Oct. 2, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Capping off a couple days of accolades, sophomore outside hitter Krista Vansant was today named the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week based on Washington's victories over then-No. 4 UCLA last Wednesday and then-No. 3 USC last Friday at Alaska Airlines Arena. Yesterday, Vansant was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week as well as GoHuskies.com Student-Athlete of the Week. The wins helped the Huskies improve to 4-0 in Pac-12 play, tied with Oregon and Stanford, and get to 13-0 for the season. Washington is now tied for No. 2 nationally in the polls with Oregon. Vansant becomes the first Husky to win the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week award since Jenna Hagglund earned the honor on Oct. 14 of 2008 after leading UW to road wins over UCLA and USC once again. This is the sixth all-time national player of the week honor for Washington. Wednesday's win over the defending NCAA Champion Bruins was one for the ages, as the Huskies saved set points in the second set and match points in the fourth set to eventually claim a 22-25, 30-28, 19-25, 28-26, 16-14 victory. Vansant was outstanding throughout, recording a career-high 31 kills on 58 swings with just five errors for a .448 attack percentage. The 31 kills is the most in the Pac-12 this year, and was the first 30-kill match since Becky Perry in 2008. Vansant also had 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Two days later, the Huskies topped the Trojans in straight sets, 25-23, 26-24, 25-21, again saving a pair of set points in the second set, in front of a season-high 4,083 fans. The Redlands, Calif. native again led UW with 12 kills, making just two errors for a .370 attack mark plus seven digs and two blocks. For the week, Vansant, the 2011 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, hit .424 while averaging 5.38 kills per set and 2.25 digs per set. The Huskies hit the road to face Utah on Friday and Colorado on Sunday. Both matches will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks. Washington's All-Time AVCA National Players of the Week |
