Binghamton's Katie Brody (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) nabs the first Player of the Week award of her career, while UMBC's Sarah Ball (Winnipeg, Canada/Sisler) earns her fifth America East Rookie of the Week honor and Ashley Meffert (Louisville, Ky./Fern Creek) of Binghamton garners her second-straight Setter of the Week award. The accolades were announced on Monday (October 10).
Brody aided the Bearcats in both of their America East wins during the weekend to help Binghamton remain undefeated in conference play (4-0). She averaged team-highs of 4.00 kills and 4.94 points per game this past week. She also was third on the team with 2.50 digs per game. In the win over Stony Brook, she led the team with 13 kills. In the stunning win over defending America East Champion Albany, Brody had a team-high 19 kills, including the final two kills in the last game to defeat Albany 31-29. In the Albany match she also had 12 digs and 4 blocks. Brody has led the team in kills 16 matches this season. For the season Brody leads the team with 3.55 kills and 4.05 points per game. The 3.55 kpg is just over a kill more a game than any other Bearcat.
Ball led UMBC to back-to-back conference wins over Hartford, 3-1, and Stony Brook, 3-1 last week as the rookie outside hitter averaged 4.38 kills per game and 4.62 points per game. Ball recorded 17 kills and 18 points against Hartford last Friday night. In an encore performance two days later, she tallied 18 kills with two block assists and 19 points against Stony Brook, leading the Retrievers back from a first set loss for a 3-1 victory. Ball last week added 15 digs, nine against Stony Brook as she was a dig away from her ninth double-double of the year. She has double-figures in kills in all 15 matches played in and is averaging a team-best 4.07 kpg and 4.69 ppg on the season.
Meffert was a critical piece of the Bearcat lineup this past week as the team went 2-0 to remain undefeated against conference foes. In the two matches, She led the team with 11.25 assists and 3.50 digs per game. On Friday against Stony Brook, Meffert had 35 assists and a team-high 16 digs. In the shocking win over defending America East Champion Albany she had 55 assists and 12 digs. In both matches Meffert had a pair of blocks.