BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University junior outside hitter Abby Phelps and junior middle blocker Michaela Hall have swept this week’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week honors for the period of Nov. 13-19, announced Monday by the conference office in Portland, Ore.
The Vikings completed the regular season with three-game sweeps over No. 13 Northwest Nazarene (25-22, 25-21, 25-19) and in-state rival Central Washington (25-17, 26-24, 25-20). WWU claimed the GNAC Championship with the win over NNU to earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA II Championships, and will head into the postseason with a 25-3 overall record and current 18-match winning streak. The Vikings have had a player win a GNAC weekly award in each of the last five weeks, and had nine total honorees this season to lead the conference (NNU was 2nd with 5).
Phelps (Manson, WA/Chelan) continued her late-season dominance winning the GNAC weekly offensive award for the second consecutive week, sharing the honor with Simon Fraser middle blocker Tessa May. The junior tallied 38 kills on a .343 hitting percentage, averaging 4.15 kills per set, and added 9 blocks and 41 digs in the two matches. She had 19 kills in both matches, tying her career high for the sixth and seventh times, and tallied a double-double in each match to increase her league-leading total of double-digit kills and digs performances to 22 on the season.
“Abby had a phenomenal week and really put an exclamation point on what has been a tremendous season,” said head coach Diane Flick-Williams. “She has shown the ability to really rise to the occasion when we need her, and has elevated her game to a new level as the season has progressed.”
This marks the fifth weekly honor for Phelps in her career, earning two awards as a sophomore last season and three in 2017. For the season she is averaging 4.15 kills and 4.84 digs per set.
Hall (Centralia, WA) earned the Defensive Player of the Week honor finishing with a team-high 13 blocks and 2.67 kills per set in the two matches last week. She tied her career high with 9 blocks against NNU, and added 4 blocks vs. Central to reach 300 blocks for her career, becoming the 13th player in WWU history to reach that milestone.
“Michaela has been so steady all season and this is so great for her to be recognized as she is truly deserving,” said Flick-Williams. “Our middles – Michaela and Joslyn Bopray – have really stepped up and sparked our team both with the block and their hitting. They are a huge reason behind our team’s success.”
This is the first weekly honor for Hall in her career. The junior middle blocker ranks 4th in the GNAC in hitting percentage (.316) and blocks (1.28/set), and is 15th with 3.46 points per set.
The Vikings will find out what seed they will be in the eight-team NCAA II West Regional when the field of 64 is announced this afternoon on NCAA.com at 4:30 pm PT. The NCAA II Championships will be held Nov. 30-Dec. 2 with the No. 1 seed in the West Region serving as the host.
The GNAC All-Conference Team and special awards will be announced on Wednesday at 11 am.
