INDIANAPOLIS – Divisional leaders Lake Erie (co) and Findlay earned respective selections for Great Midwest Athletic Conference East/West Volleyball Players of the Week on Monday.
Conference play ramped up in the third week of the regular season as all 13 institutions completed at least two contests.
Findlay’s terrific start to the season with a 10-match win streak was interrupted by the Oilers’ first setback of the season against Flagler. Strangely enough, Lake Erie beat Flagler in four sets as the Storm surged to a 4-0 week.
Walsh won three different conference contests on the road at Malone, Kentucky Wesleyan and Trevecca, to sit in a tie for first in the East Division with Lake Erie.
Cedarville, defending Great Midwest champs, toppled Hillsdale in four sets while Hillsdale also suffered a five-set setback in a thriller against Findlay. Another five-set final included a wild finish in Nashville as Kentucky Wesleyan stormed from two sets down to beat Trevecca on Tuesday.
Last week’s East Player of the Week, Vikki Henderson of Ursuline, smashed 19 kills as the Arrows won their first conference game against Alderson Broaddus.
Over half of the Great Midwest teams have an overall record of .500 or better at this point in the season.
East Division Player of the Week
Bethany Fisher
Lake Erie
Right Side
Senior – Orrville, OH (Dalton HS)
Winners of six straight, Lake Erie is rolling in all areas as the East Division favorite storm improved to 9-3 overall following a perfect week.
The Storm were a combined 12-1 against four opponents with conference divisional shutouts against Davis & Elkins, Alderson Broaddus and Ohio Valley, in order. The signature win of the week was a four-set triumph against Flagler, a tough team that would also beat Great Midwest West opponents Cedarville and Findlay.
Fisher hit .343 on 102 attack attempts to average 3.85 kills per set. She had a 16-kill performance in the win against Flagler and punched home 17 kills in just three games against Ohio Valley.
She also recorded eight blocks up front and close to one dig per set from her right-side position.
Lake Erie leads the conference as a team in assists per set while ranking second in hitting percentage, third in kills and fourth in blocks. In 43 sets, Fisher ranks fourth in the league in kills per set (3.86) and 10th in hitting percentage (.286).
West Division Player of the Week
Amanda Winner
Findlay
Outside Hitter
Junior – Versailles, OH (Versailles HS)
Winner is the consummate last name appropriately fitting for Findlay’s hot start to the Oilers’ first year in the Great Midwest. With a perfect 10-0 to start the season, the Oilers are perched at the top of the West Division standings at 3-0.
Winner makes it back-to-back conference award winners for the Oilers after Shelby Kin received weekly honors in the last selection.
As a second-team all-conference selection in the GLIAC as a sophomore, Winner is waging the war for potential conference player of the year consideration at this point in the regular season.
The junior is the current league leader in kills per set, averaging close to four per game. She totaled 21 kills against Hillsdale, 10 against Ohio Dominican, 19 against Flagler and 17 more versus Cedarville.
Winner also recorded double-digit dig totals against Hillsdale and Flagler.
She is now hitting .247 on the season while averaging four kills and 2.42 digs per set in 10 total matches.