Three Teams Share #BIGEASTvb Weekly Awards
NEW YORK – Following week four of BIG EAST volleyball regular season competition, Allie Barber earns her third Offensive Player of the Week honor after a 2-0 weekend for then-No. 12 Marquette while Elizabeth LaBue of Butler picks up her first weekly recognition as Defensive Player of the Week. Creighton’s Keeley Davis was named Freshman of the Week for the seventh-consecutive time.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Allie Barber, Marquette, Sr., OH (Cedarburg, Wis.)
Barber continued to pace the Marquette (17-3, 7-1) attack last week with 4.83 kills per set at a stellar .500 hitting percentage. The Golden Eagles went 2-0 on the weekend with sweeps of Villanova and Georgetown. In MU’s 3-0 sweep of Villanova, Barber posted a match-high 18 kills on .484 hitting to go along with three digs. The senior put together 11 kills with no errors to hit at a .524 clip in the Golden Eagles’ victory over Georgetown. Barber, the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, leads the BIG EAST in all games with 342 kills to average 4.46 per set.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Elizabeth LaBue, Butler, So., L (Wheaton, Ill.)
LaBue had a breakout weekend in the back court to propel the Bulldogs to a three-way tie for third in the conference standings. The libero led the BIG EAST in digs per set last weekend at 5.71. LaBue turned in nine digs and two assists in a 3-0 setback against then-No. 11 Creighton before posting a career-high 31 digs in a four-set win against Providence. LaBue ranks second in BIG EAST action in digs per set at 4.77.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Keeley Davis, Creighton, Fr., OH (Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
Davis continued to make an immediate impact for the league-leading Bluejays with a 2-0 weekend at home. The rookie averaged 3.83 kills to go along with 1.33 digs and 4.33 points in sweeps of Butler and Xavier. Davis had nine kills, six digs and two blocks on .292 hitting in Friday's 3-0 win over third-place Butler. The Highlands Ranch, Colo., native added a match-leading 14 kills in a sweep over Xavier, also contributing two digs, a solo block and an ace. Davis surpassed 200 career kills during the contest, reaching it in 18 matches to tie for the third-fastest Bluejay to reach that milestone. Keeley has earned seven-straight Freshman of the Week honors in 2019.
Honor Roll
Megan Ballenger, Creighton, Sr., MB (Ankeny, Iowa)
Ballenger aided the Bluejays to a 2-0 weekend and their 10th straight win. Ballenger tied her career-high by hitting .750 in Friday's sweep vs. third-place Butler, as the senior had a match-high 10 kills and just one error in 12 swings. The senior followed up with eight kills, three digs, a block and an ace on .538 hitting in a sweep of Xavier. Ballenger leads the BIG EAST with a .486 hitting percentage in league play.
Iva Vujosevic, Georgetown, Sr., OH (Bar, Montenegro)
Vujosevic lifted the Hoyas to a 1-2 week with an average of 4.57 kills per set. The senior recorded 16 kills, eight digs, five blocks and three service aces in a 3-1 setback to St. John’s before a career-high 29 kills to go with 11 digs for a double-double in a 3-2 win over DePaul. Vujosevic has collected seven double-doubles on the season.
Efrosini Alexakou, St. John’s, So., OH (Thessaloinki, Greece)
Alexakou recorded a match-high 20 kills while hitting at a .311 clip to go along with 10 digs and two blocks in St. John’s 3-1 victory over Georgetown. It was SJU’s only action last week.
Emma Decker, Villanova, Sr., S, (La Grange, Ill.)
Decker amassed 108 assists over three matches last week, helping the Wildcats to a 2-1 record. The senior averaged 9.82 assists per set for second in BIG EAST action last week. Decker compiled 47 assists against DePaul, in a match where she notched her 4,000th career assist, just the third Wildcat in program-history to reach that mark. Decker picked up 11 kills while hitting .526 on the week.
Jayda Carlton, Xavier, So., MB (Harrisburg, N.C.)
Carlton led the league with 1.57 blocks per set last week. The sophomore amassed 11 blocks with nine coming in the Musketeers four-set win at Providence. Carlton recorded the most single-game solo blocks of any BIG EAST player this season with four rejections.