BRENNAE BENDA NAMED GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE'S WEST
DIVISION DEFENSIVE VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

         RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech freshman libero Brennae Benda (Woodstock, Ill.) has been named the Gulf South Conference’s West Division Defensive Player of the Week by the league office in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday.

          It is the second consecutive week that the GSC has honored a Golden Sun as the West Division Defensive Volleyball Player of the Week as sophomore middle blocker Sarah Von Lienen (Lakeland, Tenn.) was honored last week by the league office.

          Benda, who is one seven freshmen on this year’s Golden Suns roster, earns her first Player of the Week honor this season after helping Tech post a 4-1 record this past week, including going 3-1 at the Southwest Baptist/Bearcat Invitational in Bolivar, Mo.

          For the week, Benda recorded a team-best 82 digs and averaged 4.56 digs per set in Tech’s five matches. In addition to the 82 digs, Benda also had six service aces and eight set assists on the week. At the Southwest Baptist/Bearcat Invitational, Benda was one of two Golden Suns (senior outside hitter Racheal Urquhart) named to the All-Tournament Team as she had 72 digs in four matches, including a career-high 30 digs in Tech’s five-set last Saturday over Rockhurst and then added 23 digs in Tech’s four-set loss to Wayne [NE] State. The win over Rockhurst gave Tech its first-ever 7-0 start since joining the NCAA Division II level in 1995.

          On the season, Benda has played in 26 sets and has recorded a team-high 104 digs and is averaging 4.0 digs per set and has had 10 aces and 11 assists.

          In addition to Benda, Christian Brothers setter Whitney Weyrich was named the West Division’s Offensive Player of the Week. In the East Division, North Alabama middle blocker Whitney Sanders and North Alabama libero Jessica Hansen were named the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week respectively.

          Benda and her Golden Sun teammates return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Ada, Okla., to face East Central [OK] at 4 p.m. and then will meet St. Gregory’s at 6 p.m. On Wednesday, the Golden Suns return home to face Southwestern Oklahoma at 7 p.m. in Tucker Coliseum.

          Weekly GSC Volleyball release

         -- Tech Athletics --