Abbey Bessler, Taylor Louis Earn BIG EAST Weekly Honors
NEW YORK – Familiar names earn BIG EAST weekly honors on Monday as Abbey Bessler is named Player of the Week for the second time and Taylor Louis is tabbed Freshman of the Week for the fourth time, tying Creighton’s Jaali Winters.
BIG EAST Volleyball started its second half of conference play on Friday. Marquette, Creighton and Xavier went undefeated last weekend, in their second time through their opponents. The Bluejays lead the pack at 11-0 with Villanova second at 9-2 and Marquette closing in on the Wildcats at 8-3. The Musketeers have solid hold on fourth 10 games in at 7-3. The Golden Eagles are on a match winning streak as they played spoiler this weekend to Villanova’s previous eight-game spurt.
As of Monday, Creighton continues to receive votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll.
St. John’s and Seton Hall also went 1-1 last weekend as they are on the hunt for a playoff spot at 5-6. There are four weeks left of regular season action.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Abbey Bessler, Xavier, Jr., OH, Hebron, Ky. – Helped Xavier maintain a potential seat at the table for BIG EAST Championship play as she led the Musketeers in scoring last week with 4.62 points per set. The Musketeers defeated Butler, 3-0, on the back of Bessler’s match-high 19 kills with a .341 hitting percentage and a near double-double with nine digs. Her 19-kill performance as well as her 20.5 points both rank third in conference play for a three-set matches. The junior scored five of Xavier’s final eight points in the third set at Xavier came-from-behind in the set to win 26-24. The Musketeers lost a non-conference match earlier in the week to Dayton, 3-2. Bessler had a double-double with 15 kills and 16 digs in the loss. Bessler also added 3.12 digs per set, two assists, two service aces and two blocks to her stat line for the week.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Taylor Louis, Marquette, RS-Fr., OH, Skokie, Ill. – Louis helped Marquette to a 2-0 weekend with wins over Seton Hall and Villanova with 5.81 points, 5.25 kills and 2.62 digs per set to go along with a .252 hitting percentage. Louis led the league for the weekend in kills and points. Her 24.5 points in a 3-1 win over Seton Hall ranks fourth in league games in a four-set match. Her 23 kills also tied for third-best in a league game played to four sets. The freshman put up 19 kills and nine digs for a near double-double against Villanova resulting in 22.0 points in a 3-1 win that ended Villanova’s eight-game win streak. Louis’ double-double with 23 kills, 12 digs against the Pirates was her seventh of the season.
BIG EAST Volleyball Weekly Honor Roll
Taryn Kloth, Creighton, Fr., RS-H, Sioux Falls, S.D. – Helped Creighton to another 2-0 week as the Bluejays remain undefeated in conference play at 11-0. Kloth averaged 3.17 points, 2.50 kills and 1.33 blocks per set while hitting .481. For the week, Kloth had eight blocks, compared to six total by Creighton’s two opponents.
Symone Speech, Georgetown, Fr., MB, Oak Park, Ill. – The Hoyas went 1-1 last week as Speech marked a .500 hitting percentage that resulted in 3.43 kills per set. Along with 1.43 blocks per set, the freshman accounted for 4.29 points per set. Had 10 kills with only one error for a .562 hitting percentage in the loss to St. John’s. In the win over Providence, she set a career high with seven total blocks, including two solo blocks. Led the Hoyas with 14 kills.
Sara Blasier, Marquette, RS-Jr., Setter, Hartford, Wis. – Marked her seventh double-double of the season with 24 digs and 37 assists in a 3-1 win over Villanova. Helped Marquette to a 2-0 week with 10.38 assists and 4.12 digs per set. Her 46 assists in a 3-1 win over Seton Hall was the fifth best performance in BIG EAST play in four sets. Her 24 digs against the Wildcats tie for third.
Karin Palgutova, St. John’s, Sr., OH, Bratislava, Slovakia – In a 1-1 week for St. John’s she became the Red Storm’s all-time career kills leader. Palgutova accounted for 3.92 points and 3.50 kills per set while adding 2.67 digs. In the win over Georgetown had 11 kills and eight digs. Also added two aces for the week.
Danielle Schroeder, Seton Hall, Jr., OH, Chicago, Ill. – In eight sets resulting in a 1-1 week for Seton Hall had 4.12 kills per set on a .232 attack percentage. Led the Pirates in both matches with a career-best 18 kills in the loss to Marquette and a match-high 15 kills in the win against DePaul.