Jenna Rosenthal, Marquette
Marquette’s Rosenthal, Creighton’s Witt And Providence’s Barber Earn #BIGEASTvb Weekly Honors
NEW YORK -- After the first week of BIG EAST play, the three weekly award winners come from the three undefeated teams as Marquette’s Jenna Rosenthal, Creighton’s Brittany Witt and Providence’s Allison Barber earn BIG EAST Weekly honors.
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week
Jenna Rosenthal, Marquette, RS-Jr., MH (Fond du Lac, Wis.)
Marquette junior middle hitter Jenna Rosenthal helped the Golden Eagles to a 3-0 start in BIG EAST play with three-straight sweeps over Butler, Seton Hall and St. John’s with a league-high .519 hitting for the week. Rosenthal averaged 4.33 points and 3.67 kills per set to go along with 1.33 blocks per set, also a league-high for the week. Rosenthal scored 39.0 points in the nine sets with 12 blocks total. Rosenthal had a week-best 15 kills and six blocks against Seton Hall for 18.0 points.
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week
Brittany Witt, Creighton, So., L (Omaha, Neb.)
Brittany Witt, Creighton’s libero averaged 4.00 digs per set in eight sets in a 2-0 week for the No. 15 Bluejays with wins over Georgetown and Villanova. Witt, a sophomore, also added 1.75 assists per set and helped Creighton lead the league in kills allowed this week with 10.25 pet set. Witt had 20 digs in the 3-1 win over Georgetown and 14 against Villanova.
BIG EAST Freshman of the Week
Allison Barber, Providence, Fr., Setter (Woodbury, Minn.)
Providence rookie setter Allison Barber helped the Friars to a 2-0 conference start with an average of 10.67 assist per set and 1.89 digs per set as she marked 52 assists against Villanova and 44 assists against Georgetown. To go along with her 52 assists against the Wildcats, Barber added 11 digs for a double-double. Barber’s 52 assists were a match high for a four-set match this week, second-highest among league players for the season. PC went 2-1 on the week with a loss against Bryant.
BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll
Rachel Klitzing, Butler, Fr., MB (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
Klitzing had an impressive week for the 1-1 Bulldogs with 3.14 points and 2.57 kills per set behind .484 hitting accompanied by 1.14 blocks per set. In the 3-1 win over travel-partner Xavier, Klitzing had 15 kills, six blocks. She also hit .667, a league match-high for the week and a BU school record for a four-set match.
Megan Ballenger, Creighton, So., MB/RS (Ankeny, Iowa)
Ballenger averaged 2.56 points, 2.38 kills, 1.50 digs and 3.00 assists per set while hitting .295 percent in a week that had her start out of position at setter for the first time in her collegiate career. As setter against Georgetown, she had 23 assists, eight kills and four digs.
Addison Root, Providence, So., OH (Wichita, Kan.)
In a 2-1 week for the Friars, Root averaged 4.08 points per set. In league play, Root averaged 4.54 points, 4.67 kills, 1.44 digs and 0.56 blocks per set to help PC defeat both Villanova and Georgetown in four set matches. Root had a double-double against Villanova with 21 kills, 10 digs.
Dominque Mason, Seton Hall, Sr., OH (Chicago, Ill.)
Mason led the league last week in points per set with 4.75 with 4.33 kills and 2.83 digs per set on her stat line. She narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills and nine digs in a 3-0 loss to Marquette. She came back with a season-high 17 kills with eight digs in a sweep over DePaul.
Regan Lough, Villanova, So., L (Riverside, Calif.)
Lough was third in the league last week in digs per set (4.50) while leading the Wildcats with 36 digs total, despite a 0-2 week. Lough did all she could against then-No. 15 Creighton with 21 digs, a match-high for either team.