East Division Offensive Player of the Week
Cassie Farrell, Miami, Sr., MH, Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson
Cassie had a career weekend with a total of 32 kills in two wins for the RedHawks. She hit an incredible .509 with only four total errors in those two matches. Against Bowling Green on Thursday, she was solid with 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage. She really stepped things up in the win over Western Michigan on Saturday. She set a new career-high with 22 kills and hit .528 for the match. She continued her recent blocking tear over the weekend as well. She finished with seven blocks (two solo, five assisted) against the Falcons and six blocks (one solo, five assisted) against the Broncos. Cassie had 40 points during the weekend, an average of 4.44 points per set.
West Division Offensive Player of the Week
Lauren Wicinski, Northern Illinois, So., OH, Geneva H.S.
Wicinski led the Huskies to a perfect 2-0 road weekend as she notched 39 kills (4.33/set) and four aces (0.44/set) to help NIU clinch the MAC regular season title and No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2001 … In the 3-1 clinching win at Western Michigan, she came up huge with 23 kills, an ace, and 11 digs … In a 3-2 win at Bowling Green, she spearheaded an 0-2 comeback with 16 kills, three aces, and a career-high seven blocks … With the week’s performance, she upped her double-double total to 15 … The nation’s kills leader has had 10 or more kills in all but two of 30 matches, including 22 in a row.
East Division Defensive Player of the Week
Madison Hardy, Miami, So., L/OH, Louisville, Ky.
Madison led Miami defense to two wins last week that helped secure a MAC Tournament berth. She made zero reception errors in nine sets, despite being targeted a team-high 47 times. She had 45 total digs, an average of exactly 5.00 digs per set. She led the team in digs as the libero in both matches, finishing with 19 against Bowling Green and 26 against WMU. She is now at 507 digs for the season.
West Division Defensive Player of the Week
Amber Walker, Northern Illinois, Jr., L, Juneau Douglas H.S./Western Oregon
Walker led the Huskie defense in a 2-0 raod weekend as she totaled 37 digs (4.11/set) and just one reception error in 46 attempts to help NIU secure the MAC regular season title and No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament for the first time since 2001 … In the clinching 3-1 win at Western Michigan, she totaled 25 digs, one more than reigning two-time MAC West Defensive Player of the Week Lena Oliver, and was flawless in 22 serve receptions … In a 3-2 comeback win at Bowling Green, she tallied 12 digs and only one reception error in 24 attempts … She has now had 12 or more digs in seven straight matches and has had double figure digs in 23 of 30 matches.
Additional Nominees for Offensive Player of the Week
Courtney Jarvis, Akron., Sr., OH, Amherst, OH/Amherst Steele
Akron senior outside hitter Courtney Jarvis reached the 1,000-career kills milestone on Nov. 11 in the third set at Kent State. Jarvis finished with 1,015 kills for her career, becoming the first Zip to accomplish the feat since 2008. She averaged 3.00 kills/set on the weekend and had a double-double at Kent with 12 kills and 13 digs. For the season, she recorded a career-high 346 kills (3.33/set) and averaged 3.61 kills/set in conference play.
Kara Bates, Ball State, Jr., OH, Bradley, Ill./Bradley Bourbonnais Community H.S./Maryland
Was the Cardinals’ top offensive performer in last weekend’s matches versus Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan, racking up a team-best 32 kills for a 4.00 kills-per-set average. Against the Eagles, Bates paced all players with 18 kills, while adding 15 digs for her third double-double of the season. She also tallied a pair of blocks, while posting a perfect reception percentage in 33 attempts. Against the Chippewas, Bates finished with a team-high 14 kills while adding nine digs to finish just shy of her second double-double of the weekend. At the net, she recorded three blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs. For the week, Bates ranked second on the team with a 3.00 digs-per-set average.
Kelly Maxwell, Central Michigan, So., S, Okemos, Mich / Okemos
Kelly Maxwell accumulated her second highest assist total against Toledo with 64, one off from her career best. She finished the set averaging 16 assists per set. She quarterbacked her offense to its highest hitting percentage on the season at .397. Her team was near perfect with 72 attacks and only 16 errors. In sets one and three the team hit above .500. She finished the weekend well above her season average with assists per set with 13.1. She also played great defense tailing six block assists, four of which came against Ball State.
