren Finney, UNCG
Week 2 - Alison Blasingame, Appalachian State
Week 3 - Paige Johnson, College of Charleston
Week 4 - Paula Passmore, Chattanooga
Week 5 - Ashley Roe, Georgia Southern
Week 6 - Kelly Kirby, Furman
Week 7 - Kayren Finney, UNCG
Week 8 - Sarah Havel, College of Charleston
Week 9 - Sarah Havel, College of Charleston
Week 10 - Paula Passmore, Chattanooga
Week 11 - Alexis Bauer, Samford
2010 Volleyball Freshmen of the Week
Week 1 - Katie Murphy, Samford
Week 2 - Sarah McCarthy, Furman
Week 3 - Erin Bucherl, The Citadel
Week 4 - Kellie Orewiler, UNCG
Week 5 - Jennifer Kuroski, Chattanooga
Week 6 - Cali Estes, Elon
Week 7 - Katie Murphy, Samford
Week 8 - Amanda Liguori, Wofford
Week 9 - Nicole Jeschelnik, Georgia Southern
Week 10 - Lauren LaRocque, Georgia Southern
Week 11 - Sarah McCarthy, Furman