DALLAS – Four teams were represented in Conference USA’s final edition of weekly volleyball awards. (RV) Rice stunned No. 2 Texas on the road, the program’s second upset in as many tries, led by C-USA Offensive Player of the Week
Nicole Lennon. Florida Atlantic newcomer earned
Nikola Bartecka earned her first Defensive Player of the Week honor, while No. 18 WKU’s
Nadia Dieudonne picked up her fifth Setter of the Week nod this season. Charlotte’s
Emani’ Foster ended the regular season the way it started, with a Freshman of the Week award, her sixth on the year. All C-USA weekly honors are presented by Surf & Turf Golf.
C-USA Offensive Player of the Week – Nicole Lennon, Rice, Sr., Katy, TX
Lennon guided the Owls to its second-straight upset of No. 2 Texas in Austin on Tuesday to close out the regular season. The senior powered 18 kills and 14 digs with a trio of blocks. She also added a service ace and 4.20 points per set in the five-set thriller. The double-double marked the 10
th on the year for the outside hitter.
C-USA Defensive Player of the Week – Nikola Bartecka, Florida Atlantic, Fr., Prague, Czech Republic
The freshman middle blocker set a career high with 11 block assists to pair with seven kills as Florida Atlantic upended Middle Tennessee, 3-2 in the teams’ regular season finale on Friday. Bartecka averaged 2.20 blocks, 2.50 points and 1.40 kills per set in the match, which was previously postponed due to COVID issues earlier in the season.
C-USA Setter of the Week – Nadia Dieudonne, WKU, Sr., Louisville, KY
Dieudonne positioned WKU to complete the program’s first-ever unblemished regular season record at 18-0, 12-0 in C-USA play with a pair of sweeps at Old Dominion. She racked up 77 assists on 145 sets with 53.1 percent of her attempts finding the floor for kills. Dieudonne averaged 12.83 assists per set while leading the Tops to a collective .402 hitting percentage on the series, including a second-best offensive rate (.476) on Saturday.
C-USA Freshman of the Week – Emani’ Foster, Charlotte, Fr., Henderson, N.C.
Foster tied a career-high with a match-high 22 kills and obliterated her previous career high in digs with 26 during the 49ers four-set victory over UNCW on Friday. Foster’s previous high in digs was 17, topping that by nine beginning with nine digs in the opening set. Foster had at least five digs in every set and converted six or more kills in the final three sets, all Charlotte wins. Foster ended the regular season with a whopping 6.50 digs per set, to go along with a 5.50 kills and 6.00 points per frame.
2021 C-USA Offensive Players of the Week
J26 Paige Briggs, WKU
F2 Bianca Ejesieme, UTSA
F9 Nicole Lennon, Rice
F16 Cheyenne Jones, UTEP
F23 Lauren Matthews, WKU
M2 Paige Briggs, WKU
M9 Nicole Lennon, Rice
M16 Ciara Debell, Marshall
M23 Ciara Debell, Marshall
M28 Nicole Lennon, Rice
2021 C-USA Defensive Players of the Week
J26 Sophie Whalen, Charlotte
F2 Duquesne Moratzka, Southern Miss
F9 Sophie Whalen, Charlotte
F16 Lara Kretschmer, Charlotte
F23 Anota Adekunle, Rice
M2 Amani McArthur, Charlotte
M2 Amani McArthur, Charlotte
M9 Amani McArthur, Charlotte
M16 Sarah Schank, Marshall
M23 Henrianna Ibarra, North Texas
M28 Nikola Bartecka, Florida Atlantic
2021 C-USA Setters of the Week
J26 Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
F2 Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
F9 Carly Graham, Rice
F16 Kaliegh Skopal, North Texas
F23 Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
M2 Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
M9 Carly Graham, Rice
M9 Sydney Lostumo, Marshall
M23 Kaliegh Skopal, North Texas
M28 Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
2021 C-USA Freshmen of the Week
J26 Emani' Foster, Charlotte
F2 Emani' Foster, Charlotte
F9 Emani' Foster, Charlotte
F16 Emani’ Foster, Charlotte
F23 Amelia Van Der Werff, Middle Tennessee
M2 Lara Kretschmer, Charlotte
M9 Taylor Eisert, Middle Tennessee
M16 Emani’ Foster, Charlotte
M23 Emily Meyer, FIU
M28 Emani’ Foster, Charlotte