NEW YORK – Marquette’s Allie Barber and Martha Konovodoff pick up BIG EAST Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, after leading the Golden Eagles to a 2-0 weekend. Barber earns her third-consecutive Offensive Player of the Week award and her fifth on the season, while Konovodoff is tabbed Defensive Player of the Week for the fifth time in her career and first time in 2019. Creighton’s Keeley Davis is the Freshman of the Week for the eighth time this season after pacing the Bluejays in two sweeps last weekend.
Offensive Player of the Week
Allie Barber, Marquette, Sr., OH (Cedarburg, Wis.)
Barber led a balanced Marquette offense to wins over Xavier and Butler last weekend. The senior outside hitter led all BIG EAST players with an average of 4.67 kills per set in six sets of competition. Barber posted 15 kills on 27 swings with just three errors to hit .444 in a three-set sweep over Xavier on Friday night. Sunday afternoon, Barber recorded 13 kills at a .357 clip to go along with five digs as the 10th ranked Golden Eagles left Hinkle Fieldhouse victorious over Butler. Barber leads the conference in kills per set in all matches (4.69) and conference only matches (4.63). The senior became just the third player in Marquette history to reach 1,700-career kills and needs just 24 more to become MU’s all-time kills leader.
Defensive Player of the Week
Martha Konovodoff, Marquette, Jr., L (Sugar Grove, Ill.)
Konovodoff led the BIG EAST in digs per set last weekend with an average of 5.17 en route to a 2-0 mark for the No. 10 Golden Eagles. In Friday night’s 3-0 sweep of Xavier, the junior posted a match-high 18 digs, six assists, and one service ace. Saturday afternoon Konovodoff recorded a match-high 13 digs while dishing out eight assists and one service ace. The junior libero currently sits in fifth in all-time digs at Marquette.
Freshman of the Week
Keeley Davis, Creighton, Fr., OH (Highlands Ranch, Colo.)
Davis snags her eighth Freshman of the Week selection after averaging 3.83 kills per set and 4.42 points per set while hitting at a .431 clip in a 2-0 weekend for the No. 9 Bluejays. The rookie posted nine kills, three blocks and two digs while hitting .308 in CU’s win over St. John’s on Friday night. Davis hit a career-best .560 and put down 14 kills on 25 swings to go along with two block and two digs. Davis currently ranks fifth in BIG EAST matches in kills with 3.49 per set as the only freshman in the top-10.
Honor Roll
Madelyn Cole, Creighton, Sr., S (Dallas, Texas)
Cole posted two double-doubles in a 2-0 weekend for the No. 9 Bluejays. The senior recorded 33 assists, 11 digs and four blocks in a win over St. John’s before turning in 36 assists and 13 digs in Sunday’s win over Seton Hall. Cole leads the BIG EAST in assists per set in overall matches and league play only.
Naomi Hickman, Creighton, Jr., MB (Lawrence, Kansas)
Hickman lifted the Bluejays to a pair of sweeps last weekend with her stellar play at the net. The junior led the conference in blocks per set with an average of 1.83 while also posting 1.83 kills per set. Hickman posted six blocks and five kills Friday night in a win over St. John’s before five blocks, and six kills on .455 hitting against Seton Hall.
Efrosini Alexakou, St. John’s, So., OH (Thessaloinki, Greece)
Alexakou recorded 29 kills in a 1-1 weekend for the Red Storm to rank second in the conference last week. The sophomore recorded 13 kills, seven digs, and two aces against No. 9 Creighton before a 16-kill, 10-dig performance in a four-set win over Providence.
Emma Decker, Villanova, Sr., S, (La Grange, Ill.)
Decker led the Wildcat offense to two-consecutive wins over Georgetown. The senior paced a balanced attack and helped five Wildcats post double-digit kills on the weekend. Decker averaged 9.00 assists per set last weekend to rank second in the BIG EAST. The senior became Villanova’s all-time leader in assists with 4,124 and currently ranks ninth nationally for total assists by active players.
Moriah Hopkins, Xavier, Jr., RS, (Mableton, Ga.)
Hopkins exploded for 20 kills on .533 hitting in Xavier’s win over DePaul. Hopkins’ 20 kills marks a career-high and is the third-highest kills in a BIG EAST four-set match this season. The junior shared team-high honors with seven kills on .500 hitting in a setback against No. 10 Marquette.