DALLAS – Fernanda Maida of UAB, who averaged 6.56 kills per set in a pair of matches at Old Dominion, Old Dominion’s Olivia De Jesus, who averaged 2.33 blocks per set in two matches against UAB, Rice’s Carly Graham, who averaged 9.75 assists per set in a conference sweep over UTEP, and Andrea Owens of North Texas, who averaged 4.00 kills per set in a C-USA sweep of Louisiana Tech, earned the sixth 2021 Conference USA Volleyball Player of the Week honors, presented by Surf & Turf Golf.
 
Maida was selected as Offensive Player of the Week, De Jesus earned Defensive Player of the Week honors, Graham captured Setter of the Week and Owens was picked as the Freshman of the Week.
 
C-USA Offensive Player of the Week – Fernanda Maida, UAB, Jr., Cochabamba, Bolivia
Maida racked up 56 kills (6.56 kills/set) over two non-conference matches at Old Dominion for her second C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award in 2021. In the first match of the series Friday, she tied the C-USA season high with 32 kills – second in UAB history for most in a single match – on a C-USA season-high 86 attack attempts and accounted for a conference-high 35.5 points in a five-set loss to the Monarchs. In a four-set victory Saturday over ODU, she posted 27 kills, hit .306, added 15 digs and had 29 points. The junior outside hitter from Cochabamba, Bolivia hit a combined .257 in the two matches and added three aces, five blocks and 22 digs over the nine sets played. She ranks fourth in the nation in kills per set (5.18) and sixth in attacks per set (13.04) through matches of October 2.
 
C-USA Defensive Player of the Week – Olivia De Jesus, Old Dominion, RS-Fr., West Hempstead, New York
De Jesus posted 21 total blocks (2.33 per set) in a two-match series against UAB. She set the ODU school match record with 13 blocks in a five-set victory over the Blazers on Friday, and followed that performance up with eight more blocks Saturday. The redshirt freshman middle blocker from West Hempstead, New York chipped in nine kills, six digs and 21.5 points over the nine weekend sets.
 
C-USA Setter of the Week – Carly Graham, Rice, Jr., Spring, Texas
Graham picked up her second C-USA Setter of the Week award of the season after she totaled 78 assists over eight sets (9.75/set) and added 23 digs (2.88/set) in a pair of conference victories over UTEP. In a three-set sweep Saturday, she had 28 assists and 10 digs over the Miners. Sunday, she posted 50 assists in a tough five-set victory to go with 17 digs and a pair of service aces as Rice hit .344 as a team. For the weekend, the junior from Spring, Texas had 42.5 percent of her set attempts go for kills by the Owls, and Rice hit .303 as a team combined.
 
C-USA Freshman of the Week – Andrea Owens, North Texas, Fr., Tucson, Arizona
Owens put together the strongest performance of her freshman season as she posted 28 total kills (4.00/set) and 12 digs (1.71/set) in a pair of road victories over C-USA foe Louisiana Tech. In a four-set victory Friday, she had 19 kills, hit .375 and added eight digs and 19.5 points. The next day, the outside hitter from Tucson, Arizona contributed nine kills, four digs and 9.5 points in a three-set sweep of the Lady Techsters. For the weekend, she hit a combined .273 and chipped in three assists and two blocks in seven sets overall.
 
2021 C-USA Offensive Players of the Week
A30     Lauren Matthews, WKU
S6        Anota Adekunle, Rice
S13       Fernanda Maida, UAB
S20      Rhett Robinson, North Texas
S27      Paige Briggs, WKU
O4       Fernanda Maida, UAB
 
2021 C-USA Defensive Players of the Week
A30     Destiny Leon, Marshall
S6        Amani McArthur, Charlotte
S13       Henrianna Ibarra, North Texas
S20      McKenzie Johnson, Louisiana Tech
S27      Marley Banton, Middle Tennessee
O4       Olivia De Jesus, Old Dominion
 
2021 C-USA Setters of the Week
A30     Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
            Kristen Fritsche, UTEP
S6        Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
S13       Carly Graham, Rice
S20      Teresa Atilano, Old Dominion
S27      Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
O4       Carly Graham, Rice
 
2021 C-USA Freshmen of the Week
A30     Klara Zarnovicka, Florida Atlantic
S6        Ema Uskokovic, UTEP
S13       Ema Uskokovic, UTEP
S20      Myah Conway, Old Dominion
S27      Shaylee Shore, Rice
O4       Andrea Owens, North Texas