Oct. 21, 2013
NEW ORLEANS - After a 2-0 weekend in which the Western Kentucky University volleyball team (18-5, 8-1) took down the Sun Belt Conference co-leader in the standings, WKU took home a pair of weekly honors with junior Heather Boyan winning the Offensive Player of the Week award and senior setter Melanie Stutsmanearning Setter of the Week honors, the league announced Monday.
Boyan helped WKU to victory after she led the team with 24 kills and a .422 hitting percentage last week to go along with a team-high seven blocks through the pair of matches. The middle blocker recorded a team-high .455 hitting mark and 13 kills at UALR, as the Lady Toppers handed the Trojans their first SBC loss of the season. She had a match-high 11 kills and five blocks in a victory at Arkansas State.
It marks the first weekly honor for the Munster, Ind., native this season and in her career. Boyan ranks in the top 50 nationally and third in the SBC in hitting percentage with a .377 and is sixth in the league in blocks with 77 total to average 1.04 per set.
Stutsman played her part in WKU's wins at UALR and Arkansas State. She totaled 82 assists to average 13.6 per set and also had 13 digs and two blocks in the wins. The Floyds Knob, Ind., product posted 14.67 assists per set to help WKU hit .274 at UALR. Stutsman recorded 38 assists at Arkansas State, as the Lady Toppers posted 14 more kills in the match than the Red Wolves.
Stutsman earned the Setter of the Week award for the sixth time this year and is the conference leader in assists this season with 944 total assists and an 11.65 assists per set average. Nationally, Stutsman is ninth in assists per set and has WKU fifth with a .313 hitting percentage and 14th in assists per set with 13.43. She has also set a trio of Lady Toppers to rank in the top 50 in the nation in hitting percentage.
Halfway through the SBC slate, WKU starts the trek of playing each team one more time in the regular season. The Lady Toppers travel to ULM on Friday for a match at 7 p.m. before returning to E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, October 27 at noon against Arkansas State. Sunday's match is free for fans that bring their ticket stub from the WKU-Troy football game on Saturday.
