Albany's Shelby Goldman (Whitby, Ontario/Anderson Collegiate) and Northeastern's Kira Batura (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) have been named America East Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively, for volleyball. Blair Buchanan (Muncie, Ind./Delta) of Albany also earns her fourth Setter of the Week award. The honors were handed out on Monday (October 18).
Goldman tallied 29 kills on 55 attempts for a .418 hitting percentage in helping the Great Danes remain the only unbeaten team left in conference play. She also added four digs and one block assist, while extending her double-digit kills streak to 20 matches. Goldman broke the 300-kill plateau against New Hampshire and has already set a new career high for kills in a season, surpassing the 273 kills she recorded as a freshman. On the season, Goldman leads the conference with an average of 4.18 kills per game and ranks seventh in the conference in hitting percentage.
Batura recorded her eighth and ninth double-doubles of the year with a 15-kill, 16-dig performance against Stony Brook and 28 digs and a team-high 19 kills against UMBC in two wins for NU. She added three service aces and two blocks in the UMBC match and two blocks against Stony Brook. Batura registered 34 kills for 3.78 kills per game and 44 digs for 4.89 digs per game this week.
Buchanan continued to be the catalyst of the streaking Great Danes, winners of 11-straight matches. She recorded 80 assists, five kills and 14 digs in another solid all-around performance. She tallied 43 assists, three kills and eight digs against Maine then followed that with 37 assists, six digs and two kills against New Hampshire. Buchanan leads the Great Danes with 854 assists and ranks first in the conference with an average of 12.20 per game. She is also third on the team in digs and fourth in total blocks.