Trinity's Tuggle Named AVCA D3 National Player of the Week

(Portions of this story courtesy of Trinity University Athletics) 

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trinity University Volleyball senior outside hitter Avery Tuggle was named the Sports Imports National Player of the Week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association Tuesday, the second such honor of Tuggle's career.

Soon after, the AVCA released its weekly coaches poll which Trinity Volleyball remained third in the nation behind No. 1 Johns Hopkins University and No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Tigers, now 13-1 on the season with an unblemished 3-0 start to SCAC play, have been ranked third or higher in each edition of the AVCA poll this fall.

The 2019 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year is the first Tiger in program history to earn the award a second time. She became the fourth in program history to earn the recognition during the 2021 spring season after posting 23 kills and 11 digs in a pair of sweeps over University of Dallas. Senior middle blocker Emily Ellis joins Tuggle as the only other active Tiger to have earned the recognition. Shawn McLaughlin '03 and Kirby Smith '17 represent Trinity's first two recipients of the award.

Tuggle's national weekly recognition came on the heels of her sixth career SCAC Player of the Week award, fifth for her offensive performance. Over last weekend's SCAC Divisional tournament in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Tuggle pushed the Tigers to 4-0 in impressive fashion, capped by a dominant road sweep of No. 4 Colorado College. During that span, Tuggle paced the nation's third-ranked squad with 46 kills (3.54/set) on an overwhelming .393 attack percentage, including a .348 mark against Colorado College and a blistering .765 mark against Texas Lutheran University. Additionally, she also led Trinity with 55 digs (4.23/set) and added seven blocks over the course of the conference weekend.

Tuggle is the first SCAC student-athlete to earn AVCA Player of the Week recognition this season. It is the 17th overall AVCA POTW award for a SCAC student-athlete.