Nia McCardell Named AAC Defensive Player of the Week
9/25/2023 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HOUSTON — After helping the Rice Volleyball team to a 3-0 start in American Athletic Conference play, senior libero Nia McCardell was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week while senior outside hitter Sahara Maruska was named to the Honor Roll, the league office announced Monday afternoon.
McCardell averaged 5.64 digs per set while adding 1.45 assists per set. She began the week by recording a match-high 11 digs against UAB in Rice's inaugural AAC match. She then began a weekend series at Tulsa by tying a season-high with 33 digs, her fifth career 30-dig match, as the Owls came back from a 2-1 deficit to take a five-set thriller. She also tied a career-high with eight assists. A day later, McCardell recorded a match-high 18 digs and added five assists in a sweep of the Golden Hurricane. For the week, she posted 62 digs and 16 assists. The Houston native currently leads the American with 5.36 digs per set and her performance helped her move into a tie for eighth-place on Rice's all-time digs list with 1,314.
The honor was McCardell's second this year and her sixth career Defensive Player of the Week award.
Maruska averaged a team-best 3.73 kills per set, 3.95 points with a .254 hitting percentage while also adding 2.82 digs per set. Maruska began the week hitting a then-season-high .364 with match-highs of nine kills and 11.0 points in a sweep of UAB. She also added five digs. She then the series at Tulsa by recording her third double-double of the year, with a then-season-high 15 kills while adding 18 digs. The next day, she set season-highs with 17 kills and a .378 hitting percentage in a sweep of the Golden Hurricane. She also added eight digs. For the week, she notched a team-high 41 kills, 31 digs, and 43.5 points.
Rice (9-4, 3-0) returns to action this weekend when it hosts a two-match series against UTSA (8-6, 1-2), Sept. 29-30. Friday's match is scheduled for 6 p.m. and Saturday's is set for 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed at ESPN+.
McCardell averaged 5.64 digs per set while adding 1.45 assists per set. She began the week by recording a match-high 11 digs against UAB in Rice's inaugural AAC match. She then began a weekend series at Tulsa by tying a season-high with 33 digs, her fifth career 30-dig match, as the Owls came back from a 2-1 deficit to take a five-set thriller. She also tied a career-high with eight assists. A day later, McCardell recorded a match-high 18 digs and added five assists in a sweep of the Golden Hurricane. For the week, she posted 62 digs and 16 assists. The Houston native currently leads the American with 5.36 digs per set and her performance helped her move into a tie for eighth-place on Rice's all-time digs list with 1,314.
The honor was McCardell's second this year and her sixth career Defensive Player of the Week award.
Maruska averaged a team-best 3.73 kills per set, 3.95 points with a .254 hitting percentage while also adding 2.82 digs per set. Maruska began the week hitting a then-season-high .364 with match-highs of nine kills and 11.0 points in a sweep of UAB. She also added five digs. She then the series at Tulsa by recording her third double-double of the year, with a then-season-high 15 kills while adding 18 digs. The next day, she set season-highs with 17 kills and a .378 hitting percentage in a sweep of the Golden Hurricane. She also added eight digs. For the week, she notched a team-high 41 kills, 31 digs, and 43.5 points.
Rice (9-4, 3-0) returns to action this weekend when it hosts a two-match series against UTSA (8-6, 1-2), Sept. 29-30. Friday's match is scheduled for 6 p.m. and Saturday's is set for 1 p.m. Both matches will be streamed at ESPN+.
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