SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Trinity University junior outside hitter Kirby Smith was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Player of the Week after her outstanding performance this past weekend.
Smith picked up her eighth and ninth double-doubles of the season as Trinity posted three victories at the SCAC Group A Divisional at Southwestern - including a 3-2 upset victory over the third-ranked Pirates.
In that match, Smith smashed season-highs with 21 kills and 24 digs, and her .263 hitting percentage was nearly .100 points higher than the team average. In the 3-0 sweep of Texas Lutheran, she hit nearly .600 with 16 kills and 11 digs.
For the weekend, Smith averaged 4.00 kills and 3.91 digs per set and posted an impressive .349 hitting percentage. She also earned her third consecutive SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Week award to become just the second player in conference history (and first since Nancy Hamad of Trinity in 1998) to win the award in back-to-back-to-back weeks. Sophie Merrifield of Colorado College earned three consecutive Defensive POTW honors in 2013.
This is the second player in Trinity history to take home Sports Imports/AVCA Player of the Week honors, with the only other coming from Shawn McLaughlin on November 10, 2003.
