Offensive Player of the Week
Jaela Zimmerman, Creighton, Jr., OH (Lincoln, Neb.)
Creighton junior Jaela Zimmerman averaged 3.50 kills, 2.75 digs, 0.75 blocks and 0.25 aces per set while hitting .345 as Creighton went 2-0 vs. DePaul this weekend in the Bluejays first match action in a month. Zimmerman had 15 kills, 14 digs, two aces and three blocks on .355 hitting in a 3-2 victory on Friday against the Blue Demons. With CU trailing 2-1 in the match, Zimmerman hit .667 with six kills and six digs over the final two sets to help Creighton avoid conference losses for the first time since 2011.  She also served a 5-0 run in the fifth frame to help the Bluejays stretch their lead to 12-5. On Saturday, Zimmerman had 13 kills, eight digs and three blocks on .333 hitting in a 3-0 sweep over the Blue Demons. She had five kills in the first set and four kills in each of the final two sets to help Creighton close the week in first place.
 
Defensive Player of the Week
Kaira Reinhardt, Creighton, Fr., MB (Cedarburg, Wis.)
Creighton freshman middle blocker Kaira Reinhardt helped the Bluejays to a 2-0 league weekend over DePaul as she averaged 2.00 blocks, 1.00 kills and 0.38 digs per set. Reinhardt had six kills and a career-high nine blocks in a 3-2 win vs. DePaul on Friday. She had five blocks in Creighton’s first set in a month and also added a pair of blocks in the 15-9 fifth set victory. Her block to give Creighton an 8-5 lead started a 5-0 Bluejay run that sealed the triumph. The nine blocks were the most by a Bluejay freshman in a match since Taryn Kloth had nine rejections vs. Georgetown in 2015. In Saturday’s sweep over the Blue Demons, Reinhardt had seven blocks and two kills on .400 hitting. Five of her rejections came in CU’s 25-13 third set victory that completed the sweep.
 
Freshman of Week
Tsvetelina Ilieva, Seton hall, Fr., OH (Sofia, Bulgaria)
Seton Hall opened the BIG EAST play 1-1 against Providence. On Friday, the Pirates edged the Friars in five sets, but were swept on Saturday.  The Hall is now 3-2 on the season overall. Freshman Tsvetelina Ilieva had a strong effort for the Pirates as she averaged 3.12 kills, 1.50 digs, 0.88 blocks and 3.81 points per set. On Friday, the outside hitter had 11 kills, six digs, three blocks and two service aces in the Pirates’ five-set victory.  On Saturday, Ilieva broke out for a team-best 14 kills to go with six digs, four blocks and two assists.
 
Honor Roll
 
Jill Pressly, DePaul
Pressly averaged 2.42 kills, 2.33 digs per set in a 1-2 weekend for the Blue Demons. In the non-league victory over Northern Iowa she had 18 kills, 3 aces and 16 digs.
Hannah Vanden Berg, Marquette
Vanden Berg 23 kills in two matches over the weekend at Butler, hitting a combined .274 and averaging 2.88 kills per set. She had 13 kills, nine digs and a pair of blocks in Marquette’s sweep of the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon while hitting .462 (13-1-26).
Allison Barber, Providence
Barber tallied 43 assists, two block assists with 3 kills and nine digs against Seton Hall on Friday. Barber added 28 assists on Saturday’s match with 15 digs and three kills. Finished the week at 71 assists, 24 digs and six kills.
Rachele Rastelli, St. John’s
Rastelli put down a match-high 25 kills while hitting at a .392 clip in the Johnnies four-set win over Rhode Island on Wednesday. The junior right-side hitter also collected four digs, one service ace and one solo block. This was Rastelli’s second straight match with 25 kills and her fourth consecutive match with at least 20 kills.
Averi Salvador, Villanva
Salvador finished with 37 digs for the weekend, 18 of those digs came against UConn on Friday in a 3-1 victory over the Huskies.