Volleyball's Cusack, Ward Earn SEC Weekly Honors
Monday, November 3, 2008 | Volleyball
Florida's junior libero Elyse Cusack (Melrose, Fla.) and freshman outside hitter Colleen Ward (Naperville, Ill.) have each earned weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference, the league office in Birmingham, Ala., announced Monday. Cusack was named the SEC's Defensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week and Ward was named the league's Freshman of the Week for the second time in her career.
Cusack was named the SEC's Defensive Player of the Week for the seventh time in her career and the second time in back-to-back fashion. Last season, she became the first player in SEC history to earn the award two consecutive weeks.
Cusack led the Gators defensively in 3-0 sweeps of both Ole Miss and Arkansas this past weekend. With 39 digs in those two matches, Cusack averaged a squad-best and league-best 6.50 digs per set and totaled a team-high five service aces.
On Friday night, Cusack became Florida's all-time career digs leader, shattering a nearly 21-year-old school record just 81 matches into her career. She broke into the SEC's top-10 list for career digs and currently ranks ninth on the all-time list with 1,478 career digs. She totaled 22 digs in just three sets against Ole Miss for an impressive 7.33 digs per set average in that match, while finishing with a match-high 17 digs vs. Arkansas.
On the season, Cusack leads the Gators and ranks first in the SEC in digs per set with 4.68. She also is third in the SEC in service aces per set with 0.41 and is the only player in the conference to rank in the league's top five in both digs and service aces.
Ward led the team in hitting this past week with a .371 clip and added 2.67 kills per set and 1.33 digs per set. She was a perfect passer on the weekend, receiving 18 serves and making no errors for a 1.000 reception percentage. She helped the team achieve a .385 hitting percentage over the weekend, including a .416 clip against Arkansas – the team's highest hitting efficiency in a conference match this weekend.
Ward posted eight kills on .533 hitting vs. Ole Miss on Friday and tallied eight kills against Arkansas with four digs and two aces.
On the season, Ward is third on the team with a 2.31 kills per set average. She also is third on the team in points (2.79/set) and hitting percentage (.263).
Florida has claimed six of 10 SEC Freshman of the Week honors so far this season. Three different Gator freshmen have been named the SEC Freshman of the Week, making Florida the first school in the history of the award to do so. The Gators lead the league in most SEC Freshmen of the Week recipients over the past two years with seven honorees since the start of the 2007 campaign.
Florida returns to action on Sunday when it plays host to Auburn. Opening serve in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center is slated for 1:30 p.m. EST and the match will be carried live on GatorVision Online and WRUF-AM 850 with Tom Collett and Missy Whittemore.
For all of the latest information on Florida volleyball, please log on to www.GatorZone.com.
WEEK 10 SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Offensive Player of the Week – Farren Powe, Tennessee
Defensive Player of the Week – Elyse Cusack, Florida
Freshman of the Week – Colleen Ward, Florida
2008 SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONOREES
Week 1 – Kristy Jaeckel, Florida
Week 2 – Kristy Jaeckel, Florida
Week 3 – Regina Thomas, Ole Miss
Week 4 – Colleen Ward, Florida
Week 5 – Kelly Murphy, Florida
Week 6 – Kelly Murphy, Florida
Week 7 – Regina Thomas, Ole Miss
Week 8 – Kelsey Mahoney, Tennessee
Week 9 – Kathleen Gates, Georgia
Week 10 – Colleen Ward, Florida
MOST SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK RECIPIENTS OVER LAST 2 YEARS
Florida – 7
Kentucky – 4
Tennessee – 4
Georgia – 3
Ole Miss – 3
LSU – 1
South Carolina - 1
END OF REPORT
