Central Arkansas’ Armstrong, McNeese’s McGownd Earn Week Four Volleyball Honors
Southland Conference
2017 Southland Volleyball Week Five Notes (PDF)
FRISCO, Texas – Central Arkansas sophomore setter Elizabeth Armstrong and McNeese sophomore libero Angela McGownd were selected as the Southland Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, the league announced Monday. Southland Players of the Week are presented by
UniversalCoin.com.
Armstrong is the first setter to earn the award this season. McGownd is a back-to-back defensive honoree and is the first two-time winner for either award in 2017. This is the first time this season the two award winners were not from the same team.
Conference play opens this week with McNeese (8-6) and Nicholls (2-11) squaring off in Lake Charles, La. First serve is set for 7 p.m. CT. Central Arkansas (11-1), who matched its best start to a season since moving to Division I in 2006, travels to Stephen F. Austin (12-4) on Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. match that will be telecast on ESPN3.
Offensive Player of the Week: Elizabeth Armstrong, Central Arkansas – So. – Setter – League City, Texas
Armstrong played an integral part of Central Arkansas’ 3-0 weekend, earning MVP honors at the Oral Roberts Invitational. The sophomore setter from League City, Texas, averaged 11 assists per set, finishing with 133 assists on the weekend. She opened the weekend tallying 41 assists and four digs against Wyoming before collecting 34 assists, five digs and three blocks in a straight-set victory over ORU. She saved her best performance of the weekend for the final match, handing out a career-high 58 assists to go along with a 10 digs, four kills and four blocks in a five-set win over Tulsa. Armstrong, whose 58 assists is tied for the highest single-match total in the Southland this year, leads the league in assists per set, averaging 10.40.
Honorable Mention: Shana Spree, McNeese; Bailey Banks, Houston Baptist; Taylor Cunningham, Sam Houston State.
Defensive Player of the Week: Angela McGownd, McNeese – So. – Libero – Loveland, Colo.
McGownd recorded 91 digs in the Cowgirls’ four matches last week, averaging 5.35 digs per set. She picked up at least 10 digs in each match and 20 or more digs in three of those. In Friday’s 3-2 loss to Drake, the sophomore libero tallied 31 digs; the fourth time she has had 30 or more digs in a match this season. Against Valparaiso, she picked up 26 digs and ended the Buffalo Wild Wings Invitational with a 24-dig performance against Western Illinois en route to earning a spot on the all-tournament team. This is her second Defensive Player of the Week honor after winning the award last week.
Honorable Mention: Makenzee Hanna, Stephen F. Austin; Emily Doss, Central Arkansas; Emily Venable, Nicholls; Hailey Erickson, Houston Baptist.
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.