Albany's Shelby Goldman (Whitby, Ontario/Anderson Collegiate) takes home her first Player of the Week honor of the season, while UMBC's Sarah Ball (Winnipeg, Canada/Sisler) earns her sixth America East Rookie of the Week honor and Blair Buchanan (Muncie, Ind./Delta) of Albany garners her fourth Setter of the Week award of the season. The awards were announced Monday (October 17).
Goldman averaged 4.86 kills per game and hit .544 in leading the Great Danes to two conference victories on the week. Goldman smacked a match-high 13 kills on 21 attempts for a .524 hitting percentage against Hartford. During that match, she became the eighth Great Dane in the program’s history to record 1,000 career kills and now has 1,028 for her career. Then against UMBC, Goldman was nearly unstoppable, delivering 21 kills on 36 attempts for a .556 hitting percentage. The Great Danes trailed 25-22 in the fourth game and then tied at 25-25. Then Goldman recorded three kills over the final five points to give UAlbany the victory. For the season, Goldman is averaging a team-high 4.00 kills per game and raised her hitting percentage from .294 to .318.
Ball tallied 3.42 kills per game (kpg) and 4.08 points per game (ppg) in three matches last week, leading UMBC to a 2-1 record in three road contests. Ball opened the week at Loyola (Md.) notching 13 kills and a .367 hitting percentage. She finished with 17.5 points with three block assists and three service aces in the match. In conference play last Friday night, Ball recorded a match-high 17 kills and 20.5 points as UMBC rallied from a 14-11 deficit in game five for a 16-14 win in their 3-2 victory over UNH. Ball tallied a season-high 67 attack attempts in the match and finished with 14 digs, three block assists and two service aces. She finished the week at Albany, with 11 kills and 15 digs for her 10th double-double of the year. Ball has yet to play a collegiate match with out registering double-figures in kills, a span of 18 straight matches. Ball on the season is hitting .200 with 3.96 kpg, 4.59 ppg and 2.59 dpg. In conference play she is averaging 3.91 kpg, 4.39 ppg and 2.43 dpg.
Buchanan averaged 1.29 kpg, 12.29 apg, and 2.43 dpg as UAlbany won both of its conference matches on the week. Buchanan tallied 34 assists, six digs and four kills on Friday against Hartford. Then against UMBC, Buchanan registered 52 assists, the sixth time this season she has recorded 50+ assists. The junior setter added 11 digs for her sixth double-double this season and second in the last three matches. Buchanan also notched five kills against the Retrievers. For the season, Buchanan is averaging 12.18 apg, 2.32 dpg, and 1.29 kpg. She also continues to close in on the program’s all-time assists record, and is currently 118 away from Lisa Greiner for first place on the charts.