Volleyball Players of the Week

17 hours ago

SEC Staff

Photo: SEC Staff

SEC Player of the Week – Mikayla Robinson, South Carolina

SEC Offensive Player of the Week – South Carolina’s Mikayla Robinson, a senior middle blocker from West Dundee, Ill., helped guide the Gamecocks to collect the conference’s first two victories over top-25 teams this season.

On the week, Robinson hit .410 with 34 kills over 12 sets and added 14 blocks as South Carolina defeated No. 18 Washington State and No. 23 Rice at the Carolina Classic. In the season opener vs. the Cougars, she hit .500 with 16 kills along with eight total blocks (two solo) and broke the program record for career blocks in the rally-scoring era. Against the Owls, Robinson then hit .348 with five more blocks and 12 kills, including her 1,000th career kill to become the 16th player in the program to reach the milestone. She is one of just four Gamecocks in program history to have recorded 1,000 kills and 400 blocks in their career.

SEC Co-Defensive Players of the Week – Alabama’s Dru Kuck, a junior libero from Sheboygan, Wis., was named Most Valuable Player of the Marshall Invitational as she led the team with 70 digs over 11 sets played, an average of 6.36 per set. Kuck set her career high with 28 digs in the season opener against Austin Peay. She led the team in the remaining two matches with 24 digs in four sets against Marshall and 18 digs in three sets against Miami (Ohio).

Kentucky’s Azhani Tealer, a junior middle blocker from Grand Prairie, Texas, earned a spot on the Dayton Invitational All-Tournament Team after leading the tournament with 1.67 blocks per set and 15 overall blocks for the weekend. Tealer had six blocks in the season-opening win vs. Texas State, a career-high for Tealer in a three-set match. She also logged an ace in two of the three matches and hit a career-high .800 in UK’s road sweep against the host Flyers.

SEC Setter of the Week – Tennessee’s Natalie Hayward, a senior from Bothell, Wash., totaled 108 assists over nine sets, averaging 12.00 assists per set. Hayward led the UT offense to post a .366 hitting percentage over its three three-set victories in the Tennessee Classic. She also recorded 10 kills and four blocks in the season-opening weekend.

SEC Freshman of the Week – South Carolina’s Lauren McCutcheon, a right side/opposite from Simpsonville, S.C., averaged 3.17 points, 2.42 kills and 1.92 digs per set and posted a .419 hitting percentage at the Carolina Classic. In her college debut, McCutcheon hit .438 with seven kills, 12 digs and two blocks in the win over No. 18 Washington State. Her best performance of the tournament came against No. 23 Rice, when she led the team with 15 kills without a single attack error, a .517 hitting percentage, seven digs, three blocks and two key aces in a four-set win over the Owls.