Oct. 17, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Samford's Lauren Hutchinson was named the SoCon Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, announced by the conference office on Monday. The junior helped lead the Bulldogs to two conference sweeps against the College of Charleston and the Citadel, pushing their conference record to 6-2 and their home record to 9-0.
"It's funny to think of it this way," said Head Coach Derek Schroeder, "but this award is almost a big team victory for us. Lauren had a great week and has been playing very well all year and our entire team kind of rallied behind her and said `let's get this girl some more balls'. Our serving, our serve receive and our team defense will all take pride in Lauren's accomplishment!"
The Kennesaw, Ga., native led the team this past weekend in kills (27) and hitting percentage (.615), averaging 4.50 kills per set. She earned 14 kills in the match against the Cougars and led the team with five blocks, including three key stops in the third set to help give the Bulldogs a lead which they maintained the rest of the game. Hutchinson led the team's attack in the Citadel game the following night, hitting .667 behind 13 kills and only one error on 18 attacks. She also earned a season-high four service aces in the match, including three in a row in the early portion of set two.
Hutchinson now leads the team with a season clip of .448 (260/56/455), averaging 3.47 kills per set. She has been ranked in the top five nationally in hitting percentage since Sept. 20 and has now earned double-digit kills and hit at least .500 in five of the eight conference matches.
Hutchinson is the third Bulldog to earn weekly conference honors this season, as Alexis Bauer and Michaela Reesor earned Defensive and Freshman Player of the Week honors last week, respectively. Hutchinson was also named the Offensive Player of the Month for September after finishing the month ranked No. 1 in the nation in hitting percentage.
Hutchinson and the Bulldogs will hit the road for a pair of matches this weekend, facing Davidson on Friday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. CT and Georgia Southern on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 6 p.m.
