Creighton Duo Of Winters, Witt Grab #BIGEASTvb Weekly Awards; VU’s Potts Named Freshman of the Week
NEW YORK – After Week four of league play, the Creighton Bluejay pair of outside hitter Jaali Winters and libero Brittany Witt were named this week’s BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively. It is Winters’ first weekly award this season. Witt has been named Defensive Player of the Week three times. BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors were awarded to Villanova’s Mallory Potts. It is her second honor of the year.
There are no midweek games this week for BIG EAST volleyball. The league schedule commences with the second round of the round robin schedule on Friday. The only teams who have not played nine matches are travel partners Creighton and Providence. They will play their home-and-home on the same weekend at the end of the season.
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week
Jaali Winters, Creighton, Jr., OH (Ankeny, Iowa)
Creighton junior Jaali Winters helped the Bluejays to a 2-0 record last week as she led the league in points (5.56) and kills (5.25) per set. Winters’ 28 kills in the come-from-behind five-set win over Butler were a career-high and a BIG EAST match high, as well as tied for third-most in a game in Creighton history. It also set an arena record for a Creighton player. In addition to her 28 kills, Winters had 19 digs in the win. Two days later, Winters tied for team-high honors with 14 kills (against just one error), hitting .433 with seven digs in a 3-0 sweep over Xavier. Winters also added to her stat line 3.25 digs per set and 0.38 blocks per set.
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week
Brittany Witt, Creighton, So., Libero (Omaha, Neb.)
Omaha native Brittany Witt led the BIG EAST in digs per set last week with an average of 6.12 over two matches, eight sets. The average of 6.12 would rank third in the country as the national leader, Kallie Seimet of Bowling Green averages 6.77 per set. Witt had 30 digs in the 3-2 come-from-behind win over Butler, marking a BIG EAST match high for the week in all matches played. Witt had seven digs in the fourth set (a tense 25-23 win) before adding nine digs in CU’s 15-9 fifth set triumph. The sophomore libero then added 19 digs in CU’s 3-0 sweep of Xavier on Sunday that took just 73 minutes to complete. She had four digs in the first set, eight scoops in the second set and seven more ups in the third frame. Creighton led the BIG EAST last week in service aces allowed (0.25). Witt was served at 38 times without a reception error to pace a Bluejay defense that surrendered just two aces in eight sets on the weekend.
BIG EAST Freshman of the Week
Mallory Potts, Villanova, Fr., OH (San Antonio, Texas)
With an average of 3.93 points and 3.79 kills per set, Villanova freshman Mallory Potts helped the Wildcats to a 2-1 week, moving up into third place to tie with Seton Hall at 6-3. Her kills per set average of 3.79 ranked fifth in the league last week, while her .323 attack percentage ranked 13th. Her team-high 21 kills and 22 points against Marquette on Saturday played a key role in Villanova handing the Golden Eagles their first conference loss of the season. Potts had 19 kills in the four-set loss against Seton Hall and 13 in the five-set win over DePaul.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Anna Logan, Butler, Jr., OH (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Indianapolis local Anna Logan averaged 4.38 points, 3.62 kills, 3.0 digs and 1.00 blocks per set in a 1-1 week for Butler which included a five-set loss to Creighton a straight-set sweep over Providence. Logan posted a double-double with 13 kills, 18 digs and six blocks in the loss to the Bluejays her 16 kills against PC were match high in league play last week in three set matches.
Allie Barber, Marquette, So., OH (Cedarburg, Wis.)
Barber was second behind Winters in points (5.19) and kills (5.00) per set last week for the 1-1 Golden Eagles. Her .385 attack percentage ranked 10th among conference players last week. She had 25 kills in the five-set loss to Villanova, the Golden Eagles first loss of the year.
Dominique Mason, Seton Hall, Sr., OH (Chicago, Ill.)
Mason had two double-doubles last week for the 2-0 Pirates who moved up to third in the league standings at the midpoint. She averaged 4.57 digs, 3.57 points, 3.14 kills and 0.43 blocks per set. Her 21 digs against Villanova were a league match high for four sets last week. In addition to 21 digs, she added 12 kills. Against St. John’s. Mason had 10 kills, 11 digs.
Abby Thelen, Seton Hall, Jr., OH (Mitchell, Ky.)
Thelen was a force at the net in the Pirates 2-0 week as she had 16 kills on just two attack errors and a .359 hitting percentage against Villanova with three blocks. On Saturday, she recorded a match-high 15 kills with just three errors for a team-best .444 percentage. She ranked third on the BIG EAST leaderboard in points (4.79) and kills (4.43) per set last week.
Allison Fitzgerald, Villanova, Sr., DS/L (St. Louis, Mo.)
Fitzgerald averaged 5.00 digs per set, the second-best average in the league last week while helping Villanova to a 2-1 record. Fitzgerald’s back-to-back 30-dig performances against Marquette and DePaul were match highs in digs for the week among BIG EAST competitors, tying this week’s Defensive Player of the Week, Brittany Witt (Creighton).