INDIANAPOLIS – Playoff teams cemented their status as Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Players of the Week honors continued for the regular season conclusion on Monday.
Quarterfinal first-round playoff action will be held at four different campus sites, top seed and regular season champion Hillsdale, No. 2 Tiffin, No. 3 Walsh and No. 4 Kentucky Wesleyan.
The final four advancing teams will then play in the semifinals and for the conference tournament title at the highest remaining seed in the bracket.
The all-conference team with individual award winners will also be released on Thursday night at the championship banquet.
Offensive Player of the Week
Liene Miller
Cedarville
Outside Hitter
Junior
Westfield, IN (Westfield HS)
Miller arguably had one of the best single-match efforts in league history as she broke a conference record that has stood the test of time since the league’s inaugural season.
The 6-2 outside recorded 30 kills in a 3-0 victory against Walsh on Saturday, officially shattering the previous three-game high of 22 set by Urbana’s Kelsey Volkmer back in 2012.
A handful of players have had 20 kills in a three-game match in recent history, including two-time player of the year Paige VanderWall of Hillsdale and current Ohio Dominican sophomore Amanda Remmetter.
The impressive individual effort by the junior included 30 kills versus two miscues on just 40 attempts for a crazy hitting percentage of .700. She also had nine digs in the regular-season finale.
The night prior, Miller produced a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs for the Yellow Jackets against Malone. She has been offensive player of the week two times this season and is second in the league in both kills and points per set.
Defensive Player of the Week
Sam Fallis
Tiffin
Defensive Specialist
Sophomore
Toledo, OH (Sylvania Southview HS)
Fallis helped the Dragons lock in the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament with a 2-0 week vs. Walsh and Malone.
Anchoring the back row, Fallis averaged 6.50 kills per set in six games. She had 22 against Walsh, a pivotal matchup that dropped the Cavaliers to the No. 3 seed and elevated Tiffin to No. 2.
Fallis also came through with 17 digs against Malone, another playoff-qualifying team, for TU’s 10th win in the league standings. The Dragons held the Pioneers to a .157 hitting percentage in the win.
The sophomore finished out the regular season ranking third in the conference in digs per set (4.81) and was second among all players in total digs with nearly 500, only behind Malone’s Sydney Black.