Nov. 8, 2010

SPARTANBURG, S.C. ---- Samford sophomore Alexis Bauer has been named the Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week for her performance last weekend against Western Carolina and Appalachian State, the league office announced Monday evening. The players of the week are voted on by the conference office.

Bauer, a native of Floyds Knobs, Ind. posted back-to-back 20-dig matches last weekend. The libero helped lead the Bulldogs to a 1-1 record on the weekend, as they clinched a spot in the Southern Conference Tournament. Bauer leads the team in digs with 399 on the year, already surpassing her total of 396 from last season with one more regular-season match and the conference tournament still to play. She is 18 digs away from second place on the Samford single-season digs record list.

Bauer is the fourth Bulldog to earn a weekly honor this season and the first to garner the Defensive Player of the Week award. Hillary Fountain earned the Offensive Player of the Week honor in week two while Elizabeth Neisler earned it last week. Katie Murphy has won the Freshman of the Week honor twice this season, once in week one and then again in week seven.

The Offensive Player of the Week award went to Cole Dawley of College of Charleston. Dawley, a senior from Charleston, S.C., helped lead the Cougars to a 3-0 record on the week, including a 3-1 win over division foe Georgia Southern. Against the Eagles, the setter notched 46 assists, four kills, six digs and one block. It was Georgia Southern's first loss at home all season. In the match, Dawley had a hitting percentage of .398. Also against the Eagles, she passed the 3,500 mark for career assists and now has 3,535. College of Charleston also defeated The Citadel, where Dawley had 34 assists in the sweep, and Davidson, where she averaged 12.3 assists per set.

The SoCon's Freshman of the Week award went to Furman setter Sarah McCarthy. The Villa Park, Ill., native helped the Paladins to a 2-0 record on the week with wins over Wofford and UNC Greensboro. McCarthy had 24 assists and seven digs in Furman's 3-1 win over the Terriers. She posted a double-double with a team-high 21 assists and 13 digs in the Paladins sweep over UNCG, and is currently second for Furman with 433 assists on the season. She was also named Freshman of the Week in the second week of the season.

Also nominated for Offensive Player of the Week were Appalachian State's Alison Blasingame, The Citadel's Jessica Maas, Davidson's Hayley Lawson, Elon's Caroline Lemke, Furman's Caroline Adams, Georgia Southern's Kate Van Dyke, UNCG's Ariel Newman, Samford's Casey Garvey, Chattanooga's Courtney Barnes and Western Carolina's Amanda Chaparro.

Nominated for Defensive Player of the Week were Appalachian State's Caroline Sedon, College of Charleston's Paige Johnson, The Citadel's Rachael Farrell, Davidson's Jennifer Chamblee, Elon's Megan McMahon, Furman's Natalie Braun, Chattanooga's Paula Passmore and Western Carolina's Morgan Cochran.

Nominated for Freshman of the Week were College of Charleston's Madelyn McGinnis, The Citadel's Erin Bucherl, UNCG's Kellie Orewiler, Samford's Katie Murphy, Chattanooga's Andrea Johnson and Western Carolina's Morgan Cochran.