Rachel Iaquaniello, Eastern Michigan, Jr., OH, Plymouth, Mich./Dearborn Divine Child
Junior outside hitter Rachel Iaquaniello eclipsed the 450 kill mark for the season this week when she was able to deliver a pair of outstanding performances helping the Eagles to a 1-1 record. The Plymouth, Mich. native opened up the week with a team-leading 17 kills in the Green and White’s win over the Ball State Cardinals. EMU was able to top the Cardinals in four sets. Iaquaniello was also able to provide another stellar performance in the EMU loss to the Rockets of Toledo Saturday, Nov. 12. The junior racked up her 12th double-double of the year with 22 kills and 17 digs in the five-setter.
Maigan Larsen, Kent State, Sr., OH, Lancaster, Wis.
Senior Maigan Larsen (Lancaster, Wis.) closed out her four-year career by leading Kent State to a pair of Mid-American Conference East Division wins. The reigning MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week produced a match-high 18 kills to lead the Golden Flashes to a 3-1 Wagon Wheel Challenge triumph over rival Akron last Friday (Nov. 11). She ended her career by helping Kent State to a 3-0 Senior Night sweep of Buffalo the following night. Larsen ended her career at Kent State with 755 kills -- 404 of which came in 2011 and led the team. The Golden Flashes (12-19, 5-11 MAC) closed out their 37th season by winning four of their final five matches, including three straight wins to end the year on a high note and take fourth place in the MAC East.
Chelsea Bilger, Ohio, Fr., OH, Fishers, Ind.
Notched a match-high 14 kills and completed the double-double with 11 digs in a home win over Buffalo. Followed that performance with another double-double, 12 kills and 15 digs, in a victory over Akron that sealed the No. 2 spot in the MAC standings. Second on the team in kills, digs and points this weekend for the Bobcats.
Ashley Turnage, Western Michigan, Sr., MB, Schoolcraft, Mich. / Lawton
Turnage was the most consistent offensive threat for the Broncos this past week, including a blistering match against Miami where she recorded 15 kills on 19 swings with no errors for a .789 hitting percentage. That hitting average ranked as the best for a single match this season at Western Michigan.
Additional Nominees for Defensive Player of the Week
Alex Cocklin, Akron, So., OH, Rochester, Mich./Marian
Akron sophomore outside hitter Alex Cocklin totaled eight blocks in seven sets over the weekend for an average of 1.14 blocks/set. She recorded one solo block and three block assists at Kent and two solo blocks and two block assists at Ohio, helping the Zips out-block the Bobcats 10.0 to 8.0. Cocklin also contributed 20 kills, including a team-high 14 kills at Kent while hitting .440 and finishing with 16.5 points for the match.
Haley Stein, Eastern Michigan, Sr., L, Carleton, Mich./Monroe St. Mary’s Catholic Central
Senior libero Haley Stein turned in a pair of solid performances this weekend for the Eagles. Stein totaled 42 digs for the week, while having just four receiving errors in 79 attempts, good for a .949 reception percentage. She averaged 4.67 digs per set and 21 digs per match as the Eagles went 1-1 in a pair of Mid-American Conference matches. Stein is averaging 5.37 digs per set this season as she is attempting to re-write the Eastern Michigan University record book. At second on the career digs list with 2,062, she is trailing EMU’s all-time digs leader Ashley Cudney who racked up 2,198 digs in her career.
Lena Oliver, Western Michigan, So., L, Battle Creek, Mich. / St. Philip Catholic Central
Oliver became the second player in program history to record multiple seasons of 600+ digs, recording 47 total digs to reach 646 for the season. Only Caitlin Strimel has recorded 600+ digs in multiple seasons, doing it three times in her career. Oliver’s current average of 5.77 digs per set ranks second for a single season at Western Michigan, behind Strimel’s single-season record of 5.85 digs per set.