Monday, August 27, 2018
PORTLAND, Ore. – The two conference volleyball teams that finished the opening weekend of the season undefeated are sharing the first GNAC Player of the Week awards of the 2018-19 season.
Alaska Anchorage outside hitter Chrisalyn Johnson and Montana State Billings middle blocker Eavan Taylor shared the Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week award while the Seawolves’ Vera Pluharova was named the conference’s Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week.
Johnson was named the most outstanding player of the UAA Invitational after a three-match sweep, including a four-set win over Barton and a five-set win over Michigan Tech, both qualifiers for the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The senior had a pair of double-doubles in those matches, finishing with 15 kills and 15 digs to go with a .412 hitting percentage in Friday’s win over Barton and going for 11 kills and 14 digs against Michigan Tech on Sunday. For the week, Johnson averaged 2.75 kills and three digs per set.
Taylor opened her college career by leading the Yellowjackets to four wins at the Minnesota St. Moorhead Invitational against teams from the Northern Sun and Lone Star conference, averaging 2.12 kills per set with 15 blocks and a .391 hitting percentage. She led MSUB with 12 kills and eight blocks in Friday’s five-set win over Mary and then went for 10 kills and a .600 hitting percentage in Saturday’s three-set sweep of Western State to close the tournament.
Moving into a starting role after playing in 13 matches off the bench last year, Pluharova led the Seawolves and all GNAC players with 22 blocks at the UAA Invitational. She amassed eight blocks and had four kills with a .375 hitting percentage against Western New Mexico on Thursday and ended the weekend with eight blocks and seven kills against Michigan Tech.
GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS – WEEK 1
VOLLEYBALL
Offensive: Chrisalyn Johnson (Alaska Anchorage, OH, 5-9, Sr., Anchorage, Alaska – Dimond): Johnson was named the most outstanding player of the UAA Invitational after she led the Seawolves to three wins with 33 kills (2.75 kills per set), 36 digs (3.00 per set) and a .230 hitting percentage. After registering seven kills on Thursday against Western New Mexico, Johnson had a double-double of 15 kills and 15 digs to go along with a .412 hitting percentage in a four-set win over Barton on Friday. In Saturday’s five-set win over Michigan Tech, Johnson added another double-double of 11 kills and 14 digs. She scored the set points in both the first and fifth sets.
Eavan Taylor (Montana State Billings, MB, 6-2, Fr., Richardson, Texas – L.V. Berkner): Taylor led the Yellowjackets to a 4-0 sweep to open the season at the Minnesota St. Moorhead Invitational, finishing with 36 kills (2.12 per set), 15 blocks and a .391 hitting percentage in the four matches. Her best effort came in Friday’s five-set win over Mary, finishing with 12 kills and eight blocks. Taylor then had 10 kills and a .600 hitting percentage as MSUB closed the tournament with a three-set sweep of Western State on Saturday. Also Nominated: Tatum Upchurch (Alaska), Shelby Mauritson (Central Washington), Jessica Wheeler (Concordia), Cami Heninger (Northwest Nazarene), Gabby Oddo (Seattle Pacific), Mariella Vandenkooy (Western Oregon), Abby Phelps (Western Washington).
Defensive: Vera Pluharova (Alaska Anchorage, MB, 6-2, So., Nechanice, Czech Republic): Pluharova led the Seawolves and the GNAC with 22 blocks and contributed 14 kills in the three-match sweep at the UAA Invitational. She opened her UAA career with eight blocks and four kills against Western New Mexico on Thursday, added six blocks against Barton on Friday and ended the weekend with eight blocks and seven kills against Michigan Tech on Saturday. Pluharova averaged 1.83 blocks and 1.17 kills per set. Also Nominated: Kyla Morgan (Central Washington), Callie Wilkins (Concordia), Kayleigh Harper (Western Washington).