KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The MIAA announced its athletes of the week for the sixth week of the 2019 volleyball season. Central Oklahoma swept this week’s awards as Bailey Combs was named the hitter of the week and Dominique Lipari was selected as the specialist of the week.
Bailey Combs earned her first athlete of the week honor of the season. Combs hit a sizzling .442 as UCO split two road matches with top-15 teams, collecting 25 kills in 52 attacks with just two errors. She hit .536 with 15 kills and no errors on 28 attempts in the Bronchos sweep of No. 10 Northwest Missouri. Combs followed that performance with a .333 hitting percentage with 10 kills and two errors in 24 tries against No. 13 Central Missouri.
Dominique Lipari also notched her first athlete of the week accolade for 2019. Lipari racked up 51 digs in two road matches, averaging 7.29 digs per set. She had 24 digs in Central Oklahoma’s three-set upset of No. 10 Northwest Missouri. Lipari then had 27 digs against No. 13 Central Missouri.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Hitter
Aubree Bell - Central Missouri
Bell landed a team-best 22 kills and hit .435 in two wins for the Jennies. She also helped out on defense with 12 digs and three blocks. The highlight of her weekend came in a 3-1 win over Central Oklahoma as she hit .459 with 18 kills and 10 digs for a double-double.
Genna Berg - Washburn
Berg recorded 32 kills, 23 digs, and eight blocks in Washburn’s two wins last weekend. She averaged four kills per set and hit .333, committing just five errors on 81 attempts. Against Missouri Southern, she earned her fourth-consecutive double-double with 15 kills and 14 digs. In a sweep at Pittsburg State, she was one dig shy of adding another double-double as she led the team with 17 kills on 36 swings with one lone error for a .444 attacking percentage.
Specialists
Ally Offerdahl - Central Missouri
Offerdahl averaged 10.71 assists per set and added 4.0 digs per set in two UCM wins. She had 47 assists and 20 digs for a double-double in the Jennies 3-1 win over UCO to highlight her weekend.
Maddie Squiers - Nebraska Kearney
Squiers averaged 11.2 assists, 1.8 digs and 0.8 kills per set while hitting .364 in two wins for the Lopers. She guided an offense that hit .306 and averaged 13.8 kills per set in the two matches.
Hannah Koechl - Northwest Missouri
Koechl averaged 5.83 digs per set as Northwest split a pair of home matches. She was also perfect in service reception with 13 attempts. Koechl had 15 digs and an assist versus Central Oklahoma then added 20 digs and three assists in a sweep of Newman.
Faith Rottinghaus - Washburn
Rottinghaus averaged 4.62 digs per set and totaled 37 digs in helping the Ichabods to two road victories. She also had 38 of 41 receptions for a .927 receiving percentage and added two service aces with five assists.
NOMINATIONS FOR VOLLEYBALL ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Hitter: Aubree Bell - Central Missouri, Bailey Combs - Central Oklahoma, Morgan Nash - Missouri Southern, Ali Tauchen - Missouri Western, Morgan Lewis - Northwest Missouri, Genna Berg - Washburn
Specialist: Ally Offerdahl - Central Missouri, Dominique Lipari - Central Oklahoma, Brooklynn McCain - Missouri Southern, Maddie Squiers - Nebraska Kearney, Hannah Koechl - Northwest Missouri, Faith Rottinghaus - Washburn
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